Ok, to preface, I've had a few pints, so keep that in mind if my thoughts are a bit convoluted.
So back in August, I'm hired to edit drums for a band on a major label subsidiary. Then, I'm hired to track and edit bass. I think "right on," as these cats have been friends of mine for a while. I'm stoke, and honored to work on the project.
So a week after the drums and bass are done, I get a text saying "we want you to mix the album. This is the first week of September (the timeline is important). They ask me what I would charge for it, and I give them a quote. They double the quote, to which I cannot say no...Everyone needs money where they can get it. I start mixing the single first. It's approved by the band and the label by Sept. 24th. I remember this day because I was in Nashville. About 4 hours after I get the call that it's ready to be sent to the mastering engineer, I get a call from the singer asking when I'll be back in Chicago. I tell him I'd be back the evening of the 25th, and he says I MUST be at the studio that night after a 10 hour drive from Nashville to inexplicably re-mix the single from the ground up.
Fast forward to Oct 21st, 14 hour days, 7 days a week, and we've missed the deadline for the album. We are 50+ revisions (yea, really) into the single. Now I'm being blamed for missed deadlines when the band only has drums and bass on 9 of the 11 songs. No vocals, no guitars. They are tracking the guitars and vocals themselves...And, I might add, running the vocals through a UA610 and a fucking Distressor, both absolutely slammed. The singer was proud of the "35 db of gain reduction" on the vocals. They were damn near un-listenable soloed.
The label extends the deadline to November 18th. On November 9th, the two singles have been mastered by Mr. Tom Baker at Precision Mastering, and he approved of the mixes (was ecstatic, actually...quite a big deal for me) and I have all but 3 songs mixed. The last 3 songs STILL have NO guitar and NO vocals even tracked. That night, I'm fired via email. Ok, I got paid, the project has been a pain in the ass, so be it. I give them their sessions.
Now comes today. I got a text from the singer asking me to send him guitar and vocal files THAT I WAS NEVER GIVEN! He also asks me to re-send sessions that I put on his external when I was fired from the project over a month ago (including a few unreasonable requests such as "hey can you head to the studio and send these files out now?" at 2am.). I no longer have these files. I was fired. I gave them to him.
Well, apparently he deleted his vocal sessions for a few songs.
I'll show you some text excerpts:
Me: "No dice on those vocal tracks."
Him: "You deleted them?"
Me: "I backed them up to your drive, then got rid of my copies."
Him: "I have a full rockin mix of that song....So I've got 2/3rds of a messed up record we paid in full for pieces of which are lost..."
Me: "Wait a minute. You asked me to edit drums: done. Then you asked me to track and edit bass: done. Then mix, did that, was in the process of finishing: fired. You guys tracked guitar and vocals. I was not hired to be a file keeper. When I was fired from mixing, and gave you the files (and you still had the originals from August, mind you) I had no reason to keep anything. I backed things up to the best of my knowledge, but if anything was lost, it wasn't my responsibility to keep tabs on your files in the first place."
Him: "I have very little for how much we paid* and can't imagine saying anything positive about our experience together to anyone as we move into the next cycle. I just won't say a word. I think THAT'S best."
*They paid me the equivalent of about $5US an hour after I figured it out. All told, their main single had over 60+ revisions. Mainly because the singer was a control freak, saying things like (and I'm quoting directly), "Pull everything from 70hz and below out of the kick drum." and "Boost 1k in the vocals by 10db." Oh, how can I forget the whole "A kick drum lives in 700hz, not 70hz and not 8k." I shit you not.
Fuck! I generally don't bitch, but the audacity of this guy absolutely floors me. I'm not exactly "new" to any of this, but this takes the cake in my experience.
Let me just note that on November 1st, I tried to leave the project after the singer came in and fucked up my mixes. I wasn't allowed to quit, basically. I was told that they "wanted me to see the project to the end." A week later, I was fired,
Eh, whatever, I just needed to vent.
