This summer and work...

[Thomas W. Bethe]

This is the first summer in a very long time were we are not scheduled to do any major recording, mastering or video work. We have two small gigs one in June and one in late July early August but at present that is about all we have on the books.

By now we usually have a number of gigs scheduled but for some reason this summer is very quiet. Things could pick up but I am wondering if the recession is still in play or whether people are still weighing their options and are not ready to commit to a recording project or are seeking other ways to do the recordings of their concerts.

Anyone else noticing a slow down in on location work for this summer?

[talbe1019]

My work is pretty much always the same...not really there.

[joelpatterson]

I feel like I'm rolling with the changes pretty well... I've been able to streamline my approach and have been dropping selected rates selectively and let me tell you, this brings HUGE smiles to the faces of people and other living things.

And a generic observation, if I may... the day I got my Sony PCM-D50 last year, I thought, "Man... this could put me out of business!" By which I mean... for the crowds of people day to day that are doing "optional" recording, it or any of its lesser brethren are totally ****ing fine, fantastically ****ing fine in point of fact.

But, to the issue at hand: everyone needs to expand and innovate constantly. I tramp around with my Sony at the Troy Night Out street festivals, deliver pro-bono audio documentary tours to the organizers, which they slap up on their website ( Troy Night Out! ) and everyone wins: I've met bands who've gone on to do "real" projects, the organizers are ecstatic to have these charming mp3's that capture the excitement and spirit of the events, and it's something neither me nor anyone else could have done prior to the birth of handheld/and state-of-the-art recorders.

So, my advice, for what it's worth: embrace the brave new world, do the things that were impossible before.

[boojum]

Joel, you have the hustle, skill and drive to make it work where you are. I would never think there would be much business in your area but you seem to be able to create it. Talk about being creative! That hustle with the Troy Night Out clips for the folks to put on their websites is a good one. I do not know if it would work everywhere but it sure works for you. I guess you know your audience. ;o)


Cheers

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by boojum

... know your audience....

It's absolutely true that the ground underfoot is "going seismic" if you will-- ah, there's a phrase for the thread about phrases you hate, "if you will"-- but along with all the "vanishing business," that's vanishing, I see a culture arising that is EVEN MORE addicted to audio production and its products than ever.

But-- now that anyone can do it, you need to distinguish what you do as being in a different league than what anyone does.

I had a little daydream today. It went: does Richard Branson say: "I don't need to hire anyone to record Madonna... I can just buy the stuff at Guitar Center and do it myself!"

Why is that ridiculous? Is Richard Branson any less capable than the average singer/songwriter? (Um... the answer is no.)

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

But-- now that anyone can do it, you need to distinguish what you do as being in a different league than what anyone does.

Well said. Should be framed and on everyone's wall that does remote recording.

It is all about separating yourself from the pack.

Too many choir and band directors today buy some form of chip recorder, lay it on a music stand and call the result a "professional" recording of their concerts. Total outlay for the recorder is less than most people here would charge for doing the recording of that concert. They tell themselves and their bosses that they are saving money. They take the recording, edited it in Audacity, make CD copies on their computer, print them on their Epson or H-P printer and voilà a "professional recording" done for practically nothing.

It does not seem to make any difference that the only instruments you can hear are the ones directly in the path of the chip recorder nor does it make much difference to them that there is a lot of "handling" noise and the program is distorted in many places because the gain is set too high but it is after all "saving them money".

The same thing is happening in the world of small club recordings. The club or the sound engineer goes out and buys a chip recorder, straps it across the 2-mix buss and the band has a "recording" of the event for free or practically nothing. No need to pay an additional sound recording person.

Churches and schools are using their internal A-V departments to do recordings of outside groups. This is a money making operation for them and so what if it is badly done??? it is, after all, just a "record" of the event. One church around here makes sure no one from the outside can do any recordings in their sanctuary by having a 'no cables on the floor" policy. Of course all their audio and video stuff is built in.

