Top 5 reasons to record in a professional facility.

[Jon Nolan]

1) Projects get finished.

Best one yet...

+100,000

[@?,*???&?]

1) Projects get finished.

Best one yet...

+100,000

It's not the studio that makes that happen guys, it's the producer.

[Ryan Silva]

It's not the studio that makes that happen guys, it's the producer.

Translated as 'Money'

When there is no real producer, the idea of wasting a ton of cash and not having anything to show for it, is what gets even the most lazy bands working.

[@?,*???&?]

It's not the studio that makes that happen guys, it's the producer.

Translated as 'Money'

When there is no real producer, the idea of wasting a ton of cash and not having anything to show for it, is what gets even the most lazy bands working.

Nope. That's when a studio with staff engineer start taking the bands money at a liberal hourly rate knowing that the band will fight amongst themselves until a decision is made and they will continue to reap cash in the meantime.

[mwerden]

That's when a studio with staff engineer start taking the bands money at a liberal hourly rate knowing that the band will fight amongst themselves until a decision is made and they will continue to reap cash in the meantime.

I'm sure this happens all the time, but it doesn't seem like a good formula for repeat business.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

Nope. That's when a studio with staff engineer start taking the bands money at a liberal hourly rate knowing that the band will fight amongst themselves until a decision is made and they will continue to reap cash in the meantime.

you have a very low opinion of musicians.

[rhythm ranch]

Nope. That's when a studio with staff engineer start taking the bands money at a liberal hourly rate knowing that the band will fight amongst themselves until a decision is made and they will continue to reap cash in the meantime.

you have a very low opinion of musicians.

And engineers.

[@?,*???&?]

Nope. That's when a studio with staff engineer start taking the bands money at a liberal hourly rate knowing that the band will fight amongst themselves until a decision is made and they will continue to reap cash in the meantime.

you have a very low opinion of musicians.

No, I know of local studios that actually do this.

[Gentleman Jim]

Nope. That's when a studio with staff engineer start taking the bands money at a liberal hourly rate knowing that the band will fight amongst themselves until a decision is made and they will continue to reap cash in the meantime.

you have a very low opinion of musicians.

No, I know of local studios that actually do this.

I'm sure you do. However, look at it from the perspective of the parties who are involved. The staff engineer is being paid for their time and technical expertise, not to make artistic decisions or be the band's therapist. Anybody who enters into an agreement that involves paying hourly for labor and access to gear/facilities should understand that time is literally money.

As for the band, if they choose not to hire a producer, they've chosen to make certain decisions on their own. How they arrive at those decisions is beside the point. Would the studio/staff engineer be negligent in your eyes if every decision the band made was accomplished via rock-paper-scissors? It would be faster, right?

[JGriffin]

Nope. That's when a studio with staff engineer start taking the bands money at a liberal hourly rate knowing that the band will fight amongst themselves until a decision is made and they will continue to reap cash in the meantime.

you have a very low opinion of musicians.

No, I know of local studios that actually do this.

I'm sure you do. However, look at it from the perspective of the parties who are involved. The staff engineer is being paid for their time and technical expertise, not to make artistic decisions or be the band's therapist. Anybody who enters into an agreement that involves paying hourly for labor and access to gear/facilities should understand that time is literally money.

As for the band, if they choose not to hire a producer, they've chosen to make certain decisions on their own. How they arrive at those decisions is beside the point. Would the studio/staff engineer be negligent in your eyes if every decision the band made was accomplished via rock-paper-scissors? It would be faster, right?

Absolutely.

[AstroSounds]

I like this thread and I'm sure 95% of it is right, but I did notice some really subjective things being thrown in there.

Engineering talent, producing talent, etc can be found in non-"professional" facilities.
Just like youth doesn't always translate to lack of skill, lack of overhead doesn't always translate to lack of talent.

Being in the music world we all know that just cause you got talent and/or drive doesn't mean you'll see the big bucks and that sometimes people with little talent or drive end up selling millions of albums. Gotta keep that in mind I think when forming lists of what makes something great in this business.

[@?,*???&?]

Would the studio/staff engineer be negligent in your eyes if every decision the band made was accomplished via rock-paper-scissors? It would be faster, right?

I'm gonna try this when next in the studio. Might add some excitement!

[jgimbel]

I like this thread and I'm sure 95% of it is right, but I did notice some really subjective things being thrown in there.

Engineering talent, producing talent, etc can be found in non-"professional" facilities.
Just like youth doesn't always translate to lack of skill, lack of overhead doesn't always translate to lack of talent.

Being in the music world we all know that just cause you got talent and/or drive doesn't mean you'll see the big bucks and that sometimes people with little talent or drive end up selling millions of albums. Gotta keep that in mind I think when forming lists of what makes something great in this business.

Agreed. I guess the fact that the thread is made up of opinions of why pro facilities are consistently better made me less likely to say anything against whats being said. I'm sure most of it is true, and I respect the opinions I disagree with, but some statements seemed a little..not related to the fact that it's a pro studio. One that bugged me was "things get done". Of course I'm personally biased because I'm running a home setup, but I've never had a project - one of my own or one I've recorded of other people - that didn't get finished. On the other hand I know a number of people and many many projects worked on in pro studios that never get finished. I guess the opinion is if you're spending more money and are in that level of musicianship you're going to get things finished, but one reason many people start home studios is because they want to do even more but the system of worrying about hourly budget doesn't necessarily translate well to the creative process. That's kind of what I came to, I got to the point where I could either be recording in more professional studios, or start recording myself. I'm far from an example to be followed, but I decided I would be able to make better recordings because 1, I could work on structure/change instrumentation/lyrics/whatever without worrying about budget (since that's a major factor for many of us), and 2, I'd be able to be creative not only with methods of songwriting but with the way I get sounds, different tools, etc. Just sayin.

[Gentleman Jim]

Would the studio/staff engineer be negligent in your eyes if every decision the band made was accomplished via rock-paper-scissors? It would be faster, right?

I'm gonna try this when next in the studio. Might add some excitement!

I wasn't thinking of it when I posted this, but I did do a tour once where a Magic 8 Ball was on the dashboard of the van the whole time. We would regularly defer to it if two people couldn't agree on something like where to eat, or if we should leave early tomorrow to make sound check versus sleeping in and blowing it off. It seemed like once the dynamic of winning or losing an argument based on merit was removed, none of us minded doing whatever the Magic 8 Ball decided.

Contrary to adding excitement, it actually made things run really smoothly. Everyone bought into the idea, knowing that at least sometimes their idea would be prevail.

[@?,*???&?]

Would the studio/staff engineer be negligent in your eyes if every decision the band made was accomplished via rock-paper-scissors? It would be faster, right?

I'm gonna try this when next in the studio. Might add some excitement!

I wasn't thinking of it when I posted this, but I did do a tour once where a Magic 8 Ball was on the dashboard of the van the whole time. We would regularly defer to it if two people couldn't agree on something like where to eat, or if we should leave early tomorrow to make sound check versus sleeping in and blowing it off. It seemed like once the dynamic of winning or losing an argument based on merit was removed, none of us minded doing whatever the Magic 8 Ball decided.

Contrary to adding excitement, it actually made things run really smoothly. Everyone bought into the idea, knowing that at least sometimes their idea would be prevail.

Yes. Yes. I've worked on sessions where we relied on Eno's "Oblique Strategies" too...no problems, just passive stimulus at the crux.