When enough really is enough

[MIDI Life Crisis]

The golden rule...

Pick only two:

GOOD
FAST
CHEAP

[mikehalloran]

The golden rule...

Pick only two:

GOOD
FAST
CHEAP

For me, I feel like it's my duty to a client, friend or fellow bandmate to be as efficient as possible.

Good grief, no! That attitude would ensure that I never make money. I'd be buying every time saver, plugin, latest hardware etc. all in an effort to work as efficiently as possible.

I balance my tools, time and any expenditures against the client's needs. Sometimes, it means I deliver when I get to it while other jobs get priority. If a job needs a plug or effect I don't have, I make certain it is amortized into the budget or I pass. I am not Superman who "never made any money..." If I am a hero to the client, it's because of the quality of my work, not because I can do something faster or cheaper.

True, this is a side gig to my music industry day job but I take it seriously and count on the positive cash flow.

My duty is to myself.

Seven years ago, I lost the ability to work quickly. This means that I no longer get infomercial gigs—get contacted on Monday, FTP the project Thursday morning, deliver the final on Friday. Oh well. Otherwise, I still work as much as I want, not a bad thing.

[Shooshie]

I only take work that I want now, and I don't work for others often. I say "semi-retired," because there's always a "don't wanna do that" price that can pull me back into a job, but that's not what gets me interested in working. It's the music, or the artist. So, I record people who can't afford me with the agreement that I work on it when and how I want, and they can come over and mix with me, or I will get it to them when I'm ready.

I was underpaid when I started out. I'd been very well paid as a performer, but I was uncertain about getting paid as an engineer. In the process of figuring out what I was worth, I went through a lot of contracts where I fell for all kinds of tricks. Each time, I learned to look for those tricks, and always to expect new ones. Once an employer asked me to submit proposals in three salary ranges, showing what responsibilities and benefits they could expect at each. Naturally, one figures they're going to go for the middle-range, so you make it sound really good, with the salary you really feel like your worth. Imagine what a sucker I felt like when they immediately signed the low-ball one. It basically promised to get the musical work, recording and mixing done, but no mastering, computer maintenance or anything else. I ended up rejecting the deal. From that day on, I asked myself what I wanted to be paid to be away from my family, to be responsible for the entire show from creation to gold master, to touring and musical direction, and to handle all the difficulty of talking to the clients when they are doubtful, stressed, fearful, and running out of money. No matter what it said in the contract, I was always responsible for everything, because... who else was there? If the computer didn't work, did I want some guy from Micro Center coming out and telling us the problem was that we used Macs, then calling in to find out where the registry file is on a Mac? No; I spent 10% of every day doing maintenance, backups, archives and storage, plus getting files ready to work the next day. I figured that cost into my services.

I specified regular breaks, including their time and that I would be leaving the premises for lunch or dinner. I specified hours I could live with, but then ended up working two to three times that long if it suited me, and getting paid for them. The point was that when quitting time came, if I was tired and couldn't go on, I could quit. It was in the contract. If I felt like working through the night, I could do that, too, but not because someone held something over my head and demanded it.

If I flew out to work somewhere remotely, which was nearly always the case, I was paid for each day I was there except for the days off I specified. If they chose not to work those days, they paid me for being there. They always worked. Of course, if someone had to go to the emergency room or there was a death in the family, I was happy to juggle my off-days.

Even with that kind of contract, with everything spelled out, there were always surprises. People who are desperate will always find a way of leading you on and trying not to pay you. An old trick I used in Performer was to make all the data invisible before I left, using the View Filter. It was a way of making sure I got paid. More than once, someone would call me up irate that the file was empty, demanding that I produce their file. "It's not yours till I'm paid, and I believe you're going to want me to finish it before you do that."

The true test came on a huge project I worked on for many years, when the clients wanted to see if they could find someone locally who would do it cheaper. After auditioning about a half-dozen people who claimed to be DP experts, they relented and said they'd stick with me forever. They did, almost. Years later when we were making our 4th album, and the first to use native audio in DP, after a lot of recording when we had just started mixing, they wanted to see if that mixing would go faster and better in a big studio rather than just relying on me using DP at our rehearsal studio. I gave them the tracks to the song they wanted to mix, and we took it to a big studio where I helped get it loaded into ADAT. Basically, they had 4 cooks in the kitchen, and I left them to it. Three days later, one of those exhausted people dropped by and handed me a CD. He said, "we never finished it. If I were you, I'd see how long it takes you to copy what they did here, but finish it." It was easy to hear what they were trying to do, and it took me no time to set it up in DP with automation and plugins, way better than they had been able to do.

