Nov 15, 2009, 04:28 PM
Audio is a lot of fun, and people don't realize that how much of our lives are consumed with audio and how many people actually work on something that is pretty much always taken for granted.
Coop, which DAWs are you using? I'm a huge fan of Reaper, as is Enforcer (he's on the development team for them). He and I have talked at length about music and recording. Have him send you his thesis and recordings of violin caprices on guitar. They are nuts. Also, if you're into mastering, have you read Bob Katz's book "Mastering Audio"? And yes, everybody starts some where. My first gig started when I was attending an open mic night and the sound guy there got fed up with things and asked if I wanted do it. I hadn't known him too long, but he knew I played guitar. That was my only real experience when I began, and I did that open mic night for almost two years. I had the fortune of going through a 4-year audio program that is really solid (it took me 5 actually for various reasons). So, I've been doing audio for about 7 years and am just now starting to do only audio. I don't have much money beyond paying the bills, but I'm getting more and more clients to work for. As long as I keep doing quality work, I should be able to stick with audio for a long time.
In school we worked both on DAWs and old tape machines. My preferred method is tape, mainly because bands take it a little more seriously. They know the money is running based on their performance, so they just can't lay down 6 sub par takes and expect me to frankenstein it together. Hip-hip, industrial, electronica, etc, that relies on a multitude of tracks benefits greatly from the digital side, absolutely.
Unknown, here are two more fun terms to look at:
helmhotz resonator
quadratic residue diffusors
and if you want to understand digital audio better look into:
sampling rate
bit depth
So, how many of you have actually went out and listened to unamplified music in a space that was made for music? I'm surprised at how many kids these days have only heard their mp3 or maybe CDs anymore.
And Coop, you are totally correct: you have to work with what you have. And really, any engineer worth their salt should be able to make a good mix once they learn the limitations of their setup. Because DAWs are so easily accessible these days, clients think that just anyone can do it, or bands think they can mix themselves. Granted, some people have the ability to become excellent mixers, but I also shudder when I hear a band say, "Here's our album, we mixed it ourselves!" I hesitate to listen to it, because I won't lie and tell them it sounds great when it doesn't. Generally a band is really proud that they did it themselves, and their egos don't usually allow for criticism if you want to have them hire you. I think the next step for some engineers would be tutoring/consulting bands in mixing because they want to do it themselves.
Coop, which DAWs are you using? I'm a huge fan of Reaper, as is Enforcer (he's on the development team for them). He and I have talked at length about music and recording. Have him send you his thesis and recordings of violin caprices on guitar. They are nuts. Also, if you're into mastering, have you read Bob Katz's book "Mastering Audio"? And yes, everybody starts some where. My first gig started when I was attending an open mic night and the sound guy there got fed up with things and asked if I wanted do it. I hadn't known him too long, but he knew I played guitar. That was my only real experience when I began, and I did that open mic night for almost two years. I had the fortune of going through a 4-year audio program that is really solid (it took me 5 actually for various reasons). So, I've been doing audio for about 7 years and am just now starting to do only audio. I don't have much money beyond paying the bills, but I'm getting more and more clients to work for. As long as I keep doing quality work, I should be able to stick with audio for a long time.
In school we worked both on DAWs and old tape machines. My preferred method is tape, mainly because bands take it a little more seriously. They know the money is running based on their performance, so they just can't lay down 6 sub par takes and expect me to frankenstein it together. Hip-hip, industrial, electronica, etc, that relies on a multitude of tracks benefits greatly from the digital side, absolutely.
Unknown, here are two more fun terms to look at:
helmhotz resonator
quadratic residue diffusors
and if you want to understand digital audio better look into:
sampling rate
bit depth
So, how many of you have actually went out and listened to unamplified music in a space that was made for music? I'm surprised at how many kids these days have only heard their mp3 or maybe CDs anymore.
And Coop, you are totally correct: you have to work with what you have. And really, any engineer worth their salt should be able to make a good mix once they learn the limitations of their setup. Because DAWs are so easily accessible these days, clients think that just anyone can do it, or bands think they can mix themselves. Granted, some people have the ability to become excellent mixers, but I also shudder when I hear a band say, "Here's our album, we mixed it ourselves!" I hesitate to listen to it, because I won't lie and tell them it sounds great when it doesn't. Generally a band is really proud that they did it themselves, and their egos don't usually allow for criticism if you want to have them hire you. I think the next step for some engineers would be tutoring/consulting bands in mixing because they want to do it themselves.