tkingen
Djembes Rock
http://members.aol.com/searsound/articles2.html
He can be a bit grumpy, but hell, who would argue with him?
He can be a bit grumpy, but hell, who would argue with him?
zed32
Re-Attached Member
it sounds like this guy is very anti-home-recording to me...
don't know if i care too much for his wisdom...
don't know if i care too much for his wisdom...
tkingen
Djembes Rock
zed32 said:it sounds like this guy is very anti-home-recording to me...
don't know if i care too much for his wisdom...
Wow, I didn't get that from him at all. He's opinionated about the differences between professional and amateur recording and it I think it would be hard to disagree with him while having a face to face conversation.
IMHO, the better a recording engineer gets the more (s)he understands a grumpy old coot like Mr. Sear. Still, that shouldn't stop any of us from our home recording pursuits!
ymmv
zed32
Re-Attached Member
well from what i read in the Brain Surgery article he's basically making a mockery of home recording. i mean it's not like i'm out to take this guy's job by wanting to set up my own home studio, i just want to have fun. it's a hobby for me, i'm not claiming to be a "brain surgeon". with me it's more like playing a game of Operation, haha. but i dunno, the articles to me came off as kind of bitter. either way i'm still going to do my own recordings and have fun doing em!
dwillis45
Número sesenta nueve
tkingen said:
Personally, I really like the sound of home recording. On an aesthetic level, it posesses some intangible quality that most pro recording just can't capture. I'm not sure if it's bad rooms, poor technique, alcohol, cheap equipment, or what, but there is a feel that just seems absent from the million dollar recordings spewed out by the major studios. I hear some of the stuff posted by home recordists and I can close my eyes and smell the basement! There's noting quite like it.
Massive Master
www.massivemastering.com
He's right though... A bread knife IS better for the rough work.
N
Noplasticrobots
New member
I remember reading his Tape Op interview when it first came out. After reading that article again I can only say this guy seems like a sour old man. It seems like he's pissed that his income has been reduced by amateurs who can't record things as good as him. He'd be right about one thing; I can't record as well as him. But I know what I hear in my head, and I know how I want to hear it.
I can understand where he's coming from in that analog sounds better, but everyone's going digital. Yet at the same time he's sitting on his stubborness for analog and watching the industry pass by. If he loves analog so much and that's all he wants to record with, fine! But you're gonna have a hard time convincing someone like me to ditch my digital 8 track and pay thousands of dollars to record my shitty songs in someone's studio.
I also think besides hating digital, he reviles TEAC/Tascam for introducing an affordable way for musicans to get their ideas on to tape.
I can't afford vintage tube anything. I don't have time to sit in on sessions at studios and I sure as shit don't have time to go get my electrical engineer degree. I'm just happy to finally be getting my music recorded, in the privacy of my own home with no exuberant fees to pay some old man who's grumbling behind glass.
One could learn a lot from Walter Sear, but who wants to put up with him?
I can understand where he's coming from in that analog sounds better, but everyone's going digital. Yet at the same time he's sitting on his stubborness for analog and watching the industry pass by. If he loves analog so much and that's all he wants to record with, fine! But you're gonna have a hard time convincing someone like me to ditch my digital 8 track and pay thousands of dollars to record my shitty songs in someone's studio.
I also think besides hating digital, he reviles TEAC/Tascam for introducing an affordable way for musicans to get their ideas on to tape.
I can't afford vintage tube anything. I don't have time to sit in on sessions at studios and I sure as shit don't have time to go get my electrical engineer degree. I'm just happy to finally be getting my music recorded, in the privacy of my own home with no exuberant fees to pay some old man who's grumbling behind glass.
One could learn a lot from Walter Sear, but who wants to put up with him?
Farview
Well-known member
I'm not sure he is a sour old man. I think he is just trying to articulate that there is a difference between what people do in their bedroom and what he does in his studio. They may seem like the same, but they aren't.
It is kind of like what Producers like Alan Parsons, Bob Rock, Mike Waegner, etc... feel when some guy cutting and pasting together parts of pre recorded songs in his bedroom calls himself a 'producer'. Before that started happening, that guy was called an editor. He worked for the producer and with the engineer.
It is kind of like what Producers like Alan Parsons, Bob Rock, Mike Waegner, etc... feel when some guy cutting and pasting together parts of pre recorded songs in his bedroom calls himself a 'producer'. Before that started happening, that guy was called an editor. He worked for the producer and with the engineer.
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Ptownkid
New member
What a crock of shit. I don't care how good he is or how long he's been around. His views are insulting and biased at best. I've heard some amazing recordings come out of home studios.
His rant is like saying that unless you have a $2000 guitar, your song will sound like crap.
