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Post by svart on Nov 22, 2021 13:36:12 GMT -6
1. No track limits. It's digital and digital is cheap.
2. No real hard time limits. In my experience, people who are worried about time rarely work faster or more efficiently. They just get more paranoid about the time and cut corners resulting in a worse outcome that reflects poorly on me as well.
3. I try to feel out the scope of the project and streamline my planned workflow. You can rarely manage other people's efficiency, but you can try to steer them in better directions.
4. Add 30% more time to your planned schedule.
5. I don't limit plugins. It's free to pull up one plug or another. Telling the customer that you're willingly going to limit the potential quality of the outcome synthetically would only make them question the result even more.
6. I might limit things that take a lot of time and energy like mic'ing amps. I'm going to take a DI and I might choose to use amp sims instead for monitoring and reamp later, or use the sims for the final tracks. Turn pre-production into post-production that I can do without people waiting and being critical due to nerves.
7. Use my drum kit. It's ready to go. It's maintained and tuned and mic'd up. More often than not drummers show up with kits that have rattles, dead heads, etc. Most of the time they've chosen heads for playability, not for tone. Using my kit cuts out hours of testing and retuning.
8. Get copious amounts of sample material ahead of time. "Guitar should sound like nirvana's nevermind" or "drums should sound like Bonham", etc. It takes me a lot less time to get things prepared like this than while the band is sitting around in the studio looking at the clock and wondering why I can't just "hit record".
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Post by jmoose on Nov 22, 2021 13:48:32 GMT -6
I really am so blown away that the idea of trying something different to be challenging and fun once in a while is such a controversial and ridiculed idea. Serious purple site vibes on this thread. ?? How so? I'm all for personal challenges & self improvement but I can't get my head around what your offering here? It makes no sense. Reduced rates with reduced gear? Like your a rental house? Oh you wanna use the Neumann and Summit for vocals? That's an extra $100... you wanna patch the Distressor too?! That'll be another $50... The UAD Lexicon? No no... that's another $5 each time I look at it! Suspect most of us have that interpretation so if we're wrong then make a correction and explain it. Because for one thing if you can't explain your concept to us... other studio peers then no musician on the planet is going to understand you. |
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Post by svart on Nov 22, 2021 13:53:34 GMT -6
I really am so blown away that the idea of trying something different to be challenging and fun once in a while is such a controversial and ridiculed idea. Serious purple site vibes on this thread. I'm not really getting that myself. I think people are just critiquing, but I don't see some of the hateful stuff or the ego fluffing that GS is noted for. I think maybe folks aren't being as receptive as you might have expected, but I know that a lot of folks that've responded have a lot of time in the pro recording world and have some thoughts about what works and what doesn't. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2021 14:10:36 GMT -6
Kotelnikov GE is 10 bucks at audiodeluxe now. Pretty much all stock dynamics plugs and 99% of hardware is jokey vs it. No reason not to use stuff like that or the Klanghelm plugs on cheap projects. The quality is insane.
Anyone who defends something like ReaComp vs them is totally nuts.
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Post by EmRR on Nov 22, 2021 14:12:33 GMT -6
There aren’t really experimental price tiers here, I have a rate and that’s it. If the client is interested in a limited pallet as a way of working, by nature that changes the cost boundaries…..but after all these years I still can’t predict how! It could make it harder and take longer. Arts….always some crazy new thing.
I do experiments that are on me to manage, like a completely different set of mics for every source, things like that which broaden the recipe book. But if I’m making chicken shit instead of chicken salad I have to be able to reconfigure ASAP.
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Post by the other mark williams on Nov 22, 2021 14:28:35 GMT -6
I really am so blown away that the idea of trying something different to be challenging and fun once in a while is such a controversial and ridiculed idea. Serious purple site vibes on this thread. I don't think that's how it's intended here - that's certainly not my intent. I'm all for experimentation and finding new ways to do things that inspire and even shake us up. But how to translate that to a more affordable recording package for the client - that's the real issue here.
The longer I've done this work, the more evident it is to me that really: Time = $. For real.
The only cost saving factor that doesn't involve the engineer/producer becoming bitter in the long run is limiting the time spent on the project. There are a few ways to limit time such that the cost of the project is less to the client.
For instance, everything recorded live with limited (or even no) overdubs. The ultimate example of this, of course, is recording live to 2-track, but it can save a lot of time even when multitracking. Bonus: If you can get good drum sounds using fewer mics, great! If you can just DI the bass instead of doing a DI/miked amp combo, great!
