Hello All,

Probably been discussed here before but...

The performers/customers came over and listened to their mixes and
really wanted the ambience jacked waaaay up. IMO, it sounds fine
through the monitors but really bad through the headphones but they
didn't care.

Burn the disk, hand it off, and move to the next job, right?

Andy

Give them what they want and they will be happy.This way they may come back
to you next time.You can always make suggestions and tell them "in your
experience" but if they still want something different then give them what
they want with a smile.This goes for any business.




wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello All,

Probably been discussed here before but...

The performers/customers came over and listened to their mixes and
really wanted the ambience jacked waaaay up. IMO, it sounds fine
through the monitors but really bad through the headphones but they
didn't care.

Burn the disk, hand it off, and move to the next job, right?

Andy

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello All,

Probably been discussed here before but...

The performers/customers came over and listened to their mixes and
really wanted the ambience jacked waaaay up. IMO, it sounds fine
through the monitors but really bad through the headphones but they
didn't care.

Burn the disk, hand it off, and move to the next job, right?

Burn a disk *first* then jack it up the way they want it and burn 'again.'
Eventually the bloom may wear off all that reverb and they might prefer it
the way you did it originally. Ask them to show it around to their friends
and A/B it...they may come around.

CDR's are cheap....

jak

Andy

On 4/14/05 1:21 PM, in article
, "
wrote:

Hello All,

Probably been discussed here before but...

The performers/customers came over and listened to their mixes and
really wanted the ambience jacked waaaay up. IMO, it sounds fine
through the monitors but really bad through the headphones but they
didn't care.

Burn the disk, hand it off, and move to the next job, right?

Andy


Save All Versions
But yeah... They;re payin.

In article . com writes:

The performers/customers came over and listened to their mixes and
really wanted the ambience jacked waaaay up. IMO, it sounds fine
through the monitors but really bad through the headphones but they
didn't care.

Did you try to figure out why it sounded really bad through the
headphones? What were you doing wroing that you couldn't hear on your
monitors?

I think it's going to come back to haunt you.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

The customer is not always right.
The customer is always the one with the money.

You can try to persuade them, but at some point the question becomes how
you trade off money against your personal standards. Sometimes the right
thing to do really is to walk away from a job, if completing it that way
will hurt you more than walking away will.

" wrote:

Hello All,

Probably been discussed here before but...

The performers/customers came over and listened to their mixes and
really wanted the ambience jacked waaaay up. IMO, it sounds fine
through the monitors but really bad through the headphones but they
didn't care.

Burn the disk, hand it off, and move to the next job, right?

You know, there really are good reasons for the traditional roles of
artists, producers, and engineers. More and more, however, the role
of producer is omitted and the artists, engineers, or both wind up
performing the producers' function. The result is often just the kind
of thing you report here. If the band would hire a producer that they
trusted to make these kinds of decisions and who knows how to communicate
with the engineer to get the desired results, then most such issues
would disappear.

One solution then, is to refuse projects that are not properly produced
but his can mean that you risk winding up refusing all the business that
comes your way. Another possible solution is to discuss the issue with
your artist customers before their projects begin and ensure that they
understand that they are probably not best equipped to self-produce.

If you're like most small studio operators these days, though, you will
find that it's in one and out the other artists' ears and you will have
to give them what they want despite knowing that it's crap.

--
================================================== ======================
Michael Kesti | "And like, one and one don't make
| two, one and one make one."
| - The Who, Bargain

One more thought: Save the raw tracks... and consider doing alternative
mixes and saving those (and documentation on what the differences
are)... so if/when their friends tell 'em they're wrong you're in a
decent position to fix it.

wrote:
Hello All,

Probably been discussed here before but...

The performers/customers came over and listened to their mixes and
really wanted the ambience jacked waaaay up. IMO, it sounds fine
through the monitors but really bad through the headphones but they
didn't care.

Burn the disk, hand it off, and move to the next job, right?

Andy


If they hired you as an engineer, then you'd definately let it go,
creative control isn't in your job description. If you're their
"producer/engineer" and they are paying you, tell them what you
think/recommend and if they still insist, let it go. If they're on a
record contract and you're responsible for handing the finished product
off to the record company, tell them to do their job and you'll do yours.

