Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - What's the rudest anyones ever been about your studio?

themixtape · 8th February 2012

No one's particularly been rude about my modest home studio, but... I must bitch about a small studio in Sayreville/South Amboy, NJ (I'm not going to say the name but it's run by a guy whose first name starts with "D")

I tracked some drums in late 2007 for a friend, who recorded her guitars to a click track... I came in a few weeks later, with my Tama Starclassic Performer kit ($3000 kit with great cymbals, too)... tuned fantastically, I might add.

As the guy was setting the mics up for the drums in the live room (which was packed and horribly-laid out... too much gear, and cramped)... he had like, 5 condenser mics in front of the kit (close, and further away), almost like a cluster of mics... one overhead, one on snare, and one near the ride and floor tom (sort of like the Glyn Johns' Technique but... what's with the cluster?)

Basically, the guy made my drums sound like cardboard boxes. No joke.

Also, and this was great.... my Zildjian 14" New Beat HHs (industry-standard, as many drummers or drum engineers know)... I was playing some random stuff so he could sound check and the guy was saying "yeah your hi-hats are like, too bright or something... I'd like you to try a different pair"... so he gives me these cracked Sabians to work with... old, dull, lifeless broken Sabians... and as I'm testing them out he's like "yeah, those are so much better."

As I was tracking the drums, the click feed he has giving me was the quietest, and NOISIEST (hiss/hum) click feed EVER... it barely sounded like a click... it was like a soft wet fart every time it pulsed.. I was asking him if he could turn it up or change the click sound or clean up the signal or something and he was making me feel like an idiot for asking, like his click was absolutely flawless and I was speaking an alien language. I could hear him and my friend at the time talking crap about me (he must have had the talkback mic on very quietly, but I heard a lot of it).

After this, I knew this guy was a total idiot and tool. He ran Pro Tools but didn't know how to mix/engineer at all, in my humble opinion. He also had a good amount of rack gear... lots of mic-pres, some of which looked quite expensive. My theory is, he probably got lucky (an inheritance of some sort), knew a guy who had a space to rent for a business.... and started his own studio... guy was in his early 20s from my recollection. He bragged about the studio being his "main job... between this and playing in bands, this is how I make my living." Good for you, Sparky. Now learn how to use all that gear, or sell it to those of us who do.

The worst studio experience of my life. The EP that was released by the girl was just horribly-recorded and produced.... again, my drums sound like a cardboard box. No life at all.

I've heard other stuff the guy has recorded... and to be fair, those recordings are not god-awful... but I've heard a lot better.

I hate the ignorant "since I have Pro Tools, I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING" mentality so many d-bag studio owners and "engineers" have. I used Pro Tools HD in 1999, before anyone cared about it... and at the time, I hated it. It's ok these days, but to me, all DAWs are the same. I've heard KILLER records made on Reaper, Cubase, and Adobe Audition (rock records with live drums). Just goes to show yet again that it's not the gear... it's the know-how.

8th February 2012	#103
themixtape Gear maniac Joined: Dec 2006 Location: suburban Philly, PA Posts: 197	gotta chime in here No one's particularly been rude about my modest home studio, but... I must bitch about a small studio in Sayreville/South Amboy, NJ (I'm not going to say the name but it's run by a guy whose first name starts with "D") I tracked some drums in late 2007 for a friend, who recorded her guitars to a click track... I came in a few weeks later, with my Tama Starclassic Performer kit ($3000 kit with great cymbals, too)... tuned fantastically, I might add. As the guy was setting the mics up for the drums in the live room (which was packed and horribly-laid out... too much gear, and cramped)... he had like, 5 condenser mics in front of the kit (close, and further away), almost like a cluster of mics... one overhead, one on snare, and one near the ride and floor tom (sort of like the Glyn Johns' Technique but... what's with the cluster?) Basically, the guy made my drums sound like cardboard boxes. No joke. Also, and this was great.... my Zildjian 14" New Beat HHs (industry-standard, as many drummers or drum engineers know)... I was playing some random stuff so he could sound check and the guy was saying "yeah your hi-hats are like, too bright or something... I'd like you to try a different pair"... so he gives me these cracked Sabians to work with... old, dull, lifeless broken Sabians... and as I'm testing them out he's like "yeah, those are so much better." As I was tracking the drums, the click feed he has giving me was the quietest, and NOISIEST (hiss/hum) click feed EVER... it barely sounded like a click... it was like a soft wet fart every time it pulsed.. I was asking him if he could turn it up or change the click sound or clean up the signal or something and he was making me feel like an idiot for asking, like his click was absolutely flawless and I was speaking an alien language. I could hear him and my friend at the time talking crap about me (he must have had the talkback mic on very quietly, but I heard a lot of it). After this, I knew this guy was a total idiot and tool. He ran Pro Tools but didn't know how to mix/engineer at all, in my humble opinion. He also had a good amount of rack gear... lots of mic-pres, some of which looked quite expensive. My theory is, he probably got lucky (an inheritance of some sort), knew a guy who had a space to rent for a business.... and started his own studio... guy was in his early 20s from my recollection. He bragged about the studio being his "main job... between this and playing in bands, this is how I make my living." Good for you, Sparky. Now learn how to use all that gear, or sell it to those of us who do. The worst studio experience of my life. The EP that was released by the girl was just horribly-recorded and produced.... again, my drums sound like a cardboard box. No life at all. I've heard other stuff the guy has recorded... and to be fair, those recordings are not god-awful... but I've heard a lot better. I hate the ignorant "since I have Pro Tools, I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING" mentality so many d-bag studio owners and "engineers" have. I used Pro Tools HD in 1999, before anyone cared about it... and at the time, I hated it. It's ok these days, but to me, all DAWs are the same. I've heard KILLER records made on Reaper, Cubase, and Adobe Audition (rock records with live drums). Just goes to show yet again that it's not the gear... it's the know-how.