Have you ever recorded something so bad the client says forget it?

R

rob aylestone

Moderator
One of the things I do is live sounds where I record it and then either give the individual raw tracks to the client, or do the mix. Some are really good, others perhaps need a little er, help - waht I mean is maybe a few bum notes on the bass fixed, or maybe even tuning on some of the lead and BV vocals. Sometimes the 'fix' involves one of the musicians who played doing a bit of overdubbing and once completely redoing it because a nasty hum left the guitar useless.

However, in all my years I have only had one where it was so flawed there was no hope of fixing it. I have just found the recording, all tracks intact, despite being elderly. They were a chart band from the 70s, and while I daren't share the two or three 'hits' I could probably find the odd 30 seconds that might not point out who they were? The voice, I firmly believe is unrepairable.

If anyone has similar recordings, I'' kick the ball off with mine. We need to be a bit careful I think, but we often share good stuff, but sometimes the bad would make us feel we are not alone!
 
Unfortunately, I would get the guys who weren't good enough to know how bad they were. They would typically beat the same songs o er and over again, until they ran out of money. Then, 6 months later, they would pick it back up again until they were broke.

I'll bet if I hadn't closed the studio, the guy I'm thinking about would still be trying to play that same toon.
 
When I did live sound, I was fortunate to quickly transition from doing local hero club work to working directly with promoters, dealing almost exclusively with signed touring artists. Eventually I built my studio and then put together a live 16 track recording rig that easily incorporated into the live rig.

The level of artistry was pretty good till I started running a weekly open mic night. The idea was half the sign up's first, then an established folk headliner followed by the remaining sign up's. I had thought that this would be a good way to funnel work to the studio. Really was hoping I would attract the cream of the acts. The complete opposite was often the case. I made a lot of extra money off of providing a quick live mix on CD. Those that asked about studio time, more often than not were the worst. Amazing anyone can play in time and in tune and still be terrible.
 
Farview said:
Unfortunately, I would get the guys who weren't good enough to know how bad they were. They would typically beat the same songs o er and over again, until they ran out of money. Then, 6 months later, they would pick it back up again until they were broke.

I'll bet if I hadn't closed the studio, the guy I'm thinking about would still be trying to play that same toon.
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Nah, after you closed the studio, he bought a USB mic and is currently on take number 1783. It should be ready for release by 2026.
 
A couple years ago someone's brother (drummer) joined our established, very professional home recording project. He sent his first absolutely butchered takes to me, I replied asking about his setup and if perhaps something was wrong with the midi files he sent, to which they replied "I'm doing this for free, if they're lousy just adjust them on your (my) end". I explained that it would be basically me playing the drums with my mouse pointer, 'fixing' most of what he sent. He showed himself out.

I've since not been involved, but the same people are still going at it making music. It takes equal amount of talent and determination to succeed at any musical enterprise. When someone lacking one or both of those elements arrives they stick out like a sore thumb.
 
IMHO making music should be enjoyable. I mean, sure, songwriting can be cathartic and lot's of people sort of get out their emotional baggage that way. But getting together with others to create should be fun and bugger anyone who isn't serious about the work and happy to do it.
 
rob aylestone said:
One of the things I do is live sounds where I record it and then either give the individual raw tracks to the client, or do the mix. Some are really good, others perhaps need a little er, help - waht I mean is maybe a few bum notes on the bass fixed, or maybe even tuning on some of the lead and BV vocals. Sometimes the 'fix' involves one of the musicians who played doing a bit of overdubbing and once completely redoing it because a nasty hum left the guitar useless.

However, in all my years I have only had one where it was so flawed there was no hope of fixing it. I have just found the recording, all tracks intact, despite being elderly. They were a chart band from the 70s, and while I daren't share the two or three 'hits' I could probably find the odd 30 seconds that might not point out who they were? The voice, I firmly believe is unrepairable.

If anyone has similar recordings, I'' kick the ball off with mine. We need to be a bit careful I think, but we often share good stuff, but sometimes the bad would make us feel we are not alone!
Click to expand...
I remember one you mentioned before. Now whenever I see their hit come up on Youtube, I take a peek and even then it is not good singing.
 
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