crawdad
Dammit, Jim, Shut Up!
I come home from a gig...I'm working on some tracks...decide I better check into the clinic, and we've got confessions, denials, deleted threads, accusations and who knows what else I missed. Just when it was all beginning to get interesting. 
So, please--somebody give me the capsule review. The gist I got was mixmkr said he was the Critic, ChrisHarris posted some thread, deleted it--now we have a mixmkr denial thread. Boy, its hard to know the players without a program...
This whole thing has just gone too far. Look--I'm just gonna say this once. The first premise is this: if any of us were true pros (deals, record labels, world product), we wouldn't be posting here to begin with--don't ya think? If I had a deal and was working on my new album, I certainly wouldn't bother.
Allow me my illusions here, as simple minded as they are. I don't claim to make consumer ready masters and I don't think anybody else here does either. So, the point of the mp3 clinic is not to give a thumbs up/thumbs down based on pro product. Its more to measure the distance between home recordings and what is produced by professionals in high dollar environments. Obviously, that distance is different for each person who posts his wares.
Look--I am a simple person with a simple heart--and my heart tells me to help those I can help to the best of my ability, and to ask for help from others when I need it. I'm not so proud that I can't accept criticism. I think its important and can really help us grow in our efforts. The key word is HELP. I've posted some pretty brutal critiques myself, but my GOAL was not to inflict damage, but to point out what was neccessary for a person to grow and improve his/her work. I've had some pretty blunt, but truthful criticism thrown my way. In the end, its helpful, provided that the intention behind the criticism is based on help and not on destruction.
Artists are sensitive and introspective beings for the most part. Its a subjective consciousness to create. Difficult to always see the whole picture objectively. So critiques are valuable and needed. Its part of the process of narrowing the gulf between amateur and pro.
The clinic is not just about the amateur/pro gap, though. For some, its a means of expression that they would not have otherwise. What standard are we to hold each other to? I think we have to look at where the person and his work is at, and give criticism that inspires the person to get to the next level of his/her journey as an artist. Depending on who it is, it might be a million different answers. Whats the point of tearing apart somebody who's been recording for six months, using the standards of fully pro recording? Isn't it better to give a few suggestions that are USEFUL to that person?
a_super_critic, in his goodbye thread, said we can go on patting each other on the back and basically praising each other. Well, his view is that everything should be fully pro or else its garbage. Ideally, his standards apply, but, folks, this is the real world. Its the MP3 mixing clinic for HOME recording people--many who do this for a hobby, or a way of release, or as a means of expression--or even as a way to just share themselves and their creations with others. I think mr. critic pissed people off because his standard didn't really apply here. Take it to the real world and critique real CD's from record companies. This is a CLASSROOM. A place to LEARN and SHARE. Its a place to get some freakin' help and to help others.
If we can't create a SAFE environment for that to happen, then the clinic becomes a joke. Just about everybody here GETS IT. We help each other. We don't shit on each other, but we don't lie either. We address each individual based on our take on what that person needs to get to the next level. We don't give a person an impossible goal--we look for the goal that is attainable for that person--the next step in the process. We are wannabes, for sure--but some of us are gonna rise up and be the real deal. Now, that is something to support. You can say "I was a part of that persons climb to being a pro". Its all step by step. As we celebrate the arrival of a SluiCe, Macle or Erland, the only person who will be grinding his teeth and bitching will be a_super_critic--whoever that really is. The rest of us will just celebrate and find joy in the music. And I'll be right there with them.
So, please--somebody give me the capsule review. The gist I got was mixmkr said he was the Critic, ChrisHarris posted some thread, deleted it--now we have a mixmkr denial thread. Boy, its hard to know the players without a program...
This whole thing has just gone too far. Look--I'm just gonna say this once. The first premise is this: if any of us were true pros (deals, record labels, world product), we wouldn't be posting here to begin with--don't ya think? If I had a deal and was working on my new album, I certainly wouldn't bother.
Allow me my illusions here, as simple minded as they are. I don't claim to make consumer ready masters and I don't think anybody else here does either. So, the point of the mp3 clinic is not to give a thumbs up/thumbs down based on pro product. Its more to measure the distance between home recordings and what is produced by professionals in high dollar environments. Obviously, that distance is different for each person who posts his wares.
Look--I am a simple person with a simple heart--and my heart tells me to help those I can help to the best of my ability, and to ask for help from others when I need it. I'm not so proud that I can't accept criticism. I think its important and can really help us grow in our efforts. The key word is HELP. I've posted some pretty brutal critiques myself, but my GOAL was not to inflict damage, but to point out what was neccessary for a person to grow and improve his/her work. I've had some pretty blunt, but truthful criticism thrown my way. In the end, its helpful, provided that the intention behind the criticism is based on help and not on destruction.
Artists are sensitive and introspective beings for the most part. Its a subjective consciousness to create. Difficult to always see the whole picture objectively. So critiques are valuable and needed. Its part of the process of narrowing the gulf between amateur and pro.
The clinic is not just about the amateur/pro gap, though. For some, its a means of expression that they would not have otherwise. What standard are we to hold each other to? I think we have to look at where the person and his work is at, and give criticism that inspires the person to get to the next level of his/her journey as an artist. Depending on who it is, it might be a million different answers. Whats the point of tearing apart somebody who's been recording for six months, using the standards of fully pro recording? Isn't it better to give a few suggestions that are USEFUL to that person?
a_super_critic, in his goodbye thread, said we can go on patting each other on the back and basically praising each other. Well, his view is that everything should be fully pro or else its garbage. Ideally, his standards apply, but, folks, this is the real world. Its the MP3 mixing clinic for HOME recording people--many who do this for a hobby, or a way of release, or as a means of expression--or even as a way to just share themselves and their creations with others. I think mr. critic pissed people off because his standard didn't really apply here. Take it to the real world and critique real CD's from record companies. This is a CLASSROOM. A place to LEARN and SHARE. Its a place to get some freakin' help and to help others.
If we can't create a SAFE environment for that to happen, then the clinic becomes a joke. Just about everybody here GETS IT. We help each other. We don't shit on each other, but we don't lie either. We address each individual based on our take on what that person needs to get to the next level. We don't give a person an impossible goal--we look for the goal that is attainable for that person--the next step in the process. We are wannabes, for sure--but some of us are gonna rise up and be the real deal. Now, that is something to support. You can say "I was a part of that persons climb to being a pro". Its all step by step. As we celebrate the arrival of a SluiCe, Macle or Erland, the only person who will be grinding his teeth and bitching will be a_super_critic--whoever that really is. The rest of us will just celebrate and find joy in the music. And I'll be right there with them.
Q.
Q.
)but I make an effort to contain it. I found out the hard way in life that there's no future in being a jerk.