Eat my nuts Mr Sear, you're a negative and self-absorbed old man. get over yourself.
His rant is like saying that unless you have a $2000 guitar, your song will sound like crap.
Eat my nuts Mr Sear, you're a negative and self-absorbed old man. get over yourself.
Farview
Well-known member
His views are biased? I think some of the problem is that some people think that the 'pros' are in this exclusive club and we are trying to keep the hobbyist out. It isn't true (I've been to most of the meetings) But there are some qualifications. If you don't qualify, you can't get in. If you do qualify, you can. If you really want to be part of the club, you have to do what it takes, not what you feel like doing.Ptownkid said:
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Ptownkid
New member
Is there some kind of relevant info in that response at all other than the first line?
Farview
Well-known member
Yup. It says 'stop whining', nobody is trying to keep you down. Most people do it to themselves.
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Ptownkid
New member
Yeah, I guess I'm not really supposed to have an opinion. Especially if it differs from yours...
Farview
Well-known member
You can have your opinion. I was mearly trying to point out that there might be a flaw in your reasoning. But seeing as how you can only back up your thoughts with a snotty attitude, I can see that your opinions probably aren't all that well thought out and that you don't have the desire to learn/ better yourself.
You, sir, are the bitter one. Imagine being insulted by someone pointing out the obvious, pros are pros and amatures are amatures.
You, sir, are the bitter one. Imagine being insulted by someone pointing out the obvious, pros are pros and amatures are amatures.
zed32
Re-Attached Member
pros are pros and ams are indeed ams, but come on....
i really tried to understand where this guy was coming from, but all i could pick up is that everyone except him is RUINING MUSIC! personally i'd like to think that i really love music. i enjoy playing it, i enjoy recording it, and i enjoy listening to it. i'd hope to think that by me wanting to play on my $500 guitar and record my stuff into my DAW doesn't mean i'm ruining music.
and of course his brain surgery analogy is a little extreme i'd say. since i'm an auto mechanic myself, i'd compare it more to this: the professional engineers are like a well-trained and experienced auto mechanic. they've had lots of experience to draw on, they have all the professional tools, and they know how and when to use them correctly. if you drive a very nice car (incredible musician), you are going to take it to this mechanic to get worked on. the home recordist is like the backyard or DIY auto mechanic. they may not have the formal training or the top of the line tools or even the extensive experience, but with each job they do, they pick up the experience and know-how to make themselves better. they know how to use their limited set of tools to get the job done to their satisfaction, and most of the time, the car will run fine! if you have a normal or even a crappy car that you like, but can't see spending $90/hr for the fancy mechanic, then you do the work yourself. if its screwed up, then you have yourself to blame for it, but it also works as a learning experience. it's not a matter of life or death such as brain surgery...
but yeah i really couldn't find much appreciation for this guy's elitist attitude. i understand that he is a dying breed of professional engineers who actually knows what the hell he's doing, but theres no need to knock the people who just want to enjoy their own music in their own home. i personally might be "ruining" his art, but theres so many people out there who aren't.
i really tried to understand where this guy was coming from, but all i could pick up is that everyone except him is RUINING MUSIC! personally i'd like to think that i really love music. i enjoy playing it, i enjoy recording it, and i enjoy listening to it. i'd hope to think that by me wanting to play on my $500 guitar and record my stuff into my DAW doesn't mean i'm ruining music.
and of course his brain surgery analogy is a little extreme i'd say. since i'm an auto mechanic myself, i'd compare it more to this: the professional engineers are like a well-trained and experienced auto mechanic. they've had lots of experience to draw on, they have all the professional tools, and they know how and when to use them correctly. if you drive a very nice car (incredible musician), you are going to take it to this mechanic to get worked on. the home recordist is like the backyard or DIY auto mechanic. they may not have the formal training or the top of the line tools or even the extensive experience, but with each job they do, they pick up the experience and know-how to make themselves better. they know how to use their limited set of tools to get the job done to their satisfaction, and most of the time, the car will run fine! if you have a normal or even a crappy car that you like, but can't see spending $90/hr for the fancy mechanic, then you do the work yourself. if its screwed up, then you have yourself to blame for it, but it also works as a learning experience. it's not a matter of life or death such as brain surgery...
but yeah i really couldn't find much appreciation for this guy's elitist attitude. i understand that he is a dying breed of professional engineers who actually knows what the hell he's doing, but theres no need to knock the people who just want to enjoy their own music in their own home. i personally might be "ruining" his art, but theres so many people out there who aren't.
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Ptownkid
New member
Sure...
What you're suggesting is that gear defines whether or not you're a pro, and that is just plain absurd.
