How do YOU improve your skills?

[opentune]

Given the fact that most (or all?) of us slutz want to/need to improve their
skills (no matter in which audio field you work) there´s that questions i´d like to ask...

How do you do that?

Books? Sharing expiriences with comrades (like on this forum)? Workshops?
Research on the internet?

Let us know how you managed to improve in a certain field. (even if it´s
just about how-to-make-a-better-cup-of-coffee)

[RCM - Ronan]

Of course my answer would be to go to Home Recording Boot Camp, but of course that would be blatant spam.

But for real I think the one thing that has helped me most is making the decision to work on a really wide range of projects. If I am doing tons of rock I will try and do some jazz or folk. If I am doing too much progressive rock I will try and work on a couple grarage band albums. This forces me to really have to listen and experiment and stay off enginering auto pilot. After working on a couple hundred records I feel like I am just starting to figure it out a little bit.

[JHOOKS]

by doing all of the above! The only way to get better is to practice, read, listen, talk about your craft. and most importantly practiceeee!

[AdamJay]

experiment, and listen.

[thethrillfactor]

How do you improve your AE skills?


Simple:


1) Work with the best and most talented people you can so they can influence you and you can learn from them.


The people that have helped me and influenced me the most as an AE weren't necessarily other AE's but the most talented performers and writers and the desire to rise and represent their music the best.


2) Put your self in work situations with people (the best producers,artists, A&R management, other engineers) that will intimidate you into rising to your best.



I think its one of the dangers the whole Project/home studio market has created.


A universal studio "comfort zone".


Nothing gets the juices pumping or flowing like being in a situation where you have to step up or get something done within a certain time frame/deadline.


Or where you have to impress the label or your peers that just happen to be doing sessions in the same studio complex.


A studio comfort zone sometimes takes that edge away.


It isolates you and gives people the excuse that you can take your time.


3) Work in the best studios.


I think GM said it best when engineering in a place where lots of hit records were made you know you can't make excuses if it doesn't come out as good.


When working in places where costs are no object you get a good knowledge and idea about yourself and your limitations.


All of these suggestions if you notice has nothing to do with buying gear( I know sacrilege).


But sometimes human interaction will be your best teacher.

[warhead]

Listen. Not only to what's coming out of the monitors, but within the context of the mix. Also, listening to what the artist is saying about their sound coming out of the monitors will do the most good in steering you in the direction that makes him or her happiest.

And that's what it's all about, what the people paying for this stuff want to hear. There are times when you have to explain WHY something is a bad idea to the customer too, communicate with them and the end result should improve if the right decisions are being made along the way.

There is no "fix in the mix" that beats out doing it right all along.

War

[AdAudioInc]

Just do the work.
If it needs to get done, you'll figure it out as you go and get better and better at it.

[GYMusic]

By living every day with a basic set of rules or processes that have become my lifestyle. Fully understanding the recording/playback system that I decide to use. Mostly being a good listener... listen intetively, intuitively and pay attention to detail.

[Kestral]

thethrillfactor pretty much nailed it.

Last summer I was in a real down and out funk, feeling unmotivated and stagnant. Was really out of it. So a good friend that's a well known producer here in Canada, we we out for lunch and I just spilled it all out about how I was feeling. He didn't say much, just listened, and at the end of the lunch, he says,

Hmm... [insert name of friend who is currently a very hot producer with platinum albums] is recording with [insert name of platinum selling band recording second album] at [insert name of big studio with Neves, SSLs, etc] right now, why don't we go there and hang out?

So we went over, sat in for the session, and then broke out the tequila and lemon and spent the rest of the night partying.

That did more good for me than all the self-help books/tapes and I learned more that day than reading forums. To see it happening in front of me did a world of good for me no book could do. There really is no substitute for being there. Especially in this age of computer everything, it's all the more true.

Now I'm actually address something on the gear side. I think that if you can, BUY THE BEST NOW. What does that mean? Having gone through a lot of consumer, prosumer and now pro gear, it would have been cheaper for me to just go out and buy a Neve 1073 and Urei 1176 to begin with instead of puttering around with Mackie and Alesis 3630, going to Joe Meek, etc etc etc, going to Summit MPC-100A and then finally going to the Neve 1073 and Urei 1176.

It would have cost me less in terms of money (back when I started getting serious, I could have bought vintage 1073/1176 for literally half of what I paid because of apperciation) but more important, time. With every piece of gear, even an f'ing guitar tuner, there is a learning curve to make the best use of it. All that wasted time going through learning curves on gear I no longer use or care about would have been better spent on the Neve 1073 and Urei 1176 in the first place.

If I had to start over again on a tighter budget, I'd probably go the Brent Averill 1073 (or Chandler Neve clone) + Purple 1176 (or Distressor) but nonethless, I would have got the right pieces right away cause it would have cost less money but more importantly it saved learning curve time.

[Bob Olhsson]

Some good advice here, always try to be the least talented, least successful person in the room. I got bit by the home studio bug after I left Motown and really learned this lesson the hard way.

[Bishbashbosh]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

......always try to be the least talented, least successful person in the room.

