What sort of engineer are you aspiring to be?

[lilhermiejobo]

Jack of all trades, for me. I say that because I like a variety of music.

 

[ze kink]

Jack of all trades definately, I like so many forms of music that I just can't stick to just one thing.

 

[Harry Hughes]

Well, I aspire to be one that doesn't suck for a start.
Seriously though, even though I'm not sure I'd want to be a pro at this, I couldn't see myself as a master of one. I listen to so much different shit and see myself as someone who'd like to work with metal bands as much as I would post rock bands, avant garde stuff, alt/pop rock, post metal and drone doom or whatever.
Then be able to tailor sounds to suit those different genres and bands. Recto sounds for a death metal band, but why not experiment and get some fucking weird hand built amp made specifically for sludge metal, so that it forces you to experiment and get a different mindset and get into the zone for the genre? You know, shit like that.
also have an appropriate mastering job for each.
Sure, brick walled fuckery is probably okay in tech death, but I'd fucking hate to hear a post rock band, which as a genre is inherently very dynamic, smashed to shit. Ideally none of the stuff I'd do would be any louder than say, Riot! by Paramore. Any louder than that and I don't think it's necessary personally.

 

[jangoux]

I'd really love to be a master of one thing but how the market/industry works here makes it impossible to do it. So i have, for now, to do record a bunch of stuff I don't listen (reggae, popular brazilian music and other brazilian folk styles) and do things i don't like (mastering). I can do those things, but i don't like/listen/understand 'em and it ends up not bringing my best work.

BUT I'd LOVE to just record rock/metal, but end up with the good part of it. No vocal tuning or mastering for me please.

 

[-Noodles-]

I want to be a real engineer, using less and less EQ / compression to achieve a great mix and spending a lot more time on tones / mics / preamps / placement.

 

[crazykarl]

jack of all trades! I think learning to record different kinds of music gives you great insight. You never know when an element of one type of music might really make the recording for another type.