Four hours later I slipped my own CD under their office door. The next day, they came to me, bewildered, and said "what's this?" I explained what I did and how long it took. Once again, they promised never again to doubt me, except this time they meant it. The difference was obvious and clear. People just forget sometimes and wonder if the grass is greener elsewhere. You simply have to remind them that you've got the greenest, fastest growing grass on the planet!

Pay yourself with that in mind. To use MLC's triumvirate of speed, quality and price, "pick two," they're always going to wonder if they can get that speed and quality at a lower price. Let 'em try! If you believe in your work, and you KNOW what you're selling them, you can be confident that they're going to want that speed and quality. What's that worth? Ah... that's the part that can't be taught. You have to figure that out for yourself, and it changes over the years. You eat a few before you find the sweet spot where everyone is satisfied.

One other thing: you will hear lots of superlatives thrown your way. It's ok to enjoy being called a genius or whatever makes them feel good about saying to you, as long as you let it go out the other ear. You don't have to be a genius engineer to do a fantastic job. Remember: 50% of all people are below average. Now are you seeing more clearly? Fortunately, everyone in this forum is in the above-average group! (really; we have a lot of superlative talent here)

Shooshie

[HCMarkus]

The Lake Woebegone of forums... where all the members are above average.

I must admit liking it when a client said working with me was "magical", especially 'cause she cuts me a check at the end of every session.

Great post Shoosh.

[Phil O]

especially 'cause she cuts me a check at the end of every session.

That's what I'm talkin' about. Amen brother.

[Phil O]

..People just forget sometimes and wonder if the grass is greener elsewhere. You simply have to remind them that you've got the greenest, fastest growing grass on the planet!...

So true. I've had several clients leave to look for greener grass only to sheepishly come back after their walkabout - often times with tracks in hand and a "Can you fix this?"

[Robert Randolph]

People just forget sometimes and wonder if the grass is greener elsewhere. You simply have to remind them that you've got the greenest, fastest growing grass on the planet!

It helps to check once in a while though. You can learn a lot in the process.

[mikehalloran]

... come back after their walkabout - often times with tracks in hand and a "Can you fix this?"

We can't make garbage good but we can always make it sound great.

I didn't know how true that was until a few years ago. I had this cassette copy of live recordings done in a farmhouse living room in 1988 with 2 cheap microphones recorded directly to cassette. The master was lost; could I dub my copy for them if I still had it?

Using DP 7, Ozone 4 and Nectar (now Elements), I was able to clean it up to a decent CD quality. When DP 8 came out, I used the Dynamic EQ (thanks to suggestions here) to fix a nagging issue and then dialed it in using RX 5 advanced and Ozone 5. Now it sounds like it was professionally recorded in a 200 seat church.

No one asked me to do it and I didn't charge anything—my gift to a long time friend. I certainly learned a lot in the process. The word of mouth, however, was great and I now have a little cottage industry restoring bands' cassette recordings so that they can sell their old tapes as CDs.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Oh man, if we're gonna start trading stories we're gonna need a bigger server.

[Shooshie]

... come back after their walkabout - often times with tracks in hand and a "Can you fix this?"

We can't make garbage good but we can always make it sound great.

I didn't know how true that was until a few years ago. I had this cassette copy of live recordings done in a farmhouse living room in 1988 with 2 cheap microphones recorded directly to cassette. The master was lost; could I dub my copy for them if I still had it?

Using DP 7, Ozone 4 and Nectar (now Elements), I was able to clean it up to a decent CD quality. When DP 8 came out, I used the Dynamic EQ (thanks to suggestions here) to fix a nagging issue and then dialed it in using RX 5 advanced and Ozone 5. Now it sounds like it was professionally recorded in a 200 seat church.

No one asked me to do it and I didn't charge anything—my gift to a long time friend. I certainly learned a lot in the process. The word of mouth, however, was great and I now have a little cottage industry restoring bands' cassette recordings so that they can sell their old tapes as CDs.

Mike, do you know how to get rid of bleed-through echoes in cassette tape? (or any tape, for that matter)

Shoosh

[Phil O]

Shoosh, there's some good info on the webs on handling and treating tape prior to copying for reduced print through. Google "audio tape print through" (not bleed through). I suspect Mike will have some in-the-box solutions as well. He does a lot of restoration work.

[Shooshie]

Shoosh, there's some good info on the webs on handling and treating tape prior to copying for reduced print through. Google "audio tape print through" (not bleed through). I suspect Mike will have some in-the-box solutions as well. He does a lot of restoration work.

Thanks, I'll look it up. I've got about 3 tapes that I really need to convert as finely as possible. They represent some of my best performances from 30-odd years ago, but I've never brought them over to digital.

