do you know what you're doing?

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

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thesimulacre
takin' a dinner break
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Post by thesimulacre » Tue May 13, 2008 9:33 am

Anthony Caruso wrote:Dirty, unnatural, Robot/Hippie love, but love nonetheless.
I smell a new signature coming on.... :lol:

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HeavyHand
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Post by HeavyHand » Thu May 15, 2008 10:44 pm

I don't have a clue...ever. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that everyone can tell. Soon, after much experience, I hope to have 1 clue then maybe 2 clues. Who knows... maybe Sweetwater will offer them in a 10 pack.

RefD
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Post by RefD » Fri May 16, 2008 7:39 am

i have two clues and, in winter, i rub them together to start the pilot light for my brain.
?What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.? -- Seneca

AstroDan
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Post by AstroDan » Fri May 16, 2008 8:14 am

No. I am pretty much fucked. But I will be dead somewhere between submitting this post and maybe, I don't know, 100 years from now...so I'm pretty stoked about that.

Sincerely, I've been doing this hobby-ous/amatueristically for 10 years and am recording a band tomorrow and am pretty afraid I will forget how to plug in a microphone.
"I have always tried to present myself as the type of person who enjoys watching dudes fight other dudes with iron claws."

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thieves
suffering 'studio suck'
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Post by thieves » Fri May 16, 2008 10:45 am

i'm technically knowledgeable about a few things (compression, mics, phase, gain staging, bitrates/daw/computers), but i never took a lesson or class on any of this stuff. everything else i've just learned from trial and error... from buying my first four track at 16 with my first couple paychecks from a fast food job, until now, 11 years later, where i have a modest DAW and a whole attic full of music junk. i've recorded a few local bands for free, but i've never done anything of this sort for money, i can't imagine ever working on something that wouldn't be fun enough to do for free.
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thieves
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Post by thieves » Fri May 16, 2008 10:50 am

AstroDan wrote:No. I am pretty much fucked. But I will be dead somewhere between submitting this post and maybe, I don't know, 100 years from now...so I'm pretty stoked about that.

Sincerely, I've been doing this hobby-ous/amatueristically for 10 years and am recording a band tomorrow and am pretty afraid I will forget how to plug in a microphone.
i was just listening yesteday to the last band i recorded that i wasn't a member of and had flashbacks of inadequacy. i had to lug my huge, inefficient DAW to their iffy practice space and i couldn't even get my clock on my mixer to sync up with my computer for a full 2 or 3 hours. it was a completely terrible setup, using a digital mixer and interface i bought for an ADAT, but using an echo gina sound card in the adat's place. i kept having the problem for the duration of the sessions, i think the band was seriously doubting my abilities and their agreement to work with me. the really intimidating part was that the bassist's other band had just gotten done recording at electrical w/ albini a week or two previous... i can only imagine what he was thinking.
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MoreSpaceEcho
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Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Fri May 16, 2008 11:43 am

haha, albini...one time a client (a good friend) showed up to record some stuff for a record we were doing here. i had just gotten new monitors or something and had been listening to "1000 hurts" repeatedly. i excitedly said to my friend "just listen to how awesome this record sounds!" and i sat him down in the sweet spot and pressed play. he agreed! it sounded awesome!

then we listened to a mix i had done on one of his songs.

i won't make that mistake again.

years and years ago i was engineering at a friends studio part time. just a small setup in his apartment. adats and a tac scorpion. so, one saturday i'm there alone and the client is this rapper/ r'n'b singer. so he shows up, late, with his 'manager' and a whole posse. who all cram into the very tiny control room. they have the track on a DAT, so i just have to bounce that to 2 tracks on the adat and record the vocal.

no sweat.

i COULD NOT figure out the routing for the life of me. just couldn't get the stupid track from dat to adat. the posse are making jokes at my expense as i try to figure it out. SO intimidating. finally, somehow, i got it and we could actually record the vocal.

and the guy was actually really really good, laid down the lead in one take and did a bunch of harmonies/ad libs one right after the other. i was impressed. and i redeemed myself slightly doing a quick mix for them, i did some random echo thing and got a "that's dope." from one of the posse.

still though...i was dying.

Moonrider
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Re: do you know what you're doing?

