Life of A Studio Rat... Oct ’08
Current mood: naughty
Sometimes distortion just really doesn't matter...
As engineers, we easily fall into our idealistic ways. It's our jobs. Make sure things are *right.* Make sure they *work.* Make sure everything is happening appropriately. We have to catch the performance, and also perfect it. And sometimes we get in our own way.
I can honestly say I've become a better mixer when I realized I need to stop worrying about perfect signal flow and doing things the right, textbook, accurate way. When I just decided to roll with what was in front of me, whether it be turning up the kick so loud that it makes the whole track pump, or the hook vocals become so loud that you can hear the whole song distorting... That's when I got better. Of course you want to make sure that you are NOT completely ruining something, but more times than you would imagine, that's what your client honestly wants to hear. They love that nastiness.
As engineers, we all have our "vision." I know I have a few albums that I listen to over and over and WISH I could mix something that sounded like that. But that's not the case when you make this industry your career. Just like a singer may sometimes sing something they aren't crazy about (I'm thinking De La Soul and "Me Myself And I") you have to realize that even though it's not your fave, it's what has worked and enabled you to keep working. Not every mix I do is going to end up sounding like I want it to, but if I'm doing my job correctly, it's going to sound like what THEY want...
That said, it's more and more important for mixers to really listen to the ruff mixes. It's going to be a rare occasion when they say "do you." Very rare. You have to realize that our clients listen to these songs a good 100 times before we get them. So they know what they love and hate. You can't assume that you are going to figure it out with just a couple listens to the Protools or Logic sessions. Listen to the ruff. If they want it crazy loud, make it crazy loud. If the vocals are all the way up front, against the way you would mix them, well, do it the way they want.
When you do it the way they want, you may do shit that to you is fundamentally wrong. But again, the rules are just what you start by... As long as your fundamentals are in place, even "wrong" things can end up being great. Know the rules, then see how far you can go outside of them.
I’m such a liberal treehugger, I think??????
Current mood: jolly
The first business day of each month is my day of heartache. It's when I take that huge stack of mail, open all the bills, and basically get rich and broke in the same day. Ok, maybe not rich... but dammit, broke maybe!!!
I split everything into 4 piles: -Shred immediately. (stuff that I don't have to keep but it has an account number on it) -Bills to pay. This always hurts. -Things to file. Statements that I need to keep. Receipts, etc... -Review or read later.
Well the last category has a huge stack today. And I realized something funny...
A couple months ago, someone (name withheld), gave me a link to some kind of "Save the Earth" charity. I think I donated like $25 or $50. Well, since then, I'm the fucking posterboy for non-profits. I had at least 10 envelopes in front of me with the "Non-Profit" postage stamp on them. I'm officially on the "liberal guy that donates" list. It's rather funny.
This was just in the last week or so:
-The ACLU wants to know how I feel about torture, abortion, and all that. And maybe donate? -Co-Op America wants me to fight big corporations killing the environment -EarthJustice wants me to fight against the mining operations of JR Simplot in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest -Jane Gooddall wants me to save the Chimpanzee -Robert F Kennedy wants me to help save the Polar Bear by protesting oil drilling in the Arctic Circle. (How the hell am I going to fill up my gas guzzling SUV and my luxury car that takes premium and maybe even the Aston Martin I'm saving up for if there's no oil, Robert!!!) -The High Museum wants me to be a Patron. Ok, not necessarily non-profit and I'll prob do this anyway. I'm cultured yunno. I like paintings and stuff. -The Rainforest Action Network (is that a TV Station) wants me to protest Bank Of America and their funding of big coal companies that are also fucking up the environment.
There's more, but that's the bulk. They all want either money ($25-$500) or my signature on a petition. I'm going to read them all, then go read the opposite views somewhere on Fox News, and make decisions. I'm probably not doling out any money tho. I'm not really loaded and I'm so focused (Man!) on paying off all my consumer debt by the end of the year. Which is the responsible AMERICAN thing to do!!
In the midst of this fucktivity of an economy, if you aren't focusing on paying your bills, you're an idiot and half of the problem is YOU.
I personally don't fully believe in the whole premise of the stock market. I do own stock, and it has lost a LOT of value this last month, but I'm not selling it this month. I'm not selling it next month. I'm selling it when I retire or the company has a major change. I buy stock according to how I feel about a company, NOT how some analyst rates them.