Shooshie

[waxman]

I was underpaid when I started out. I'd been very well paid as a performer, but I was uncertain about getting paid as an engineer.....
Shooshie

I count it amazing luck that a few weeks before I opened my first studio a veteran studio owner passed on some wisdom that has served me well.

Before the first note of music goes down...

1) ALWAYS GET A DEPOSIT... (Never less then 50%. Always or more then 1 weeks work)
2) Settle up every Friday. 5% discount for cash.
3) Avoid labels that want 90 days unless the deposit equals 90 days of work. Never schedule past the deposit.

DON'T TRUST ANYBODY OR DO SO AT YOUR OWN PERIL... NO EXCUSES.

Shooshie brotherman... loved your story. It was just to much for my above average brain to remember!

[mikehalloran]

Shoosh, there's some good info on the webs on handling and treating tape prior to copying for reduced print through. Google "audio tape print through" (not bleed through). I suspect Mike will have some in-the-box solutions as well. He does a lot of restoration work.

Thanks, I'll look it up. I've got about 3 tapes that I really need to convert as finely as possible. They represent some of my best performances from 30-odd years ago, but I've never brought them over to digital.

Shooshie

Perhaps we ought to start such a thread under the General Recording heading. Analog tape restoration is not a 'one question; two answer' topic. I'm happy to share what I know and learn from others. Perhaps I can get my dad involved—he worked for AMPEX a long time.

[Babz]

In reading the various complaints about DP 9.1, I've been reminded of how much may have been forgotten about the "old days" of recording and the skill sets developed when the "old tech" was
the "new tech".

I remember when I encountered an SSL board with recall and automation for the first time. I was floored. When I was able to get recall and automation in DP, I remember thinking "that's enough -
that's all I wanted". Soundbite Gain is a nice fetaure, but I never use it and never will. Why? Because I am just fine with doing things the way I've always wanted to do them - by using fader moves instead of altering the audio. Snapshot automation? never bothered to try it because I actually prefer to do things the old way...by writing in the automation myself, a track at a time. That's enough for me. ...

OK, so I have to say I read the first few posts, but then had to skip over all the pages of personal attacks and apologies, Armageddon and Kumbaya...

So, trying to get back to David's original post ...

I couldn't help but click on such a title -- which I first expected to be about someone at the breaking point, but instead was more about personal contentment, or perhaps stoicism and first world problems.

I will say, yes, I started in the days of tape, and yes, today's DP has pretty much every feature I could have ever wanted. I once had a short wish list of like 5 things (like track folders, comping tool, etc.) and all of those have been implemented. And my current wish list is simple and only contains a few items, like absolute grid snapping. So, yes, I'm pretty content.

At the same time, things come along that I didn't know I would want -- Bite Gain is a great example. I use it all the time now! Often I only use automation or compression as a third choice. Lanes, and MIDI mute are pretty cool things I didn't know I couldn't live without too!

So, I'm basically content, and I think most of us are, and yes our software strife is mostly soft strife, and definitely first world problems. But I also am content that there never will be an "enough" in the digital age. It will continue this way for the rest of my life, and probably onward to the singularity. And also, styles of music change. I now need to produce music that is quite different from the linear songwriting I grew out of in the 70s (although that will always be my wheelhouse).

In the 20 years I've been using P/DP, other DAWs have come along and they sometimes show me things I wish DP had ... and sometimes these other DAWs catch up and imitate features that DP already had. In this world of constant evolving technology, we each have our personal "enough" -- but even that is never really the final "enough."

Best,
Babz

P.S. I usually sit out new releases until things settle, but this time I jumped right on 9.1, and there are a couple of things (e.g, the cc64 bug) that are serious enough that I have decided to go back to 9.02 for now. The cc64 bug was a good example of something where I went from someone who was skeptical/indifferent and couldn't reproduce, to carefully reading the steps involved, to being able to confirm and reproduce the bug, and get MOTU to as well. So I have been all of these types of users (the whiner, the skeptic, the stoic, the self-appointed bug czar...), all within 48 hours!

Unfortunately, other bugs have not been as easy to pin down. And a lot of it has to do with how difficult it is when we are not sitting in the same room looking at the same computer and try to describe things thru the highly flawed method of forum texting. Now that I've decided to go back to 9.02, I think I will sit back and wait for 9.1.1. As much as I am addicted the detective work of a good technical mystery, I can only spend so much time on testing and need to get back to work. I applaud those who continue to work on identifying bugs. But I hope we can do so in the context of trying to understand, confirm, and report to MOTU, and not get hung up on our differences and disparate needs and work habits.