what do you call yourself?

[televator]

i record bands in a studio, and this is how i make my living, but i don't really feel comfortable calling myself an "engineer" or saying i engineered a record because i don't have any type of degree, and i really don't know a lot about frequencies and stuff. i have read a lot about recording, but most of what i know is from experience.

so, if i don't call myself a recording/audio engineer, what do you think would be a more accurate term. i know, this isn't anything terribly important. i'd just like to hear what all of you think. thanks.

[tiger vomitt]

i use a bunch of words to describe what i do.

"engineer" i dint usually feel weird about it as i went to school for it. did i learn any "real" engineering? no, but who's counting...

producer, i actually do this usually

studio person

one that i hate, but sometimes am sorta forced to use: "musician" yech!! composer is pretty bad too because people automatically think white hair and conducting an orchestra (i have a BFA in composition)

i see where yer coming from about the engineer thing, i read here the other day about how geoff emerick (i think it was him) got bitched out by the bigwigs at abbey road for plugging a guitar directly into the board (for "revolution"). he comitted the cardinal sin of "mismatching impedances"

now THOSE dudes were real engineers.. they actually cared about that shit!

[assfortress]

Even though the tape op message board doesn't say so, I think I will forever refer to myself as an "ass engineer."

[Meriphew]

i record bands in a studio, and this is how i make my living, but i don't really feel comfortable calling myself an "engineer" or saying i engineered a record because i don't have any type of degree, and i really don't know a lot about frequencies and stuff. i have read a lot about recording, but most of what i know is from experience.

so, if i don't call myself a recording/audio engineer, what do you think would be a more accurate term. i know, this isn't anything terribly important. i'd just like to hear what all of you think. thanks.

You sound like an engineer to me. Though reading about engineering is good stuff, actually doing it is where you really learn what you're doing.

[rich]

id have to agree with meriphew, it sounds like your an engineer to me. dont belittle yourself just because you didnt get some sorta certification in audio. if you fasilitate and "engineer" the recording of some band than you earn the title. im sure a fair portion of the more famous engineers and producers didnt obtain the titles they have by sitting in classrooms, they got them by doing what your doing... recording music and trying theyre best to make it sound good.

[tiger vomitt]

i forgot to mention it, but i do agree - i think what you're doing should rightly be called engineering.

[TapeOpLarry]

Engineer: A person skilled in any branch of engineering.

Engineering: The science of making practical application of pure sciences, as physics, chemistry, etc., as in the construction of engines, buildings, etc.

I see no mention of a degree there. If you are skilled and are using a practical application of science in the making of recordings you are an engineer. If you wish to be a producer you should be guiding the session in a stronger way than just getting it recorded, but that can vary case by case. I'm just always amazed at folks who demand production credit for hitting record a few times - what about song selection, arrangements, hiring musicians, judging every performance, deleting tracks while mixing, sequencing, hiring a mastering engineer, etc???

This subject could go on for a while...
Larry

[toothpastefordinner]

you have been thinking about this too much. driver 8, take a break!@

[Oliver Straus/Mission]

I usually don't wear my white lab coat and pocket protector as it tends to put bands off. Do you facilitate the transfer of acoustical energy to an electrical signal whereby it can be stored on a magnetic or optical medium?

Enough said

[wayne kerr]

Record-O-Bot... that's me!

E

[AstroDan]

I think if you start aiming guns in the studio, at the musicians, then you could probably call yourself a producer.

I like the white lab coat idea. I totally want to get one and a metal clipboard to carry around. Paging Dr. Sonic!

[edanderson]

in the past i've used the label "recordist" to get around the "no degree engineer" problem. but honestly, the definition of engineer is so broad that it fits about as well as anything. and somehow "recordist" seems to connote a more experimental mindset, whereas "engineer" is more of a "get to work and get it done" deal.

i think we've been over this before, but there are some states where there are legal limitations to advertising yourself as an "engineer" without certain certifications. or something like that?

ed

[thunderboy]

I think I would probably get into trouble in ANY state if I advertised myself as a Civil Engineer.
Audio Engineers are the only engineers that are not required to hold some sort of degree or certification...from what I have been lead to understand. Even train engineers have a license.
I think it's Texas that requires certification for audio engineers, maybe some others, too.

I'm just another sound guy.

jt

[bert]

I recently went to visit an old buddy of mine, back home in Texas, for his graduation from law school. Now while his family has always been cool with me, the "slacker" friend of their son, I was surrounded by lawers, law students, and other professional straight-laced type people.
I was constantly being asked "AND WHAT DO YOU DO???"
Me, the only tattooed guy amongst a field of suits.
After telling them I was an engineer I had to field questions like "what do you think of godsmack" but all in all it was cool.