do you know what you're doing?

Chris_Avakian · Post by **Chris_Avakian** » Mon May 26, 2008 7:02 am

for me it always seems like quick, and dirty always comes out the best. whenever i really think about what im doing it alway sounds like crap... hmmm....

lancebug · Post by **lancebug** » Mon May 26, 2008 7:53 am

Do you know what you're doing?

No.

KungFuLio · Post by **KungFuLio** » Tue May 27, 2008 11:54 am

Alright, I'm gonna stand up and say, I know what the hell I'm doing!!!

Most of my recording decisions are predetermined, I've forgotten more music theory than most of my clients know and I'm real tired of "happy accidents" determining the course of a recording... although they have their place.

I love pop music where the composition is actually completed.

Arrogant? Maybe but I think it's important to be confident and competent in what you choose to be an "expert" at.

I never stop learning about this process either.

jckinnick · Post by **jckinnick** » Tue May 27, 2008 1:26 pm

Are you kidding? Dont make me pull out that famous thread.

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Tue May 27, 2008 2:19 pm

aw c'mon.

noon · Post by **noon** » Fri May 30, 2008 7:01 am

You know the saying, 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing'.

In music, danger can be good.

musikman316 · Post by **musikman316** » Fri May 30, 2008 11:41 am

I went to recording school (yeah, that one)... I learned a lot of crap, nothing to do with making records, but lots o' crap still. It wasn't until I failed time after time while doing this for free that I actually learned something...

Josh

cale w · Post by **cale w** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:07 pm

cgarges wrote:I spend half my time on sessions (especially the good ones with really good, experienced players) just wondering when everyone is going to stand up and bust me for being completely incompetent. It's like, "Ha ha, we know you don't know what you're doing!"

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Oh, good. It's not just me!

locosoundman · Post by **locosoundman** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:30 pm

I think recording has so much technical ego and black magic surrounding it and some people want to believe it's ALL methodical. Nothing against methodical, it's the only way to troubleshoot, use gear as a "tool" to solve a problem, get things done efficiently when needed, etc. But there is that creative side to it, too, and that side is subject to those Ethereal Laws of Art. You know, those laws that aren't written down anywhere and change from moment to moment and work one way once and then never that same way again. Except sometimes.

It's not that you don't know what you're doing, it's a turf war between your left/right brain where one side is saying, "DANGER! Errr, IMPEDANCE MISMATCH! PLEASE CONSULT YAMAHA SOUND REENFORCEMENT HANDBOOK!" and the other side is saying, "Hm, what if...". In my case, I will listen to the Paranoid Robot side long enough to know if I am about to fry gear/myself, or if I am going to create more problems down the road by ignoring some technical detail. Then I light some incense and consult the Crusty Hippie side of my brain, who has already managed use 3 Radio Shack adaptors to get an out-of-tune 3-stringed guitar plugged into the mic input of an early 90's Aiwa stereo system (Rock EQ setting, of course). Somewhere in the middle is love. Dirty, unnatural, Robot/Hippie love, but love nonetheless.

And I think that feeling of "Do I actually know what I'm doing?" is the bastard child of that union. That feeling must be ignored like the freak of nature that it is

Wow - that's the most eloquent description of this vocation that I have ever heard.

I know what I am doing, more or less, but I never seem to stop discovering how much more I have to learn.

ofajen · Post by **ofajen** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:40 pm

I pretty much know what I'm doing... the trick is having some idea of whether what I'm doing will get me the result I'm after when I've done it. And recognizing that it is what i'm after...

Cheers,

Otto

Jitters · Post by **Jitters** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:20 am

Hell yeah I know what I'm doing!

I'm having way too much fun making sub par records.

LazarusLong · Post by **LazarusLong** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:48 am

I know what I want, and I have a bag of tricks to draw from. Most of the time I can get there. I think that's the bigger point - knowing what you want. I'm a little tweaky and feel confident with most of the concepts of recording, but it isn't worth a damn if I can't hear the song completed in my head. I don't think you can learn "vision".

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:40 pm

I know I'm not posting in any born-again 2008 thread because, ...

..., eh, ...

... damn!

Dakota · Post by **Dakota** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:20 pm

I know what I'm doing... but that isn't nearly as interesting as learning. Even in routine gigs, I'm always hoping/cultivating to get into a territory or setup where I don't know what will result. And hoping for the delight of a miracle sound or wipeout I learn something new from.

nick_a · Post by **nick_a** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:04 pm

ehh kinda. not really.

most of my time is spent feeling like the SNL frankenstein character. it's either

"drum sound GOOOD...."
"drum sound BAAAD..."

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