Wow, I'm ranting. Anyway... If you are smart about your money, this last month is just a blip, and an opportunity to buy stocks for prices that are very attractive. That's how I look at it.
Currently
listening
:
Something Else
By
Robin Thicke
Release date: 2008-09-30
If you live in Buckhead or are there a lot, you may have noticed the personal trainers who are stalking people. They have a company called "Dream 1922" or something like that. I'm probably fudging it up. But if you go to the Whole Foods on WPF or ever go to Frankie Allen Park, you'll notice them. Walking around with their clipboards trying to sign people up for their services. I always make sure I'm on my phone on the way into Whole Foods so they don't jump out on me like some Red Dogs. (ATL folks know what I mean.)
Anyway, how fucked up is it that someone walks up to you and tries to sign you up for training?? "Hey, you're kinda fat buddy. Sign the dot and I'll help you with that!" They should just say that right? I'm waiting for them to approach me off guard. They'll try to sign me up and I'll say, "I like my belly. Women like to rub up against it if you knowwhatimsayin!!!" I bet that would stop 'em DEAD in their tricks. (And it's true also, fellaz)
Most of the time it's a dude steppin to you. Looks like someone who probably missed the cut for the Falcons or something. Like OVER-Diesel. Too much muscle, no testicles kinda shit. I would rather have the Bruce Lee physique than the Lee Haney yunno!?
Anyhoo. Sometimes they have this gazelle-walking-ass chick trying to sign you up. I'm a massive sucker for in-shape women. Like, gym 4 days a week chicks. LOVE IT. The girl they have is dope, about 2 inches taller than what works best for me, but she's got that workout ass and the brown hair which I can't turn down. If the guys approach me for training, I may also hit them with this:
"Training? Hmmm... I think I've seen that girl you have training people. I'll sign up if I can have her train me. But she has to wear a super thin sports bra so I can see the FULL shape of her boobs but I still have to imagine what's going with the nipple situation. And if she could wear some tennis shorts so I can get the Anna Kournikova Effect..."
"But also, I want her to talk dirty to me while I'm doing the weights... Like 'Yeah baby! That's it! Right there! Mommy loves it when you push that hard!' That would be great motivation. I know you really care about motivating me, and that's how I'm motivated. And while we're at that, maybe when I'm getting down to my last few reps and having trouble pushing the weight, I want her to start acting like she's climaxxing. Man, I bet I could bench so much more if she was screaming 'Almost there daddy!!! HARDER!!!!' And while I'm on the treadmill or elliptical, I want her to whisper in my ear every now and then, 'The faster you get there, the hotter I'll be.'"
I think this is fair. I mean, that shit would work for me yunno? That girl does have a great ass...
But I don't need a trainer. I like what I do in the gym. It works for me and I'm healthy. I'm not knocking the trainers hustle tho... They do what they do, and they generally seem like cool folks trying to get their biz off the ground. I hope they prosper!!!!
Life of A Studio Rat... Sep ’08
Current mood: wanted
Life of a Studio Rat...
So this one will be less of me giving advice and really just what the title is: The Life.
I knew I was going to LA this week, but the flight details were taking forever to come. My manager and a colleague really wanted me on a session Monday, so since I didn't get my flight info I said yes, with the caveat that I might have to leave at the drop of a hat. There was always talk that I was supposed to be on the 8p Monday flight to LA but it just wasn't booked.
So Sunday nite I went out to the movies with some friends, and after the movies I pretended to go home and pack for LA. What I really did was go to the studio and print the mixes I had done on Friday and Saturday. My client had called me earlier and said he finally listened to the mixes. (His weekend consisted of shooting MTV Cribs and having a party with white bengal tigers in cages... I did attend that party.) He had some comments on the mixes, super minor, and changes I already heard. So I decided to go knock out the fixes and print them around midnite on Sunday. That took a while, I think I was at the studio until 5a. I just added the hours onto my Saturday session.
Monday morning was nuts. I had a massage, then had to rush to the session I would do with my producer friend. We got to working, and it was going well. Yet again, I learned some new stuff. All the while I had my short trip bag packed and ready in the truck. (Still haven't sold it.) Around 6:47p I got the confirmation that I was on the 8:05p flight to LA. I rushed out of the studio, and made it to the airport in about 22 minutes. I was checked in and at the gate right before they started pre-boarding. I was a little worried because I was CONFIRMED, but had no seat assignment. I went to the gate agent and presented my seat request, and they hadn't assigned it yet. She told me to stand to the side.
