future of recording engineer?

[reddb]

I am hearing that more artist are recording in home studios instead of commercial recording studios. Also a high quality of sound on current cds' seem not to be one of consumers major concerns. With that being said what direction do you feel the recording engineer position is going? What are your own personal experience, or what you have heard.

[RecorderMan]

Originally posted by reddb:
[QBdirection do you feel the recording engineer position is going? What are your own personal experience, or what you have heard. [/QB]

becoming in a word: obsolete

[AudioGaff]

Well just because all these people CAN record in their home and without going to a real studio, that surely doesn't mean they are able to do a good or even decent job of it. Asuming you have a great song, great arrangement, great instruments and great performances, you still can not bypass the basics to obtain great sounds. You need a great or at least controlable room, you need to know how to use mics correctly, and you need to know how to mix it all together so it doesn't sound like crap. it is much, much harder to get a quality product finished. Most, if not all people who try to attempt this soon find out.

I polish a lot turds re-mixing complete utter crap these days from fools that have tried to do it all themselves and fail. I can always make it sound much better than it was before, but it is so sad to know that it could be really great if they had done it right with an experienced and qualified person with right tools doing the work.

Like many other trades, the true skills of the audio engineer are destined to be lost and forgotten and to become just another database archive. The ability to record at home will never replace or make obsolete the skills, techniques and experiences of a good engineer, but it is a fact that there will an ever growing surge of crap made music making it's way into the marketplace none the less...

[Don Grossinger]

The "recording engineer" has become an obsolete job title.

"Saving money" on the recording & mastering process has become more important than fine quality sound.

There will be a few remaining specialists, but most recordings will be done under uncontrolled, non-expert conditions in the future.

Perhaps the Pendulum will swing back the other way in awhile, when people get tired of trying to wear all the hats & realize that although they CAN record & master at home that does not mean they will get best results doing things that way.....

[maintiger]

Yet it can be a totally super experience, recording at home- I sold my commercial studio and decided to set up a small place at home and concentrate in my songwriting and recording my songs- Let me tell you, I don't miss recording the stuff In was recording at my commercial studio- sometimes you get a good project but most of the times i didn't care for what I was doing- now I do my stuff plus a few projects that appeal to me from other people- truly liberating, if you don't need $$$, that is! Happy Holidays!

Maintiger :p:

[Don Grossinger]

I'm sure that is true. That plus the ability to spend lots of time on a project without the financial pressure of hourly rates is a plus. It must feel liberating.

It's not for a lack of enthusiasiam for recording that commercial studios have suffered, it's a financial & fredom thing.

However, you as a former professional studio operator, have a real advantage over a rookie trying to become a recording engineer, mastering engineer, label owner, distributor & artist all at once. Many people who try that are overwhelmed by the many areas they have to become experts at. As a result corners are cut in many areas.

It may not have been a bad idea to have an expert record you, etc.

[Don Grossinger]

I'm sure that is true. That plus the ability to spend lots of time on a project without the financial pressure of hourly rates is a plus. It must feel liberating.

It's not for a lack of enthusiasiam for recording that commercial studios have suffered, it's a financial & fredom thing.

However, you as a former professional studio operator, have a real advantage over a rookie trying to become a recording engineer, mastering engineer, label owner, distributor & artist all at once. Many people who try that are overwhelmed by the many areas they have to become experts at. As a result corners are cut in many areas.

It may not have been a bad idea to have an expert record you, etc.

[realdynamix]

Originally posted by RecorderMan:
becoming in a word: obsolete

Case in point, man comes out of retirement back into audio after 20 years, true, what you hear at the monitors is one thing, getting there with the NEW technology is another. So the only logical real way to proceed is to build that nice large format multitrack studio over again, and continue where he left off....WRONG. You must diversify.

Not only has the technology changed, but the duty one is expected to do came with a new term called "multitasking." No longer can the modern engineer be focused on a single process.

The specialist must now become a General Practitioner. The field of audio stretches far and wide now, and the modern engineer must have an understanding of all.

I'm not saying that an engineer can't find a nitch market, but if one truly wants to remain a viable technical multitasker, He must be diverse.

Happy Holidays,

--Rick

[sserendipity]

Originally posted by Rick Hammang:
Originally posted by RecorderMan:
becoming in a word: obsolete

I'm not saying that an engineer can't find a nitch market, but if one truly wants to remain a viable technical multitasker, He must be diverse.

Obsolete? I'd disagree completely. What is obsolete is the rest of the studio.

If everyone can get their hands on the tools, then the only differentiator will be in whose hands those tools are. No longer will a mediocre engineer with a massive investment in gear be able to get a better sound than someone with real talent.

[maintiger]

the key word here is professional. Profesional people are always needed to get professional results. There will always be a need for that. Professional projects will always have a budget because you are expected to recoup your costs through sales of your product.

The studios that will suffer are the ones that cater to demos and to poor musicians without a budget- I know, I had a studio like that and I was glad to sell it and get out. Most musicians with today's daws can get results that are passable for demos- and that's all you need to go to the next step where the budget is-

the only thing that is likely to change is that training for engineers will be more than likely self taught for the most part in peoples daws. Those who find their vocation will move on and either eventually work in a pro situation or freelance mix and/or produce acts and find their way into gigs with a budget. But there will always be a need for professionals. :D :D heck, the more things change, the more they stay the same