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d-r-a-w-k-w-a-r-d · 5 months

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Crusty Engineer Advice Pt I?

The first thing about being an engineer is this: it's all about the artist. Everybody new to the game wants to know "what's the magic plugin?" "what are the settings that make a vocal pop?" and a whole bunch of other questions like that. And -to a certain extent- these things are important. But they're not things that get you repeat clients right away. People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Maya Angelou said that, and it's true. In the end, 90% of your clients won't hear that 3dB that you added to the final mix. They'll remember how they felt in the vocal booth. They won't care that the computer hard drive was almost full, leading to fragmentation, or that some newbie saved all his sessions on the desktop, slowing the whole system down. They won't care that a fuse in the power supply blows, or that there aren't multiple hardware headphone likes run to the vocal booth, or whatever. What they WILL remember is how you handled the session. EVERYTHING that happens is on you. Even if it's a hardware failure, even if there's "no way someone could reasonably expect this" or whatever excuse you're using.

If you're a pro, there ARE NO excuses. Period.

The job of an engineer is this: to remove obstacles between the artist's vision and the final music. That's why you're there at all. Your job is to anticipate issues before they happen.

Here is a bit of advice I gave another fellow: Many, MANY young folks ask about assisting, interning, etc. All the time. Maybe they're a musician on the track, maybe they're a friend of the artist. But when they hear good things being done with the music, they start asking, "hey, what compressor are you using? Is that the SSL EQ? Hey, man, can I sit in on your sessions? Like, assist you?"

The vast majority of these people are looking to GET something. They want free lessons on how to be an engineer. They want tips, names of plugins, lists of "presets" (don't get me started!) and to tell their friends that they are "working" in Xyz Studio. These people get told to leave their info with the front desk.

Every once in a while, you come across somebody different. Very seldom, maybe only once or twice a year, you meet somebody who wants to GIVE something. That's a different thing. Now hang on— I'm not talking about taking advantage of somebody. What I mean is, for example: The artist's friend Billy (who played keys on a couple of songs, or whatever) is at the sessions. Many artists like their people there for vibe. Whatever. But let's imagine that Billy comes up to me and says, "Hey, I notice that every time you come in, you switcf each phraseto the chair without the little armrests, and you put the pop filter on a separate stand. Are you interested in having me take care of that next time?"

Now, that is the sort of job that interns get to do: move mic stands, brew coffee, run headphone lines, and so on. And ANY intern will do that, when you tell 'em "hey, I need some more coffee. And can we get TWO sets of cans in the booth for those harmony singers, please?" But the guy or gal who already HAS the other headphones ready just in case, or who starts the coffee when your mug is getting cold, that shows that they care about contributing to a creative and technical environment. It's not all about THEM, it's about the session. About the music. These people's numbers go into my phone.

For example, I was working in Studio A where everything was hardwired and mounted in the walls. Big Name Vocal Talent wanted super-loud headphones. But there's just the jack in the wall. So I wanted to put a headphone amp right next to him so he can crank it up when he wants to. (a good idea in many cases anyway, but it wasn't my job there to tell the studio owner to rewire his room while the talent was waiting. It's my job to fix the damn problem as quickly as possible and not make anybody think about technical issues.)

I had two interns in the room. I said to both of them, "I need to run an extra feed into the big room. Please find me a couple of XLR-phono adapters so I can just use the direct lines." (Again, this place's choice of wiring connectors is not the issue here.)

First dude comes back in a few minutes, "Nope, we don't have any of those in the supply room." Really? Ack! I grab a couple of cables from my go bag and run a feed from the drum room to the vocal room. It ain't pretty, but it'll get the job done. Time for mic check.

Maybe twelve minutes after that, the second intern comes in, all sweaty. "Hey, man, we didn't have any of those, but check it out: can you just plug in to the MIC lines (backward!) and use these gender changers I found, hooked up to direct boxes to switch it back around in the vocal room? Here are phono cables already hooked up." My man.

The first guy got to go back to his Xwitter at the front desk without being inconvenienced, the second guy had an unexpectedly long night because I requested that he assist me for the remainder of the sessions. He's now an engineer in his own right.

TL;DR: Have something to offer, even if it's just the fact that you know you'll need to bring napkins when you walk the pizza back to the lounge room. Or be WILLING to watch for what the SESSION needs (not just what YOU need as info to work on your own tunes.) Too many interns/assistants do only what they're told, only when they're told it. Don't go off doing things without asking the engineer or confirming that it's the right time. But damn, show that you're about something besides yourself.

I can't remember the last time I looked at somebody's resumé first thing. Lack of knowledge and experience can be worked around. But lack of work ethic is a serious flaw. Some of the worst people I've worked with have had degrees from Big Name University and have been unwilling to even consider the possibility that there's another way than theirs. A couple of the best have been mostly self-taught.

#audioengineering #recording #crusty engineer #audio engineering

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eliteblackmarket · 1 year

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brandanmusic · 1 year

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How many times have we tried to get it right and we both fucked up in the end??

How many nights have I cried because you lied and you say you still wanna be my friend?

Apologize but deep inside I know you’re sadistic and you really wanna see me upset.

I realize a little late, but take it from me when I say that I don’t wanna sleep in your bed.

Sleep in your bed, sleep in your bed, you made your bed and now it’s time for you to go lie in it.

Sleep in your bed, sleep in your bed, baby I do not, no I don’t wanna try again.

Sleep in your bed, sleep in your bed, if I lie down with you I’m afraid of dying.

Sleep in your bed, fuck with my head, got nothing left to say to you. Keep on lying…

How many times am I supposed to let you hurt me?

You always tell me it’s my fault it ain’t working.

I try to talk about it and then you curve me.

I just don’t understand why you did me dirty.

I used to love you and hold you close.

Supported you through your drug addiction, you overdosed.

You smashed my head and then I comatosed.

Couldn’t see straight, I thought I saw the Holy Ghost.

I wanna be with you, I tried to help.

But you pushed me away and told me I should kill myself.

Being with you, I’m in the fires of hell.

Everyone knows that you were wrong, but they just shrugged, “oh well”.

I’m the crazy one for having reactions.

You treat me like I’m an inanimate object.

No matter what you’re always starting a conflict.

Your words are poison to me, I’m feeling nauseous.