I seem to have an incredible ability to achieve this.....

[Infernal Device]

This may seem silly but I honestly do it...

I always take the last project I did and put it away for two weeks when it comes back from mastering (and when the client has it, of course).

After two weeks, I listen to it and imagine that I was hired to find five mistakes in engineering and production.

Those five things I pay extra attention to on the next production.

Repeat

Repeat

(It has been five years and I am still doing that).

I got that from when I was learning and before I gave the mix to the studio owner, I would walk out of the room, have a cigarette, and come back in and listen like I was the studio owner hearing it for the first time.

[3rd world order]

keep carrying that rock up the mountain.. that's how I improve.

I'm the all day mofo...

[T_R_S]

Have Mutt Lange call your studio and ask for some help.

[Jules]

I find myself swapping around approach..

So I might..

Try no eq when tracking..
Try to remember to do more subtractive eq than additive

I ususally have a 'yeah! why dont a I try that next time' list of different DIRECTIONS to head in..

For example - I have always wanted to try that set up the drums - record one tune - tear em down overdub & mix - then set up the drums AGAIN for the next tune, tear em down - overdub and mix work flow... but havent had the balls to do it so far.. So one day I will - and that will be new..

There are lots of diffrent work methods - to try..

Here's one for example - when mixing - set up one very fancy 'stereo trick' for the tune.

Here is another I stole from Mike Shipleys posts on Gearslutz.com. Dont use the same drum sound for the whole tune. Customise it per song section to suit.

Or here's one I invented for myself (cause I was tired of 'patchy' drum sounds on artists doing repeat work at my studio).. when doing a REPEAT SESSION with an act using live drums.. get up a previous session and get the drummer to play to it again for a short while just as a 'sound check test' - and make 100% SURE that the drum sound is at LEAST AS GOOD (or better) than the last time... Doing this you might discover the drummer had recently been conned by a drum shop moron into buying some bullshit kick drum dampner system or some whack over thick tom skins that sounds like total ass - so spotting the negative difference - you can make him tear it out and get back to that cool sound you had last time (and improve on it further)

The thing about my genious 'method switch around' work ethos is - I forget more cool ideas to try than I ever remember...

Mix it up! The good sh!t sometime sticks!

Oh and where do the ideas come from? Daydreaming, audio magazine articles, other engineers - either talking in person or reading what they say - on line

[djui5]

I practice...a lot.

[phelbin]

Great advice, everyone. Thanks for taking time to put together the solid posts...really.

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Nothing gets the juices pumping or flowing like being in a situation where you have to step up or get something done within a certain time frame/deadline.

I'm fairly new at recording, but I constantly try to throw myseelf into situations where I'm in way over my head. So far it's worked very well for me.

And as a young guy I don't have the luxury of putting out crap, even when the budget calls for it. I can't let my name be on anything subpar. I put in extra effort and I'm earning a good reputation locally because of it.

I also compare my work to the best of the best...TLA, JJP, Clearmountain, etc. They have more gear than I do and tons more experience, but I won't let myself use that as an excuse. I'm realistic about it, but I expect myself to get closer and closer with each project.

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Or where you have to impress the label or your peers that just happen to be doing sessions in the same studio complex.

A few months ago I had a record label guy decide at the last minute that he didn't think I was up to mixing a record. And he's a friend of mine, so I took it personally. I was determined that the next few records I mixed were going to get extra special attention. I was definitely mixing with a chip on my shoulder.

After my next two mixing projects, word started to get around about how good they turned out. He ended up bringing that project back to me after a bad experience with another engineer that I warned him about. And he also is having me mix about half if his own record. I didn't even have to say "I told you so." My work did it for me.

[doug_hti]

I've fortunately been able to work with some of the best players and songwriters well before I derserved it...and it definitely raises your game,
but the downfall of that is that when you get challenging projects that DONT have good players, good writing, good arrangement, good recording, etc....Learning how to make em fly is what seperates men from boys...

However, the number one thing currently that helps me raise my game the fastest is working with very complex projects with ridiculously tight deadlines and high expectations. And they aren't the sort of projects where you can tell them to "rerecord it" or "rearrange it" or "there's too many tracks"....excuses don't fly. Either you do it good enough the first time or you don't get a call back.

[DirkB]

Lot's of great advice hear.

I try to keep improving my listening. It's difficult to explain, but just listen harder. Trust your gut when it's telling you that somethings not right and try to listen for what it is.

Plus: listen to the masters. Most of what I do is rock music and I have learned a lot from listening to AW. I had a band in last year which I engineered, mixed and produced and basically they came in with the latest Chevelle disk saying "this is how we want our disk to sound". Of course it ended up differently and nowhere in the league of AW, but it made me listen really hard and I actually learned quite a bit from it.

Another tip: most of here are slutz and to a more or lesser degree have quite some gear. But don't fall into the trap that you need to have converter x or preamp y or mic z to do a good job.

What did help me is really digging into acoustics. I have been researching it as much as possible over the last 4 years and it has helped me a lot in understanding how to record and mix.

