I am really struggling with the idea that so many of you have no problem spending sooooo much time fixing and re tracking other peoples work.
You may be the one tasked to record and mix the project but it is the bands responsibility to play their own parts to the best of their ability, no matter how good or bad they are. If the finished product sounds like shit it is their problem entirely. If they came into the studio with parts wrong or sloppy playing and did not notice it before,(and unless you are paid to produce as well) chances are they won't hear it in the recording or notice a difference with the parts re recorded or programmed. If they don't notice the difference, what was the point of all that work and if they did notice im sure alot of musicians would not be too happy it was done without their knowledge. (I know I would be pissy for damn sure!)
From what I am reading here most of you don't tell....
Now if you are working with a major label or a bigger named band I would hope the musicians would be good enough to play their own parts and I understand that for major releases a bit of tightening is in order to keep it up to par but this is a different thing all together than re working/playing a bad performance to sound solid.
In the long run it achieves nothing more than giving a band false hope that what the do is actually worthy and if they don't know they need to improve they never will.
We around here are the first to complain when we hear how much our fav AE had to manipulate our fav band we thought were tight as hell, and lets face it, in this industry we (the AE) are about as close to quality control as we can have. If a label receives a demo that sounds tight and well played as a result of your hard work and that band ends up getting signed who looses out in the next phase? The record company and the next AE to deal with them is in for a nasty shock as is the disappointed fans that check out their first gigs.
It has only been in the last decade or so this seems to have become more prevalent and it has also been in the last decade that the overall quality of musicianship has dropped dramatically and since tuning into this and other forums and learning that this is what goes on I have lost a HUGE amount of respect for alot of metal musicians (and the genre in general) that I once admired, something I am really upset about to be honest.
We as AE's have the chance to screen any band that walks through our doors before we hit record. I ALWAYS make sure I see the band live first, attend at least 1 band rehearsal and ask for any demo recordings they may have done before I decide IF I want to record them. If after that I decide it may be more work than I am happy to do (so that I can enjoy my work) I will not record them, simple as that. I only want to work with real musicians that know their craft and have as much passion for music as I do. I have recorded bands that are not too skilled and I left their parts as is, a bit sloppy and they NEVER notice and won't until you point it out to them.
I know many of you will say 'but its better than not having anyone to record' but is it really? From what I can tell it just gives us more to complain about and gives us less time to do what we actually wanted to do in the first place.
Also, try getting work with musicians in a different style of music like jazz, blues or classical and see what is like to just have to mix and not play the parts for them. It will be a breath of fresh air for you and you will wonder why you ever did it any other way.
Sorry for the rant I could go on for ever so I better stop now.....