Here's where it got stupid. There was a 42-person standby. As the flight got closer and closer, they never called me to get my seat. People who were on standby were screaming and yelling at the gate agent. What happened next, I'm pretty sure, is that she failed to properly call CONFIRMED passengers waiting for seat assignment, (me), and went right to the standbys.
Long story short, I was not put on the flight. Next flight to LA was 7:35a the next morning. What sucked about THIS was that I know I had mastering Tuesday morning in LA. So I'm a little antsy because we have to change the schedule now.
But I was also mad later on. I heard that my client, who was supposed to be on that same flight, also missed it. I was so mad at him in general. Because his people took too long to book the flight, because he wasn't communicating properly. But I was over it. No sense in being mad. And at least I wasn't these guys:
I went home, washed up, and laid down for a couple hours. I was back up at 4am getting ready to leave for the airport. I go out to my truck and see all these cars in my parking deck sitting on bricks. It actually got me REALLY pissed because this was all INSIDE the resident parking garage. The red car was not far from me. But I have a strong suspicion on which resident was involved with this, and believe me I will START SNITCHIN like crazy. Guess it's time to bring my pistol with me for now on too...
Anyway, I made the 7:35a flight. I had called ahead to the W Hotel and made sure that I would get the best consideration for early check-in. They normally won't check you in early, but the travel agent went ahead and paid for my room the nite I missed the flight just so I could get in and rest on Tuesday. My flight landed at 9:30a LA time.
I picked up my rental car, used my iPhone to guide me to Amoeba Records and went and got the new Saadiq I've been dying for, and a record I worked on, Colby O'Donis.
I moved along to the hotel and my room was ready! Yes. I had a handicapped bathroom, though, which was not sexy. But oh well. I never have guests anyway when in LA. I'm always in the studio for like 20 hours. So I rested a little bit, and then woke up and drove to Burbank to get our single mastered. It's not super-often the mixer goes to mastering, but since I do a LOT of work for this client, and I basically hold all the files, it was up to me to get the mastering going. It went very well. The thing I like about mastering engineers, and this one in particular, is that they get right to the point and don't play around. If you mix, and a mastering engineer spends more time worrying about a "problem" in the mix, he's probably not your guy. Not that I had any problems. He immediately looked at me like, "you have very good taste." I consider myself a veteran, and having sat thru a ton of mastering sessions in the past, I know what they want the final 2track to sound and look (waveform) like. But if a mastering engineer complains a lot, I would say find someone else. We all have things we deal with in our work. Why complain? Just keep working and get over it.
He did a good job. We took our reference. Little did he know we were also having it mastered again tomorrow by another guy. My client really wanted to try this other guy because he's got a big name. It was fine with me. I ended up liking both masters, but we kept the one we did because quite honestly it was just bigger and louder. Maybe I'll share them both with some engineering buddies who care!!!
After the mastering, we went to the studio to work. After hearing the master we decided to turn a couple things in the mix UP, and we sent it via ftp back to the mastering house. (I brought the drive to the other mastering guy in the morning.) Then we pulled up another mix I had done back in ATL and made changes to the whole song and recut a verse. I finished that mix. We also sat with a guy from the record label and cut out parts of the single for ringtones. I have never done that before. Next time I'll prob have my assistant do it because it was true grunt work. Fun once, boring past that.
That nite we stayed in the studio until 8:30am. I was beyond exhausted. I got back to the hotel and crashed. I had to be back up at noon because I had to pick up the final refs from the first mastering engineer, then go sit in with the second mastering engineer. I was exhausted, but quite honestly this week was a serious time for my client because he was launching his single and finishing his album. I knew that this week of all weeks I had to be ready to ride!!!!
So back to the studio around 6pm and I start working on a new mix. This is one that sounded great as a ruff, like they all do, and I just had to do final tweaks. I can honestly say I messed up and wasted time in that session because I kept trying to "remix" it in Protools when the song was already sounding good in Logic. Also, everyone at my client's label was asking for the single to be emailed, and ftp'd all-over. That day was a huge pain in my ass honestly.
Luckily that session ended at 3am because all of us were just worn out. I went to the hotel, knocked out again, then started getting calls to my room around 11a. "Yo!!! You sleepin? We got a record on the radio we need to be up and movin!!!" That was the call I got from my artist's manager. I told him to leave me alone and stop worrying. "Who do I have to email it to now?" "Caren Lewis." "OK, done."
