Members ArrMatey Posted August 25, 2005 Members Share Posted August 25, 2005 this is a bit of a rant but I'd like the input of real pro engineers:If a band comes over to record with {censored}ty material, how much of it can you salvage? Do you depend more on your own skills to mix or on skills to record initialy the band?Some might find it redundant but I just want to get ideas, personal experiences and "troubleshooting" from pros. That's all. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members geek_usa Posted August 25, 2005 Members Share Posted August 25, 2005 Matey, remember this one simple tip : The recording as a whole ALWAYS starts at the source. If you have a bad sounding recording to begin with, with bad structure, out of time arrangements, and one-off lyrics, no amount of processing is going to fix that one way or another. I think your main focus should be getting the band to perform the very best they can at this point. Squeeze every last drop of talent out of them - at first they'll probably bite your head off but in the end they'll say "you know, this guy really worked hard to get the best out of us. And he did a damn fine job!" On the other hand... If the band cannot improve on their performance any more than they are currently displaying; then talk with them about it. If they still want to record, by all means go for it. Do the best you can with what you have, you just don't get to play producer this time around. I've finally realized that with my friend/client Evan. I'm calling him back in as soon as he gets back from Oregon. We're going to lay that album down of his, whether it sounds good to me or not. He wants to record, regardless of how he sounds... and if that's what will make him happy, is to hear himself on a record, then by all means...I will try my hardest to satisfy that desire in him. -Jared Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MarkGifford-1 Posted August 25, 2005 Moderators Share Posted August 25, 2005 "With today's technology, you can not only polish a turd, you can make it gleam like a bloody diamond." Nick Lowe You just have to work harder if the band sucks. Anyone worth their salt can wind up with something that the client/band is happy with. Most of the time they're either blissfully unaware of the fact, or their perspective is so skewed that they think anything they do is great. The better the client is, the easier your job is. Instead of fixing things, you're spending time seeing just how good you can make it sound. MG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Badside Posted August 25, 2005 Members Share Posted August 25, 2005 Sure, hire sessions musicians to record the tracks, the VocAlign and AutoTune the vocals tracks, drench them in chorus and reverb and you'll have a record! Seriously, as others have said, everything starts at the source and you have to do everything you can at that point. Comping and punching are your friends! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 25, 2005 Moderators Share Posted August 25, 2005 On the other hand... I'd much rather have a group whose ideas and creativity are much greater than their ability to perform them, then the other way around. To me, there's nothing worse than a non-idea, performed flawlessly. If a good or sometimes great idea is performed, "not so proficiently", well it's cool in my book to doctor it up. Execution is important, but not as important as something to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArrMatey Posted August 26, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 26, 2005 this thread is not really for a band I record but more as a question out there. Maybe something obvious to most but like the previous poster said, you can prefer creative bands to rigid session-like players. It's just to give a bit more of variety to the discussions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted August 29, 2005 Members Share Posted August 29, 2005 If they're doing something in which they are aiming high, trying to do something interesting, but maybe not always succeeding, that's okay. I can hang with that. If it's just hideous songs or hideous sounds with no redeeming value, then cleaning out my garage weighs on my mind more. Although I am good at recording, I do it mostly for fun and secondary income. I have the luxury of picking and choosing, turning down bands or artists that I just don't think I can contribute much to, stomach recording, that kind of thing. It just ain't worth my time to do music that I don't like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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