electrical wrote on Tue, 20 December 2005 07:02 |
An engineer's job is to manage the technical side of the recording, with as little interference as possible. Anyone who thinks this is trivial (or easy, for that matter), has not been trying very hard, or has not been paying attention. In a professional environment, the acoustics and recording can be managed so as to be flattering to the band and free from the compromises inherent in semi-professional environments. That's why professional studios are needed.
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AMEN!!
Speaking as a member of a "band" and a home recordist, I wish more of the folk "in the biz" would have this attitude. I got out of the professional music biz years ago because of the attitudes and business practices I had to deal with which kept pushing "commercial success" rather than artistic expression of the artist. Having a "producer" say, "well gee guys, we don't feel like this tune has commercial potential the way it's currently arranged, let's try adding/subtracting this <enter whatever song component here> and see how it works or we won't waste our time with it" or something along those lines, really sucks. Especially when the band is footing the bill! (It's been my personal experience that most "serious" bands are made up of broke musicians who aren't responsible enough, or old enough, to hold down good-paying jobs ...at least all the bands I had been a part of years ago before I went back to school and got a "real" job to support my music habit).
You may say, "Well, that kind of thing doesn't happen at my studio", and while that may be true, it has been my experience at *every* studio that we (the bands I was in) had booked into here in the Twin Cities. Ironically, most of these studios are now out of business. Again, this was quite a few years ago, so maybe attitudes have changed a bit since then, but my guts tells me probably not.
Anywho, I just wanted to add my personal experience and opinion to this very interesting and insightful thread to help offer the perspective from a band member's point of view.
-mr moon