Repercussions of a failed music industry

CFox said:
Really ? Wouldnt that depend on the artist or group ?
Something doesnt gel here. This seeminglt makes you come across just like the entitled wanker you claim the musician/artist to be ?
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If you're going to quote me, don't edit out half the quote and then call me on it.

-> "Musicians with big egos or no understanding of the intense, incredible amount of difference mixing and production on a track can have need to be educated about it."

Unless an artist has a huge name, a session musician will most likely play most parts better than the band member.
I don't think I've ever heard a professional engineer honestly say to me: "No, I have not trashed a track a re-recorded it myself or had it recorded by a session guy after the band left because it wasn't very good."
People will often have this image where they sing into a mic and a high quality recording appears in their back pocket. If a guy trying to make it big wants you to mix multiple songs from scratch on 400$, then this disconnect is in full effect.

You're also right that I'm being a wanker.
 
The part I omitted was for aesthetics and impact only, it didnt affect the interplay between your statement and my query.
:)
 
CFox said:
Reads to me like you are talking in absolutes.
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No, I was simply saying that ringers have been common practice since the dawn of recording. For example, Anton Fig played on a couple Kiss records, when Peter Criss wasn't up to the task.

In the 60's, the labels did have studio bands that would play everything. It went from everything in the early 60's to more just pop music by the end of the 60's and just additional instrumentation in the 70's.
 
The biggest problem with this album was that it really needed to be re-recorded. None of the recordings were meant to be the final thing. They were recorded on a Roland 2480 over the course of six years and multiple band members. The rhythm guitar sound is so completely different from one song to the next that there is no way to even get the songs in the same ball park. Rhythm guitar rigs included, Digitech 2101, PodPro, Diamond head and cabinet, Engle head, kepner and Axe FX. The drums were recorded in different practice rooms, a 9 piece kit with 8 mics poorly placed.

The album should have been a complete re-do
 
Farview said:
No, I was simply saying that ringers have been common practice since the dawn of recording. For example, Anton Fig played on a couple Kiss records, when Peter Criss wasn't up to the task.

In the 60's, the labels did have studio bands that would play everything. It went from everything in the early 60's to more just pop music by the end of the 60's and just additional instrumentation in the 70's.
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Wrecking Crew. They probably recorded more albums than anyone ever.
 
Farview said:
It came to my attention today that a former client of mine is releasing a new album. He is a former rock star that is no longer associated with the band that made him famous. Unfortunately, he is still under the impression that people should give him stuff for free, and that the record labels should take care of everything and pay for everything.

Since around 2008, he has sent me songs to quickly mix for demo purposes. I did them for very cheap because he is a friend and, once he got the record deal, he would record the CD in my studio. So we are talking 9 songs over the course of 6 years, all recorded with different equipment (he keeps changing amp endorsements), all in less than an hour by me. None of the mixes sound anything like each other. They were all delivered as mp3.

Last year, I closed the studio in Illinois and moved to Vegas. Right about that time, he got his recording budget... $400. He asked me to remix the entire album, plus a new song, for that $400. I would have had to start from scratch (hard drive failure took the original sessions) and actually try to make all the songs sound like they belong together, for about the price I would normally charge to mix a couple songs like this.

I told him it was going to take more money, so he decided to have someone else mix the last song and present that and the MP3's of the other songs to the record label. (The only wav file copies of the songs were on the deceased hard drive)

There is a long email from the label telling him that the album sounds like crap, but they weren't going to come up with any more money to fix it. Since there were no unmastered wav source files, they sent it to their mastering guy, who proceeded to smash the living piss out of everything to the point where some of the songs sound like they are being played through a revers reverb.

Luckily I told him that, if I wasn't going to re-record all of this, I didn't want my name on the album. Thankfully, it isn't.

There are all sorts of things wrong with this story. Artists that expect everyone else to invest in them, but won't invest in themselves. Record labels that want a professional product that won't come up with the budget to hire professionals. Artwork budgets that exceed the recording budget. I could go on.

