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nickolo · 3rd August 2008

Its a stupid thing to say and has obviously rattled a few cages..
There are many musicians,producers and enthusiasts that do their own recording.Much of it is OK,some is very very well recorded music etc..so whatever..no one way to record music..
But a real proper engineer who earns a full living from it over his/her life will have skills to offer otherwise they would simply not exist for long...The times have changed with computers and equipment costs but there are still many great engineers out there working in all sorts of studios from radio,broadcast,post,mastering to pure music recording studios who are fantastic..and hold their position due to experience and being adaptable..For eg. A guy i know about who records bands live on a daily basis for radio in a tiny cramped london radio studio..A band is booked [he does a bit of research on them -listens to their stuff etc..] within 2 hours he has 4/5 great sounding live tracks -straight to stereo [no multitrack] Using a yamaha dig desk,simple bunch of mics and an attitude that puts the performers at ease..Sounds great and he gets the job well done..
Then you have guys that started making tea at 16 and learned how to make great great records with great artists..All sorts of dudes like Mark Wallis,Steve Nye,Colin thurston,Bascombe,tim freese green[talk talk-spirit of eden]Albini etc....+the great Jazz+classical engineers and the younger crowd helping to make all round great records...
If you have worked with dodgy folk or it did not work out then thats sad..Its not an exact science and i am sure all of us have had waisted time and bad sessions,sometimes our own fault or whatever,or simply not working etc..
Theres plenty of talent out there and saying they are fustrated musicians is pathetic! and bull in 95% of cases.People are attracted to the music and creativity and often you might for example be in a band and make contact with that world that way and find you are more suited to engineering or the other way..I started making tea/tape-op but found that despite loving the studio,i did not have all the qualities to become a great engineer,so went another route..Perhaps i am a fustrated engineer ha ha !!!...Its a very demanding and specialist career full of all sorts of engineers/engineer-prods who's goal is to get it down working with artists,musicians etc..
The only problem in that department is great facilities with brilliant live rooms and staff closing down and records being made with 1 guy and a PC..Still those cool top engineers are adapting,creating smaller studios to make music with todays budgets and changes..[for eg -Mark Wallis and goodluck studios] There are many stunning engineers about..,new and established....Its your music,therefore part of making great recordings is the responsibility and debate of who to bring in...Not always easy but thats not due to a lack of solid sound engineers..Musicians are getting to record these days and thats not bad but you can not beat a great team of varying talent and experience to yield brilliant results...
Think i got sucked in on this one!!!!Ignorant comments!!!
One last thing ,i know an absolute amazing pro engineer who happens to be a stunning musician too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3rd August 2008	#112
nickolo Gear addict Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 491	ignorant general statement about engineers... Its a stupid thing to say and has obviously rattled a few cages.. There are many musicians,producers and enthusiasts that do their own recording.Much of it is OK,some is very very well recorded music etc..so whatever..no one way to record music.. But a real proper engineer who earns a full living from it over his/her life will have skills to offer otherwise they would simply not exist for long...The times have changed with computers and equipment costs but there are still many great engineers out there working in all sorts of studios from radio,broadcast,post,mastering to pure music recording studios who are fantastic..and hold their position due to experience and being adaptable..For eg. A guy i know about who records bands live on a daily basis for radio in a tiny cramped london radio studio..A band is booked [he does a bit of research on them -listens to their stuff etc..] within 2 hours he has 4/5 great sounding live tracks -straight to stereo [no multitrack] Using a yamaha dig desk,simple bunch of mics and an attitude that puts the performers at ease..Sounds great and he gets the job well done.. Then you have guys that started making tea at 16 and learned how to make great great records with great artists..All sorts of dudes like Mark Wallis,Steve Nye,Colin thurston,Bascombe,tim freese green[talk talk-spirit of eden]Albini etc....+the great Jazz+classical engineers and the younger crowd helping to make all round great records... If you have worked with dodgy folk or it did not work out then thats sad..Its not an exact science and i am sure all of us have had waisted time and bad sessions,sometimes our own fault or whatever,or simply not working etc.. Theres plenty of talent out there and saying they are fustrated musicians is pathetic! and bull in 95% of cases.People are attracted to the music and creativity and often you might for example be in a band and make contact with that world that way and find you are more suited to engineering or the other way..I started making tea/tape-op but found that despite loving the studio,i did not have all the qualities to become a great engineer,so went another route..Perhaps i am a fustrated engineer ha ha !!!...Its a very demanding and specialist career full of all sorts of engineers/engineer-prods who's goal is to get it down working with artists,musicians etc.. The only problem in that department is great facilities with brilliant live rooms and staff closing down and records being made with 1 guy and a PC..Still those cool top engineers are adapting,creating smaller studios to make music with todays budgets and changes..[for eg -Mark Wallis and goodluck studios] There are many stunning engineers about..,new and established....Its your music,therefore part of making great recordings is the responsibility and debate of who to bring in...Not always easy but thats not due to a lack of solid sound engineers..Musicians are getting to record these days and thats not bad but you can not beat a great team of varying talent and experience to yield brilliant results... Think i got sucked in on this one!!!!Ignorant comments!!! One last thing ,i know an absolute amazing pro engineer who happens to be a stunning musician too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!