Around the Campfire @ the Old School Music House #4

Zen-Vibe Session #4:

People knowledge …a lost treasure?

…in the pause of night Donnie performs the simple act of dialing his phone. Only upon reflection does it come to light that the ringing phone on the other end belongs to the world’s leading acoustical engineer. To us it’s just Chips. Donnie put his phone on speaker and sets it in the middle of the table between us.

We were talking about how life has become so frantic that we are becoming dinosaurs in our own time, Donnie says as he brings Chips in on our subject. Scotty asked the question of how you know. He said you were the first one to ask him because in acoustic spaces you’re a specialist.  We don’t have that anymore Donnie continued. We used to be able to walk into an auto parts store and the guy behind the counter knew your car. They knew the little tricks and tips to help you complete the job. It’s the computer that has taken that away from us. Now they just look up the part number, show us a picture of the part, sell it to us, thank us for our purchase and say goodbye.

I commented on how we as recording engineers have to know our equipment so well that the gear becomes second nature to us. It is only then that we see the true nature of our job …interpersonal skills within many different styles of music and musicians.  Chips agreed and added that he is now engineering airport systems around the world. He added …if you think weeding through the different personalities the studio business throws at you is difficult try working in different countries with different cultures speaking a language different than yours. It is a challenge keeping your customers well serviced. You still have to meet and exceed their needs, you can’t let little road blocks like culture and language get in your way. 

AES paper "Hey what about people"
Yes, Donnie says with excitement. That is what I’m talking about.
You don’t see that in the young people coming into our industry today I added. They just want it snack-able I said …yeah they learn through YouTube Chips adds. Paul chimes in with …I get a lot of young people that have worked really hard to get the job that brings them to me. They just want to “learn to mix” they tell me. I don’t know what to say to that. The gathered laughed. Each one of us sharing that magic moment at Richards Ranch knew of the decades of personal commitment to our craft each one of us has behind ourselves …we have all learned to mix, we are just hoping we get it right sometime.

Relationships are the heart that keeps the magic of lure pumping through our artistic veins. They do not need to be long standing to be strong. Donnie’s goodbye question to Chips speaks volumes to the depth of time and bonds between us …Oh yeah Chips, before you go, Donnie says. Your wife Nancy …is she still hot? Chips laughs and says ...Yes.
Next we call Mike ...romantics vs. classics and one heck of an observation by Paul

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Table of Contents

Image
It's All in the Talkback For Tom Cody ...and Bruiser ~Welcome to the Show~ Lessons learned from life on the other side of the glass. 1)      The 4 Ups 2)      Cool Plug ins: How do you know? 3)      Cool Plug ins: Its Level 4)      Hang ~Around the Campfire @ The Old School Music House~   A combined 200 years of audio engineering experience sitting around a campfire. 1)      Getting there   2)      Digital / Analog Warriors   3)      How do you know? Call Chips   4)      People knowledge. A lost treasure?   5)      Romantics vs Classics   6)      How did we learn? Under fire     7)      I'm out      ~The Show~ 50 Years of How I Mix Music 00)      3 Screens 01)      Whadda ya need?   02)      Color   03)      The Meat   04)      Raising Faders   05)      Bass & Drums 06)      Blending Drums 07)      Drums ...You or me?   08)      Drums ...How big is your window?   09)      Snare drum ...Loudness   10)      Mixing Overheads   11)      Mixing Bass   12)      Whaaat?? 1-5 summ
Read more

Hang

Image
 Hang: With the push of a button or the swiping of a finger across a screen ...poof, an audience is entertained. Instantly they are rewarded with the content of their choosing. Seldom if ever does the audience member consider the structural events that have taken place to present their chosen content to them. Be it news, movies or music, the technical aspect of providing media content to a broad market is managed by people. People with feelings and ambitions, not necessarily congruent with one another, work together to deliver the content. Emotion generally weighs heavily over pragmatism when it comes to entertainment. That formula holds true for any human involved with the production of media. The percentages of emotion-over-pragmatism vary with the people involved in its production. News broadcasts are at the low end of the emotion-over scale where music capture is at its highest. Either way, quilts hanging on a garage wall or black walnut walls with motor driven drapes to “tun
Read more

You don't see this often ...

Image
We usually speak of the things we love weighted towards its positive aspect, the ones that attract us. The recording studio business has a lot of positive aspects. Recording Studios are usually dimly lit, vibe filled, creative environments open to social practices you’d never see in any business catering to the general public. Here is my last blog for you who have followed me (Thank you by the way). In analog you have positive and negative energy pulses. In digital you have ones and zeros. Basically, you cannot have one without the other. Think about it …can you have an up without a down, a right without a left, a good without a bad a happy without a sad. The answer is obviously no. To restate …you can’t have one without the other. Here is “the other”: Artistic people are generally “a little different” from polite society. They will most likely present as being sensitive, introverted and reserved. Some come across as pretentious all-knowing people who are some gifts to all m
Read more