Oh wait...

In the mid-2000's I had a band approach me to record their album.  I had heard them live a couple of times and was thrilled to have the opportunity.  The lead singer had told me they had written some new material and were ready to record.  We set the date and venue (a large theatre with really high ceilings and beautiful acoustics), and I was looking forward to it.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and I meet the band at the recording location with a truck full of recording gear.  We get set up and start tracking.  The scratch tracks are solid and on tempo, the drums are sounding killer, and then we start having some trouble.  The bassist doesn't know his parts.  We struggle through a couple of songs, and then the guitarist says, "Well, I don't really know any of it either."  

I wasn't getting paid by the hour.  I was getting paid by the song.  I think to myself, "Well, how bad can it really be?"  

It was bad.  Really bad.

At this point, I stand up and start packing up my gear - yes, right in the middle of the session.  

"Hey man, what are you doing?"

"I'm gone."

"Why?"

"Because you aren't ready to record.  Go home and work on your songs."

I'm thinking to myself, "Oh well, there goes that - they won't call me again."  

Fast forward a month - I get the call!  "Hey man, we're ready now.  You still wanna record us?"

And were they ever ready!  They killed it, and we turned out a great album!

When I was coming up in audio engineering (not that long ago), things were radically different than what they are today.  We didn't have the editing capabilities that we have now.  

Sure we could "george" a bad sounding snare. - Why would you ever record a bad sounding snare?

We could re-amp.  - Why not just change out the amp or mic for something that sounds great?

We could even get creative with a rackmount pitch shifter and an out-of-tune vocal.  Why not just have them sing it over?

We were focused on getting the best performance possible during the recording stage; because if you didn't, there wasn't much you could do to salvage it except to re-record it.  Bands were willing to give it everything they had, and pre-production was an actual thing. 

Yes we had our tricks if we accidentally missed something (like at 3:30 in the morning and your brain is shot after tracking for hours on end, and you don't notice a minor issue), but then again, that was the exception.​

That mantra is dead.  It's a shame.  Now editing is a major component, and the line between editing and mixing is getting more blurred than ever.  Editing has been a major part of mixing for a while now.  It shouldn't be that way - but hey, I myself love me some modern tools.  I have to.  Professionalism means something different now.  

​Now excuse me, I gotta go quantize some sloppy drum tracks and tune some vocals.

I was talking to my kids last night about music and recording over a boiling pot of spaghetti.  We were talking about how beautifully old music was recorded back in the day.  There is a difference.  

You know what, no matter how much technology has given us nice tools, it has also given us a lot of substandard records over the years.  I have found myself being tempted into thinking that I have to have the latest and greatest gear to make a good record.  The truth is, you have to have great songs, well written, decent pre-production, great musicians with good sounding instruments, and an engineer with a great set of ears with experience to know what to do with what he/she hears.  

Listen, I get it.  I myself have been very thankful to be in a studio actually working, and even more thankful to have something like Melodyne to bail me out of folks who couldn't sing in tune.  Musicians are lazy. I know.  I'm a lazy musician myself.  Now all you have to do is look good and shake your butt, and you've got a job. I'll never make it in this business with those kind of needed qualifications.  Ha!

​Technology.  The great perpetuator of....oh nevermind.

Anyway, that brings me to my main part of this blog post.  As an engineer, take pride in your work. Work hard.  Know your stuff.  Read, read, and read some more.  Track and mix everything you can get your hands on.  Learn from the older cats that's been in this business for years.   

There's an old saying that says "Give a great engineer an SM-57 and a tape recorder, and he'll turn out a great album."  I'd rather have an EV 635, but I totally get the sentiment.

Nowadays it's give me the following, and I can make a good record: 
A full Pro-Tools rig
Top of line of the latest & greatest plugins
The most expensive microphones I can't afford
A pair of Genelecs (are Genelecs a thing still) - maybe some Barefoots
An outboard summing device
Some Avalon & Manley tube pres
Blah, blah, blah

There's nothing wrong with having great gear.  If you think I'm saying the opposite, you're missing my point.

If the song is weak, you have lazy musicians, and amazing gear - you have.....well you have what we have had in the last 20 years.  

No one get all huffy and freak out on me.  I know it's a super over-generalized statement.  

Yes, there have been a few really great albums in the last few years, but the bad most definitely outweigh the exceptional.  If it didn't, you wouldn't be rolling through the radio channels when you get in your car every 2nd song looking for something you like listening to.  But we're used to that these days, and I guess it's the new normal.

Wait, where's the massive kick drum?  And why is the song only three and a half minutes long?  Wait, he sang that in tune without autotune?  It was recorded with just a few microphones?  No automation?  None of that?  Yes, yes that's right.  And what about editing?  No editing on a DAW?  Nope. A razor knife, a splicing/editing block, and some reel to reel tape - and editing was on exception...not the saving grace of a record. 

Here we have a super sweet vintage article all about the wonderful Leslie cabinet.  I hope you enjoy it!

We are in a new series of trying out FREE plugins!  For Part 1, we quickly dive into the GSI Watkat!

​"Charles Watkins invented the Watkins Copicat, an echo unit introduced in 1958. Mr. Watkins was inspired by the Morino Marini Quartet who made famous the Comi Prima, which contained a special use of repeated phrasings. The Copicat revolutionized the world of music beginning in the United Kingdom, Watkins’ home country, and soon covered the world. The echo unit did not contain any printed circuit boards, just a few valves, a tape loop and as he said “a bit of imagination.” The Copicat was sold by the hundreds of thousands and is still regarded as a standard echo unit for most recording studios and concert halls. Accredited as the major element in the sound of the 60's, many models are still being played nightly over 50 years later. ​"
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