But that made me laugh because I kept thinking of Eric B and Rakim's song "Paid In Full" when they say "Caren Lewis is our agent." No doubt this was the same one.
Anyway, I got up. I knew I had enough sleep to function and think properly. But the whole week wasn't the case. This day, and the days before I experienced something I had never before. I was having de ja vu, and these weird visual flashes (Like I'm psychic?) a LOT. Like at least 150 times a day. It was nerve-wracking. Imagine having de ja vu that much! It had me a little bit worried, and I could never fully grasp the visual image I was having, but it never really threw me off. I could gather I was thinking about the outdoors, snowboarding, and some places or situations I have been in before. Luckily by the end of the week they subsided. I attributed it to my brain being tired.
And today it was going to get even more tired. I went to the studio and started mixing that same song again; the one from last nite. I just stayed in Logic this time and it rocked. I pulled up another song that my client had given priority and knocked that out too. He went to shoot a TV performance so I went back to that barbershop I love and got a fresh cut. Not only is Don Toi a killer barber, but dude washed my head off after the cut cuz he knew I was going back to work. That's what I'm tokkin BAT!!!!! Good shit. So I went back to the studio, and finished the last mix. Then I start getting emails from London that they are waiting on a mix from me on this artist my client collab'd with. I couldn't move on the song at all because my client had not finished it or given permission. The people in London were saying they were getting the album mastered in 4 hours. Luckily I got my client to come in, add his final parts, and then I finished the mix and sent it off. Hero I was....
But it doesn't even stop there. It's about 1a and we're listening to tracks by one of our producers for another A-List artist. The artist starts coming up with a hook concept. Then while he's cutting it with me, my client comes in and starts writing. Then another guy wants to be on the song. 7 hours and a ton of vocal tracking later we got it done. And it was dope!!! But yet again I'm up til the sun comes back out. My client's manager left one of our security guys at the studio with me because I told him I almost ran into a bus 2 nites before. It was true. I fell asleep driving back to the hotel after that other long session and woke up rolling up to a bus. Luckily I woke up in time. So I had a "driver" tonite.
And the rest of the week in LA went like this. I came home and slept a good 12 hours last nite to recover. I really beat my brain and body up while out there but the outcome was great. I listened to the mastered version of my mix today in my car and it sounded great. I had a big smile on my face.... Until I realized I couldn't find a station with premium gas anywhere because of Hurricane Ike. Doh!!!!
Pretty soon I'll do some of these as video blogs I promise, but I'm waiting on the new MacBook Pros that are supposed to come in October. Then it will be easier than doing them on this aging laptop.
Currently
listening
:
The Way I See It
By
Raphael Saadiq
Release date: 2008-09-16
I realize he's the kinda guy people love to hate, but I love him. And the reason I love this video is cuz it's just him, buggin. You gotta watch til the end tho.
Yes!!!!!! Baaaaaaaaad Booooooooooooyyyyyyyyyyy!
Currently
listening
:
Press Play
By
Diddy
Release date: 2006-10-17
The song from Karate Kid made me cry once.
Current mood: energetic
Yeah, a movie song made me cry once. But before I go into that, I want to revisit my love of theme music.
It all started when I was 4 years old. My favorite show as "Greatest American Hero." I don't expect many of you to remember that, but the theme song was my shit, (If a 4 year old can have something "that's my shit") and I knew it well. My dad even bought me the 45 to it. For some reason I smashed it on our concrete patio one day. I have no idea por que. But here's the song:
Moving on... My dad had me watching Hill Street Blues a lot. I LOVED that theme song so much. When it came on, it was almost like I couldn't move. I'm a sucker for piano melody anyway, but this theme I LOVE. I actually found a 45 of it and have coveted that for a while.
Now, for those of you that can name the undergound 90's rapper and song that sampled that, you will have mad props forever and maybe I'll sneak your name into an album credit as an assistant engineer somewhere. I have to check my wax collection tonite to make sure I'm right cuz I know I have it. Oh yeah----Not the Cam'Ron one either. I'm talking REAL underground.
Before I get to the Karate Kid song, I want to bring up one more theme song that strikes a chord. I've mentioned it before, but I just wanna include it cuz it's so relevant right now. And yunno, this one almost makes me cry, or sick to my stomach each time I hear it. And not because it's bad, because it reminds me of a gripping movie I saw at way too young an age.
