Your name is everywhere you go, on everything you do. So don't steal, don't murder, and for god's sake, don't release bad recordings!
I understand the temptation to just get those quick and dirty demos out, you just want to have something, anything to show people. Don't do it. Really. Don't. Your name is on everything you do, and if you do something low quality, even if it's meant to just be quick and dirty, people listen to it and make judgments. Once you release something, it's near impossible to get it back out of circulation, and first impressions are very hard to change.
Here's an example: I'm a recording engineer and I occasionally agree to give bands a rough mix so they can listen to what's done so far, and thing of things they want to change. I know I should follow my own advice, but... well I have nothing to say for myself. Some band members who weren't privy to the fact that these mixes were (very) rough were very upset about the quality and insisted on recording the remainder of the project elsewhere.
Disclaimer: If I worked on a demo/CD/anything for you and you think this story is about you... don't worry I'm not upset about it, this is how you learn. hopefully I'm not getting myself in trouble.
The moral of the story is, don't release anything that isn't complete, and always spend the time/money necessary to produce a high quality product (whether it be a recording, stickers, t-shirts, album art, etc), or else you run the risk of being judged against the completed works of everyone else, instead of just the context which you intended.
Inspired by Mike's blog posting which, according to the blurb at the end was inspired by somebody else,
This all stemmed from Mr. Jay Briody’s away message: “Your name is on everything you do.” I was going to tell him I was having a problem similar to Ted’s in Panel 1 regarding a pseudonym, and then thought Jay may appreciate this retort as a comic rather than a random message.If you've already learned your lesson, comment. If you think I'm wrong, comment. If you want some candy, comment. Happy halloween!
1 comments:
Woo! Trackback action! Thanks for the love, Jim.
So, now for the comment: First and foremost, I want to state how I believe that you are a very excellent recording engineer. You taught me things I'd probably never have thought of on my own; and I believe the finished products you produce are excellent quality. I'm not bashing the band you're speaking of (I honestly don't know who it is)--perhaps they just didn't know and for some reason thought the rough mixes were final cuts. If I record anyone other than myself, I give them rough cuts too for the same reason you stated.
However, while it is true that the more I learn about recording and how to make recordings better, the more I use in my music, I still must say that I have a soft-spot in my heart for LoFi, "bad" recordings. It's kind of like how I got a BA in English, only to have my favorite style of literature be the kind that sounds like the person's just talking in an everyday conversational tone.
Meaning, the more I learn about recording, the more I can use: when I want something to sound rough or dirty, I know a bit more about the rules now so I feel breaking them can result in a better product (making something sound LoFi is much different than something that's LoFi, as I know you know much better than I do). But even real poorly recorded things: the first Iron & Wine album, 4-track demos of New Amsterdam songs--I have a love for these things. Some LoFi things though just sound soggy without sounding stark & beautiful: the album I Don't Want To Grow Up by the Descendents, for instance. I love the album, but it sounds ultra-sogged and not that good.
I guess it depends on the instrumentation, is what I'm learning as I'm typing. A soft, folksy, acoustic song may come across a bit more stark and personal if it sounds like a mic was just put in the middle of a cabin's bedroom; but a melodic punk band like the Descendents play powerful music, and the music should be rough, but purposely rough--not mic-in-the-middle-of-the-room rough. For a thrash band, that style of rough is what I want. I don't want to hear a Voorhees album with pitch correction on the vocals, haha.
This was a long rant! But fun to write. And hopefully not annoying to read. Either way, keep on bloggin' it, good sir.
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