If the band is good enough, this can be awesome. I love this Glen Phillips track from maybe 10yrs ago:
If you frame this process the right way to your clients, it gives them something to shoot for. They have to practice ahead of time and get tight.
And we've all got examples of bands or individuals who just were super talented and knocked a ton of stuff out in a day. I remember years ago a guy going into the studio where I used to work and he was going to play ALL THE PARTS on the album. He booked a one day lockout (10hrs) up front. Went in, played all the drums and all the bass parts to 9 songs in one day. Bam. Rhythm section DONE for the whole album. You better believe he made that album inexpensively.
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Post by sirthought on Nov 22, 2021 14:34:18 GMT -6
I have a friend, who I believe is a member here but I don't know his name, he tracks through lots of vintage gear, but when it comes to mixing ITB I don't think he owns a single third party plugin. He mixes solely with stock Logic plugins. He'd rather spend money on gear.
I don't think the stock plugins save him any time, and may actually increase it. I will say what I have heard of his mixes sound impressive. Like anything he learns to get good results with what he owns.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2023 19:12:27 GMT -6
This thread inspired me to make a limited mixing template around MDWEQ6, MDWDRC2, and Nova GE. I’m doing better work.
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Post by drbill on Jan 17, 2023 20:22:26 GMT -6
Not a fan of the OP idea if this is solely a way to bring in business, but I'll share a "limits" idea that worked out very well for me, although kind of in an opposite direction.
FREE studio time. That's right - 100% free. GIVE IT AWAY!!!!!
There are two catches though.
#1 - you have to have a much better studio and/or gear than what most folks have at home, so that it is desirable for musicians to want to work there vs. at their own home studio.
#2 - you charge for your time and experience, and only YOU can engineer a session.
People don't like paying for studio time. They just don't cause they have their own studio. However, they are quite used to paying $75 an hour for a mechanic (even though they have some wrenches but don't want to get their hands dirty), $350 an hour for an attorney (even though they can get the same info on the internet for free), etc., etc.. You get the idea.
Give away studio time, but set your hourly rate fairly. If you are good - you will get work. Win/Win.
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Post by smashlord on Jan 17, 2023 20:48:43 GMT -6
I think the thing to do is find ways to work more efficiently and pitch a lower total cost to a client than necessarily drop one's pants on rate. Instead of brining their own gear, can they use a house kit that is already set up, tuned, etc.... house guitars that are already setup and intonated, house amps that can already be miked, etc... Can they send pre pro demos so you know EXACTLY what tempos are, work out any arrangement kinks beforehand, etc... Having a good arrangement and knowing what tones to shoot for from the get go can save ALOT of time in mixing. Maybe propose cutting 1 verse and 1 chorus assuming they repeat more or less verbatim instrumentally and getting it really tight and then copy and paste so your editing time is cut down, etc.. etc...
I think it may be more effective to give the client alternative methods to achieve the same quality result. If they then deviate, you can say "Happy to do it that way also, but just a heads up, it may cost more to achieve the same result in the end."
Just my 2 cents. In my experience, lack of preparation on the artist's part and the occasional purist notion is what drives up the cost of record making... not the rate of the studio and/or engineer. I personally never drop my rate and instead consult the artist on how to approach achieving their goals efficiently from a time perspective.
Clients who just want a deal are often a headache and not worth taking on, arguably costing you money.
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Post by lpedrum on Jan 17, 2023 22:21:59 GMT -6
I really am so blown away that the idea of trying something different to be challenging and fun once in a while is such a controversial and ridiculed idea. Serious purple site vibes on this thread. I wouldn't take any of this personally. The art/commerce debate burns deep within all of us. Just asking your question is a legit exercise, even if it leads to completely different solutions. My own personal experience is that "quick and dirty" never worked because as much as a client agrees in theory there's a voice on their other shoulder saying "This song could be a masterpiece." If your goal is to allow artists into your studio that don't normally have the means I'd be more inclined keep an ear out for genuine talent and then offer them a "free" recording where you both own the master or some other spec arrangement. All that said, if you do follow through on your idea my qualifier would be no artist present at the mix session! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2023 22:23:12 GMT -6
Not a fan of the OP idea if this is solely a way to bring in business, but I'll share a "limits" idea that worked out very well for me, although kind of in an opposite direction. FREE studio time. That's right - 100% free. GIVE IT AWAY!!!!! I like that way of thinking.. Here's the thing, I saw a thread the other day about mixing engineers sending hot tracks which are near enough (or are already) mastered to a mastering engineer and they're wondering what their purpose is. Welcome to the 21st century of recording, chances are anyone that can afford to pay a decent rate and has a passion for music will have their own studio and will have discovered what they want out of a track.
