Opinion: What Makes an Engineer Great?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cloneboy Studio
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Cloneboy Studio

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Here's a discussion we should have: what makes a recording engineer GREAT as opposed to merely good?
 
Interesting question!

Great ears, strong fundamental knowledge of mics/mic'ing techniques, solid understanding of frequency ranges/EQ, better than average techical skills (re: electronics), relatively decent personality (why is that always one of the missing ingredients???) and other intangibles that I have not yet mastered (thus I am not a great engineer).
 
An unusual work ethic, and a drive / obsession to get the very best-sounding tracks humanly possible.
 
(A) Being able to understand a good CORE sound outside of a full mix.

(B) The ability to CAPTURE that sound.
 
There are a good number of people who can get a good sound so assuming we are talking about engineers who get the sound you desire....

Personality (honesty, kindness, compassion, character, humor) - Number one in my book. I write probably 30-50% of most all of my clients music, work with them very honestly and have a really close relationship with all of them. If they are going for a guitar tone or a vocal melody that I think is awful, I simply won't record it (with a "I'm not a fan of that part" or whatever) and give them some substitutes... in the end they thank me and ask me when they can come in again.

Also, a willingness to try ANYTHING new is important to me.
 
Sounds more like a Producer

Strave said:
There are a good number of people who can get a good sound so assuming we are talking about engineers who get the sound you desire....

Personality (honesty, kindness, compassion, character, humor) - Number one in my book. I write probably 30-50% of most all of my clients music, work with them very honestly and have a really close relationship with all of them. If they are going for a guitar tone or a vocal melody that I think is awful, I simply won't record it (with a "I'm not a fan of that part" or whatever) and give them some substitutes... in the end they thank me and ask me when they can come in again.

Also, a willingness to try ANYTHING new is important to me.
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Your ideal engineer description sounds more like a producer to me. I might also disagree with you about refusing to record a part because you don't like it. Yes, it is good practice to pushback on a decision you know will ultimately be bad, but IMHO I think the line should be drawn at strong advice.

Bart
 
Bartman said:
Your ideal engineer description sounds more like a producer to me. I might also disagree with you about refusing to record a part because you don't like it. Yes, it is good practice to pushback on a decision you know will ultimately be bad, but IMHO I think the line should be drawn at strong advice.

Bart
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Yeah I apologize, I guess I sort of lump the two together (engineering and producing) but you are right if you were doing strictly engineering, that is not your place. I personally wouldn't want to go that route.
 
I think that a good engineer is someone who does everything in their power to good the music down on tape or cd as close as possible to the way that the artist/producer wants it. Almost any monkey can set up a billion dollar mic and run a clean signal path to tape and that is just what a decent engineer sounds like. But a good or GREAT engineer gets the feeling and the sound down that best works for the song. He works his hardest to get down exactly what the artist wants without getting in the way of the thought or feeling of a song. One of my favorite engineers is Alan Parsons. Though he does have his own style it doesn't really effect the music unless he wants it to, I mean to my ears Dark Side of the Moon, which he recorded sounds like pink floyd, which sounds totally different from say pyrimid which is the Alan Parsons Project, and they were both recorded at abby road, but he just did what he needed to do for floyd to get their sound not his.
 
Anyone who isn't cloneboy.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

See I can be a prick too.


:p
 
i'm not sure, but i'll bet it has to do with penis size. :rolleyes:
 
A great engineer is one who knows that the gear is a means, not an end, and who mixes not for the sound of the recording, but for the soul of the music.

G.
 
A great engineer is one who gets the train safely to the station on time without wrecking the train. Applies to recording as well.
 
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Middleman said:
A great engineer is one who gets the train safely to the station on time without wrecking the train. Appliies to recording as well.
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.......and doesn't distract the passengers with all the bells and whistles.
 
Maybe it would be better if great engineers actually came and answered this. Maybe being a great engineer is only knowing what non of know about engineering.

Danny
 
darnold said:
Maybe it would be better if great engineers actually came and answered this. Maybe being a great engineer is only knowing what non of know about engineering.

Danny
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The only problem with that idea is that great engineers have better things to do than hang with us pleebs in low-ball forum. ;)

G.
 
Lots of good feedback here.

IMHO the main traits are:

- Being able to capture the best performances from the artist (great sound means nothing without this)
- Realizing the creative vision of the artist
- Getting great sounds and mixes in a minimum amount of time
- Keeping the technology as transparent as possible
 
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