What do you do when somebody brings you a over-squashed song to record vocals on?

youngmain · 6th October 2008

I keep getting clients who bring me CD's with instrumentals they want to record vocals onto and when I upload the instrumental to Pro Tools, it is OVER LIMITED. Im talking NUKED! Not totally distorted but its the whole LOUD FAD. What would you guys do in these scenarios, other than refuse to record them? Because then they want the vocals really loud, track loud, and it gets OVER BEARING!

dualflip · 6th October 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by youngmain

I keep getting clients who bring me CD's with instrumentals they want to record vocals onto and when I upload the instrumental to Pro Tools, it is OVER LIMITED. Im talking NUKED! Not totally distorted but its the whole LOUD FAD. What would you guys do in these scenarios, other than refuse to record them? Because then they want the vocals really loud, track loud, and it gets OVER BEARING!

I dont accept the audios, i tell them to bring them back uncompressed, if not, ill warn them that the final sound might be a piece of shit..., if they dont care, well i dont care...

Jonboy79 · 6th October 2008

If the clients are fine with the squashed sound then you take their money and give them what they want.

Jam · 6th October 2008

Politely explain what I perceive the problem to be and if possible demonstrate the drawbacks.

If the client is still happy to proceed, I do the work I'm asked to do to the best of my ability and finally invoice.

James

oudplayer · 6th October 2008

Give 'em overly squashed vocals to match...

bgrotto · 6th October 2008

Try to educate them. Let them know you care about THEIR recording, first and foremost, and that you're trying to help, not condescend.

Even if you couldn't care less about their stuff and it's about the product your name ends up on, you gotta spin it the other way around. You'll be the hero, and maybe they'll start bringing in uncompressed songs. Or even - gasp! - separated tracks so you can REALLY do your job!!

I've had a few clients who've taken well to my advice on headroom, compression, and all that. It's a win-win situation, you just have to make sure you're not coming off as some kind of audio elitist.

youngmain · 7th October 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by oudplayer

Give 'em overly squashed vocals to match...

They go hand and hand

youngmain · 7th October 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgrotto

Try to educate them. Let them know you care about THEIR recording, first and foremost, and that you're trying to help, not condescend.

Even if you couldn't care less about their stuff and it's about the product your name ends up on, you gotta spin it the other way around. You'll be the hero, and maybe they'll start bringing in uncompressed songs. Or even - gasp! - separated tracks so you can REALLY do your job!!

I've had a few clients who've taken well to my advice on headroom, compression, and all that. It's a win-win situation, you just have to make sure you're not coming off as some kind of audio elitist.

After this project its what I am going to start doing. My reputation is far more valuable than the money. Educating these artists is going to be tricky, but very beneficial in the end.

cornutt · 7th October 2008

Duck the whole track.

BLUElightCory · 7th October 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by bgrotto

Try to educate them. Let them know you care about THEIR recording, first and foremost, and that you're trying to help, not condescend.

Even if you couldn't care less about their stuff and it's about the product your name ends up on, you gotta spin it the other way around. You'll be the hero, and maybe they'll start bringing in uncompressed songs. Or even - gasp! - separated tracks so you can REALLY do your job!!

I've had a few clients who've taken well to my advice on headroom, compression, and all that. It's a win-win situation, you just have to make sure you're not coming off as some kind of audio elitist.

Perfect advice here.

thesteve · 7th October 2008

I agree with the above post, but the only thing with me is that I will usually do the vocal session first... Not to sound slimy or anything, but if you fill the client with doubts about the work they have done so far then they will either take weeks to re-do or source out new tracks, or they will sing anyways with an affected performance. Most likely when the vocalist shows up they will have done some rehearsing with those tracks, so the mood may work at the very least, then you can deal with the audio afterwards.

CaliTone · 7th October 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonboy79

If the clients are fine with the squashed sound then you take their money and give them what they want.

Totally agree with this.

6th October 2008	#1
youngmain Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2008 Location: Cowboy California Posts: 540 Thread Starter	What do you do when somebody brings you a over-squashed song to record vocals on? I keep getting clients who bring me CD's with instrumentals they want to record vocals onto and when I upload the instrumental to Pro Tools, it is OVER LIMITED. Im talking NUKED! Not totally distorted but its the whole LOUD FAD. What would you guys do in these scenarios, other than refuse to record them? Because then they want the vocals really loud, track loud, and it gets OVER BEARING!

6th October 2008	#4
Jam Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2003 Location: South East England Posts: 1,463	Politely explain what I perceive the problem to be and if possible demonstrate the drawbacks. If the client is still happy to proceed, I do the work I'm asked to do to the best of my ability and finally invoice. James __________________ http://www.jamesmuir.org My personal site http://www.makemorenoise.org Free Logic video tutorials

6th October 2008	#6
bgrotto Lives for gear Joined: May 2005 Location: Slum-a-ville, Mass Posts: 6,312	Try to educate them. Let them know you care about THEIR recording, first and foremost, and that you're trying to help, not condescend. Even if you couldn't care less about their stuff and it's about the product your name ends up on, you gotta spin it the other way around. You'll be the hero, and maybe they'll start bringing in uncompressed songs. Or even - gasp! - separated tracks so you can REALLY do your job!! I've had a few clients who've taken well to my advice on headroom, compression, and all that. It's a win-win situation, you just have to make sure you're not coming off as some kind of audio elitist. __________________ http://www.bennygrotto.com Mad Oak Studio on Facebook Allmusic.com The best bands in New England, performing Live at Mad Oak Discogs.com

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6th October 2008	#3
Jonboy79 Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2005 Location: St. Louis MO Posts: 2,636	If the clients are fine with the squashed sound then you take their money and give them what they want.

6th October 2008	#5
oudplayer Lives for gear Joined: May 2003 Location: Lake Cayuga, NY Posts: 908 3 Reviews written	Give 'em overly squashed vocals to match...

7th October 2008	#9
cornutt Gear addict Joined: May 2006 Posts: 497	Duck the whole track.

7th October 2008	#11
thesteve Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 641 1 Review written	I agree with the above post, but the only thing with me is that I will usually do the vocal session first... Not to sound slimy or anything, but if you fill the client with doubts about the work they have done so far then they will either take weeks to re-do or source out new tracks, or they will sing anyways with an affected performance. Most likely when the vocalist shows up they will have done some rehearsing with those tracks, so the mood may work at the very least, then you can deal with the audio afterwards.