Tom Or Chris Lord-Alge?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ntnguitarist3
  • Start date Start date

Tom Or Chris Lord-Alge who's better.

  • Tom Lord-Alge

    Votes: 1 10.0%

  • Chris Lord-Alge

    Votes: 8 80.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 1 10.0%
  • Total voters
    10
N

ntnguitarist3

New member
Ok so I play in a band called "Our Last Night" we recently signed to epitaph records. We were recently granted a huge budget for our epitaph debut. So with that came the talk of mixing and of course two names that came up were the lord alge brothers, so I am basicaly just wondering which one do you think is better, and are they worth the price, is there anyone else out there who is better for less. Its a scary thought to owe a huge recoup fee to a record label. So we just wanna make sure we do what's best... just becuase our budget is big enough for Tom or Chris doesn't mean we wanna owe that back to the label, any help would be great...
 
You might have to wait so long for (either one of them?) that you'd be best off finding someone else that isn't booked up so far in advance.

Realistically, availability may be a deciding factor.

I can think of a mastering facility or two for later though... :-)
 
my nephew had a ex Led Zep producer, Johns one of them...anyway he didn't like what direction he went...for their music. It didn't work out after a few tubes were mixed and goofed around with.

now for me being a huge Led Zep fan...I'd paid to have beers and listen about the recording sessions!! fhk....I'd drop a grand for that...well I don't have a grand, but just to help confuse you....

I'd say use your ears and not be paraylzed with fame....though it probably wouldn't hurt to have some PR going down...

I read Chris liked using Radio Shack Optimus 7's speakers for mixing.... thats a classic article.

Congrats on the signing.....hell thats more than most get.
 
A friend of mine used to work at Island records where they used Tom a lot. He mixed some great albums. I'm sure that you can't go wrong with either though. Listen to their work and see which fits your style best.

Congrats on the signing!
 
i love a lot of the mixes i've hear Tom do. but i've also heard he charges buttloads per song. if you can afford it then go ahead but i'd make sure that epitaph has the proper budget to promote your album properly in the first place. if they're not gonna do the right ammount of work, you're just gonna have debt no matter who you get to mix the album.

That being said, it seems like with a lot of records i've seen, its been the songs that tom or chris have mixed that end up being the big singles
 
Foo-bu said:
That being said, it seems like with a lot of records i've seen, its been the songs that tom or chris have mixed that end up being the big singles
Click to expand...

This is kind of a chicken vs. egg thing though. One thing that the amatuerization of the stock market has brought us is a BURNING desire to reduce variables. You see nearly every single mic no matter what the price or brand being built in the same chinese factory. Ditto for soundcards

When an investor wants to push an album it is a SCARY thing to step outside the box and pick a different mixer than the last guy did, so they wont. Also for the mixer himself it is a terribly frightening thing to do something different than he did last album. We've ended up with a mix by numbers sound which has stagnated to an incredible degree. Everything from sissypunk to deathmetal, being mixed with that weird, pushed mid, screaming loud guitar sound.

Im not going to blame the Algae brothers, but this situation stinks

But to adress the part I quoted, of course those are going to score in the number of hits, because they are the only mixes being promoted with the amount of money to make a hit.

r.i.p music biz
 
pipelineaudio said:
One thing that the amatuerization of the stock market has brought us is a BURNING desire to reduce variables.
Click to expand...
Amen, brother! Down with chaos.

OP: If your biggest problem is which strain of Alge you hire to direct you, then what the hell are you doing hanging around here? That's rather like someone who wins a movie deal from Project Greenlight going to their local parkhouse drama club for advice.

Personally I'd keep the budget down a bit. Get quality talent, for sure, you want to make sure you get it right, but spending your budget on an a-list producer is like betting it all on the trifecta, it's a high-risk gamble. And that's assuming, like John said, that you can even get them; theyir schedule may not permit it, or they may just not be interested in you guys.

Either way, you might want to consider hedging your bet on whatever money you spend by getting at least some secondary personal backing from family; i.e. that you'll be able to pay the label what you owe them should that situation arise.

G.
 
yea, both of them are really really good. but for a lot less money (and with a little more homework) you can get results just as good.
 