Buying equipment seems to be what everyone is doing now days and they tell themselves that they will be able to learn how to use it eventually. I love it when I am in GC and someone is buying $2,000.00 worth of recording equipment in order to "save myself some money". I seriously wonder how much of that stuff really gets used for a major recording project and how much is still sitting in the original boxes two months after its purchase?

Joel you are the MAN and I wish you every opportunity to do what you are doing and seem to be doing well. Best of luck in this down-turning economy.

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by Thomas W. Bethe

... after all, just a "record" of the event...

Thomas, you're too kind, even though I am a card-carrying egotist and just soak it up.

I also see a trend for lotsa people in general making cruddy recordings of every little thing they do, and thinking it's magic, and I don't limit this to ad hoc choruses but include [what you would think of as] serious hobbyists-- and while some are so utterly deluded as to think it's great stuff, I think there's a cold day dawning eventually where everyone realizes their stuff is un-listenable.

"Un-listenable" is maybe harsh-- I guess what I really mean is "un-enjoyable to listen to," and that's where we who see our job as a craft depart from the legions of Guitar Center customers who see the task as pushing a button.

One time a lapsed customer of mine who'd attempted a few concert recordings on his own came back to me and said simply that the things I'd done for him years ago had "held up well" and now he was back for more. My initial, subconscious reaction was that I'd been slapped in the face with a backhanded compliment-- "held up well," gee thanks so much-- but I saw he was putting it all in the simplest terms he knew how.

Everyone-- EVERYONE-- knows when they are listening to something soothing and invigorating and exciting, as opposed to suffering through some boomboxy waste of time-- but the realization of how it all works-- like, it will work better if you hire a professional-- that seems like secret wisdom that must be hard won, one person at a time.

[Corran]

Great words of wisdom (gasp ) from Joel!

My summer for the most part is better than average, but it's not averaging out the dip in gigs I had the last few months. I'm still experimenting with new ways of marketing recordings, "differentiating myself" as it were.

Great thread, I'm interested to hear what others are doing in these times...

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

Thomas, you're too kind, even though I am a card-carrying egotist and just soak it up.

I also see a trend for lotsa people in general making cruddy recordings of every little thing they do, and thinking it's magic, and I don't limit this to ad hoc choruses but include [what you would think of as] serious hobbyists-- and while some are so utterly deluded as to think it's great stuff, I think there's a cold day dawning eventually where everyone realizes their stuff is un-listenable.

"Un-listenable" is maybe harsh-- I guess what I really mean is "un-enjoyable to listen to," and that's where we who see our job as a craft depart from the legions of Guitar Center customers who see the task as pushing a button.

One time a lapsed customer of mine who'd attempted a few concert recordings on his own came back to me and said simply that the things I'd done for him years ago had "held up well" and now he was back for more. My initial, subconscious reaction was that I'd been slapped in the face with a backhanded compliment-- "held up well," gee thanks so much-- but I saw he was putting it all in the simplest terms he knew how.

Everyone-- EVERYONE-- knows when they are listening to something soothing and invigorating and exciting, as opposed to suffering through some boomboxy waste of time-- but the realization of how it all works-- like, it will work better if you hire a professional-- that seems like secret wisdom that must be hard won, one person at a time.

We too have had a couple of clients that decided to "go it on our own" but then came back to us with similar statements.

Too many people today seem to think that everything they do is FANTASTIC and don't really listen to it with "Critical Ears". Maybe it is because they are so use to listening to Lo-Fi recordings on their IPODs that they really don't know what music is "suppose" to sound like when played back over good equipment.

One trend that is really really bugging me is that many conductors now, with very little knowledge about audio, are telling me where to put the microphones for the recording because they read it in a magazine or someone at GC told them where to place their $49.95 Shure SM-57 knock off microphones when they purchased them for recording rehearsals. I try and be very patient but sometimes.....rrrrr. I don't tell them how to conduct or that their tempo is all over the place and their third violins are so out of tune they are almost comical but I just smile and try to do a good job.

