Never should have told my client about Auto-Tune

[chris harris]

cubicle?

[Mark Alan Miller]

I think I got my answer.

[Brian]

I think I got my answer.

Well, sometimes I hear them before they come in and decline those who:
a) can't perform
b) won't find a coach to get a good performance out of themselves
c) won't hire someone competent to do what they can't
Its more about hiring people and employing other musicians and engineers. It creates a community when you hire musicians and engineers to do what you can't do. Like when I need an editor to do something I'm opposed to or just untalented at I find one and get him or her to do it. I'm not trying to make enemies, I'm trying to build something. I don't hire people to correct something done wrong in the first place or to do something counter to building the community. Maybe if I used the plugin but charged like I was hiring somebody it would feel better. Nope.
I'd rather see a face and know I'm helping feed his kids than use a robot. Now as an effect I'm not opposed to its use, just not as a crutch for those unwilling to practice or get coaching.

Just kidding about the cubicle. I probably didn't spell it right anyway. I'm not that serious.
Music is what I've done for a living for a long time. I learned to be very particular and do things a certain way in a big studio. I saw the industry take a nose dive suffering from bad planning and bad practices. I took a personal inventory and tried to plan a way for myself that I could live with that would benefit the artists I work with. Yes I decline to work with some people and I aspire to work with others. If you've ever worked with me you know what to expect and to keep your expectations high as far as quality and integrity go. If you work with me you know the job will be fun and very productive. I don't ask for a mint because its against my principles to drive an artist broke. I don't work for free because that is just soo wrong on so many levels. I don't do things that I can see are going to cause problems later down the line for artists. I will pitch in and coach where I'm qualified if the artist is receptive. I don't deal with non-music people who don't seek coaching, as if they are the highest power on earth, and I don't deal with music people who don't seek it when they desperately need it either. I don't judge on my ego, just on accepted standards of excellence. It isn't a personal thing establishing that, its professional.

[Brian]

And as far as the "glory days" go, You can talk to Robin Danar, at one time I had all the great NYC house gigs, then some great salsa players I respected told me they needed me for some stuff in LA. I trold them I'd move out in a few months.
On my way, I met a woman, we had a child and the child lost his kidneys when he was an infant and had to be on dialisys for a few years, then he got a transplant at three, the hospital botched it for a few years and then I found a doctor to get him back to health, and now I'm here. I didn't just stop working cuz nobody liked me. Real issues had to be dealt with that were more important than the music biz. Now I have to leave an example for my miracle child. It won't be one of supporting the lazy.