I often hear recording engineers described as “frustrated musicians”. I heard that term and decided to stew on it, mull it, see what fits and what doesn’t, personally.
Music recording engineering is a technical and creative process not at all dissimilar to learning a musical instrument. Learning the keys on your clarinet, learning what different reeds sound like, repairing and caring for your cork, all are technical skills that align with the art of playing music. Understanding how a compressor works and choosing the appropriate one, wiring a patch bay, microphone or reverb choice, speaker alignment, are also technical necessities that align with the art of recording or mixing music.
I am musician, a songwriter and composer, as well as a recording engineer. To me, my home studio is one large and very complex musical instrument. I have spent as much time honing the skills and technical abilities necessary for recording and mixing as I have for playing piano, synths, guitar, or bass. I find engineering to be equally engaging to my entire mind as any other creative pursuit.
I had some friends in a band decide to record and mix their first album themselves. The result was… well, you know. Almost adequate perhaps? Their choices in tracking was reasonable, decently capturing the energy of the songs and the sounds of their instruments. After tracking I partially mixed a song for them for free and sent them some ideas on EQ and compressor settings, and wished them the best of luck. They worked at it for a few months but in the end the mixing was very bland and very un-dynamic. I ended up remixing the album for them. Why were they unable to mix it well? I explained it to them like this: If you wanted a sax solo on a song, would you just go out and purchase the best sax you could and give a try? Or would hire a sax player with chops you love and record them doing what they do best? Not saying you couldn’t also learn to play sax but you have to dedicate as much time learning that instrument as you spent learning your bass, guitar, drums, keys, training your voice. Same goes with engineering.
This is a skill and an art; it takes time and dedication and practice, maybe even some schooling or instruction of some kind. And talent comes in as well. I could spend the rest of my life working on nothing but electric guitar but I would likely never sound as incredible as Brian May or Gary Clark Jr. But I would be better than I am now! And the same goes with engineering. If Joe Chicarelli and I mixed the same piece in the same studio, my guess is that more people would prefer his mix. But I find that inspiring! Every mix is new and exciting and I learn and get better, same as songwriting and composing!
We are creators. Creating an inspiring and immersive mix, creating an environment where musicians feel empowered and encouraged to do their best work, helping other creatives to finalize and polish their artistic vision, this is fine art. And for some of us, blending the fine art of audio engineering with the fine art of music creation is a natural fit, an obvious expansion of our mindset, our skillset, and an obvious way to express ourselves more deeply. It is another piece in the puzzle to fully realize a musical piece in its entirety, from conception to final mix.
Audio engineering also opens us as musicians up to different tastes, influences, and ideas. Nobody listens as carefully as an engineer working on a piece of music, whether tracking or mixing or mastering. Working alone on a mix or with a band in the studio environment we get to feel another musician’s ideals, ideas, and passions like no one else aside from the songwriters themselves. No wonder engineers tend to be more open about music they consider ‘in their wheelhouse’. For me, if there is real vitality in the music, if there is truth and spirit and energy I can feel and hear then, yeah, that is music for me. I’ve never been much of a fan of country music (and am still no fan of modern, manufactured cookie-cutter pop country) but I had the chance to listen with the great Bruce Swedien to Randy Travis. And, with his ears, I heard the magic. Bubble burst, worlds opened up, prejudices submerged.
Knowing something about an artist opens us up to listening more intently and openly. For example, I am a big fan of Steven Wilson; when I hear something of his and I don’t like it the first time, I listen again and more closely because I trust him, his choices and talents. I look for the ‘whys’ and the ‘whats’, I am open to be being changed by it. When we engineer a song, that also opens us up, looking for the best, finding those nuggets and inspirations. At our best we participate with the music and the other creators, and for that I consider what we do an art.
Another aspect of adding recording engineering to my musical arsenal is to move past ‘inspiration’ and keep working. Sometimes inspiration comes and a whole song, or song idea, comes flying out. Hit record and catch it fast! This happened recently, on what would have been my Father’s 84th birthday. I felt the need to express my feelings and words do not suffice, it had to be music. Within a couple hours the entire piece was composed, performed, recorded, and mixed. But if we just wait for this inspiration to come, then protracted stretches of time can pass without music being cultivated. So, capture that moment when inspiration hits. Other days of working on a piece I think of as smaller inspirations, as we add instruments and tracks to fill the idea out. Then there are days when the playing just doesn’t seem to be flowing. That is a great day to get technical. Time for mixing, choosing reverbs, timing delays, a thousand mix decisions or more, panning and levels and compression. Sculpting the sound. Still creative, still moving the music forward. And days that you can’t find your mix? More tech work! Check the patch bay, set up some templates, tune your instruments, make some new synth presets, dust the desk, blow out the faders, set up a new set of mics, make backups. There are endless ways to improve a studio, and on days when Music is flowing you will always be glad you had taken the time to do that grunt work.
Music is art. However we are involved, whatever role we play, our goal should always be to Serve Music. For me, composing a piece, playing whatever instruments best express those concepts and ideas, recording those performances impeccably, mixing the tracks and the myriad choices therein, all combine into one, single undertaking. And the goal is always in the Service of Music.
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