The movie is "At Close Range." It stars Christopher Walken, Sean Pean, Mary Stuart Masterson, Chris Penn (RIP), Keifer Sutherland, Crispin Glover, and so many more. It was a small town mob flick. Madonna sang the theme, called "Live to Tell." She did a good job of it, but the damn chords.... Man.... The composer, Patrick Leonard, played probably every emotion chord there is... And throughout the movie the song creeps in and out. If you sit down and watch it, you'll know what I mean. Here's that particular video:
Sooo.... Time for Karate Kid. Karate Kid 2 actually. I think the song was really part of that one right? Well, it had a GREAT theme song. "Glory of Love." Peter Cetera, formerly of Chicago, sang it. Tonite I was listening to it and I realized Peter is kinda like Akon. How so? Well he's got one of those love it or hate it voices. His tone is crazy sharp, like Akon. But anyway... Always loved this song. And why? Another incredible piano melody. By David Foster no less! If you don't know who David Foster is, well, you know what he's done. You grew up on it, trust me. Especially if you're 25 and up.
But why did I cry to this song? Maaaaan. I had the biggest crush for a long time on the girl across the street. I had it bad. And of course I was huge into Karate Kid. I mean, who didn't want to go out and practice their Crane Kick after watching that movie?
I cried to that song tho. Cuz I loved it so much, and I thought I loved that girl. I think one nite, after watching that movie, and then the theme comes on during the credits, I was thinking about her and I had to hide my face in the pillow. I was weeping like the sensitive little 10 year old I was... I wanted her to know I could do it all for the Glory of Love!!! Why didn't she love me??!?!! LOL Yo. I was such an emotional little kid. But that song got me. Even to this day, when I hear it, I'll admit this much... I want to slow dance with someone Junior High School dance style and make out.
Wow... I'm going off the deep end.
Anyway. Here's the video. I'm hoping someone agrees with my Akon reference.
That's about it! I gotta roll. My quick session lasted 6 hours more than I thought, but I'm mixing so no complaints.
Currently
listening
:
Touch of David Foster
By
David Foster
Release date: 1996-03-03
Like I say on the page, I've worked on at least double, if not triple that amount of albums in my career, but some stuff just never comes out. I'll have at least 6 more to add by the end of the year.
This blog could be long, but I just gotta lot of stuff to get out. But it will be highly visual, so rest assured it will be stimulating!!!
****
The Olympics Women. The Olympics were the shit, but I also fell in love twice.
Alicia Sacramone.
The thing I like about her is that she definitely got a woman's body (OK, nice boobs, who are we kidding...) but I'm a sucker for women that cry. I love when they cry, it's the best. And she was trying so hard to NOT cry when she kept losing, and it made me definitely wanna get at her. But then I saw this video and realized she's def way too young for me. It's not like it ruined her, but she's still hanging out with pure college dweebs and I'm a massive step-up from that. One that she probably couldn't handle.
That guy can never ever show his face in public.
So on to LoLo. I had never heard about her before, but when I saw her run, and then after she took her shades off and these eyes, probably some of the MOST enrapturing eyes I've ever seen just grabbed me. So I'm in the process of finding out more about her.
It's a cute site... Hate that it resizes my browser. But she is beautiful, damn right.
So that's pretty much who I'm lusting over right now.
****
Nike Air Force Ones.
After spending about $200 on a "rare" pair while in Vancouver then noticing I really didn't like the way they looked after about 3 days wearing them; on top of the fact that you can only wear the white ones about 6 times... I've decided I'm not wasting any more money on Air Force Ones. Just over it. I'll still with Shox, they look good longer and last longer.
****
I'm thinking about caving in to Netflix.
I've been on a Netflix boycott since they started because somehow they got into my AOL address book and were using it to send out ads. Since then, I've never used it. BUT, I've come to a few realizations.
-I was going to order cable this week, but I really dislike the fact I'm stuck with using DirecTV thru a middleman. They don't have VH1 Soul or MTV Jams. Plus, the middle man just charges you for no reason. They don't do anything. And being without cable for almost 2 whole years now I still don't think I REALLY need it.
-Everytime I want to rent a movie, it's something I've seen on IMDB while looking thru Monica Belluci's discography or something. Most of that stuff is NOT at Blockbuster. I'm trying to see a ton of foreign films I know they don't have. So, I'm thinking NetFlix.
I know there are some lover's out there. Let me know.
