Jump to content
  • Six Reasons Why You Need An Engineer For Your Next Recording Project

    By Phil O'Keefe |

    Sometimes it doesn't pay to try to do it all yourself

     

    15phil-e22b3363.jpg.946292499184b65b029a188e4da82078.jpgWith all the advances in personal computers and home recording equipment over the past twenty years, many people can now afford the gear needed to do some very impressive and fully professional sounding recordings themselves. The question is - should you? In some cases, recording at home without professional assistance makes a lot of sense. DIY home recording can be an addictive hobby. It's great for getting down your ideas when writing songs, and fantastic for working out arrangements in advance before going into the big studio to track your next album or EP, but in other situations, you might benefit from the services of an experienced recording engineer. Here are six reasons why you might want to consider hiring one.

    You're in a hurry

    Working alone at home or with your bandmates can be a lot of fun, and it's certainly a great way to try different ideas out when the clock isn't running and costing you by the hour, but the flip side is that sometimes people can get easily distracted at home. Many self-recordists lack the experience of a pro engineer, and that experience can really come in handy when it comes to meeting deadlines. Whether it's help with time management, coaxing the guitarist to focus and finish his overdubs or knowing the fastest way to set something up and how to work quickly and efficiently, an engineer can help you make the most of the time available to you, helping you to get the job done on time while keeping the quality level up and staying within budget.

    You want the best possible results when tracking

    If you're reading this, chances are good that you're able to do pretty good recordings at home, but in many cases, an experienced engineer can do even better ones given the same gear. It's a matter of skill levels and experience. A pro will know how to get the most out of the available equipment and has a wider range of experience than the typical hobbyist does. If the quality of the final recording is of paramount importance, then hiring the best engineer you can find to do the recording will be money well spent.

    You want to focus on playing music, not setting up and operating equipment

    It's a rare individual who can both artfully perform music and operate recording equipment expertly. It's even rarer for that person to be able to excel at both tasks simultaneously. Musically you're almost always going to perform better when you can focus on doing just that without the distractions of the gear getting in the way. Having an engineer on hand to operate the machines while you focus on playing will generally result in more musical and inspired sounding performances, and musical and inspired performances are what great records are made of.

     

     

    You'd like a knowledgeable and experienced set of ears to bounce ideas off of

    One of the biggest drawbacks of self-recording is not having anyone on hand to bounce ideas off of. This is not the case when you have a full band working with you, but even bands occasionally need an outside arbitrator and impartial set of ears, and a good engineer can often provide that. Find one who appreciates the genres you do and who you think has good taste, and learn to seek out and carefully consider their opinions.

     

     

    You want to use their gear

    Whether they come with their own studio or you're bringing an outside engineer in to work at your place, most engineers have a bunch of gear; some of it may be things you don't have, or of higher quality than what you normally use. If you hire an outside engineer, be sure to ask about their gear preferences, let them know what gear you have available, and see if there are any key items that they want you to rent for the sessions. Also encourage them to bring along their favorite processors, microphones and monitors, or anything else they feel will be useful for your project. Many engineers have extensive plugin collections, and will often take an iLok with licenses with them to any session they work on. Make sure you check to see if they want you to install any plugin software in advance so that they can just plug in their iLok and get right to work.

    You want to get the most from Mixing and Mastering

    Two of the most crucial areas of production are the mixing and mastering stages. You may be tempted to try to mix yourself, but it can be a very difficult challenge - especially if you're working in an acoustically less than "honest" control room. The more complex the recording arrangements are, and the more disagreements the band has about relative levels, the more you should consider hiring a pro to do the mix. As far as mastering goes, have a look at the credits for your favorite albums sometime. You'll notice that even if the same person tracked and mixed the record, there's almost always someone different who mastered it. Again, it's a chance to get an outside expert's perspective, and even professional engineers know that they can often benefit from that.

     

     

    Not every project needs the services of a professional engineer, but in many cases they can still bring things to the project that can be very beneficial. Before starting your next recording project carefully consider where your strengths are, and what areas you can use help with. You may find that you can save money by doing some of the work yourself, but by getting assistance in strategic areas and for critical tasks, the quality of the work will improve dramatically while keeping the budget reasonable.

     

    Do you have questions about this article or want to know more about whether or not you should hire an engineer for your next project? Then stop by the Studio Trenches forum right here on Harmony Central and let's discuss it!

     

    (The photo of the author in his natural habitat, as well as the bio image below are courtesy of Ken Lee Photography)

     

    phil-3eaec998.jpg.348e12321a8f7e737631dc796d6aa770.jpgPhil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines. 




    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    There are no comments to display.


×
×
  • Create New...