"I read Tape Op because it talks about music and recording from what, in my mind, is the 'correct' angle — the artistic one. A common theme in this magazine is paying clients doing or saying ridiculous, counterproductive and/or downright unprofessional things when they're on the clock in the studio. Larry's "Words I Do Not Understand" end rant from the July/August issue is a perfect example of this — terms and phrases used by people who probably don't know what they're talking about. As a musician who has nowhere near the recording experience that they'd like to have, I read things like this very carefully. I take my art seriously, so the last thing I'd want to do in a studio setting is tick/turn off the engineer by coming off as blatantly green or unprofessional. I've read plenty of articles about what not to say or do when working on a recording, but I haven't yet seen anything about what to say or do. In other words, as a seasoned engineer, how would your ideal paying client behave before, during, and after the session? How can an intelligent, serious musician make the recording experience go as smoothly, quickly, and inexpensively as possible? It's helpful to read about all the don'ts, but a discussion of the do's would be even more useful." Jeff Blancato
Good call Jeff. There's a good idea in your letter and I'm gonna try to run with it.
"How would your ideal paying client behave before, during, and after the session?" Any way they want. It's my job to work with these people, and assuming I'm in the studio with them I've seen something in their music or attitude I'd like to be involved with or otherwise the project is gonna be quick enough to be painless no matter what happens.