do you know what you're doing?
do you know what you're doing?
A few days ago, I was recording this guitar overdub with an AMAZING guitarist for a production that I've been working on since December.
He has this effects box with a line level output. I plugged it into the low impedance input of the amp, and it sounded good. I tried the high impedance one meant for the guitar, and it sounded much weirder, but much better. Every note smacked you in the face instead of just protruding out of the amp, without an obnoxious, or even noticeable distortion.
The producer was so happy with the sound I got a tip at the end of the session!
I wish I could have said "yeah, that's my super awesome trick, I knew that would happen." I really had no idea.
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?
He has this effects box with a line level output. I plugged it into the low impedance input of the amp, and it sounded good. I tried the high impedance one meant for the guitar, and it sounded much weirder, but much better. Every note smacked you in the face instead of just protruding out of the amp, without an obnoxious, or even noticeable distortion.
The producer was so happy with the sound I got a tip at the end of the session!
I wish I could have said "yeah, that's my super awesome trick, I knew that would happen." I really had no idea.
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?
Real friends stab you in the front.
Oscar Wilde
Failed audio engineer & pro studio tech turned Component level motherboard repair store in New York
Oscar Wilde
Failed audio engineer & pro studio tech turned Component level motherboard repair store in New York
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It's been said around here many times that mixing is not something that can be taught, it can only be learned.
You've found an example of why that is.
There are lots of things we discover in weird ways, sometimes because we're intentionally trying something different and sometimes just because we mess up and plug things in wrong. Sometimes we learn a new trick that gets a fantastic sound, and sometimes we discover how absolutely horrible we can make things sound.
Hopefully all of those little ideas get filed away (like you said) so they can be called up when they are needed next. You may not get to use that guitar trick for another 10 years, but you may use it again next week... just make sure to only use it when it does work.
And most important, keep experimenting and cataloging away those results.
-Jeremy
You've found an example of why that is.
There are lots of things we discover in weird ways, sometimes because we're intentionally trying something different and sometimes just because we mess up and plug things in wrong. Sometimes we learn a new trick that gets a fantastic sound, and sometimes we discover how absolutely horrible we can make things sound.
Hopefully all of those little ideas get filed away (like you said) so they can be called up when they are needed next. You may not get to use that guitar trick for another 10 years, but you may use it again next week... just make sure to only use it when it does work.
And most important, keep experimenting and cataloging away those results.
-Jeremy
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I think recording has so much technical ego and black magic surrounding it and some people want to believe it's ALL methodical. Nothing against methodical, it's the only way to troubleshoot, use gear as a "tool" to solve a problem, get things done efficiently when needed, etc. But there is that creative side to it, too, and that side is subject to those Ethereal Laws of Art. You know, those laws that aren't written down anywhere and change from moment to moment and work one way once and then never that same way again. Except sometimes.
It's not that you don't know what you're doing, it's a turf war between your left/right brain where one side is saying, "DANGER! Errr, IMPEDANCE MISMATCH! PLEASE CONSULT YAMAHA SOUND REENFORCEMENT HANDBOOK!" and the other side is saying, "Hm, what if...". In my case, I will listen to the Paranoid Robot side long enough to know if I am about to fry gear/myself, or if I am going to create more problems down the road by ignoring some technical detail. Then I light some incense and consult the Crusty Hippie side of my brain, who has already managed use 3 Radio Shack adaptors to get an out-of-tune 3-stringed guitar plugged into the mic input of an early 90's Aiwa stereo system (Rock EQ setting, of course). Somewhere in the middle is love. Dirty, unnatural, Robot/Hippie love, but love nonetheless.
And I think that feeling of "Do I actually know what I'm doing?" is the bastard child of that union. That feeling must be ignored like the freak of nature that it is.
It's not that you don't know what you're doing, it's a turf war between your left/right brain where one side is saying, "DANGER! Errr, IMPEDANCE MISMATCH! PLEASE CONSULT YAMAHA SOUND REENFORCEMENT HANDBOOK!" and the other side is saying, "Hm, what if...". In my case, I will listen to the Paranoid Robot side long enough to know if I am about to fry gear/myself, or if I am going to create more problems down the road by ignoring some technical detail. Then I light some incense and consult the Crusty Hippie side of my brain, who has already managed use 3 Radio Shack adaptors to get an out-of-tune 3-stringed guitar plugged into the mic input of an early 90's Aiwa stereo system (Rock EQ setting, of course). Somewhere in the middle is love. Dirty, unnatural, Robot/Hippie love, but love nonetheless.
And I think that feeling of "Do I actually know what I'm doing?" is the bastard child of that union. That feeling must be ignored like the freak of nature that it is.
- A.David.MacKinnon
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Whoa, what are you on and why aren't you sharing!?Anthony Caruso wrote:I think recording has so much technical ego and black magic surrounding it and some people want to believe it's ALL methodical. Nothing against methodical, it's the only way to troubleshoot, use gear as a "tool" to solve a problem, get things done efficiently when needed, etc. But there is that creative side to it, too, and that side is subject to those Ethereal Laws of Art. You know, those laws that aren't written down anywhere and change from moment to moment and work one way once and then never that same way again. Except sometimes.
It's not that you don't know what you're doing, it's a turf war between your left/right brain where one side is saying, "DANGER! Errr, IMPEDANCE MISMATCH! PLEASE CONSULT YAMAHA SOUND REENFORCEMENT HANDBOOK!" and the other side is saying, "Hm, what if...". In my case, I will listen to the Paranoid Robot side long enough to know if I am about to fry gear/myself, or if I am going to create more problems down the road by ignoring some technical detail. Then I light some incense and consult the Crusty Hippie side of my brain, who has already managed use 3 Radio Shack adaptors to get an out-of-tune 3-stringed guitar plugged into the mic input of an early 90's Aiwa stereo system (Rock EQ setting, of course). Somewhere in the middle is love. Dirty, unnatural, Robot/Hippie love, but love nonetheless.
And I think that feeling of "Do I actually know what I'm doing?" is the bastard child of that union. That feeling must be ignored like the freak of nature that it is.
"It's not a recording studio without a lava lamp"
~Mark Rubel
"Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
~Mark Rubel
"Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
- fossiltooth
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No. Not really.rwc wrote:do you know what you're doing?
Like everyone else in the world, I'm just guessing.
With any luck, i've been doing it long enough, and I have enough taste that my best guesses sound pretty good.
When it come to sound, no on really knows what they're doing.
In the end, it's about sound, not numbers. Sometimes the "wrong way" can sound the coolest. Nothing "wrong" there.
- joelpatterson
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+1 to all that. Totally agree.fossiltooth wrote:No. Not really.rwc wrote:do you know what you're doing?
Like everyone else in the world, I'm just guessing.
With any luck, i've been doing it long enough, and I have enough taste that my best guesses sound pretty good.
When it come to sound, no on really knows what they're doing.
In the end, it's about sound, not numbers. Sometimes the "wrong way" can sound the coolest. Nothing "wrong" there.
- SoulOfJonas
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a producer once told "you're just fooling yourself if you don't think this all just a bunch of happy accidents." i've thought about that almost sessions since.
-JV
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John Valencia - Freelance audio-recorder-mixer guy
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