This forum is a bit of exception in some regards, we have a lot of long standing skilled engineers with a lot of equipment accumulated over the years. However in my small slice of experience said home studio users generally have better stuff than the mixing or tracking engineers themselves. So, back to my original point, whether it's commercial or private sector people aren't generally looking for your stuff, they need you. It's fine having a good home studio setup but without the time required to capitalise on it they usually need some QA, that's where the money is.
Self imposed limits ain't going to work, again IME a lot of these homes studio's aren't lacking for tools. I'm in a similar situation again and in the past I have on quite a few occasions paid for consultancy hours and if that's not somebody's jam fine they lose money, not my problem. On a side note, I understand that music is personal and some people are a bit precious about useful advice, although there's people like me who aren't. If you say it sucks, fair enough we might not agree on everything but I'm paying you to help me so I'm obviously going to listen.
Sorry for the long post but after some lo-fi recordings from era's long gone I now have a habbit of making everything loud, massive, stupidly hi-fi and I do sometimes wonder why it sounds better in context when comparing. Then I play it back on a less than ideal medium and the penny drops, so I do QA checks on several mediums and with other engineers to reign me in. It's not a monitoring fault, it's a preference thing and sometimes it works but other times it doesn't. Also the issue with writing, recording, mixing and mastering is you can go a bit ear blind then I do need a second opinion. However look at it this way, it's money in someone's pocket they wouldn't otherwise get..
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Post by drbill on Jan 17, 2023 22:29:04 GMT -6
Not a fan of the OP idea if this is solely a way to bring in business, but I'll share a "limits" idea that worked out very well for me, although kind of in an opposite direction. FREE studio time. That's right - 100% free. GIVE IT AWAY!!!!! people aren't generally looking for your stuff, they need you.
Exactly. Anything you can buy or have someone build - there's someone else who has two of them, or a bigger place, or a better set of gear. The one thing that is unique to each of us is our experience. No one can buy it, build it or steal it. That's what you have to capitalize on. <thumbsup> |
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Post by Johnkenn on Jan 17, 2023 22:53:36 GMT -6
Serious purple site vibes on this thread. Pet peeve |
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Post by Johnkenn on Jan 17, 2023 22:58:41 GMT -6
people aren't generally looking for your stuff, they need you. Exactly. Anything you can buy or have someone build - there's someone else who has two of them, or a bigger place, or a better set of gear. The one thing that is unique to each of us is our experience. No one can buy it, build it or steal it. That's what you have to capitalize on. <thumbsup> Yeah. I started a forum about gear and I’m down to bare bones HW wise. Because in all honesty, I don’t need it at the moment. For the budgets I work with, mostly ITB makes sense. The second I start getting some major label mixing, I’ll be buying some outboard. There’s still a difference - but it’s close and there’s nothing wrong with being a freaking ninja before even having the real tools. I realize others in my same situation don’t share the same opinion, but I’ve found myself very pragmatic the last 3-5 years. It doesn’t help with the lust though. |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jan 18, 2023 0:43:11 GMT -6
Dr. Bill's idea makes the most sense. An hourly rate for your time works brilliantly if you own the studio. You can always adjust as you go along. I've made $300 on projects I used to get $3,000 for, but I was glad for the work. It kept my chops up, my reputation good, and it can help bring in new work.
As for using stock plug-ins, it's really what you know how to do with them that counts. For instance, Logic's compressors work as well as any other brand, they have useable reverbs, delays and all sorts of effects available. If you can't make it sound really good with their stock plug-ins, you're really not that good anyway.
It's the greatness that many people here pursue, that rare moment of near perfection. So, if you have the ears and experience, something like a vintage U67 or a high end compressor can be a blessing toward getting the sound you want. That doesn't mean using less expensive gear can't bring great results, it just won't give you the kind of results you really want, hence the gearlust.
One of my benchmarks is Pete Townsend's cover of the English Beat's "Save it For Later". You ain't gettin' that sound from your $1,500 clone and an Apollo no matter how good you are. But... it is fun to try.
If you want to challenge yourself I suggest you try two things, one, seeing how close you can get to your benchmark with the gear you have. Second, try doing a mix using only stock plugs, just for yourself. I did that once for a 16 year old student of mine, it sounded like a frickin' Coldplay record. The kid was really good, and I knew what I was doing in that genre.