Now that I've typed all that, I can't remember what my point was. I guess I'm just venting.
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Did he use an Omnichord?
 
Good for you for sticking to your guns and not doing stuff for less than you're worth (which I believe is a good rate of pay).
I have a few songs that could benefit from the Wrecking Crew's touch - well more than a few really....:)
 
Farview said:
The artist doesn't have to be a musician. Back in the 60's, the actual band was never allowed to record their own tracks. The labels had house bands that would play everything, because it was faster, cheaper and the results were predictable. There have always been 'ringers' brought in to play parts on albums when the guys in the band couldn't pull it off.
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Ah yes the Fricking Wrecking Crew
 
In regards to the original post Though I get it that the hard drive failed, It's 2015 and redundant cloud storage is extremely inexpensive. It would seem you have a serious part in the "lost recordings" and as the artist I'd be a bit miffed there was no backup being as you only issued mp3's as insurance you had "complete control" over the original files..In you not backing them up he basically wasted his time and money other than having a mp3 demo which I am assuming, was not what he thought he was buying / doing when you guys worked your deal in the beginning.

The whole "record deal" with a budget like you're indicating smells of amateur hour pie in sky dreams. $400 left? I don't care what "other expenses" he blew the budget on the #1 priority is a good recording of a good song..... all the rest is ancillary..though required..
 
TAE said:
In regards to the original post Though I get it that the hard drive failed, It's 2015 and redundant cloud storage is extremely inexpensive. It would seem you have a serious part in the "lost recordings" and as the artist I'd be a bit miffed there was no backup being as you only issued mp3's as insurance you had "complete control" over the original files..In you not backing them up he basically wasted his time and money other than having a mp3 demo which I am assuming, was not what he thought he was buying / doing when you guys worked your deal in the beginning.

The whole "record deal" with a budget like you're indicating smells of amateur hour pie in sky dreams. $400 left? I don't care what "other expenses" he blew the budget on the #1 priority is a good recording of a good song..... all the rest is ancillary..though required..
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First off, I only claim to keep things around for six months. Some of these scratch mixes were done in 2007. I would probably have a hard time opening the sessions, since it is two or three versions of Nuendo ago. (Certainly none of the DX plugins would work anymore) I threw together these scratch mixes for almost nothing, as a favor just so he had something to show the record companies. It was never meant for release and he had every intention of re-recording most everything. Never in a million years was this supposed to be released to the public. I also informed him that I was purging his stuff, when I did it. I kept one copy around but 3 years later, the hard drive failed. I am not responsible for keeping demos of a half dormant project for the better part of a decade.

He has the original tracks, which i would cut him a great deal on mixing, but not the entire album for $400. That's half of the mastering budget on the last album.
 
Schwarzenyaeger said:
Unless an artist has a huge name, a session musician will most likely play most parts better than the band member.
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"Better" is subjective. Dream Theater playing Sex Pistols songs would be quite lame compared to the real thing. Better musician is not always better artist.
 
Schwarzenyaeger said:
If you're going to quote me, don't edit out half the quote and then call me on it.

-> "Musicians with big egos or no understanding of the intense, incredible amount of difference mixing and production on a track can have need to be educated about it."

Unless an artist has a huge name, a session musician will most likely play most parts better than the band member.
I don't think I've ever heard a professional engineer honestly say to me: "No, I have not trashed a track a re-recorded it myself or had it recorded by a session guy after the band left because it wasn't very good."
People will often have this image where they sing into a mic and a high quality recording appears in their back pocket. If a guy trying to make it big wants you to mix multiple songs from scratch on 400$, then this disconnect is in full effect.

You're also right that I'm being a wanker.
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Don't sweat CFox. He's the wankers' wanker.
 
UPDATE: I just got a text from the artist. He says that he is possibly willing to come out of pocket to have me mix it. I haven't decided.
 
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