It's been a while since I posted, but I'll pick up where I left off with little things I do which help me with my mixes. Tip #33 was listening to a mix with the door closed and Tip #34 described how I'll make a mix pass with at low volume with the TV on. I've never actually done this one, but I thought it a mention!
Recording Tip 33: I’ll often listen to a mix playback outside of the control room...mostly with the door closed.This is a tip is another of those happy accidents. I was working on a mix one day when a client arrived to hear what I’d done. As he sat in my chair to hear the mix, I hit play and then stepped outside the control room to grab a drink. As the door closed, I decided to remain outside, mostly so he’d listen to the entire mix before picking it apart (The minutia this guy would tweak is legendary in this town). But while outside the closed door, I began to hear the mix differently.
A few months ago, I wrote a blog about Steve Jobs upon his decision to step down from his position at Apple. Not long after that, he passed away. Recently, I read the fantastic biography on his life by Walter Isaacson. It was one of the quickest 900+ page books I’d ever read and I highly recommend it. With that on my mind, I felt it good to rewrite the blog a bit and update it after his passing So here are some of my thoughts. I think there’s a lot to be learned from his life, no matter what field of endeavor we pursue.
This was another happy accident found when working. I was printing a mix, listening on my small speakers with the volume low. As it played, I turned to take a look at the muted TV, which I keep behind me so I don’t get distracted. I had a news channel on and as the mix played, a story came on which was of interest to me, so I un-muted it. As I listened to the news report and continued to listen to my mix, I discovered something rather fascinating.
As some of you may know, I post a series of recording tips from my twitter account, @davidschober. I am in the process of expounding on these tweets in my blog; this is #31 in that series and got a bit of some fun reactions. This tweet has generated a lot of reaction and questions. Some of the comments were quite funny, and some more serious, asking if I meant permanent hearing damage. While of course heavy, long term abuse of alcohol can result in any number of negative outcomes, all I really meant was that whenever I’ve had a drink, I notice my hearing suffers.
The word has positive and negative interpretations. But what I want to discuss is the negative one. Let’s cut to the chase. The fact is this: Once one has sufficient skills, what’s most likely to get them to be called for a gig is the demeanor they bring to a gig, a session, whatever. Yeah sure, talent is in short supply. But what’s in even shorter supply is someone with great talent and a positive vibe. If you can be that person, your chances of getting work go up a 1000%.
A few weeks ago, the news came from Apple which most of us knew we’d hear sooner rather than later: Steve Jobs resigned his position at the company he started. By now, there are no doubt numerous articles and blogs written about Jobs by folks much more connected and reputable than myself. I’m just a knob jockey who’s never purchased anything but Apple products. So what’s to be said that hasn’t already been written? I may echo other’s writings, but here’s what comes to mind...
As far as I know, this phrase was first coined years ago when I was assisting my mentor, Bill Schnee in the course of struggling with a snare that was so over-EQ'd, there was hardly any quality of the instrument remaining. He worked with it a while, then uttered that great phrase in disgust. There can be many reasons why a snare doesn't sound good. But if you're having real problems getting the drum to sound good, severe EQ is probably the last thing you should use. Better to change mic, move it, or change the drum itself. Do understand the challenge you’re facing is not only dealing with your skills, but with the drummer and their ability to make a good sound. I was told this was true early on in my career, that the biggest part of the sound is due to the player, but I never realized how true it was until I was recording a session where a drummer was swapped mid-session.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there’s no such thing as a small gig. Every job you ever take has its repercussions, positive or negative. Rarely are they neutral. And the fact is, in my experience, I’ve found that the gigs which may seem less significant often are much more significant than I’d ever imagined. A perfect example of this is what happened soon after I’d moved from LA to Nashville. Of course, I was trying to establish myself and get work. Things were going ok, but I needed a decent bump in my work. One spring day, I was at home and the phone rang.
Of all the tweets I’ve posted, I get the most questions on this one. People ask, “What do you mean by 'truly stereo?'” I think the question comes from a lack of understanding of what stereo is. So what is stereo? It’s a pretty straightforward question with a simple answer. But let’s look at a few aspects of the subject before I answer that question.
This is #8 in my series of tips I post on Twitter and my blogsite: Just because something is analog doesn’t mean it's better. Bad analog products have been around for decades. I grew up in the analog age. When I began as an assistant at Bill Schnee’s Studio, it was an all-analog world. But don’t think we loved it all. There were neverending debates about what console or tape machine was better than the other. Some differences were striking. The fact is that not all analog is good.
It’s a well-worn phrase, but not always true, especially in music. And in creating pop music, there are few places where it’s more proven than in mixing. Just ask yourself; How many albums have you heard which sound really dreadful? You scratch your head and wonder how was it possible those mixes got approved. I remember when I was a young assistant engineer at Bill Schnee Studios and discussing a particularly bad sounding album with the tech. “How could they make such awful sounding mixes?” I asked. He told me that as bizarre is it may be, for some reason, everybody there thought they were great. They no doubt played back their mixes in their cars, and home, and signed off on it. Somehow they were convinced it was good...but it wasn’t.
Greetings to all who tune in to the ProSoundNetwork! My name is David Schober. What you’ll find here will be various tips and observations I've been fortunate to learn from some of the best engineers, producers and players in the biz. Some are clear and practical things to do--or not do--when recording, and some are general principles when recording artists or players. It’s not everything, but it’s a good start. Some may disagree with this or that, and that’s fine. I appreciate any thoughts you all have and hope we can have dialog about them.