It also would be comical but it is very serious when they decide to deisgn their own CD graphics and have NO IDEA of what they are doing or how to get the best looking CDs. I had one conductor who wanted a total black background with dark purple lettering on it and then complained that his parents said they could not read it. Excuse me...any first year art student would have seen the problem but NO they want to "do it myself" 'cause I have Photoshop.

Well at least we still get to do the recording for these conductors but I do a lot of tongue biting at the concert and afterward.

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by Thomas W. Bethe

... seem to think that everything they do is FANTASTIC and don't really listen to it ....

I have pondered this Mystery of the Universe extensively... and the conclusion I come to is that they aren't "hearing" what's coming out of the speakers at all, so much as what's coming out of the speakers is "triggering" in their imagination the "ideal" version of the song they were shooting for--

Which never happens for an objective outsider. It's kind of the same way you can skim over something you've written and not notice errors like having put down "the the" when you meant to say "be the," apparently all they're hearing is the "emotional intent" and that alone is so joyous-- and also, there's a "buyer's defense mechanism" that probably comes into play: because they sunk money into gear, and because this is the work of their own hands, ipso facto it must be "good," because to question any of that is to edge close to admiting that they're... um... an idiot.

[LP2006]

Originally Posted by Thomas W. Bethe

This is the first summer in a very long time were we are not scheduled to do any major recording, mastering or video work.

Anyone else noticing a slow down in on location work for this summer?

My main thing here is location classical, and it hasn't quite slowed down for the summer. It has stopped. Ha! Hopefully that is some consolation! No mastering, studio tracking, or mixing work either... simply nothing.

There is going to be some pretty cool stuff hitting the classifieds soon.

[fifthcircle]

Summer around here is where I turn from a recording engineer to a sound reinforcement PA mixer/system tech. I go from mostly work for my own business to mostly work where I'm working as a staff tech for a venue. Just different ways of dealing with trying to earn a living.

--Ben

[Don S]

Originally Posted by Thomas W. Bethe

It is all about separating yourself from the pack.

thumbsupThis can go on that same wall.
Also remember that a school budget pays for the flash recorder and software!

[Corran]

Originally Posted by joelpatterson

... and the conclusion I come to is that they aren't "hearing" what's coming out of the speakers at all, so much as what's coming out of the speakers is "triggering" in their imagination the "ideal" version of the song they were shooting for--

I think this is spot-on. One of the first orchestra clients I had commented that my recording was pretty good but that the trumpets were horribly out of tune, so maybe I could do a little better next time??

[joelpatterson]

Originally Posted by Corran

... so maybe I could do a little better next time??

That's not funny, it's sick!

[Thomas W. Bethe]

A long time ago I did a recording of a female pianist. She was very good. I gave her the tape (yes a reel to reel tape - it was a long time ago) of the performance and two days later she calls me up and says there is a major problem with the recording. She said that in one Sonata she played a B flat but I recorded it as a B natural. She said "I want it fixed and fixed quickly". I told her that in order to do that she would have to replay the section and I would rerecord it. She agreed and we did the rerecording. I spliced in the new section and sent it to her. She called me up and said I had done it to her again and that she had played a B flat and I had recorded a B natural. I told her that this was impossible and asked to see her score. When I read the score I could plainly see that is was a B natural and not a B flat. When I showed it to her she said " well I have always played it as a B flat" so your equipment should know what is suppose to be played. TRUE STORY!

[joelpatterson]

No wonder the facepalm is the most popular emoticon.

And how horribly cruel of God to give so many people musical talent, and couple it with utter brainlessness. I see an epidemic of this, completely resistant to antibiotics.

[Corran]

Okay Thomas you win for the best facepalm-worthy stories...