What prod. techniques (that you do, or have done) just suck?

[hearnoevil]

When I first graduated I got an ASSload of really terrible internships. Not even working my ass off internships- I was basically learning nothing for a good 6 months. As a result of this, I was pretty out of practice. So, when I got my first "real" studio job, I agreed to record my room mate's demo after hours. Wow, what a train wreck. I had to re-record it because I couldn't figure out how the hell to use the clicktrack at the new studio, so the drummer was ALL over the place. Once I got a decent recording, I managed to forget how to route the FX properly, so I couldn't control the FX level. Then, when I thought I had a somewhat tolerable mix, I listened to it at a friend's bar & realized that the whole mix was lopsided because the monitors are setup in an odd place in relation to the computer that I was mixing on. I pretty much made myself re-learn EVERYTHING I could from my notes & books- I'm still embarrassed every time he plays that demo for someone!

[Dr. Sausage]

Back when I was first starting, with nothing but my sound blaster, no microphones. I ran a 1/4 to 1/8th cable from my amps speaker output, to my line in. Sparks would fly from the cable as I plugged it into my computer XD. Sounded awful too.

[kevindale]

mmm, Copperphone to US Army Signal Corps Federal Limiter... yummmmm

[Spiderhead69]

My early mixes have too much reverb on Guitar and drums...And some of the mixes are too bright...

I just went through listening to all of my compositions these past 2 days critiqueing them and it's nice to see/hear where my mixing and listening skills improved. I've still got a long way to go but at least now I feel like I'm at least 75% of the way to being able to pull all the elements together for an outstanding mix...

[djdrake13]

I just went through listening to all of my compositions these past 2 days critiqueing them and it's nice to see/hear where my mixing and listening skills improved. I've still got a long way to go but at least now I feel like I'm at least 75% of the way to being able to pull all the elements together for an outstanding mix...

So true man! If anyone is ever down about their skills or in a funk, just go back and listen to the early mixes.. Boy, does it make you feel like you've come a long way. I can't believe the things I let slide and even thought was good!! I've gotten so much better and thank God that I'm not putting out these horrible mixes anymore. Praise the Lord!!

[marqueemoon]

Using a room mic for drums. It turns out my tiny basement room kinda sucks for that sort of thing. I wasn't too shocked that it sucked, but I had to try it.

The over-the-shoulder acoustic guitar stereo micing thing. I've never gotten good results with any kind of stereo micing besides x/y on acoustic guitar.

Micing the bottom of the snare. I understand why people do it, but I don't like the sound, and to me using top and bottom snare mics causes more problems than it solves.

"nice" mics on vocals. After spending money on a "nice" mic for vocals I've concluded that most of the time I could really give a shit about all the little nuances. Some of those little nuances are really annoying.

[mjau]

Not paying attention to phase / not understanding phase
poor gain staging on preamps
lazy mic placement
relying too heavily on a "fix it in the mix/ fix it with plugins" mentality
using waaaay too many synths

[MichaelAlan]

Thanks for playing along folks. This post was more of an experiment on the egotism of artists. The post that showed up last week on the most aggravating production cliques got about 35 hits. Why? Because it's much more fun to laugh at others than your self. So this was my reaction to that.

I find it awesome that most of the posts so far have been directed towards the authors' past fualts and failures. (Not the recording industry's) I guess we artists aren't as egotistical as you thought...Man we're so awesome.


I am also guilty of sloppy and hurried mic placement.

[vvv]

Vocals levels too low.

But I suscribe to the Mick Jagger Exile approach...

[Moon Unit]

Why would I do something if I knew it sucked ? ? ?

What the hell kinda' question is that?

Come work with me. I'm a great engineer. Except for when I do ____ . I really suck balls when I do that.

But otherwise, yea, I'm the shit ... when I'm not purposely doing stuff that sucks, that is.

[Mark Alan Miller]

Getting into any sort of rut, loop, or habit when it comes to anything.
It's similar to when a 'catch phrase' gets in your vocabulary and you can't help but say it a dozen times a day. ("My Bad" comes to mind... I banned myself from saying it again the moment it's first utterance passed my lips...)

The post that showed up last week on the most aggravating production cliques got about 35 hits. Why? Because it's much more fun to laugh at others than your self. So this was my reaction to that.

I almost posted someting about rock bands using drums, guitars, bass, and vocals as a huge overdone cliche, but refrained.

using waaaay too many synths

No such thing

I had to re-record it because I couldn't figure out how the hell to use the clicktrack at the new studio, so the drummer was ALL over the place.

That was not your fault, unless you were also the drummer...

[Verboten]

My bad - saying, "Oh, it's just a scratch vocal, I'll put up the crappiest mic I have, 'cuz we're gonna fix it later"... then spending way too much time trying to get the singer to get the magic take that he/she got the first time around, but was recorded poorly.

I don't do that anymore.

[mr_glide]

Over-complicating arrangements to start off with, then stripping them back to find that practically no element is strong enough to support the groove on its own.

Under-compressing things.

Over-compressing things.

Not finishing tracks all too often.

Eating hob-nobs and getting crumbs stuck between the keys on my keyboard.

Guilty as sin, me.

[mjau]

using waaaay too many synths

No such thing

OK, how about spending hours tweaking synths, completely forgetting the world and everyone around me?

[Mark Alan Miller]

using waaaay too many synths

No such thing

OK, how about spending hours tweaking synths, completely forgetting the world and everyone around me?

That would then be a subjective decision... some people would classify that as geek heaven - others would call it MIDI hell...