What about Steve Evetts? Or maybe shoot for a heavier sound with someone like Machine? Or even Andy Wallace?
 
wallace is probably just as expensive as alge (both) though.
 
I would not get hung up on names. There are a lot of very good engineers out there that dont have "name". I'd look around, talk to people, listen to some cd's and see if you can find someone that may be less expensive and spend more time in the studio. Dont get hung up on names!
 
i agree with jmorris here...when it comes down to it, most of the kids who will end up downloading your shit on the internet don't give a rat's ass who mixed it, they just want it to sound ok on their ipod

i personally wouldn't bother with a top-tier engineer/producer unless i was already a top-tier artist, and almost guaranteed to make my money back
 
I'd go Chris. Or Andy Wallet (intentional mis-spelling). :D

This is all, of course, assuming they would do the project and/or are even available.



By the way, this is my 1,400 post. :)

And Ironklad, just above me, has 1,176. At the time of this post, anyway, he does. I just find that kind of ironic. Recording forum...he has 1176 posts. Get it? :) Ah, I'm going back to bed...
 
There's some blog on a band that spent $500k on a CD and $300K on a Video after they had won the Lennon Writing contest, then got signed with Capitol (who funded it or loaned the money?) and Lord-Alge had mixed their best tune and others mixed other tunes. (condensed story). So I guess you can have more than one mixing engineer on your CD?

I have no clue how the money owed or money spent gets accounted for later, it was an interesting read. They toured hardcore for 15months and sold 100,000 CD's so it sounded like a successful run.... but maybe they broke even?

They said Capitol dropped them basically because at the time Britney Spears and NSync were the rage and the alternative-rock they had wasn't what Capitol wanted to promote or some shit. I can't even remember the bands name, but another interesting internet article from a real life exp.

I can imagine the decision is huge? and the cost per hour and ROI?(return on investment)......

Hopefully you have a good manager and the band can concentrate on laying down the best music and the business people can make the business decisions?

interesting and rare thread for HR, for sure.
 
I think some people, in any field, really earn their name/reputation. I dont think ALL do. I have heard some stuff by top mixers/engineers that I think sucks. Not all of course but because its a top guy does not mean a hit, or killer result all the time. Of all the songs mixed by the above mentioned guys, how many tunes were hits? I've read about Tom a bit, he had mixed a couple of hits then everyone wanted him. The first call guy just due to a hit mix or two.Like people want to record at Abbey Road studios. There is a certain "jump on the band wagon" thing that happens. Some songs/artist are strong enough that almost anyone could mix it from any studio and success would follow. Money is better spent elsewhere. Record companys have greatly slimmed down recording budgets the last 15 years. I would not want to be a band with a big debt to pay back to a record company for sure.
 
^while a lot of what you said was true...how many albums/tunes mixed by andy wallace didn't end up as hits?
 
Steve Evetts

NL5 said:
What about Steve Evetts? Or maybe shoot for a heavier sound with someone like Machine? Or even Andy Wallace?
Click to expand...

We will be working with producer Steve Evetts (Every Time I Die, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Senses Fail, Saves The Day) out in Orange County, CA!

Thanks Everyone for the support!!!
 
I had an idea!!

JUST SURPRISE THE BAND WITH.....

"HEY DEWDS!! I SPENT ALL THE FRONT MONEY AT GUITAR CENTER!!! WE'RE GOING TO DO IT OURSELF!!!! IN MY BEDROOM!! IT'LL BE LIKE THE FIRST PLATINUM HOME RECORDING KIND OF THING...I GOT A BUNCH OF MXL MIC'S AND A YAMAHA 16 TRACK....!!!!!"


If it all goes to hell you'll have your equipment....to make the second CD. I'm thinking long term here...2nd CD, 3rd CD...

Maybe the second shot, you can upgrade to a DMP3 and a good mic, maybe $400 level.:D
 
demos

www.myspace.com/ourlastnight and you can hear the demos i did myself, that epitaph took notice of. i think they came out great, let me spend a few thousand more on some more gear and woulda been no problem but epitaph was not having that lol
 
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