Greetings,
Dirk

[Gregg Sartiano]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

How do you improve your AE skills?

Thrill's laundry list here is one of the best posts ever.

I'd just like to add that you have to do all of this while being aware of your strengths and weaknesses -- and how they're relevant.

I mean, if you're the recording school type but not the music school type, you can assist on as many R&B BG Vocal sessions as you want, but if you were producing a heavily harmonized vocal arrangement, you might not be ready to actually help the vocalist pick parts (or keep them in tune!).

Even if you a) know how to track it, b) know how to mix it, and c) have a good idea of what the final product should sound like, big picture-wise, you would not have the right education (or musical exposure/upbringing) to deal with it constructively. In fact, the "instincts" of engineering-trained ears as opposed to musically-trained ears...well, let's just say I've done a LOT of 'tune the middle part by a half step every time that chord comes up" for otherwise talented producer/engineers...

In this case, exposure and peer motivation won't help (particularly). So you just put yourself in a good position by hiring a BG vocalist who can arrange and (basically) produce him/herself well, or you bring on somebody for the day who knows the ins and outs of stacking harmonies.

[Gregg Sartiano]

I just noticed Thrill wrapped his post up by specifically mentioning 'limitations.' Nothing gets past you, does it?

I guess I wasn't adding, I was expounding.

Must

post

like

Thrill...

[Cojo]

It's been a lot of great advice here and this is how I do to improve my knowledge and skills:

Be like a spounge... suck, suck & suck information from everywhere and everyone. Not only from guys better then you, the less talended may have something you can learn from also. Then practice what you've learned so you can value the results! If you ask three people for the best setting of something, you'll get three different answer, so practice and valuate for yourself is a must. thumbsup

/Cojo

[seaneldon]

i try to constantly keep my chops up when i'm not at work. i record a lot of demo stuff on my home setup, maybe 80 songs, so i'm constantly experimenting with gear, theory, all that stuff. when i wanna keep my mixing up to snuff, i go back to a song a month later and remix it and don't stop until it's better in my opinion.

[Kestral]

Originally Posted by DirkB

Another tip: most of here are slutz and to a more or lesser degree have quite some gear. But don't fall into the trap that you need to have converter x or preamp y or mic z to do a good job.

I think the above tip is great once someone has some decent gear. Otherwise, as a friend used to always say to me, you can't do surgery with a butter knife. The right tools for the right job.

[Glenn Kuras]

I always go back to a mix and try to figure out something in it I could have done better.. Also I sit down with the mastering person and let them tell me all the bad stuff..

Glenn

[andychamp]

Originally Posted by myfipie

(...) Also I sit down with the mastering person and let them tell me all the bad stuff..

second that!

Whenever possible, I try to sit in on mastering sessions.
IMO, these guys are much more objective and technical in their comments.
They tell me stuff that goes beyond purely artistic considerations (which are of course just as important).

[Bob Olhsson]

Great point Jules.

I also make it a point to never do exactly the same thing twice. When I don't know what to expect is when I'm the most objective and creative.

Auto-pilot is when we'll always screw up because we assume something's working because it "should" or because "it has worked before." We hear what we expect to hear. The equalizer that wasn't plugged in that we tweaked for 15 minutes is precisely what we're always up against.

[Jim Williams]

I do the best I can with what I have. Then, when I've reached the end point, I pull out the manuals on the gear and read them again. Once I feel I understand the "operational" end, I then tear apart the gear to extract more audio out of it.

Then I repeat the whole thing again.

This has been going on for the last 30 years.

Jim Williams
Equipment operator

[Jim Williams]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

Great point Jules.

I also make it a point to never do exactly the same thing twice. When I don't know what to expect is when I'm the most objective and creative.

Auto-pilot is when we'll always screw up because we assume something's working because it "should" or because "it has worked before." We hear what we expect to hear. The equalizer that wasn't plugged in that we tweaked for 15 minutes is precisely what we're always up against.

If that happend to me I'd make an appointment with an audiologist.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[kats]

I still not at the point where my skills are good enough - every mix I do seems better than the last, which basically means practice and experience is the main thing for me at this stage.

Funny thing is every mix I do, I'm like Yeah - this is killer!!!! Wooo Hooo! That is until I go back to it a week later, I'm like WTF. The more I improve the more self critical I am, and the more I worry about details. So far it's a good thing.

One thing I should add, really learn alot by mistakes or accidents. Formula recording can really get me into ruts. Just as an example, I used a 3 mic set up for a drum recording (ala recorderman) - the drummer was top shelf, I had no worries - BUT just in case I figured I'd throw a close mic on the snare in case I had to use a sample or something for later fixups. On a whim I threw it on snare side to minimize HH bleed (talk about ruts, I never mic snare side).

As I figured, I didn't need the mic - but for the hell of it I started smashing it with an 1176 and fading it in the mix. Like night and day - best snare sound I've ever got with a brass snare, I couldn't imagine the song without it. So like everything else, it goes down in memory and is just another option in my skills that I accidentally stumbled on. And yeah, I'll probably think it's not that great in a month