Originally Posted by donsolo  I've been at this for a while (8 years). It's not my full-time living. I've gotten to work with some really tremendous musicians and some really aweful ones.
Even after you get better, the bad ones still come through. But that's good. If bands are coming to you rather than you going to them, you're already a step ahead of many producer/engineers. Your reputation and your abilities are rarely equal. Good news spreads like molases, bad news spreads like wildfire. Always make sure you give it 110% even if you don't enjoy the band. If you are good, good things will happen. If you aren't, work on getting good so good things can happen. Just because you're good doesn't mean good things are guaranteed to happen but if you're not good, good things won't happen.
To directly address your original question though, you need to find out if you're just the guy puting up the microphones, pressing record and mixing or if you're their producer. If you're their producer, you need to really put on that producer hat and really try to make the song sound good in the room before you put microphones up. Ask them to make some changes to see if they enjoy the song better with these new settings. Try to borrow/rent some different equipment. I lend my stuff to my buddy all the time when bands need different sounds.
If the band shows up with crate solid state amps and squier guitars, it's just indicative of the level they are at musically. Not EVERYONE who plays a squire sucks but most beginners play cheap instruments and cheap instruments sound...cheap(Silvertones and other cool vintage stuff can be had cheap but don't sound it). A good instrument can really inspire some players to kick it up a notch and really play. Amplifiers are easier to borrow though (I never lend out guitars).
So the equipment would be my first point of attack. Also, drop DI boxes on all of the amplified instruments and reamp later if needed. Don't be afraid to do this. Sometimes you get a guitar player who tells you their "sound" comes from this amp and that guitar and these pedals. I am going to tell you this (with 100% humility and honesty) that your sound comes from your hands, your note selection and the way you inflect while playing. Hendrix would still sound like hendrix on a Les Paul, a Strat, a Tele, an ES-335 run through a bass amp.
Maybe try software solutions. Guitar Rig is a great program for blending with a recorded sound. Guitar Rig 2 had some good bass options (though a bass through a sansamp kills it any day of the week in my opinion).
Drums are a different deal. If they sound like crap in the room, they'll sound like crap on the record. Look into renting a great kit for the recording day. Always use new heads (yes, it costs money). Have the drummer try different size sticks (Small sticks actually give more sustain I find) and don't be afraid to do drum replacement if needed. They pay you to sound good. There isn't an ethical dilemma if your goal is a good sound.
Keyboards are headaches, always. Just borrow other keyboards, take midi data and try other sounds. A cheap roland performance piano is not going to sound like a Phantom. And software really shines in this dept as hard drive space is so cheap these days you can have 500gb libraries of sounds without blinking an eye.
Performance issues (punch ins, quantizing, take after take, false starts) all need to be addressed before the band sets foot inside the studio. If you are their producer, show up to rehearsals. Tell them where things get sloppy. Rehearse the hell out of it before you put up a microphone. Bands these days expect you to "fix it in the mix" but you can't fix a sloppy performance 100% of the time. If it's really tight live and not happening in the studio, turn the lights down, record the band as a whole and stop trying to do everything in overdub (lay down additional overdubs later or even replace every single bit but get the vibe happening right away)
Vocals are just the bane of everyone's existence. They require many, many takes, usually an autotuner (or melodyne), lots of editing and a lot of automation with the volume fader. This is just a fact of life. The sooner you accept that, the happier you will be. Many people THINK they can sing and very few (including most on the radio) actually can. But they pay you to make it sound like the can.
I hope my advise while somewhat longwinded, was helpful. Understanding that these issues exist (with the band) is more than half the battle when it comes to improving them. |