Should I refuse this kind of gig?

[Thomas W. Bethe]

GERAX

I am not sure why everyone seems to want to do everything themselves but it seems to be a fact of life in the music business today.

You probably could do a better job than the person who is going to mix the material you recorded and probably do it in less time. But for some reason he wants to do it and honestly SO WHAT? Maybe he thinks it is easy or maybe he just purchased a lot of equipment and wants to show his significant other that there was a reason he just HAD to spend the money. The lists of why he wants to do it are endless.

Just do the best professional work you can and hand it off to the next person. As long as you are getting paid and they are not saying recorded and mixed by <your name> what is the difference?

I hear lots of reasons why people want to do it all themselves the top two reasons seem to be 1) to save money and 2) to have artistic control. Most people who say they want to save money go right out and buy a boatload of equipment (so they can save money) and then tell everyone that they are saving money by doing it themselves and not hiring someone??????? (who knows maybe they like to watch the flashing lights) As to artistic control I guess that is valid but if they really don't know what they are doing then all the artistic control in the world will not do them any good when the material sounds like crap after they are through with it.

Best of luck and let us know what you decide.

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Originally Posted by Gerax

Again, if you are a musician that's capable of doing engineering work then, be my guest; not my romantic vision of the thing, but I respect the fact that a musician can take engineering on a serious level: in that case I could even learn something new. I didn't say all musicians are a group of inept DYI hacks; certainly lots of them are, and that's what throws me for a loop: this misconception that all you need to do engineering work is a computer and a DAW and you "enthusiasm" and that everybody can do it at home. Technology may have allowed many to access the music making process, but it has considerably lowered the level, that's for sure...

AMEN!

[Gerax]

Originally Posted by Thomas W. Bethe

AMEN!

That's a sad but true reality.

In the end I'm going to get the gig: turning down work in this precise business and general economics climate would be an insult to those who are getting a very rough time, even worse than I am. But these are just the gigs I consider necessary to pay my daily expenses...by no means they give that creative burst we're all into this field for, and that we're willing to compromise for, isn't it?

[mosrite]

Also, as some have pointed out, make sure you are credited properly (or not credited at all if you think the end result will in any way reflect badly on you).

I had a similar gig a few years back, I recorded, they mixed.

It is quite incredible how a bad mix can completely destroy a recording

At the time I had offered the mix too but, for whatever reasons, it was declined.

[7rojo7]

AMEN
if you have a job that pays
I'm looking

[Gerax]

Gig went fine (amazing room in both sound and aesthetics, 1700ish ballroom of an historic palace in Florence).

Guess who's likely to handle editing and mixing...

[Remoteness]

See...

You made the right decision and now may have the entire project.

Very strong!

[Gerax]

Yeah, I acknowledge the fact that they admittedly approached me with the idea of handling the post, as the sound of the concert ended up being a bit different than that of the rehearsals (more than 150 humans packed in a room act as very good HF absorbers), and some expertise in editing and mixing will be necessary; far more than that of an enthusiast musicians (BTW they are GREAT musicians, I'll post samples ASAP); plus they really performed great and were very happy with how the rough I gave them sounded right off the bat. So I talked them into turning those "deoms" into a finished record. I'll get feedback and the GO to the project within the end of the week...

In the end, I hope we're doing it, because (let alone the money) I really got into the energy and the musicianship of the project which deserves to be produced right, and that's the reasong I got into this job.

Thanx