How much you spend on something is not the defining factor as to whether you're a professional or an amateur.
His rant has many references to the price of said equipment and the location in which the equipment is both used and purchased. That is the whole point to his rant, and that is just plain ignorant.
Yes, I agree that tape sounds better, yes I agree that live of the floor is more musical and has more emotion, but i do not for a second think that I or anyone else am/is more "pro" due to the gear with which I/they record or the location in which I/they record.
That part of his ramblings is what is insulting and completely uneccessary.
Then there's the part of having an assistant and a team of people....well, if you can't engineer an album on your own, then you're one of two things, lazy, or lazy.
Furthermore; he seems to think that because other people can afford to record a quality product for half what he charges that they aren't as professional as he is. To that I say a big whopping bullshit. Many big studios have spent far too much on gear that they hardly ever use and in return try and charge ridiculous rates in order to recoup those costs from the artists coming through the door.
Case in point, the first page of your very own studio site lists brand names of gear you have....is that there to impress people? You must be good, judging by the brands of gear you have........how professional
Anyway, things evolve, prices come down and somebody younger and better than you comes along, such is life.
Cheers
What you're suggesting is that gear defines whether or not you're a pro, and that is just plain absurd.
How much you spend on something is not the defining factor as to whether you're a professional or an amateur.
His rant has many references to the price of said equipment and the location in which the equipment is both used and purchased. That is the whole point to his rant, and that is just plain ignorant.
Yes, I agree that tape sounds better, yes I agree that live of the floor is more musical and has more emotion, but i do not for a second think that I or anyone else am/is more "pro" due to the gear with which I/they record or the location in which I/they record.
That part of his ramblings is what is insulting and completely uneccessary.
Then there's the part of having an assistant and a team of people....well, if you can't engineer an album on your own, then you're one of two things, lazy, or lazy.
Furthermore; he seems to think that because other people can afford to record a quality product for half what he charges that they aren't as professional as he is. To that I say a big whopping bullshit. Many big studios have spent far too much on gear that they hardly ever use and in return try and charge ridiculous rates in order to recoup those costs from the artists coming through the door.
Case in point, the first page of your very own studio site lists brand names of gear you have....is that there to impress people? You must be good, judging by the brands of gear you have........how professional
Anyway, things evolve, prices come down and somebody younger and better than you comes along, such is life.
Cheers
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Ptownkid
New member
Very well put Zed
zed32
Re-Attached Member
what i got from the article was not so much all about the gear...
he spent alot of time talking about education, learning engineering and physics as well as being a true musician. being able to read and fully understand music is part of the professionalism. but its a combination of having the gear and knowing what to do with it. he brought up that it comes from years of experience and also proper training and critical listening. i think thats what he was saying makes a pro.
but still who's to say an amateur can't figure out how to use his/her own gear? it's obvious it's never gonna sound as good as if it were recorded at Sear Sound, but does it really have to be? does that mean that they should just give up music/recording in general because they aren't a professional? i don't think so imho...
he spent alot of time talking about education, learning engineering and physics as well as being a true musician. being able to read and fully understand music is part of the professionalism. but its a combination of having the gear and knowing what to do with it. he brought up that it comes from years of experience and also proper training and critical listening. i think thats what he was saying makes a pro.
but still who's to say an amateur can't figure out how to use his/her own gear? it's obvious it's never gonna sound as good as if it were recorded at Sear Sound, but does it really have to be? does that mean that they should just give up music/recording in general because they aren't a professional? i don't think so imho...
K
KaraokeKancer
New member
My two cents
I think what Walter Sear is getting at is that the place where he is at really hasn't gotten any better. He's posting articles about using some really old pieces of equipment he's had for years so I can only assume he's been painting pictures with the same colors over and over again. Everything he's doing is just so predictable to him. He's just mad that music equipment got worse and he hasn't been able to expand his own talents with better stuff. He doesn't make new equipment, he uses it and sometimes refurbishes it. He's pissed cuz he's not happy with his oil and canvases anymore and we are having tons of fun sketching on the bathroom walls and napkins. But.... he's right.
I think what Walter Sear is getting at is that the place where he is at really hasn't gotten any better. He's posting articles about using some really old pieces of equipment he's had for years so I can only assume he's been painting pictures with the same colors over and over again. Everything he's doing is just so predictable to him. He's just mad that music equipment got worse and he hasn't been able to expand his own talents with better stuff. He doesn't make new equipment, he uses it and sometimes refurbishes it. He's pissed cuz he's not happy with his oil and canvases anymore and we are having tons of fun sketching on the bathroom walls and napkins. But.... he's right.
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Ptownkid
New member
With the right gear, in the right space, with the right ear, anything is possible.