Audio Engineering Rant

[EMRR]

There's a recent event that prompted this rant. Some very good local musicians that I'm close with offered to help a senior (4 year degree - major in recording) at a prominent music school with his senior project. The goal of the project was to produce and record a song [edit - 3 songs actually]. The professor has a name that most of you would recognize, but I'll refrain from disclosing it. The musicians got a copy of the final master and played it for me. They were very disappointed in the results and thought he would get a failing grade. I listened to it and agreed. It was terrible. He got an A- on the project.

Your thoughts (not flames) welcome.

Your friendly neighborhood Phil

My only thought is that grades in many cases are based on entirely different things; audio mixing quality may not be one of the requirements. Completion of the project, in any form, may have the heaviest weighting.

I went to the Recording Workshop many years ago. I forget the exact percentage, but 'attitude' was something like 30-35% of the total grade. At the time they were training people to be hired as entry level 2nd engineers at large facilities. Back then the assumption was you learned on the job over time, you mainly had to be bearable as a person, know when and why to speak, and when to melt in the wallpaper. Basic studio technique a bonus.

You'd think a 4 year program would be different, who knows.....every community college seems to have a record production program now, and exactly none (okay, maybe 1-3) of those degree holders are finding jobs in the 'music production industry', though quite a few (pre-2020 at least) could get a convention center AV job.

FWIW YMMV ETC.....

[Phil O]

My only thought is that grades in many cases are based on entirely different things; audio mixing quality may not be one of the requirements. Completion of the project, in any form, may have the heaviest weighting.

Ordinarily I would agree with you on this. I taught college level engineering for 12 years and I have a pretty good understanding of the difficult nuances of grading so I get what you're saying, but this was his senior project at a well knownn music school. A senior project like this is kind of the undergraduate equivalent of a thesis. And I gotta tell you. Those recordings were absolutely horrible. Anyone here could have gotten a better recording with an iPhone in a gymnasium. Just sayin'.

Your friendly neighborhood Phil

[bayswater]

Phil, you’ll be interested in this from Audio Design Desk, now showing at NAMM. Uses AI and looks like it not only tells you where to place audio in a movie, but tells you what audio add. And supplies the audio. You can do sound tracks without art or science. I’m wondering whether you even have to watch the movie.

https://www.soundonsound.com/news/namm- ... n-desk-daw

[Phil O]

That's it folks. We will be replaced by AI DAWs in the near future. Take all your gear to the dump, or if you can, sell it before DAWs go sentient. Get ready for music that REALLY sucks the cream out of a mold covered Twinkie.

[bayswater]

“Sentient”. Good name for a new DAW.

Don’t worry (yet). So far AI has done a good job of emulating stupidity a lot more than anything else.

[monkey man]

That's it folks. We will be replaced by AI DAWs in the near future. Take all your gear to the dump, or if you can, sell it before DAWs go sentient. Get ready for music that REALLY sucks the cream out of a mold covered Twinkie.

MLI (MonkeyLabs Industries™) is all over this one brudda.

IIRC we were the first to explore the possibility of homogenising pop music to the point that all songs are indistinguishable from one another. That's innovation mate.

[James Steele]

Phil, you’ll be interested in this from Audio Design Desk, now showing at NAMM. Uses AI and looks like it not only tells you where to place audio in a movie, but tells you what audio add. And supplies the audio. You can do sound tracks without art or science. I’m wondering whether you even have to watch the movie.

https://www.soundonsound.com/news/namm- ... n-desk-daw

Kind of depressing. Maybe this sort of thing will never replace composers that are working on big budget major films, but some people need a place to start. I used to do some composing many years ago for local television spots as I knew some production companies locally. Eventually I realized I had to compete with needle drop library music and you just can't.

[mikehalloran]

MLI (MonkeyLabs Industries™) is all over this one brudda.

IIRC we were the first to explore the possibility of homogenising pop music to the point that all songs are indistinguishable from one another. That's innovation mate.

So… that’s Your fault?

I mean it is a good first step to world domination but what’s the end game? It can’t be the streaming royalties.

[monkey man]

Yup, my fault.

End game? Streaming royalties? I figured that through homogenisation every song could become a #1 hittoon simultaneously. Now that there'd be royalties brother.

[bayswater]

I figured that through homogenisation every song could become a #1 hittoon simultaneously. Now that there'd be royalties brother.

With that statement, have you just revealed your background as an accountant?

[monkey man]

There's no hiding from you Brother Stoivo.

Of course, an old favourite from in the MLI product line kinda gave the game away:
The ol' MonkeyLabs Able 'Cause Abacus™ - Also available in IvoryBead Edition™

Thanks this oldfangled device I don't miss a bead... I mean, beat.