jkuehlin
New member
Re: Miroslav - on the roll of the mixing engineer in the corporate ladder
...Continued from the "transient designer" thread
When it comes down to the mix, I'm pretty indifferent to the artistic preferences of the local artists. I'll try and give them whatever they ask for, but I turn enough stuff down to where I think if the artist is going after something ridiculously or unrealistic, I tell them I'm busy and send them somewhere else. For the projects I do take, if the artist wants something less autotune, more organic sounding, or less processed I'm happy to oblige. Its really down to two questions. Who is paying, and what do they want done. People hire a mix guy because of their taste. And your own artistic background plays into this. But really (for the local independent artist), my job is still to understand and execute their idea. They in essence are the producer.
In the case where A/R is driving the project with corporate cash, its usually made clear ahead of time to the producer and to the manager, that the creative control is in the hands of the corporation.
...Continued from the "transient designer" thread
Since you asked in the previous thread to know a little more about how these companies are usually structured, its not necessary the execs that you (the mix engineer) are shooting to please (although it ultimately is). Your concern is keeping the producer happy, who's sole job is to work out a compromise between what the artists want to and is capable of doing and what the A&R guys need in order to be able to sell/license/catalog/pitch the artists material. At this point, the material is no longer the property of the artist and the decisions are not in the hands of the artists unless A&R deems it so. For the artist - not their money at risk, not their call. This business (for me) is about figuring out who's really in charge, where the money is coming from, and keeping that party happy. CLA has emphasized the importance of being everyones friend. Of always being able to find a win-win, or at least make everyone feel that way. When there's conflict Dave Pensado tends to err on the side of the artist, but he can afford to. I tend to lean toward the side of the corporation.AFA the guys who have to please some exec at a record company who has specific expectations...
You're ultimately talking about creative control here. For an artist that is self-financing their material, I rarely work with them unless they have a producer involved. I'm picky about which producers I work with on a local level, but I'll work with damn near anyone who's established on a regional level. After being in this over 10 years, I'm just starting to work with adequately financed national level producers now (but small scale national level...not the real big guys).I don't necessarily see that as something that has to force the hands of the artists...that they have to absolutely must follow that, but I'm sure some have to because they are not driving the bus, and maybe some producer is.
When it comes down to the mix, I'm pretty indifferent to the artistic preferences of the local artists. I'll try and give them whatever they ask for, but I turn enough stuff down to where I think if the artist is going after something ridiculously or unrealistic, I tell them I'm busy and send them somewhere else. For the projects I do take, if the artist wants something less autotune, more organic sounding, or less processed I'm happy to oblige. Its really down to two questions. Who is paying, and what do they want done. People hire a mix guy because of their taste. And your own artistic background plays into this. But really (for the local independent artist), my job is still to understand and execute their idea. They in essence are the producer.
There are two contrasting scenarios here. When an indie artist has made contact with an A&R guy and is pitching material to them, and when the project is being funded through a label and overseen by A&R. Different scenarios. In the case of the first, when the artist actually HAS made contact with an A&R rep, I can usually get in touch with the label and find out what the artist is needing. Most of the time the independent artist doesn't have a clue. If the artists connection to the A/R person is legit, and the artists is not merely wishing this on a god damn pipe dream (which happens quite often), the label/publishing company will usually return an email or text to clarify their interest in the artists recording and what they intent to do with it. A/R is not always honest but you catch onto this quick and learn things to spot.Now...you can argue with them that if they don't follow that, the execs won't like their new sound...whatever...but I just don't think that we are all now endlessly locked into that over-processed kind of sound.
In the case where A/R is driving the project with corporate cash, its usually made clear ahead of time to the producer and to the manager, that the creative control is in the hands of the corporation.
It would really help if you started thinking of this beyond music production, because the audio work (and the money that makes up the audio industry) is much much bigger. And the trends extend to all facets of the audio industry. Talking about brighter, louder, more processed sound...more immersive sound...this goes just as much for film and gaming as it does music. Compare the original and the remaster of Star Wars Phantom Menace. Or Titanic. Take the original and the remaster for Halo. Compare the way sound design, foley, and dialogue was changed in-between the first Call of Duty and the most recent release of Battlefield. Compare the loudness, brightness and synthetic sound design in the music to Frozen to pretty much anything before it. Then look at Greatest Showman and put it against the 2004 remake of the Joel Schumachers Phantom of the Opera. What I was alluding to in the other thread is that the delivery of sound/audio licensing deals and contract work to these types of projects weather indie or major dwarf the amount of cash available to people who specialize in recorded music alone.I actually hear quite many flavors in new production sounds these days, pulling from a variety of music "decades" from the past, along with the more recent, over-processed, bright flavor, but it's different from artist to artists and genre to genre. I'm not hearing so much of that "one sound" thing anymore.
They don't even get asked. Mandy Moore has no say in how her vocal is mixed on the Frozen soundtrack. Liam Neeson and Samuel L Jackson had no say in how their voiceover cues are mixed in the Star Wars Clone Wars animated series. In recorded music, again, it just depends on who's in charge.OK...I understand now why you say you need to remove your creative interest...but I guess I don't get how that is the same thing as feeling a need to conform to something. I mean...if artists want to go in a totally different direction, do you debate that to make them aware they should follow some "standard"?
Sadly, the mix is pretty inconsequential in the major scheme of things. This is why mix engineers are so much lower on the food chain than producers and creative designers. The head of sound design in a movie is immensely important. The chief mix engineer...not quite so much. Because they carry far less responsibility and impact on the end result of the video game or film. These things are pretty much set and decided at the start of the production. By the time a mix reaches my desk, the direction should already be clear and evident from the content. There's nothing artistic about how you made a loop play when a character enters a danger room on a video game. So in that sense everyone wants the same thing. They want something that works. If a character shoots a gun 9mm handgun, they don't give a shit if it sounds like a real 9mm. They don't give a shit if it sounds like a Ruger or a Beretta. They just want to hear an gunshot that makes sense in the context of the game.I'm sure many are looking for you to make their stuff sound like __________...but I would find it hard to believe that everyone is saying they want the same haircut, or that you are saying they should all have the same haircut.
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