Phase correction

[guitar4lyfe]

I know that they have switches to change phase 180 in mixers and stuff but is it possible to have some kind of processor or something to change it a smaller degree using a dial? if its possible does anyone know any product or how to build one?

[joel hamilton]

Little labs makes a cool one.

Sweepable phase. Super hi-fi.

Neat.

[cgarges]

That and then there are interns, which you can use to move mics. They're cheaper than the Little Labs box, but not nearly as cool.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[wayne kerr]

That and then there are interns

Yeah, but the IBP Phase tool is never late, never talks to his girlfriend on his cell phone while you're trying to mix, never plays your clients' instruments, never suggests your client "double that last chorus", never forgets to set the alarm, never fogets to vacuum, never forgets to empty the trash, never accidentally formats an automation disk, never patches a compressor output to nowhere, never denies farting in the mic closet, never phantom powers your ribbons, never steps on your headphones, never falls asleep during a session, never takes two hours to go to Starbucks - right around the corner, never punches the wrong edit points into the autolocator, never mixes up the track order on the reel box, never sets the microlynx for the wrong frame rate, never drops a whole bar-b-q chicken salad on the control room floor, never goes to the wrong airport to pick up a client (I'm NOT kidding!), never forgets to write start and end times on the track sheet, never gets caught watching porn on the video monitor during a lunch break, and finally, NEVER, and I mean NEVER reminds you that he got all As in recording school so he pretty much knows what he's talking about.

Of course, the IBP phase tool can't get down on its knees under the console, either, so I guess it all kind of evens out...

[cgarges]

Yeah, I hear you! That's why I said that they're not as cool as the IBP.

The wrong airport!

Chris

[Electricide]

that's the funniest thing i've read all week.

And you have to have been there to know, so sucks for you man.

[clamp]

Also this dumb-fuck intern, who works for free assuming you're going to teach him something, who also works for free assuming he won't be dubbing tapes for eight hours as part of his colledge education, who also works for free cleaning his new classroom, who also works for free making cold calls to perspective 'buisiness clients', who also works for free getting some stupid-elitist-boss-mother-fucker-who-won't-explain-the-principles-positioning-mics coffee, who also works for free with clients who ask him his stupid opinion reguarding the arangement of their stupid song, who also works for free 30 minutes after the studio should have closed, also...
Don't abuse your good interns. Also don't take them exclusively from any recording school. There's a eighteen year-old kid willing to bypass some shitty colledge to learn how to record from the horse's mouth. Turn him away or treat him like some loser servant and guess where all your knowledge will end up.

[wayne kerr]

Here's the difference between the good ones and the bad ones...

Good ones - you don't even know they're there, yet you'd know if they weren't. At the end of the day, you sit them down, ask them to pull out their notebook and go through every single question that came up during the day's session. You don't go home until you know their questions have been answered. I'd say, IME, about 1 in 5 end up in this category.

Bad ones - it is readily apparent that their presence in your facility is hindering your ability to deliver 100% to your client. At the end of the day, you sit them down and ask them to pull out their notebook. If they don't have one, you tell them they don't have to show up tomorrow. If they do have one, you tell them to write the following, in big block letters, in all caps...

MY JOB IS TO SIT DOWN AND SHUT THE FUCK UP UNTIL SOMEBODY TELLS ME TO DO OTHERWISE. IT IS A PRIVILEGE FOR ME TO BE IN THIS ROOM. IF I DON'T WANT THAT PRIVILEGE, THERE ARE 100 OTHERS JUST LIKE ME LINED UP OUTSIDE THE DOOR WHO DO.

This is not a nursery school, and you are not a babysitter.
The next day, if they took your advice to heart, they just may find themselves in the 1 out of 5 category and become indispensible to you. You will then do everything possible to help ensure their success.

[guitar4lyfe]

Yeah I have alot of respect for you guys and the artform of recording(yes it is an art, so much experience and knowledge goes into it) Next year after I finish Highschool Im starting recording engineering at Musicians Institute (North Hollywood, CA) and as part of the program is 3 months of manditory internship, which I'll probably learn the most from.

I already have a notebook full of general settings and techniques, etc. anything I may find important, and its growing my the day coming to this board.

[tiger vomitt]

Of course, the IBP phase tool can't get down on its knees under the console, either, so I guess it all kind of evens out...

pulling a bill clinton on the interns eh?

[cgarges]

Also this dumb-fuck intern, who works for free assuming you're going to teach him something, who also works for free assuming he won't be dubbing tapes for eight hours as part of his colledge education, who also works for free cleaning his new classroom, who also works for free making cold calls to perspective 'buisiness clients', who also works for free getting some stupid-elitist-boss-mother-fucker-who-won't-explain-the-principles-positioning-mics coffee, who also works for free with clients who ask him his stupid opinion reguarding the arangement of their stupid song, who also works for free 30 minutes after the studio should have closed, also...
Don't abuse your good interns. Also don't take them exclusively from any recording school. There's a eighteen year-old kid willing to bypass some shitty colledge to learn how to record from the horse's mouth. Turn him away or treat him like some loser servant and guess where all your knowledge will end up.

It could just be me, but all of the good interns I've met have eventually wound up getting paid to do sessions at some point. These are the guys who understand guitar4lyfe's comments and take it upon themselves to learn and experiment without getting in anyone's way or disrupting anything. None of these guys have ever pretended to know anything about anything they didn't and none have assumed that they knew more than the people for whom they "worked" (re:volunteeered), even when it WAS the case.

I started out in this boat and have now been serving a steady client base for about 7 years. I have been a freelance engineer without a studio or a boss for the last year and a half. If you fall into the above category, you'll do alright. If you don't it's not a guarantee that you won't succeed. (Trust me, I've seen this too--rarely, but I've seen it and it ain't pretty.) While there are some really great interns (I'm particularly thankful for recent experiences with Matthew Everhart, who I now hire to drive to NC from Indiana to engineer sessions when I'm playing drums), these jokes and stories about the others exist for a reason. You can sort of use Frank Zappa's analogy: unlike the unicorn, these types of people really exist.

Thank God for good interns!

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[wayne kerr]

Thank God for good interns!

YOUBETCHA!