Fucking tired of...

[Jordon]

Bands asking for things to sound "professional" when all they mean is clipped, compressed and limited to fuck-and-back just to make it SUPER AWESOME LOUD.

I know, it's an old gripe, but Jesus! Sometimes I think the only thing that separates "professional" hard rock and metal releases from lower-budget productions is that they're not usually as crushed to death.

Over-simplification, I know, but I just got done listening to some local and non-local bands that worked with a couple well-known producers, and I hate to say I think it sounds like shit. It can't stand up to being played on anything but a car stereo.

End of rant. What are you guys tired of in the recording industry?

 

[MaellaJohn]

It's probably a phase or something..
Personally, I like both sides.. Some music sounds good when it's slammed to death because it compliments the sound of the band. Some music sounds better with more dimension to it.

 

[Terminus]

If anyone ever says they want it to sound professional, tell them to play better.

 

[RedDog]

^ lol

 

[avrinder]

If anyone ever says they want it to sound professional, tell them to play better.

haha agreed

 

[waltz mastering]

What are you guys tired of in the recording industry?

People that complain. j/k

 

[Ermz]

For me it's lack of perspective in general.

It ranges from clients wanting sounds that are unachievable with what they're able to provide, to engineers who can only judge works by their own limited standards. Having a healthy understanding of what is and what isn't possible under the circumstances is fairly pivotal, for anyone.

 

[Derykus]

What are you guys tired of in the recording industry?

Shitty music, autotune, the "standard" that mixers try to emulate but fail terribly, audible clipping, dubstep, gearslut wankery, and fat chicks.

 

[Jordon]

For me it's lack of perspective in general.

It ranges from clients wanting sounds that are unachievable with what they're able to provide, to engineers who can only judge works by their own limited standards. Having a healthy understanding of what is and what isn't possible under the circumstances is fairly pivotal, for anyone.

That's another big one for me, Ermin. The 15 year olds that come in wanting to sound like Avenged Sevenfold or whatever the kids are listening to these days don't understand that with a $250 a song budget and a lack of skill (not talent, skill) on their part, it doesn't matter how good the engineer is....Besides the fact they aren't those musicians, in that studio, at that moment, with that engineer.

Why not try to sound the best you can with what you have? Instead of saying "I want the snare to sound like *insert album/song here*," come up with something that works for YOU!

Bah!

 

[mva801]

Shitty music, autotune, the "standard" that mixers try to emulate but fail terribly, audible clipping, dubstep, gearslut wankery, and fat chicks.

Well that pretty much hit the nail on the head....

 

[Harry Hughes]

Too much ego in a lot of music in general.
Whether it be dance pop or progressive technical death metal, lot of people want their music/image to be bigger, bolder and more pretentious than the rest and the end result is often just something pretty cringe-worthy at best.

No doubt this has a lot to be do with my musical taste being pushed more towards more toned down, less 'in yer face' kind of music in the last few years.
I suppose that somewhat ties into "perspective" too

 

[-Noodles-]

Summary:

fully triggered / quantised instruments. Hate 'em.
"whatever-core" music. Hate it.
Bands who think that the production makes a release, not the quality of the songs.
Producers who think that bands who can't play can be "fixed".
Engineers who preach about the latest gear and never post their work online because they're too scared of reprisals.
People who use "mik" instead of "mic" as the abbreviated version of "microphone".
The misuse of "dB", and the "DB/db" shorthand that gets used.


A lot of things piss me off, essentially.

 

[Ultimate_Tsundere]

totally hate those who rely on the Audio engineer they have hired.

it's YOUR DAMN music, not of this AE!

unfortunately, there is too much albums that must be named like "Joshua Wickman 23-th work", not "LstInAlaska' last album" ... IMO

 

[paladin shredder]

Since this has turned into an all around gripe thread...

I recently had a band get pissed at me because I couldn't fix the tuning of of their vocalist. He was partially screaming and singing with a lot of grit. Autotune wouldn't recognize the pitch and Melodyne wouldn't recognize the pitch either! I told them there was nothing I could do, and that the vocalist needed to rerecord his part better. They couldn't get back in the studio, so they got pissed and blamed me. What an ass-backwards world when the engineer gets blamed for the singer not being able to sing in tune.

 

[Lon]

Since this has turned into an all around gripe thread...

I recently had a band get pissed at me because I couldn't fix the tuning of of their vocalist. He was partially screaming and singing with a lot of grit. Autotune wouldn't recognize the pitch and Melodyne wouldn't recognize the pitch either! I told them there was nothing I could do, and that the vocalist needed to rerecord his part better. They couldn't get back in the studio, so they got pissed and blamed me. What an ass-backwards world when the engineer gets blamed for the singer not being able to sing in tune.

You know, i think the general assumption of the engineers role is the same as what most women think about their carengine...

Steering wheel > magic > drive

Extrordinary shitty performance > AE magic > pristine record

and if the first one rides a sharp turn with 50mph and the ESP cant save her for the threehundredst time, they blame the car, so the band blames you because they are just too damn .... yeah rant end

 

[codeman]

The audible clipping on the last metallica is unacceptable. These guys have been recording since the early 80s. Didn't they take a mix home with them to test before releasing the damn thing?

 

[DeclanWhite]

bands that cant play their own songs. not even half speed.

 

[::XeS::]

- People that doesn't notice they suck
- People that want to sound like a band that does a totally different style
- People that want a multi milion sound but with old strings
- People that pushes you to record and mix and after a year you notice that they haven't released nothing yet

In my opinion these days there is too much ego.....lot of bands record only to have a piece of plastic....they play live only in 1 or 2 clubs, in front of a bunch of friends..... I mean, you see lot of spam on facebook, wonderfull posters, lot of merch...but they play only in 2 places with 10 people. There is a strong need of "practicalness".....less bulshits and more playing, more sacrifice and more GOALS that they wanna achieve.
I notice also a wrong consideration of my work usually.....I mean, if it sounds very bad I have to fix....if it sounds good it's a band's merit. (ex. wonderfull drums sound = "yeeeah, you know...new skins make the difference!" .......... thanks)

 

[Skaldir]

- People that pushes you to record and mix and after a year you notice that they haven't released nothing yet

Good point. In that cases I started to ask the band if the booklet layout is already finished. Usually that gives you some space

Another thing that bugs me is that the band sometimes has strange opinions about the sound. I had a discussion with one guy. He said he likes the Scar Symmetry sound. I was like: Pitch Black Progress or Holographic Universe?
And he said "Symmetric in Design".

 

[Ermz]

^ hahahah 'I WANT IT THIN AS FUCK SO IT CAN BE SALVAGED IN MASTERING'. I'm sure that's the same mental disorder that makes you want to get 'punished' by a dominatrix.