****
I'm selling my truck. I finally uplifted my Prada and broke the Hopeless Automoblie Romantic spell. I'm pretty happy right now :)
Was gonna keep the truck to shuttle gear around, but hey, that's what interns are for.
*****
I can't effin' wait for Raphael Saadiq's new album to come out. I guess it comes out on Sept 16th... I will be there. But today he posted a video, with some wonderful women in it, up on his myspace page. Shouts to my man Bobby Ozuna in the vid!
R.I.P. to an Atlanta Institution
Current mood: sad
Man, it's hard to even type this.
I just found out that EarWax is not reopening. They may one day, but honestly, I seriously doubt it. And boy, that was like the last icon of what I knew for Atlanta hip hop... As far as retail goes anyway.
EarWax was like FatBeats to NYC, but maybe even more. If you don't know about Earwax, let me paint the picture...
It was THE spot to go for vinyl. Not only was it crazy loaded with wax, but it was a great social environment. Half the reason I moved here was EarWax, the other half being Marco's Pita which thankfully is still open. But EarWax was the spot. Jasz, Shabazz, Talib, Seth... They were all cool cats. I'm sure Jaycee knows even more of the guys there, but that was the core crew I fucked with... Man I know I'm forgetting someone. But yeah... I moved here halfway cuz of that place. I remember calling them from Keene, NH in like Spring '95 before I came down to college to see if they needed help there. Their response was that they let all the homeless dudes clean up and they really didn't need help... But it was probably one of my first visits.
And the reason I was so broke during college. Man, my DJing years, boy did I spend some money on vinyl. Don't mean to sound like a washed up old dude... But DJ's got it easy these days for real. Imagine having to pay for doubles all the fucking time!!! That's why people stole records so much!! I was never really into stealing anyone's shit like that but I did get by ery' now and then.
I met Jaycee at EarWax. We were talking battle records. He put me onto some shit. I saw battles there. I went to a few 2nd Saturdays (I think that's what they called it.) I used to take pics of the murals they had on the side.
Now, this is the part that got me mad cuz I can't find the pics of them. If anyone has some please post them. But back when EarWax was on 11th and Peachtree... When Kaya was next to it... They had the ill murals to promote albums out there. I most def remember "Do You Want More?!" being up. Man, that was the location too bro... When they went to Spring Street, that was really the nail in the coffin. I really tried to support, but fighting the traffic and the fucked up parking was tough... And let's be honest, who doesn't just go to Best Buy on Tuesdays or cop from iTunes anyway?
And who plays vinyl? Man, I hate to even go THERE. I know my boy Aman from the old DARP days would totally bring up all this backpacker shit I used to say about "Vinyl will never die... blah blah blah..." But the internet killed it man. Digital audio really is the way. How could EarWax ever keep up? I mean, I saw what they TRIED to do on a website, but it wasn't the lick. Makes me sad man.
The biz has truly changed. Truly. How can you even sell music anymore? Much less VINYL??!?! You can't... It's too easy to cop for free. It's my industry, so trust I am worried. I mean, there will always be music made, so I'll have a job... But how do we still earn money from sales? Does it even happen anymore?
And EarWax is a true relic... They couldn't have lasted. CD prices were high cuz they were Mom & Pop... Wasn't their fault. Had to make a buck somehow...
But still, it makes me sad. And in writing this, I thought of something else that made me sad when I watched it, but also made me realize, "Hey, vinyl really has little to no value now." Here it is...
That vid is real as hell. To those of you who watched it anyway.
But back to EarWax. If anyone wants to share stories, please do. Jay, I know you're out there. Leslie, you gotta talk about your come ups too...
I love those guys and hope that all of a sudden that vinyl becomes worth 10x what it is so they can all retire happily and know how big of a part of the ATL music scene they really were.
Currently
listening
:
ATLiens
By
OutKast
Release date: 1996-08-27
I need to preface this whole blog by saying I'm the number one perpetrator of what I'm about to preach against. I'm a big ol nasty hypocrite. But that also qualifies me to speak on it.
****
How to be a better engineer.
****
Am I really typing a blog about how to be a better engineer? Yer damn right! Just like "Pregnancy for Dummies" or "Better Abs Now" I'm gonna lay it out for you.
But you'll like what I have to say cuz it's so fucking easy. Anyone can do it, and it only takes 1 second every session! YOU CAN BE A BETTER ENGINEER IN 1 SECOND! Really! It works for interns and assistants too! Wanna move to the front of the intern class? Want to be the first call assistant! Take my 1 second advice and watch your career blossom! You'll feel better, smarter, more qualified and more confident!!!!