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Post by ericn on Jan 18, 2023 8:29:44 GMT -6
Exactly. Anything you can buy or have someone build - there's someone else who has two of them, or a bigger place, or a better set of gear. The one thing that is unique to each of us is our experience. No one can buy it, build it or steal it. That's what you have to capitalize on. <thumbsup> Yeah. I started a forum about gear and I’m down to bare bones HW wise. Because in all honesty, I don’t need it at the moment. For the budgets I work with, mostly ITB makes sense. The second I start getting some major label mixing, I’ll be buying some outboard. There’s still a difference - but it’s close and there’s nothing wrong with being a freaking ninja before even having the real tools. I realize others in my same situation don’t share the same opinion, but I’ve found myself very pragmatic the last 3-5 years. It doesn’t help with the lust though. It’s called growing up and realizing what the difference between tools you want and those you need. |
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Post by EmRR on Jan 18, 2023 9:16:55 GMT -6
Having a tough time with the free studio idea; I suppose it’s always been that way when i compare freelance field engineering pays same as people coming in my place. I’ve always said people don’t give a shit what you have, unless they’re using as an argument against you. If anything they’re more concerned with track lighting and a lounge and a sense of being surrounded by wealth. I took my equipment list down years ago because it only attracted other engineer tire kickers. No clients have ever noticed, before or after. I have a solid list of gearhead wetdream equipment, but it really only served to make my life easier. The bigger studios around here; all giving it away too. The rate doesn’t ever pay for the place as a business, if the accountant is looking.
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Post by thehightenor on Jan 18, 2023 9:42:27 GMT -6
This morning I was a bit shocked to see a friend (in the USA) who had built up a great place stuffed with really amazing gear call it a day and is selling up. He tells me there's just no money in it anymore and is going to put the money to better use, but keep a few choice items to continue with his own output. Shame, it was a very well appointed place. Back in the 80's and 90's when I was out there earning money as a jobbing musician/producer/arranger you'd get as much as $1500 for a day's pre production and three days in a studio as the producer/arranging doing a Greg Wells (playing most instruments) and making decent demos for company's with artists who had a development deal. I worked on a film for Sony Pictures for 3 months and earned enough for a deposit to buy my first apartment! Back then billing companies meant you got paid for every hour you put in, I gave it all up when I started billing individual artists because there where so many unpaid hours, as I get invested in the project and always end up putting the "art" first. I'd like to go back to producing when I semi-retire and set up a nice place with a decent live room and do it for the sheer pleasure of music making with some great young talent and not have to worry about the money too much. Well I can dream  How many of you guys are making a full time living with studio's and production? |
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Post by bgrotto on Jan 18, 2023 9:48:52 GMT -6
When I want to take an experimental approach with a client (eg - no condensers, or minimal mic'ing), I talk it over with the client, we agree that it's a good approach for the project, and we do it. For the full rate. If I have some new technique I want to try (an oddball mic, or a new plugin), I do it in the context of my 'regular' setup as a simple alternate. In fact, I try to do at least one of these every session. Also for the full rate.
I we extend a discount (or free time) to an artist we love and want to support, we don't impose any limitations. We treat it like a regular, full paying session.
I think that if you're trying to run a proper business and you rely on that business for your livelihood (which may not be the case for the OP, so this may well be an apples v oranges situation), such shenanigans devalue your 'brand', and in the long term, that's a losing approach.
