Lies Engineers Tell Us

I ran the end rant about "Lies" I hear in the studio from musicians. I asked for "Lies" that engineers tell people, but only got these two. But they're pretty good! Please take with a sense of humor, according to Arthur, but there may be some truths in here too. -LC I am a recording artist, who tracks and mixes my own recordings, and sometimes help others. I am not a recording engineer. While some of my friends are recording engineers, a few lies I have heard over the years, might explain why I am reluctant to involve them in recording projects. 1. Lets spend two [days] weeks getting drums sounds. 2. Let's compress everything, in tracking, then compress the mix, then compress in the mastering room. That'll sound great. 3. Let's close mic loud instruments, squash them with compression, then add EQ to them. 4.The mixes sounded good in the room, these self powered monitors cost over $3000, so it must be your fault the mixes sound bad everywhere else. 5. I'm a producer too. 6. I'm a musician too. 7. Doing live sound in the clubs for over five years hasn’t affected my hearing in the least. 8. It sounds great out in the room but it doesn’t sound good in the control room because you don’t have the right, [very expensive] mic, board, processor, etc. 9. Recording is all about compression and EQ. 10. Your project doesn’t sound good because, you didn’t have enough of a budget to record for more than two weeks. 12. You need at least eight tracks and just as many mics, compressors and noise gates to record a drum set well. 13.There is no difference between the sound of digital and analog. 14. Digital sounds great! Ugh! Arthur Nasson "On this album let's not listen to what the label says and just focus on making a great record instead" "we can always fix that in the mix" "yeah, I can get the Cold Turkey drum sound no problem" "This transient designer sounds fucking great!" "The mic's are in phase" "once we play this to your manager he is gonna freak out" "yeah we can work late tonight" "tomorrow let's try and make it an early start, I will be here" "I will buy the cigarettes tomorrow" Soren Christensen Here are some more: "We should be done by tomorrow" "It's getting better - one more take and we'll have it" "Don't worry about the room - we're close-micing everything -it'll sound great!" "That'll be fixed in mastering" "You're right. You DO play better high." "The vocal's on key - the harmony's off." "Don't worry, I'm really good at creating dynamics (substitute 'space', 'warmth', 'depth')" "I love your music." "The bleed won't be heard in the mix." "That distortion's coming from the amp." "I'll work on the edits tonight while you're gone - they'll be done when you come back." "The final will sound WAY better than this rough mix." "I can fit all your mixes on one CD as mp3's - it'll sound the same." "No, I haven't been drinking." -Andy Ryder