Engineering Skills vs. People Skills

[Aarhus Lydstudie]

Originally Posted by James Meeker

Not to sound chauvinist, but most guy musicians aren't going to trust a woman to make their record.

well, Sylvia Massy seems to be doing fine...

[Full Clip Audio]

Originally Posted by Makinithappen

Sounds a lot like our place. Huge mix of different types of people and genres. It is truly a skill in its self to be able to easily make conversation with all kinds people from different backgrounds. The only people that I'm really uncomfortable with are young people who bring their parents or whole families... I have this emo kid acoustic guitar player/singer who brings his mom, his grandma, and his two sisters and none of them will talk at all. I try to make conversation and all I get is one word answers. I guess they just really like staring at the back of my head. I cant stand that.

Oh god! I HATE that. It rarely happens these days but nothing pisses me off more than some guy bringing in all his buddies and thier girlfriends to sit in and drink beer or smoke blunts. Hell no! Its impossible to get anything done and usually the kind of people who would bring all their friends are terrible anyway.

About the people skills......
My cousin is a very successful lobbyist. He has two planes, a brand new M5, couple other very nice cars, two houses etc. I was talking to him last month and when he was talking about his job it suddenly dawned on me that the skills needed for his job and what makes him so successful is EXACTLY the same set of skills we are talking about here! It then got me to thinking, I should have done that! Seriously! Then I could afford the studio of my dreams and never, ever open it to the public or anyone I didnt want to work with!

[James Meeker]

Originally Posted by Aarhus Lydstudie

well, Sylvia Massy seems to be doing fine...

I'm not saying it's right, but probably 95% of the male musicians I've met were complete and total pigs. I can't imagine them wanting to work with a woman.

Biologically, women are better suited for this job. They lose their hearing more gradually than men--both volume and high frequency loss.

[Thebassist]

wow this is important.

As a session player I've had dozens of great and not so great engineers behind the board...

One thing that drives me nuts is the cocky, trying to be your pal guy. The best engineers are good at what they do, and keep quiet unless they need to say something important. Who gives a shit who the engineer recorded last, how much he's gonna get tanked after the session, or how f*cking much he knows about the 1181 or 1076 or whatever other silly numbers slutz love and most musicians are totally oblivious to? Remember, guys- very few sessions have paid producers these days, and just a few words can dramatically change what's hitting tape/ad.

The last thing any session needs is an engineer who distracts from the performance!!!!!

Sadly, many engineers today did not have the honor of working under true masters, and the right way to interact with talent is something you simply CANNOT learn anywhere else...

[Sigma]

Originally Posted by James Meeker

Not to sound chauvinist, but most guy musicians aren't going to trust a woman to make their record. Nor do they want to deal with the unease of mixed sexes during a session. They want it to be the "boys club." Heck, with political correctness so rampant the studio is one of the few last bastions of being a male pig.

:)

susan ciani and a few ohers have broken the barrier..and i have had a few female assistants ..BUT..they gotta have thick skins..fact of the biz and life..i think i posted somethimg similar awhile back and got nailed th the cross

[James Meeker]

Originally Posted by Sigma

BUT..they gotta have thick skins..fact of the biz and life..i think i posted somethimg similar awhile back and got nailed th the cross

Absolutely.

I was speaking with a female student studying AE and explained some of the pitfalls a woman can expect in this industry. It's not fair, but neither is life. You can either get over it and move forward, or sit around complaining and get nothing done.

Ultimately, if a woman has a great track record and disography sex isn't going to matter. Unfortunately, I do think it is a factor in the real world because of many clients' mentalities.

[peeder]

Originally Posted by Sigma

susan ciani and a few ohers have broken the barrier..and i have had a few female assistants ..BUT..they gotta have thick skins..fact of the biz and life..i think i posted somethimg similar awhile back and got nailed th the cross

Blast from the past. My very first ever recording session ever (I was just a kid), Suzanne was the next session after me.