Scott Dorsey
August 5th 04, 04:30 PM
still roasting > wrote:
>> No offense, Phil, but as a musician with money to spend, I would never hire
>> you. Re-read what you wrote. You YOURSELF are surprised that you managed to
>> earn that degree. And we're all just as surprised as you are if even half of
>> what you claim to not be interested in knowing about is true.
>
>I was exagerating a little too much. 90% of the classes I took as an
>engineering student were absolutely useless. This has no meaning.
>The only people who do well in EE school are not people who make a
>career in music anyway. Nobody likes professors telling you how to
>live your life.
Actually, I have found a shocking amount of what I learned in EE school to
be useful. Even polyphase motor class came in handy when I had to diagnose
a Uher 4000 once. My main objection is that when I was in school, nobody
tried to talk about how the engineering models actually applied to the real
world, and out in the real world nobody talks about how real systems match
up to the engineering models. You have to put those two together yourself,
and it's not always easy to obvious. But it was a huge revelation to me when
I saw a reflected pulse on a scope and finally understood why I had taken
all that transmission line theory.
But I wouldn't put it down, and at the very least an EE degree is a good
way to get a start in the maintenance room. Folks who can do good maintenance
work are few and far between and that is a much more effective way to get
yourself into the door of a studio than anything else.
>Am I supposed to tell you that I'd make a great engineer or musician
>because I was born in the jungle and raised by baboons who knew a
>magic spell to make things sound good?
No, you are supposed to tell people that you'd make a great engineer or
musician by actually _being_ one. If you're trying to sell yourself to
the customer, you have to have something to show him, and that means getting
out there right now and making mistakes until you get it right.
>Y-Y-You mean I can't just become a rock star and wear spandex on stage
>and become rich? I thought that was all there was to it. This is a
>real downer, man. I thought I could be a slacker AND a rock star at
>the same time! Thanks for bursting my bubble...
No, but if you can fix the servo motor systems on an ATR-100, you can
bill more per hour than most rockstars make, and you don't have to deal
with mobs trying to roll your limo.
>maybe someone can tell me why it sounds a bit muddy or has some
>suggestions for it.
Muddiness almost always has to do with lower midrange issues, and a bit of
judicious cutting with EQ is a start. BUT, if you have those issues to
begin with, it might be worth first looking at your monitoring chain and
seeing if you can hear the muddiness in the booth monitors too. If you
cannot, you have a monitoring issue. If you can, it's a matter of going
back to the original tracks and seeing how it got there, which is almost
certainly a matter of lots of lower midrange room modes in the room where
you are tracking.
>But you all seem to imply that there is some way to sidestep being an
>engineer and go straight to producing. How can I do this via a studio
>internship? How can I let them know that I want to produce for them
>and not engineer?
I dunno, I'd start out as a maintenance intern if I were you. Once you
have worked all the jobs in the studio, then you can make the real decision.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
>> No offense, Phil, but as a musician with money to spend, I would never hire
>> you. Re-read what you wrote. You YOURSELF are surprised that you managed to
>> earn that degree. And we're all just as surprised as you are if even half of
>> what you claim to not be interested in knowing about is true.
>
>I was exagerating a little too much. 90% of the classes I took as an
>engineering student were absolutely useless. This has no meaning.
>The only people who do well in EE school are not people who make a
>career in music anyway. Nobody likes professors telling you how to
>live your life.
Actually, I have found a shocking amount of what I learned in EE school to
be useful. Even polyphase motor class came in handy when I had to diagnose
a Uher 4000 once. My main objection is that when I was in school, nobody
tried to talk about how the engineering models actually applied to the real
world, and out in the real world nobody talks about how real systems match
up to the engineering models. You have to put those two together yourself,
and it's not always easy to obvious. But it was a huge revelation to me when
I saw a reflected pulse on a scope and finally understood why I had taken
all that transmission line theory.
But I wouldn't put it down, and at the very least an EE degree is a good
way to get a start in the maintenance room. Folks who can do good maintenance
work are few and far between and that is a much more effective way to get
yourself into the door of a studio than anything else.
>Am I supposed to tell you that I'd make a great engineer or musician
>because I was born in the jungle and raised by baboons who knew a
>magic spell to make things sound good?
No, you are supposed to tell people that you'd make a great engineer or
musician by actually _being_ one. If you're trying to sell yourself to
the customer, you have to have something to show him, and that means getting
out there right now and making mistakes until you get it right.
>Y-Y-You mean I can't just become a rock star and wear spandex on stage
>and become rich? I thought that was all there was to it. This is a
>real downer, man. I thought I could be a slacker AND a rock star at
>the same time! Thanks for bursting my bubble...
No, but if you can fix the servo motor systems on an ATR-100, you can
bill more per hour than most rockstars make, and you don't have to deal
with mobs trying to roll your limo.
>maybe someone can tell me why it sounds a bit muddy or has some
>suggestions for it.
Muddiness almost always has to do with lower midrange issues, and a bit of
judicious cutting with EQ is a start. BUT, if you have those issues to
begin with, it might be worth first looking at your monitoring chain and
seeing if you can hear the muddiness in the booth monitors too. If you
cannot, you have a monitoring issue. If you can, it's a matter of going
back to the original tracks and seeing how it got there, which is almost
certainly a matter of lots of lower midrange room modes in the room where
you are tracking.
>But you all seem to imply that there is some way to sidestep being an
>engineer and go straight to producing. How can I do this via a studio
>internship? How can I let them know that I want to produce for them
>and not engineer?
I dunno, I'd start out as a maintenance intern if I were you. Once you
have worked all the jobs in the studio, then you can make the real decision.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."