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Post by drbill on Jan 18, 2023 10:30:40 GMT -6
Having a tough time with the free studio idea; I suppose it’s always been that way when i compare freelance field engineering pays same as people coming in my place.. Doug - that was the original impetus for me. Having to drive 2 hours across town, then two hours home - for a 4 hour session. Took me 8 hours and my pay was halved. I know it sounds crazy, but I started offering the studio for "free", and only working out of my own place which was at home. Outside engineering rates went UP. People / artists changed their habits and started coming back in instead of having me come engineer in their crappy, ill equipped, horribly acoustically compromised "studios". It was a win for me AND a win for them. I didn't have the aggravation of LA traffic, and they got a better studio with better gear for the same price. Their downside was now THEY were spending their days in the 4 hour round trip commute and my upside was I was booking additional sessions, or actually getting to see my kids on occasion. I was tired of hearing "but I have my own studio now, I just need you to come over and engineer". Worked for me while I was still selling "time" cause no matter how much money or gear they had, they didn't have "me" and/or my experience. These days, I rarely "sell time" anymore. I'm living off royalties primarily. I'd hate to be trying to start that game now in this current environment. |
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Post by EmRR on Jan 18, 2023 13:31:54 GMT -6
How many of you guys are making a full time living with studio's and production? Audio engineering of some form is almost all I do, mods/repairs is a small piece. I last got a W2 form in 1990. |
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Post by nobtwiddler on Jan 18, 2023 14:12:31 GMT -6
I do something like this, when I feel it might help the artist / song / performance or whatever. In this one particular case, I had a band in my place that was really new, they hadn't recorded anything together before this, and they sounded great, really raw in the studio. So I asked them if they would be open to using a limited number of tracks to cut their songs??? Why? Well this was a personal thing for me, because a long time ago I received the master tapes from The Rolling Stones sessions at Muscle Shoals. (don't ask!) 1 inch 8 track. I was so moved after listening to how great, Brown Sugar, & Wild Horses, were captured on the 1 inch 8 track machine, I needed to see if I could also capture that raw emotion, and energy, on a limited number of channels, as they did. For The Stones Muscle Shoals session, Brown Sugar tracks were laid out like this: 1 - Drums (mono) 3 mics summed to one track 2 - Bass mic on amp with bleed 3 - Percussion: castanets, cowbell, moraccas, all on this track! 4 - Electric Guitar Keith (1 mic with bleed) 5 - Electric Guitar Mick (1 mic with bleed) 6 - Piano (1 mic with bleed) 7 - Vocal, this was overdubbed, and has Mick & Keith both on 1 mic witKeith about 1 foot behind Mick. 8 - Was NOT USED. Anything else for that tune was over dubbed later at Sunset sound. I was told they bounced the 8 track up to 2 inch 16, and went fro there. But the vibe of those tracks were unbelievable! So what I did was to limit them to just 8 tracks of my IZ Radar IV recorder. Drums 4 x mics plus a room, summed just to stereo. Bass was DI for safety, (later erased) but the SVT was mic'd up. Guitar was a vintage Fender combo, with Royer SF-12 Percussion, was ROYER SF-12 overhead, bussed to drum tracks. Vocal - u67 to one track... I believe that was 5 tracks, and then everything else was recorded as overdubs, on the remaining tracks, and bounced with something else if need be. Mixed to two open tracks 23 & 24 on the Radar. This was such a success for the guys and myself, that I've now done this about 20 times, with all sorts of bands! Don't kid yourself, limitations on certain projects (that can benefit from them) can be a wonderful thing! Here's a song from that session Attachments:2 Red Queen.mp3 (6.14 MB)
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Post by christopher on Jan 18, 2023 15:52:26 GMT -6
Great comments here, I know I commented long ago. Something I discovered since then I want to pass along. I read a lot of old archived REP magazine (and the other mags) when I have trouble sleeping. I’ve discovered that music recording was a passion and art more than a financial business- up until Stevie Wonder landed his 20million contract, Songs in the Key of Life iirc? That raised the bar for contracts, soon after lots of acts were spending more. Before that, money was probably similar to now. Bands on 4-16 tracks, in and out in a few days or a week. There’s 2 articles I read that I can’t find.. both were somewhere around 8-16 track era, 68-73 ish: First, one big producer stated that ‘if anyone realized how many unsigned, unreleased recordings there are, you’d quit this business immediately.’ And ranted how lucky he is and the bands he works with, as there are millions you’ve never heard of. Another article a producer was asked advice on how to turn a profit: he said something like “if you are in this business for money, you will be greatly disappointed. There’s no profit in records. The only way to do this right is to work free hours off the books.” And he went on about how the artist may pay for 6 or 8 hours but they’ll put in 30+ hours because the end result is why they do it. These interviews were from the 1968-1973 4/8/16 track era, it stuck with me. I may misremember the details, it just made me feel better at how to approach this stuff And for the record: to me it’s great to limit things if you are limiting yourself from using inferior tools.. IE if you want to only use your best mic or plugin for all stuff, that might produce the best art? I just don’t like the idea of “what if we only use Behringer87s?” Here’s the link to REP back issues worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Recording_Engineer_Producer.htm |
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Post by viciousbliss on Jan 18, 2023 20:20:51 GMT -6
In my view, branding is the most important thing. Never do anything to compromise your brand. The first guy my guitar player and I hired who got some brief reality tv fame years later did not "get" this. He was recently or still in college, had Pro Tools and no hardware, a few decent mics $1000 or under, and a drum kit. Rate was $25 an hour for a makeshift home studio. That Pro Tools branding was so strong that I figured anyone who owned it must be legit. He never had his act together and his assistant no-showed. And his cat nailed my guitarist's coat on the way out. He would wait til we arrived to get things setup and the no-showing assistant made things much more inefficient. This was about 14 years ago, but I could have paid for Albini's studio or another place with real hardware and more experienced people for only a little bit more. But I wasn't the one who set this up. The end result was that we had to do what we could with whatever time we could afford. No discount or extra time given for the mishaps. We already had to abort one session and make a second trip because of some mishap. Something critical of his wasn't working.