Post by Moonrider » Sat May 17, 2008 12:50 pm

????? wrote:
Everyday I do something that makes me wonder if I have a clue what I'm doing.. but that contributes to an eccentric knowledge bank of weird tidbits that are very useful. anyone here feel the same way?
I make no bones about it. I haven't got a clue!
"When electric currents go through
them, guitars start making sounds. So would anybody."
http://www.soundclick.com/jamesproject

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agauchede
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Post by agauchede » Sat May 17, 2008 1:11 pm

i know a little more each time. i've developed some habits that serve as starting points. more often than not i'll have to deal with a poorly miked instrument, (usually electric guitar), and i can remember what i did wrong and how i should have done it -- very useful. i definitely learn more from my mistakes than my successes. when i really get something right, and i think "wow, that sounds awesome", i most likely don't remember how i did it. i should start writing things down.

Chris

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Nick Sevilla
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Sat May 17, 2008 9:15 pm

agauchede wrote:i know a little more each time. i've developed some habits that serve as starting points. more often than not i'll have to deal with a poorly miked instrument, (usually electric guitar), and i can remember what i did wrong and how i should have done it -- very useful. i definitely learn more from my mistakes than my successes. when i really get something right, and i think "wow, that sounds awesome", i most likely don't remember how i did it. i should start writing things down.

Chris
I have about 10 binders FULL of recording notes. Almost every session I have ever recorded is in there.

If I need to know what setup I used 7 years ago on a certain drummer... it's there.

I highly recommend you take notes of everything, noting if stuff is keeper / crapola. It helps with getting better at mic placement especially.

Cheers
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

rwc
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Post by rwc » Sat May 17, 2008 10:35 pm

I know this is going to sound crazy

I've never done a session where I didn't remember every detail of setup.

If asked to recite every session I've done, I would probably leave out some sessions I had. But if someone told me "so on this session, with those people, at this time", and I remembered that I had the session, I could tell you the exact mic setup I used, and where they were placed. While I won't remember the compressor setting on the kick or whatever, where I put stuff up is priceless.

I don't write any of it down. I can't possibly imagine ever forgetting this information.
Real friends stab you in the front.

Oscar Wilde

Failed audio engineer & pro studio tech turned Component level motherboard repair store in New York

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Nick Sevilla
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Sun May 18, 2008 5:57 pm

????? wrote:I know this is going to sound crazy

I've never done a session where I didn't remember every detail of setup.

If asked to recite every session I've done, I would probably leave out some sessions I had. But if someone told me "so on this session, with those people, at this time", and I remembered that I had the session, I could tell you the exact mic setup I used, and where they were placed. While I won't remember the compressor setting on the kick or whatever, where I put stuff up is priceless.

I don't write any of it down. I can't possibly imagine ever forgetting this information.
At least until your memory starts to go, around 40 ish and onwards...
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

RefD
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Post by RefD » Sun May 18, 2008 8:59 pm

noeqplease wrote:
????? wrote:I know this is going to sound crazy

I've never done a session where I didn't remember every detail of setup.

If asked to recite every session I've done, I would probably leave out some sessions I had. But if someone told me "so on this session, with those people, at this time", and I remembered that I had the session, I could tell you the exact mic setup I used, and where they were placed. While I won't remember the compressor setting on the kick or whatever, where I put stuff up is priceless.

I don't write any of it down. I can't possibly imagine ever forgetting this information.
At least until your memory starts to go, around 40 ish and onwards...
or even sooner, if you've been in a few nasty car wrecks like i have.

hooray for head trauma! :(
?What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.? -- Seneca

rwc
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Post by rwc » Sun May 18, 2008 9:30 pm

noeqplease wrote:
????? wrote:I know this is going to sound crazy

I've never done a session where I didn't remember every detail of setup.

If asked to recite every session I've done, I would probably leave out some sessions I had. But if someone told me "so on this session, with those people, at this time", and I remembered that I had the session, I could tell you the exact mic setup I used, and where they were placed. While I won't remember the compressor setting on the kick or whatever, where I put stuff up is priceless.

I don't write any of it down. I can't possibly imagine ever forgetting this information.
At least until your memory starts to go, around 40 ish and onwards...
Over 2 decades away. :lol:
Real friends stab you in the front.

Oscar Wilde

Failed audio engineer & pro studio tech turned Component level motherboard repair store in New York

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trodden
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Post by trodden » Wed May 21, 2008 12:05 am

Some of my favorite recordings that I was a part of... i didn't know what the fuck i was doing... i was nervous the whole damn time, paying so close attention, but not being weirdo, and the people I was working with were awesome, everytime, so thats it...and as a whole, we did our best and it sounds really good. Some hair of the dog always helps as welll.. on both sides of the glass...right place and time of course!~

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