Walter Sear makes me cry

[dstroud]

Man, is this guy the antithesis of the TapeOf ethos or what? I want more feel-good articles from clueless musicians who recorded their masterpieces using a 57 and a paperclip! I bet this guy pisses off the DIY and the Mix-reading crowd at the same time.

Okay, so he has some good stuff to say, and he does mention "It isn't the equipment that makes a recording engineer," but then he goes on to talk about how no one will ever ever have good enough equipment. Not the pro studios, and certainly not the amateurs. I wonder how much of this is him promoting his studio, and how much of it is him being a weird old codger. I suspect the latter.

This being said, I'm glad we have people like this to remind us of the pre-digital days, but this guy is just vicious about it.

-Dan

Going back to listen to the first Shins album. In agony?

[Don Shumai]

Yeah, he kind of bummed me out too. I think he makes some good points, but you have to get past his attitude. In a way he reminds me of when I was getting started in this stuff, and all these people were saying, "You'll never make a non-shitty recording on your own," but these were people who wanted you to book time at their studios, so I found it hard to view them as unbiased.

In the end, what I get out of that article is more resolve to keep doing what I'm doing, and to get better at it, and fuck anyone who says I can't.

[brokenchairs]

He had a lot of good points to what he was saying, but he came off like such a negative old coot that I got really tired of reading what he said.

he did help make the first moog though, he gets some cool points for that.

[Rodgre]

I'm assuming this is in reference to an article in the new issue. I haven't gotten mine yet, so I can't really comment on the article.

I will say that he is a very interesting guy to talk to. He's very opinionated and a little bit offensive, but he's full of so many great stories. I was very glad that I got to meet him and talk "geek stuff" with him for a few days. He definitely didn't believe in all the crazy boutiquiness of gear. Tubes? You guys are paying how much for tubes? I bought hundreds of those for ten cents a piece.... that sort of thing.

He's a character, for sure. Great studio. Unreal mic collection. Unending stories.

Roger

[bigtoe]

wow...i thought he was right on... and good about how he expressed himself...not a lot of attitude for someone who has done so much- i've seen oodles more from a lot less - while paying!! i actually read not much attitude in that piece...but i've read him before so i knew what to expect.

i was impressed with his customer service spiel and his musicians have to be ready to record, too...fine line.

he also gives a shit about his staff (who he PAYS) and training up and comers which really is hit or miss...

anyway - viva walter sear from 2 da38's, a 1604 and a slab house...dig him.

Mike

[Poppatwang]

I thought he was right. But so what? I don't have the jing
to book his studio so I'm still going to keep recording within my means.
I'll strive for sonic excellence with the gear at hand.
If it's not the analog holy grail,(believe me it isn't) tough hop Walter.

[tonylamont]

I'm glad that people like Sears are still out there keeping that level of studio craft alive. But I'm not shedding any tears for the industry dynamics (read: major label hegemony) that were necessary to support the economics of having a bunch of studios like that. The pejorative "amateur" is pretty indicative of the mind-set of that era -- like I'm supposed to prefer whatever prog-rock crap played by musicians who are "consummate professionals" over the Ramones or the Stooges? I mean, we all wish we possessed native talent on the level of a Brian Wilson but if musical worth were solely dependent upon that criterion then we'd all have pretty small record collections. Same thing goes for recording technology. I like listening to my beautifully recorded, well pressed vintage albums as much as the next guy, but like that's a prerequisite for something being good or valid. Come on. Yeah, I think's it's kinda sad that many talented folks are undercompensated or have to work day jobs, but that's art. Look at writers, actors, dancers, etc. Same thing.

[TrumpsHair]

I've only read half of it so far, but in essence I think one of his points are, if you want to engage in digital recording, spend your money on the 'clock source.' Which makes perfect sense to me. It's the digital to analog conversion which is most important.

[i am monster face]

i thought he was yelling at ME!
Ian

[schnozzle]

I just finished reading the interview. I actually agree with almost everything he says, and I know damn well that my recordings would sound considerably less shitty if I understood electronics and the physics of sound and had years of experience.

On the other hand, nobody's ever going to give my band the kind of money needed to record in a place like that. When faced with the options of putting out a poorly-engineered record or no record at all, we'll go with the crappy recording. I'll always enjoy great music with less-than-stellar fidelity over technically competent crap any day, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that.

[Scodiddly]

What I found annoying is his attitude that the rest of us are all amateurs, etc. How could anybody become his definition of professional without some period of being an amateur?

[jp76]

Whenever somebody starts talking about "the good old days," I sort of tune out. His opinion that we have "lost our ability to hear," due to the digitial age or whatever, is complete bullshit. Hearing is subjective, enjoying music is subjective. I'm sure his recordings are totally awesome and I wouldn't for a second pretend that I could make better ones, but it's only one piece in the pie and I don't think he even know the flavor.

[wing]

i'll have a home studio all i want, and it'll sound great.

i say we all get together and kick his ass.

[magnetictape]

I think some folks are arguing different points here... Sear's main concern with the state of recorded sound is fidelity. I agree with his main points on that topic: it takes ear training to tell the difference between the live and recorded sound, technical training to understand your equipment fully, and money to buy quality equipment, if you want to make a high-fidelity recording. One can use a cassette 4-track, which I do, and it might sound charming or be entertaining if the music is good, but it won't sound like what the musician played.

His attitude probably stems from spending his life trying to raise the bar for fidelity, and because of marketing and consumerism, his work will never be widely appreciated. I personally think there are more lamentable declines in the last 50 years than that of hi-fi appreciation, but all in all his points make sense.

[Crono]

Sigur Ros, that was kickass. I want to record in a pool.