What do YOU do when you've made a tracking error...

  • Thread starter Thread starter HangDawg
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HangDawg

HangDawg

bUnGhOlIo
or bad decision?

I'm recording an album's worth of material for a local band. It's coming out really well but there are a couple of things that I would do differently now that most of the tracking is done and I can hear all the tracks together. Maybe different mic choice for certain vocal parts or different guitar tone. So, what do you do? Tell them you'd like for them to retrack it if possible? Try to fix it in the mix? Do you charge them for that time being it's your call and your ahem.... mistake?

Just curious how you guys handle this sort of thing.
 
Depends on the client.

If the clients are on a smaller budget and happy you keep moving on ahead. If they want to pay top dollar for the best results you discuss the possibility of retracking that to improve the final product. Explain how this is done on 'the big albums' all the time.
 
i'd agree - this is where the fascinating subject of studio psychology and politics merge recklessly!

for a client i know well, i'll always admit that there might be things that i would 'do better now'. especially if i have the excuse of a new bit of kit or something similar. this often happens in long projects. i worked with an artist for over a year on one project, and in the meantime i changed all my mics and pre's and was just really up front and told her some of her early vocals i reckoned i could do a much better job on. she was delighted as she'd been worried about asking me if she could re-record some of her early stuff cos she wasn't happy with it! sometimes these things work out.

i did make a botch a while back, and again, i was upfront with the client, and used the 'i really want to do the best job i can - and i'm not going to charge you for the extra hour' and again, they were quite happy with that.

most folk want to hear themselves at their best, and with a bit of diplomacy, you can achieve a lot. i like that this studio lark is not just about gear!

interestingly, i had almost the opposite problem a while ago in that i had some work brought in that had been tracked elsewhere and there was sooooooo much wrong with it as the engineer thought she knew everything and that just by buying lots of expensive equipment, everything would sound great first time (which naffed me off anyway for hugely devaluing our craft anyway) - there is a recent post from me about one aspect, which was that a vocalist she'd used had a really really bad lisp and the song involved possibly more 'sssss' in the lyrics than i'd ever heard before.

everyone here was really helpful and understanding (what i love about this place) but recommended a few tech solutions (which went some way) - but in the end, i had to say something. the client and i have a frustrating relationship at the best of times, but this was going to be difficult. in the end, she now refers to the track with the 'lisp' she has accepted that this really was an issue, having denied point blank in the first place that this was the case.

more times than not - the truth is the best route - it's about that ole devil called spin!!!

i'd go down the route of saying that you think you could do a better job as you've learnt more about them as a band (assuming this is the first time you worked with them). i think that could work.

i've done that where we've been developing up from say just an acoustic guitar part and vocal, to a full production number - sometimes, when you are just letting stuff develop, things WILL change, and you need to have that option at the end to rerecord stuff. i'm often quite up front about that at the beginning of working on that sort of material. it's not been an issue yet.

hope it goes okay - let us know.

very best wishes

paul d
 
Good advice above, I'd say.

I'm nearing completion on a CD that I've been recording for a good friend, and there have been a couple of instances where I made a couple of goofs and fixed them on my own time. There have also been things the artist wanted to try that he later decided against. He paid for those changes.

But more to the point of your question, there is one song where we used a real drummer, and I did not track the drums the way I would have liked to. They sound OK (after some major tweaking) but if it were my choice we'd redo the drums entirely. However, the artist isn't complaining - hasn't even mentioned it - so I'm keeping my mouth shut. Besides, we've been working on this thing for just over a year (Sundays only) and I am ready for it to be done. Why add more work when I don't have to?
 
Tollbooth got it right. It's not about tricking clients into doing something...it's about being upfront and listening & critiquing together so you know you're getting as close to both what the client wants (or thinks they want) and your own best work.
 
It's not even them. They are happy as hell. I just think a couple of things could be done a little differently. I'll probably end up asking them to re-track on my dime. I'd rather things be right when it goes out the door. After all, it's my reputation on the line right along with theirs.


Thanks guys.
 
what?! me...make a tracking error/mistake? Never!

well, ok..maybe once or twice...or chronically...whatever...

I retrack what i can...but i only really record myself so it's not that big of an issue

If it was for another band, i'd probably ask them what they want to do...and work out whether or not to charge them, if at all, on a case by case basis (how bad is the error, etc..)
 
as a guy that makes about half my living mixing records other guys have tracked i have gotten pretty good at fixing things that are less than ideal, but on a project that I was doing from top to bottom and I realized there are certain things that could be done better on the tech side, like recutting a guitar with a different tone. If we (or I) was not crunched for time, I would just tell the client that now that the project has come together, I have an idea about how we might be able to improve something we have previously done.

"why dont we take a few hours off the clock and see if we can get it better. Its cool the way it is, but I think we could really make it great"

You are out a few hours of your time and the client now realizes that you care so much about their music that you would go the extra mile off the clock to make it better. Do not however let them suggest other thigns that could be fixed off the clock.
 
Honestly if you *DO* make a technical mistake as an engineer I would say you are professionally required to fix that mistake off the clock. This would be for things like recording a vocal with tons of clips because you didnt' set your gain/compressor right, etc....

However if you start to dislike something like a guitar tone I'd bring it up to the band to see what they decide. I make bands give the OK on all tones/sounds before laying it down so ultimately it is their decision. If I really, really liked the band and had some free time and my expenses for the month were covered I'd think about doing it pro-bono. Otherwise its an option they'd have to consider.
 
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