So back in August, I'm hired to edit drums for a band on a major label subsidiary. Then, I'm hired to track and edit bass. I think "right on," as these cats have been friends of mine for a while. I'm stoke, and honored to work on the project.
So a week after the drums and bass are done, I get a text saying "we want you to mix the album. This is the first week of September (the timeline is important). They ask me what I would charge for it, and I give them a quote. They double the quote, to which I cannot say no...Everyone needs money where they can get it. I start mixing the single first. It's approved by the band and the label by Sept. 24th. I remember this day because I was in Nashville. About 4 hours after I get the call that it's ready to be sent to the mastering engineer, I get a call from the singer asking when I'll be back in Chicago. I tell him I'd be back the evening of the 25th, and he says I MUST be at the studio that night after a 10 hour drive from Nashville to inexplicably re-mix the single from the ground up.
Fast forward to Oct 21st, 14 hour days, 7 days a week, and we've missed the deadline for the album. We are 50+ revisions (yea, really) into the single. Now I'm being blamed for missed deadlines when the band only has drums and bass on 9 of the 11 songs. No vocals, no guitars. They are tracking the guitars and vocals themselves...And, I might add, running the vocals through a UA610 and a fucking Distressor, both absolutely slammed. The singer was proud of the "35 db of gain reduction" on the vocals. They were damn near un-listenable soloed.
The label extends the deadline to November 18th. On November 9th, the two singles have been mastered by Mr. Tom Baker at Precision Mastering, and he approved of the mixes (was ecstatic, actually...quite a big deal for me) and I have all but 3 songs mixed. The last 3 songs STILL have NO guitar and NO vocals even tracked. That night, I'm fired via email. Ok, I got paid, the project has been a pain in the ass, so be it. I give them their sessions.
Now comes today. I got a text from the singer asking me to send him guitar and vocal files THAT I WAS NEVER GIVEN! He also asks me to re-send sessions that I put on his external when I was fired from the project over a month ago (including a few unreasonable requests such as "hey can you head to the studio and send these files out now?" at 2am.). I no longer have these files. I was fired. I gave them to him.
Well, apparently he deleted his vocal sessions for a few songs.
I'll show you some text excerpts:
Me: "No dice on those vocal tracks."
Him: "You deleted them?"
Me: "I backed them up to your drive, then got rid of my copies."
Him: "I have a full rockin mix of that song....So I've got 2/3rds of a messed up record we paid in full for pieces of which are lost..."
Me: "Wait a minute. You asked me to edit drums: done. Then you asked me to track and edit bass: done. Then mix, did that, was in the process of finishing: fired. You guys tracked guitar and vocals. I was not hired to be a file keeper. When I was fired from mixing, and gave you the files (and you still had the originals from August, mind you) I had no reason to keep anything. I backed things up to the best of my knowledge, but if anything was lost, it wasn't my responsibility to keep tabs on your files in the first place."
Him: "I have very little for how much we paid* and can't imagine saying anything positive about our experience together to anyone as we move into the next cycle. I just won't say a word. I think THAT'S best."
*They paid me the equivalent of about $5US an hour after I figured it out. All told, their main single had over 60+ revisions. Mainly because the singer was a control freak, saying things like (and I'm quoting directly), "Pull everything from 70hz and below out of the kick drum." and "Boost 1k in the vocals by 10db." Oh, how can I forget the whole "A kick drum lives in 700hz, not 70hz and not 8k." I shit you not.
Fuck! I generally don't bitch, but the audacity of this guy absolutely floors me. I'm not exactly "new" to any of this, but this takes the cake in my experience.
Let me just note that on November 1st, I tried to leave the project after the singer came in and fucked up my mixes. I wasn't allowed to quit, basically. I was told that they "wanted me to see the project to the end." A week later, I was fired,
Eh, whatever, I just needed to vent.
