OK MUZAKAL
This is a toughie
Here is are some of my opinions
Content and producing are two different things all together, good content is of course key, and a good producer will bring it all together, and even save you some money
The musicians are really only as good as the arrangement is, if you have good arrangements that are properly written any studio musician will be able to perform somewhat ''up to par'' with your expectations
The singers, ay ya yay what a touché subject. A lot of us make money on people that have wonderful dreams and perhaps not so wonderful voices. A person with a phenomenal voice will not necessarily be successful and there are those with the voice of a crow that have made it, I think that ''content'' plays a huge role, and of course marketing! If you can convince people that your product is the best they will buy it regardless of quality
Recording Engineers are very important, as they are the first step in putting sound waves to tape, (or disc). If they do a lousy job it will be felt all the way down the line. There are many tricks and techniques to proper mic'ing. I think that most engineers want to get a sound that's as natural as possible personally I think that the '57 is a great mic to use be it in studio or on a live gig. I can't get into the details 'cause I am really not that familiar but there are different placements for all kinds of scenarios, i.e. strings, horns, woodwinds, vocals, drums, and a combination of any of those, I have played in studios where the engineer has had me play in every corner of the room 'till he found the ''sound'' that he liked but that's what makes a great recording engineer, a person that knows what he, or his client is looking for and KNOWS how to achieve that as naturally as possible
Mixing is a subject that we can fill pages on. His job is to make everything sound pleasant. All I will say on the subject is in my opinion, it is best to find a mixing engineer that did not have any ties to the project up to this point, that includes recording, ALSO it is best to find an engineer that does not play any of the instruments that he is mixing, 'cause inevitably he will mix the music to bring out the sound that is most pleasing to HIS ear, rather than what the producer, and in turn the general public would have liked to hear
Mastering simply put is leveling everything out, EQ etc. a good mastering engineer will put the perfect polish on your project, but the polishing is only as good as the subject content therein
Compressors etc. as I am not an engineer I will leave it to the engineers of the forum to comment
תוקן על ידי - bflat - 14/02/2006 19:34:34
