Lend Me Your Ears (Please)

[Donna]

I suppose I'm what you would call a pure engineer... I don't consider myself a producer as such unless I'm working on my own stuff, or unless an artist specifically asks for my advice in that context, because the responsibility of taking on that role is enormous... When I listen to songs, my mind fixes on musical and engineering aspects of the product... The unfortunate side effect of this is that I tend not to be able to listen to music for fun any more, I instantly start thinking, panning, compressors, gates on the drums, what eq is used on that vocal, that's a great contrapuntal melody being played on the Hammond B4 there... I don't just feel the song the way I did years ago before I got into all this, I can't refrain from analyzing it...

Funny, I can only imagaine people jumping at the chance to produce. Your view on it is reality, I think. Gives me something new to consider.

I would really like to see a poll about the side effect you mention. Been there! Trying not to be there...

[Prometheus]

Funny, I can only imagaine people jumping at the chance to produce. Your view on it is reality, I think. Gives me something new to consider.

I would really like to see a poll about the side effect you mention. Been there! Trying not to be there...

Strangely enough, I've come to a decision recently that I am not offering my services for money any more as an engineer... I'm not giving it up, but I just need to do some work on my own thing for a while... Being an engineer working under freelance contracts is such a thankless and soul destroying task, I don't feel like I can put up with any more of it for now...

You spend hours or days or longer, months even in some of the projects I've worked on, creating a beautiful product and you have some herbert you've been working for who doesn't know one end of mixer from the other, telling you he wanted a sound that was a bit less purple and a bit more orange on the vocal track. Then you get the pretentious ass who thinks he can lay down a pile of shit and you'll fire an autotuner onto it and make him sound like Freddy Mercury...

Sorry, I've just been dealing with a difficult client, and I'm whingeing... I'm gonna work on my own stuff for a while and then the only person who can complain is me...

I have to say though, I was sitting with my family tonight watching a video of the 1984 band aid song, and I happened to mention that I don't think it's a great recording by any means. My brother asked me to justify the making of such a bold statement, and when I mentioned that I think the vocals when the singers are singing seperately at the beginning sound fairly close and tight by 80's standards and then suddenly, it'll jump into these recordings a la choir that have obviously been miked much more distantly, and it came across to me as sounding unnatural.

My brother pointed out that I was talking about things that no one would ever notice nor care about. Unfortunately, now that I've opened Pandora's box, I'm never going to listen to music innocently again... That said, I prefer having the knowledge to the innocence...

Edited December 20, 2005 by Prometheus

[Donna]

Wow - that's a big sea change for you re: no engineering for now. Go for it!

Your brother's wrong, I noticed it, too...but, getting some space from the vivid stress portrait you paint, might give a bit more innocence - or detachment.

Or just plain fun.

[Nightwolf]

Unfortunately, now that I've opened Pandora's box, I'm never going to listen to music innocently again... That said, I prefer having the knowledge to the innocence...

Hear Hear I'm the same way. I do miss Music for the sake of Music tho