Jonny Durango

All,

Thanks for the replies, my ears are feeling better already!

Too many mics, software with ample power to to misuse and abuse...

I've been "haunted" too much already for the month and enjoying it!
;-)

Best,
Andy

Apr 14, 10:21 am show options
Newsgroups: rec.audio.pro
From: " - Find messages by this
author
Date: 14 Apr 2005 10:21:28 -0700
Local: Thurs,Apr 14 2005 10:21 am
Subject: How "right" is the customer?
Reply | Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show
original | Report Abuse

Hello All,

Probably been discussed here before but...

The performers/customers came over and listened to their mixes and
really wanted the ambience jacked waaaay up. IMO, it sounds fine
through the monitors but really bad through the headphones but they
didn't care.

Burn the disk, hand it off, and move to the next job, right?

Not really. Problem is that if it doesn't sound right your name will be
attached to it which doesn't do your reputation any good. I also build
bicycles and I'm sometimes asked to deliver an unpainted frame for the
customer to finish. I always refuse because a bad paint job will come
back to haunt me. After a while the customer tires of explaining that
he had if finished himself and agrees that it looks bad. Not good for
my rep-or yours either.
Phil Brown

Exactly!
I did a project 2 years ago where the clients and I discussed exactly
how we all wanted it to be (in fact, I got the job because the artist
and I were like-minded). During the recording, everything was peachy
and I could do no wrong. When mixdown came around, it was a different
story...somehow, their minds changed completely. I proceeded their
way, got paid and went our seperate ways. I'm in the process of
re-mixing the project as it should have been done, and ran into one of
the group's member's as I had a ruff mix in my vehicle's CD player. He
was surprised that it the stuff sounded as good as it does...They're
coming by next week to listen...and if they like it, I'm considering
what to charge 'em for my re-mixes. I lost a bit of business from
their bad-mouthing the first time, and now is my opportunity to recoup.

On 15 Apr 2005 09:43:05 -0700, "philcycles"
wrote:

Apr 14, 10:21 am show options
Newsgroups: rec.audio.pro
From: " - Find messages by this
author
Date: 14 Apr 2005 10:21:28 -0700
Local: Thurs,Apr 14 2005 10:21 am
Subject: How "right" is the customer?
Reply | Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show
original | Report Abuse

Hello All,

Probably been discussed here before but...

The performers/customers came over and listened to their mixes and
really wanted the ambience jacked waaaay up. IMO, it sounds fine
through the monitors but really bad through the headphones but they
didn't care.

Burn the disk, hand it off, and move to the next job, right?

Not really. Problem is that if it doesn't sound right your name will be
attached to it which doesn't do your reputation any good.

There's the idea of having them change the credits, "If anyone asks
about this particular mix, or you make CD's of it or put it on the
web, be sure to say 'Ambient Mix by Alan Smithee.'"

I also build
bicycles and I'm sometimes asked to deliver an unpainted frame for the
customer to finish. I always refuse because a bad paint job will come
back to haunt me. After a while the customer tires of explaining that
he had if finished himself and agrees that it looks bad. Not good for
my rep-or yours either.

I don't suppose Alan Smithee builds unpainted bike frames...

Phil Brown

-----
http://mindspring.com/~benbradley

There's the idea of having them change the credits, "If anyone asks
about this particular mix, or you make CD's of it or put it on the
web, be sure to say 'Ambient Mix by Alan Smithee.'"


Kinda off topic but the director of "An Alan Smithee Film" took his
name off it so it really was an Alan Smithee film.
Phil Brown

[Nathan Eldred]

Originally Posted by Mike Rivers wrote

I think it's going to come back to haunt you.

I agree. They'll say it's fine, then once their friends and family tell them how many things are wrong with it, they'll either slander you in the public eye, or expect you to mix it for free (or both). I'm a stubborn one, I have a contract that (among other things) says that the studio won't do remixes for free. Why should we, when it's being played on two sets of pro speakers, and various consumer systems? Most of the time it comes down to the client being green...they don't know what they want really. Be prepared to recall the mixes (even if you have to write everything down on paper), otherwise you will most likely be responsible to get the mix back to where it was.