
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
I'm gonna put on my flame retardent pants and make a few comments (hoo boy ...... I'm gonna regret this)
This is first and foremost a recording site and mostly .... the musicianship is secondary to the technical end of recording.
I arrived here by accident because I do record; but I'm primarily a player and I can tell you that 99% of the people who play here are primarily recordists.
I hear chops ranging from OMG to ..... hmmmm , that's not too bad. Every once in a while I'll hear someone who shines but even then they're usually limited to a certain style. Now, I moved to Florida about 7 weeks ago ...... did not know a single person at all ...... and in 4 weeks I was playing 5 and 6 gigs a week. Sometimes guitar ..... sometimes bass ..... mostly sax. I'm also playing with 3 of the better bands here already.
The reason is that I have spent my life concentrating on the performance aspect of music ...... much to the detriment of my finances I might add.
But normal people with normal lives and normal jobs and normal families will never be able to spend 4 -8 hours a day every single day playing.
And that's most of the people who come here and it's quite a few people who go into a studio hoping to record something.
There is certainly a place for engineers that have certain musical standards that they won't compromise.
But there is also a place for those who'll try to make a mess sound as best they can.
Now, I don't have an opinion on the normalizing thing 'cause I don't do that ....... I simply play it right in the first place or I get a good drummer if that's what I need but: I play with the very best players all the time ...... most recordists (and bands for that matter) don't; and they don't have such easy access to them.
So what's someone who has limited abilities do?
Should he not record because he's mediocre?
As a working musician I have to earn money which means if you want to pay me and I don't have a gig that night I'm yours. So I sometimes play with people who aren't all that good. Some top-tier players I know cop an attitude about it and play halfheartedly because it's beneath them.
I, however, feel like they may not be as good as me but they love it just like I do and so I play my very best for them ...... just as hard as if some big name band hired me. Guess who works more ..... me or guys that act too good for the people who hire them.
I remember when I was a beginner ...... playing with people better than me would lift my playing up ...... make me play better than I normally could. And so if I put my best effort forward ..... sometimes I can lift their playing upward beyond what they might have done otherwise.
Isn't some of that applicable to recording?
If, instead of having an attitude of, "These guys suck" you simply try to elevate what they're doing as much as possible ....... doesn't that help them without really compromising your artistic integrity?
This is first and foremost a recording site and mostly .... the musicianship is secondary to the technical end of recording.
I arrived here by accident because I do record; but I'm primarily a player and I can tell you that 99% of the people who play here are primarily recordists.
I hear chops ranging from OMG to ..... hmmmm , that's not too bad. Every once in a while I'll hear someone who shines but even then they're usually limited to a certain style. Now, I moved to Florida about 7 weeks ago ...... did not know a single person at all ...... and in 4 weeks I was playing 5 and 6 gigs a week. Sometimes guitar ..... sometimes bass ..... mostly sax. I'm also playing with 3 of the better bands here already.
The reason is that I have spent my life concentrating on the performance aspect of music ...... much to the detriment of my finances I might add.
But normal people with normal lives and normal jobs and normal families will never be able to spend 4 -8 hours a day every single day playing.
And that's most of the people who come here and it's quite a few people who go into a studio hoping to record something.
There is certainly a place for engineers that have certain musical standards that they won't compromise.
But there is also a place for those who'll try to make a mess sound as best they can.
Now, I don't have an opinion on the normalizing thing 'cause I don't do that ....... I simply play it right in the first place or I get a good drummer if that's what I need but: I play with the very best players all the time ...... most recordists (and bands for that matter) don't; and they don't have such easy access to them.
So what's someone who has limited abilities do?
Should he not record because he's mediocre?
As a working musician I have to earn money which means if you want to pay me and I don't have a gig that night I'm yours. So I sometimes play with people who aren't all that good. Some top-tier players I know cop an attitude about it and play halfheartedly because it's beneath them.
I, however, feel like they may not be as good as me but they love it just like I do and so I play my very best for them ...... just as hard as if some big name band hired me. Guess who works more ..... me or guys that act too good for the people who hire them.
I remember when I was a beginner ...... playing with people better than me would lift my playing up ...... make me play better than I normally could. And so if I put my best effort forward ..... sometimes I can lift their playing upward beyond what they might have done otherwise.
Isn't some of that applicable to recording?
If, instead of having an attitude of, "These guys suck" you simply try to elevate what they're doing as much as possible ....... doesn't that help them without really compromising your artistic integrity?