The guy wrote that he wanted to do great work and have people say great stuff was made there. But I never felt like he wanted to put the effort in and the studio never really got going. Whenever I would ask if he could do this or that, he would tell me whatever sounded great and no need to experiment. He wasn't interested in exploring possibilities. The end result was that I didn't walk away with something I was all that satisfied with. It didn't translate on the car speakers very well. I sped up the tempo slightly in Audacity and it was much better then. To me, this guy's brand was one where you just have to accept one-sided terms and take what you're given. He wasn't up to par for recording a real album or anything. I never saw a reason to recommend him to anyone. Imagine if he had went above and beyond and demonstrated that he was trying to be the best he could.
Then we look at someone like Albini. He has a very notable brand. In interviews he says he still finishes whatever project even when bands run out of money. You know what you're getting. He's still in business. Yeah, he has that In Utero credit, but there is a lot more to his brand than that. Having his brand attached to yours gives you credibility. I'm sure a lot of musicians don't even consider that, but it's a selling point nonetheless.
A lot of studios around here have samples that show they can do a basic, sterile digital production. Some better than others. I've looked at the equipment and plugin list for many and a lot of them are running stuff that's state of the art-for 2003. If I'm not mistaken, I think one place was running Pro Tools 3 still.
I only took this up because I figured it'd be the only way I could get my own stuff to sound how I wanted without spending a fortune. But, it's a lot more complicated than I thought it'd be. There is a lot of propaganda out there telling the average blue collar guy that he too can be a great engineer if he watches some Youtube videos and spends $500 at Guitar Center for an interface, some mics, and basic software. The first time I saw a Graham Cochrane video, I was like "Hmm...maybe I could get a DAW and use my mics and do this with a little practice..these computers can do HD video, making plugins sound like hardware must be a cakewalk in comparison and all the big names use Waves". So, I downloaded Reaper, some cracked Waves plugins, and bought a Samson MTR231 mic. Not so easy to get good results..hah.
Most average clients do not understand how difficult it is to learn how all the various tools work. Or how they interact with other tools and in what situations to use them in. How difficult it is to make stuff translate. That plugins often have severe problems and that it's taken forums like this years of research and testing to get at the truth. Then there's the value in hardware and converters like the Aurora N I have now. You're constantly fighting the "cheap stuff is just as good" crowd. There are a lot of people making a lot of money convincing the average person out there that anyone can do this with minimal investment and skill. It leaves a lot of people thinking that they can just go buy the cheapest Audient interface, download a bunch of cracked plugins, and then use their $100 mic to record everything. This line of thinking has maybe devalued our skills more than cheaply accessible music.
I've gotten flack by people who know me for gambling on an Aurora N. But I will say that it allows me to hear things in ways I haven't before. Tape dropouts in Macarthur Park, for instance. When I listen to another record, I can much more easily identify the unique way reverb was used on a snare, whereas stuff just kinda smeared together before. Records all sound more distinct from each other. Elements in a mix too. The more accurate reproduction/reconstruction allows stuff to sound how it is. Identifying bad distortion and being able to pinpoint where it is has been way easier for me. Same with identifying where a plugin is distorting things in a bad way. And quite a few other things. Then I get the Lynx branding. Some studios I've seen are running converters that cost $250 used for their $50,000 worth of hardware. I saw that maybe one high-end mastering place had an expensive converter in my research into gear at local studios. People don't understand that these converters publish the specs of the dac chip and not the device itself usually. That it still takes a lot of effort to get the devices to measure anywhere as well as the chip's stated specs.
A lot of my background has been in combative sales environments where customers gave constant pushback and objections. We were given lots of training in overcoming those and closing. But I've found that if I communicate the benefits clearly upfront, there's not a lot of pushback. That's your personal brand. If you're perceived as someone with a can-do attitude that also makes an effort to know what you're doing, a lot of people will just respect that. A lot of you here must know this as you've been in business so long. But there are a lot out there who don't. My hope is that I can take things up a notch and earn enough so that it's my primary income.
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