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[j.hall]

this just came to mind over dinner

the more i work with other AE's the more i realize that technique is crucial.

professional atheletes spend their formative years learning and refining technique to better perform their task.

i've found that audio is only slightly different.

some copress more then others, some EQ more then others.....blah blah blah.

what i've found to be true is an overall technique in treating audio resulting in differing products.

the question is..........

is their a method to your madness?  or are you just literally fumbling toward the end result?

[JPRisus]

damn that makes a brother THINK!!!

I'm gonna think this one over, but my initial response is that everyone hears things in their own unique way... when i sit down to mix, i'm shaping things to coincide with what i think they should sound like in my head. Even if it's something I tracked and thought I got 'right' to begin with, hearing everything in context is a major difference in terms of perspective and how everything relates. And when i'm trying to make these tracks sound the way I think they should, I end up stumbling upon things that I never would have thought of, yet are cool as hell, and that changes everything. So personally speaking, i always have a very clear picture of what i want in my head before I touch a fader, but what happens between start and end is always the most fun and surprising.

regarding technique, i force myself to do things differently all the time so I never get stuck in a rut, which i've seen happen to many others. Then over time, all the new things you learn become a part of your arsenal. But through it all, I know my work has a very distinct 'sound' to it, for better or worse. It all sounds like me.

[Level]

Method to madness. Certainly. No one I know can do something exactly the same way twice in analog. Anyone can hit a preset, in digital.

I do what I feel is right at the time, thinking of the future and using my skills learned from my own experience. I very seldom use someone elses advice unless I find I have been fucking up unknowingly. This has not happened in a long while. I practice each day even without a gig and keep sharp. I look toward the future since it will be a while before the work I do today hits the streets. The farther ahead, the better. I also learn from any mistakes from the archives.

I put in a full 12 hour day whether I get paid or not. Keeps it all tight.

Deepness.

[ericswan]

Method, we all definately have that; experience provides you with the ways to get the job done. We all hear things and do things in the unique way that suits our being.

However, the thing I love about my job is that it isn't predictable and that it is constant learning and growing experience. I learn something from everyone I work with either positively or negatively. I always try and keep an open mind about what I'm doing and look for the clues to get us to the end result.

The more I work, the more I try and do things much more instinctually because I find if I disassociate my conscious thought process from the choices I make, I make better choices. The less second guessing, the better it usually sounds.

Madness; well of course. It's all madness. As Slipperman said, were all just grown men moving air around.

[j.hall]

knowing, and agreeing, that working with audio is a unique thing that lends itself to our own personal taste and goals is one thing.

but do you guys think there is an overall (and possibly unspoken) technique we SHOULD all know and employ to working with audio.

there is a technique to properly intonate a guitar, there is a technique to prepare a wall fro painting.  is there a technique to working with audio?

or is it truly just "dealer's choice".

do we has "movers of air" have any responsibility to the air we move?  

this is an awfully abstract thought......which is sort of why i posted it.  curious to see where it might lead in discusion.

[bblackwood]

I think what makes a great engineer is not technique, but the ability to hear what the artist is trying to achieve and helping them get there. Simplistic, I know, but I dare say you'd have a  hard time picking out a 'sonic signature' to records I master...

[j.hall]

i'm not specifically trying to imply that what we do is reduced to a simple technique that all should follow.

i'm asking if other people think that beneath the surface.....20,000 leagues or so............after all the creativity and vision....direction yadda yadda yadda, is stripped away, is there a core technique we should be using in dealing with audio.

are there rules................or is this truly a rule-less event happening in time.

[bblackwood]

Regardless, if there is any 'technique' you use on everything, it is a filter which colors everything you do.

Do whatever it takes to achieve the client's goals - that is the 'prime directive', imo.

[Fibes]

bblackwood wrote on Thu, 09 September 2004 12:31

Regardless, if there is any 'technique' you use on everything, it is a filter which colors everything you do. Do whatever it takes to achieve the client's goals - that is the 'prime directive', imo.

I must have a lot of clients whos main goal is shitty sounding records, I've been able to nail that directive on every occasion as of late. Thanks for helping master them B-Rad! knuck knuck.

But seriously, a vocabulary of techiques is only worth a damn when you utilize them in the appropriate situation. Wreckless abandon falls under that concept as well.

[JPRisus]

Fibes wrote on Thu, 09 September 2004 14:05

But seriously, a vocabulary of techiques is only worth a damn when you utilize them in the appropriate situation. Wreckless abandon falls under that concept as well.

Yuppers... WHEN is often more critical than  WHAT  or  HOW

[Invisible Member]

I used to have a methodology on how to approach things, but I found myself more recently being reactive to the changing situation.

I figure its like driving a car. You know how to steer, brake, park and accelerate, but every road is different to you have to learn how to make adustments in real time.

What throws me off is mixing somewhere Im not used to. Gear I may have no experience with tempting me to experiment. My work flow gets disrupted by not knowing where everything is. Like trying to drive too fast in car you don't know well on a windy mountain race course.

I mix like the police are following me and Im never sure that I used my blinker!


Peace,
Dennis

[trexrox]

j.hall wrote on Thu, 09 September 2004 11:57

but do you guys think there is an overall (and possibly unspoken) technique we SHOULD all know and employ to working with audio.

Isn't there technique in everything we do from placing mics to the way we roll up cables at the end of a session?  I think it's all about what works for us, and the artist.  

We learn for ourselves a technique that compliments what we hear and what we would like to hear.

I beleive that if it is unspoken, it is because there are things that can only be learned by doing and by experience, as we tend to always be learning and adjusting to meet the requirements of our own personal level of standard.

[JPRisus]

j.hall wrote on Thu, 09 September 2004 11:57

but do you guys think there is an overall (and possibly unspoken) technique we SHOULD all know and employ to working with audio.

if there's one thing that every single one of us can benefit from, it's knowing when we should keep our mouths shut and when to speak up. I'm sure that's gotten all of us into trouble with a client at least once ('')

[JPRisus]

After thinking this one over for a while, i think one aspect that's not stressed enough is knowledge of the technical side. I'm slowly getting into it more and more, but there are so many young AEs who can't solder an XLR, and that's a real shame IMHO. Race car drivers usually have a working knowledge of their cars, athletes study playbooks and performance mechanics before they hit the field. The more I learn about the inner workings of things, the more I understand their practical applications. 30-40 years ago, engineers were building their own gear, and they were building things to help their records sound the way they wanted them to sound. That's just amazing IMHO.

[Immanuel Kuhrt]

Hah, I will take this as a test to see, if I have learned anything from this forum. First I have looked in my Oxford English Reference Dictionary, in which one of the definitions of technique is "a means or method of achieving one's purpose"

Mixing:
I have seen people say, that they start with the drums sounds soloed and then add the bass. Others start with the vocals. Others emphasize the need to use as little solo as possible.

Recording:
I guess, many people have basic reference starting points for mic placement.

Mixing:
I have read several times about people bringing reference recordings, which they listen to to learn how a monitor system (including room) sounds - so they can compensate for that frequency vice.

Recording:
To give or not to give singers reverb in the cans could maybe be considered part of a recording engineer's technique to get optimum performance.

To deal with people on a bad day may also to some include some hard earned "techniques".

Mastering:
If someone uses a multi-band compressor for dealing with insane bass frequencies not spotted by the mix engineer, I guess that would be/include a technique.




These where just examples to get things started. Because I think there is much more technique involved in much engineering, than this thread reveals. I am however by no means a pro, so this is all hearsay (hopefully useful for the discussion anyway). So I will now relurk