Valuable Sound Engineer (humor)

[Vocalist Dad]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzgvZf5B36g

[Keith]

Saw that the other day . How true it is.

[Adoney]

Pretty funny but I can't stand the laugh-track :/

[Nicogratouille]

I like it! Thanks for posting

Nick

[ronws]

Thing is, that may not be far from the truth.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[Adoney]

Well of course the console wouldn't control such specific elements of a single track. Particularly one that's in the process of recording.

Usually auto-tune is used (when not as an effect) as a small correction in pitch, not large. The larger the correction, the more noticeable it becomes.

I assume you know all that though

Good in --> Good out

[ronws]

Sure, the video is a caricature, an exaggeration. But it depicts a real thing that happens. Some singers have incorrect technique and their failings are hidden within sound manipulation.

On the other hand, if the whole track was good except for one note a few cents off and time is money in the studio, the recording guy is going to tune that note and be done with it. Business is business.

And I know some others may come along and say, "well, I have mixed and produced recordings for others and I never correct a pitch. I keep hammering at them until it is perfect."

And my response would be that, very well, I could easily be wrong, though I have read books on recording from the pros who get paid well to produce a salable recording for actual recording labels. The rest of my response would be that if someone claims to be a recording engineer for a recording, let me know which release. A published cd with producer or recording engineer credits. Look at any released cd and you will see that info in the liner notes. Or even, if one's recording is listed on a website somewhere, there will be credits as to what recording studio, etc.

I mean, I could say that I have "produced" some of my own recordings. And, on other recordings where someone else did the mixing and editing for me, I always, always give them credit in the post.

Even on my cover of "Heaven on their Minds," my brother gets top billing, with me as just the featured singer. He played all the instruments and recorded them. Then did the final mixes. It's his production with me riding his coattails.

So, for the recording guys who say they have never corrected someone else's errant note, which recording, where is it available.

Not trying to be a snot, I just happen to like verification.

And of course, most of us, when we recording and mix our stuff, we do not use pitch correction. Especially me. :lol:

[ronws]

I thought it was a funny video, for sure.

And some notes need to be a 1/4 off, in my opinion. I can't do it by design but Robert Plant does the last note of "Stairway to Heaven" a few cents off. And Bon Scott does something similar with "Highway to Hell" on the very last word, an effect I can't do. He must have had some scotch that day. Thankfully, Mr. Perfectionist, Mutt Lange, let it stay that way.

How do I know Lange was producer on that album? It's on the liner notes. And it's also mentioned in the history of AC/DC.

A great producer can make or break a band. Several bands, including AC/DC (Highway to Hell) and Def Leppard (Hysteria) had those break-out albums that put them over the top because that was the first album of theirs to be produced by Robert "Mutt" Lange, a mysterious guy from South Africa. He has an affection for fuzzy bass, wet drums with big kick, and duped and layered vocal tracks.

Anyway, good post, Owen. And thanks for revealing a little more of yourself and whatever expertise you have from the recording world.