Drumsound's December Sticky--Please read and comment

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 12:35 pm

I?ve decided to put up a monthly "sticky" that is meant to get people thinking and discussing more ?theoretical? and 'conceptual' situations.

I was on the phone with Chris Garges last night I decided what the first one would be...

THE STUDIO QUARTER

I have at the master fader of my console the "Official Oxide Lounge Quarter." What?s that got to do with a recording studio you say? Well there are times when a decision can?t be reached. There are times when I don?t? feel like making decisions. There are times when I feel I should do something different. At those times I reach for the quarter. An example might be both the short reverb and the long reverb sound good, but they don?t sound good together. Nobody has a strong opinion either way or the band and myself are split evenly. Then I would grab the quarter call "heads" the long ?verb and "tails" the short. Flip the coin and the decision is made.

The history of this goes back to my first engineering job. I was working on the boss? record as my first project. He?s a guitar player. We had two rooms set up with two guitar amps each and a splitter to turn his signal into to outputs. One output fed each room. Before each song we?d go into the room and name the amps as heads and tails and flip the coin. That would decide which two amps (of four choices) we?d use for that track.

My old boss developed the quarter in the studio while working at a pawnshop. When there was a dispute over what he was going to give somebody for an "item of value" and the person wanted more, but neither wanted to budge he?d pull out a quarter. If the person agreed that they?d go with the quarter either way, he?d flip the coin and that customer would call. Sometimes the customer would get more money from him, sometimes he?d get to pay less.

I highly suggest an official quarter. Mine is a 1976 bicentennial quarter with the drummer on the back. The Tennessee one is also cool because it has a guitar on the back, but any quarter will do.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 12:44 pm

I think this touches on something important for me, which is to not obsess over musical decisions and always remember that I'm involved in something artistic, versus purely analytical. Sometimes chance has to make the decision for you. If I'm really in a bind, I'll ask my wife and just go with what she says.

jmoose · Post by **jmoose** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 2:15 pm

One of the best line's I've ever heard came from my buddy Greg Thompson when he was working at my old shop;

"You can do whatever you want and call it art, but I don't like it"

IMO, the biggest problem in the tiny studio (or anywhere really) is a big ego. "My way or the highway". Sure...that can work on a solo project but if it's a band then there HAS to be give & take for the sum to be greater then the whole of the parts. Without there's only confrontation and that usually results in nothing getting getting done.

Rivers · Post by **Rivers** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:39 pm

Nice idea.
I'm stealing this.

brian beattie · Post by **brian beattie** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:13 am

coins make MANY decisions for me. They're not ALWAYS right, but you sure as hell can tell when they're wrong. I don't keep a specific coin for this purpose, I just reach in my pocket and grab one and go with the answer. I call it "the pocket oracle"
brian

apropos of nothing · Post by **apropos of nothing** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:03 pm

Oblique Strategies: Cliff Notes.

Neve Studer · Post by **Neve Studer** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:56 pm

I was wondering if Oblique Strategies would come up. I'm not sure whether "cliff notes" means you like them or not.

I love them, but almost never use them, because they're really best on a long project where creative ruts are the enemy. But on a quick project, it can be a time waster for sure. The nice thing about a coin toss (which I've never used, but might) is that you move right along, and there are LOTs of times where either choice is fine, but NOT making a decision is disaster (for momentum, schedule, energy...)

Doublehelix · Post by **Doublehelix** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 9:03 am

The quarter idea is good, but with starving musios around, ya never know how long it will stay put!!! Hehe...

I love the idea about not obscessing over minutia, but why not use the "Magic Eight Ball" instead??? Much cooler, and gives the drummer something to do between takes!!!

trashy · Post by **trashy** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:17 pm

Doublehelix wrote:The quarter idea is good, but with starving musios around, ya never know how long it will stay put!!! Hehe...

I love the idea about not obscessing over minutia, but why not use the "Magic Eight Ball" instead??? Much cooler, and gives the drummer something to do between takes!!!

"How does it know what I'm thinking???"

campironwood · Post by **campironwood** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 12:12 pm

what about the oblique strategies card that says-
"when faced with a choice... do both"
??

i've said it a few times during sessions and gotten weird looks from everyone, so i think i'll try the quarter idea next time.

-morgan

jmoose · Post by **jmoose** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 12:41 pm

Doublehelix wrote:I love the idea about not obscessing over minutia, but why not use the "Magic Eight Ball" instead??? Much cooler, and gives the drummer something to do between takes!!!

No doubt. They can get a little cryptic though...

"Ask again later..."

leigh · Post by **leigh** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:03 am

brian beattie wrote:coins make MANY decisions for me. They're not ALWAYS right, but you sure as hell can tell when they're wrong. I don't keep a specific coin for this purpose, I just reach in my pocket and grab one and go with the answer. I call it "the pocket oracle"

Did you ever see this Robert Forster movie, American Perfekt?

"Jake, a psychiatrist on the road to Utah, is a man who seriously relies on the flip of a coin for all his decisions. One day, however, he flips the coin to decide whether he will kill a person he dislikes..."

Leigh

Judas Jetski · Post by **Judas Jetski** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 6:41 pm

OK, it's tails. I'm going to stop playing with my computer and go clean the "studio."

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:00 pm

Andy Smash wrote:OK, it's tails. I'm going to stop playing with my computer and go clean the "studio."

It's always helpful!

Judas Jetski · Post by **Judas Jetski** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:58 pm

Darn. It's heads. I have to go to work tomorrow.

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Drumsound's December Sticky--Please read and comment

Drumsound's December Sticky--Please read and comment

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