What is this wonderful 1 second method you may ask?????
Turn off your laptop.
Again, I assert my hypocrisy here. I'm the worst.
But really, if you want to get better at your job, leave the internet alone. I'm not discounting that the internet can be a great resource when troubleshooting or maybe looking for something that will help with the session. But for reals, if you wanna become the shit at what you do, tune out the internet and tune into your sessions.
It's so easy just to zone out and mindlessly surf... do some myspacing and fbooking. But that's the trap. It's like watching television, but better. (Or worse.) I see assistants who will CAMP OUT on the internet all thru sessions. I know I can't call on them to step up and sit in my chair if I have to take a call or use the bathroom or whatever. Cuz they are out of touch with what's going on in the room. And interns... Let's not even get started. If you are an intern, and you have time to surf the net, you aren't trying hard enough. That's my word.
For me, my huge downfall was the arcade games at DARP. I got caught every now and then just sitting there playing. Not necessarily by the staff, but I mean myself. As an intern, you have no time for games, so why play them? You're in a probationary period, trying to prove that a studio should pay you a dime. If you can't find something to do, something to read up on, or someone's brain to pick, or a sidewalk to sweep, you don't really want it.
Assistants. There's no easy way to go from your $9/hr to the $50/hr engineer pay. But you'll damn sure speed the process up if you insert yourself into the life of the session. You OVER-DOCUMENT everything. You clean things. You read the manual on every single piece of gear in your building. You watch over the engineer's shoulder when he does ANYTHING. You find a way to put yourself into the mindset of the engineer.
One of my better learning methods was to sit at the assistant's desk (Patch bay area on the console) at D.A.R.P. Studio B. I would stare at Leslie and Alvin's hands while they mixed and listen to every single turn of the knob they made. I would try to listen for what THEY were listening for. But you know what? When I got my first laptop I became lazier. I admit it. I spent time BSing on the net.
I would say the above pic is from either late 2001 or early 2002. It was during the preliminary recording of Lloyd's first album. I had the very first Titanium Powerbook G4. 10gig HD baby! I wore that shit out! But it def made me lazy.
For real, the internet can really kill your vibe. Artists vibes as well. I see artists that should REALLY be writing their albums just sit there youtubing for hours. Studio time is mad expensive yo! And rare! From an engineer's perspective, if you are slow, why would you waste ANY time myspacing if you are in the studio but you've been mad slow?
I recently noticed an engineer, that I know could use more work, sitting outside his session playing on the net while his writers wrote. All I could think was... You can't lose ANYTHING by inserting yourself into their writing process. Even if they want to sit at the Protools and do it themselves... You may learn something! You may learn something while they are writing. You may be able to play an instrument they need to add! But why you would just "mail in" a session in this sorry state of the industry, I don't know.
I'm guilty of mailing in sessions. I'll admit that all day. But I'm also really good at getting completely immersed into a session. Why not make yourself part of the vibe? If you don't have a lot of duties in a session (like I did tonite, it was a babysitting session) then why would you just shut off? Use that as classroom time! This industry, and the methods of modern music production are constantly changing. You gotta be up on it. Dedicate yourself to your craft yo!
I took 3 pages of notes in my session tonite because I didn't even bring my laptop out. I learned some good shit, and I also documented important things. I made notes of things I need to research later. That's how you do it.
Now, of course there is good reason to still have your laptop there... I know with my main guy I have so much stuff quickly available to listen to in my iTunes that it's a good idea to keep it close. And then, of course we all know how important IM might can be in a session. Especially if you're an assistant and you need to discretely keep your manager up to speed or you have to ask the engineer something and he's on IM, but it's too loud to talk and ask normally. But with Blackberrys, sidekicks, and the ever improving iPhone software, you really don't need a laptop for that. I must have at least 40 different assistant engineer phone numbers in my cell because we have to txt a lot. Txting is great.
But for real, turn the 'net off. Decide that you are going to be lucid and open, and soak up all the things happening in your session. I guarantee you'll learn more, become better at what you do, and honestly, you'll feel better.
Don't be like me and do this:
Close your laptop and get into life.
Currently
listening
:
Lay It Down
By
Al Green
Release date: 2008-05-27
naughty
jolly
ecstatic
wanted
energetic
intimidated
crunk
sad
