IS AUDIO ENGINEERING A DYING ART?!

[@joelwanasekurm]

LEARN TO MIX: nailthemix.com/

[@AndrewMasters]

Great topic. As someone whose passion is the engineering side more than the mixing side, you hit the nail on the head. I really try to sneak engineering nuggets into some of my videos I learned from guys like Greg fiddleman, Greg Koller, Ed Cherney, Doug Mckean, Darrel Thorp. It kills me when I see comments like “people are streaming on ear buds and Bluetooth speakers, no one can tell the difference”. It’s funny when you said people don’t get the accountability, that was one of the best parts of working in the big rooms, really shaping people into talented and productive engineers.

[@wyatt.traxler]

Lot of great info here, Joel! Thanks for taking the time to talk about it in a public space. After working with some audio professionals, it really made me take a step back and realize that bad recordings (usually) equal bad mixes and masters. On top of that, having access to NTM multitracks has also opened my eyes to the quality I need to strive for while tracking musicians. My bandmates hate tracking with me sometimes because I'm not going to accept half-assed takes at the recording stage. It has to be done right.

[@zantilla]

I can respect and appreciate the incredible work of audio engineers, but I also think the values and aesthetics of music as a whole are shifting away from industry standards and into being able to see productions in a very different way. Hierarchies are dying and young people are the ones killing them, and tbh I think that is a net good. What you're missing is that the novice, inexperienced producers and artists are going to codify an aesthetic based upon that lack of knowledge. So mixes aren't getting worse, it's that we've entered a sorta punk era, and if you aren't receptive to that I can see how you might think mixes are getting worse instead of music going thru a cultural shift look at hiphop, punk, industrial, etc. Great new things come from those who aren't pros, and what they have to say comes from a very internet culture so it isn't gonna look like anything that came before. New things are on the horizon, but in order for us to see the future, we have to meet it where it is. This is true of musicianship as well. It's easy to be cynical about a lack of quality, but I challenge you to rethink this or see it from another perspective.

[@ChristianJohansen]

I also think the main problem is many producers/mixers doesn't make it aware for the musician how important it can be. Because they know it can scare the client away because it's properly more money, and therefore they bite the sour apple and just fix it in the mix, because they need the work to make a living.

[@asymmetrymedia9838]

I'll sound like a boomer but: Instant gratification is the name of the game. There's a lot of interest in results but not in the knowledge and true understanding of how to reach those results, no real hunger for perfection, no true curiosity. I also learned online. And i felt like i had a good grasp and was an engineer. And then i went to record in a studio with a professional audio engineer with some renown and i realized: "oh, thàt's an engineer. " All real non audio engineers i know jave one thing in common: an unsatiable hunger to know how everything works exactly to the smallest detail. And i think a good audio engineer has the exact same hunger. Not just in one niche, not just to be good enough, but to truly understand and master the subject. But... that takes time, hard work, patience, sacrifice and fatally, most are much less interested in that.

[@Michael-vk6ws]

Anyone who's checked out the Chris Baseford or Billy Decker NTM's can attest to the benefits of great engineering. And that also applies to the home producer too; garbage in, garbage out. I believe the quality of ingredients falls under the golden rule of Be Easy to Work With.

[@joelwanasekurm]

True

[@peterbondmusic]

I'm so glad that I was fortunate enough to came up with great mentors and being in real studio environments because indeed the art of tracking is being lost.

[@raidenlozenthall]

The GOAT speaking thank you Joel, great insight! What about seasoned people that tell you otherwise (talking about assertive efficiency)? Some people like to do stuff very slow and maybe that experience I had with an old drum tech (from the rental company) set a more ¨relaxed¨ tone on our setup (which was kind of a good thing), but in the end the whole 6 month preparing the show was spoiled due to time restrictions on our line/sound-check and now this video made me remember about this particular detail. It's quite bitter to have those thoughts in mind, but you get better and better with the people that you hire as a producer/artist.

[@JayKayProductions]

Love to start the week with these videos - thanks for making them!

[@joelwanasekurm]

You are so welcome!

[@kevinbatchelor9566]

Great topic. Seems like many have really embraced the “fix it in the mix” mentality.

[@trulyintense6613]

Thanks again for the perspective you have on these recording components!!🤘🏻

[@mattgrou]

A lot of people need to hear this!

[@Studio22mix]

I totally agree with you, I used to record bands in the 90’s on just a four track tape. I had to commit, get everything tracked the best way possible because there was no fixing in the mix. The mixing started while recording. Got some great sounding results that way. Then I got a 16 track hd recorder, I could edit on the recorder, do overdubs and re-amping. So fix it in the mix started to be a thing. Now with the crazy possible editing tools and plugins we can even fix it in the master. I think the art of tracking has lost attention because all these possible options to fix it later. If a producer and the engineer know what they are after they can commit while recording and then the mixing process starts while recording. I think it’s like recording amazing sounding drums, you need an excellent drummer, a great sounding room, a good tuned drumset, the right type and placement of microphones, some nice pre-amps. It’s a combination of all that makes an awesome drum recording. Nowadays you don’t need a great snare, or base, most is replaced with samples anyway. If it isn’t played tight we quantize it tight. All things that were not possible years ago because the performance had to have it all. Ah well, times have changed but unfortunately not always for the better.

[@Pericles777]

Noone thinks about it until someone goes, "Oh, I need someone to do sound. And it always sounds like shit when I do it!"

[@DavidDavis-FA-photog]

Makes sense to me. Hopefully we'll see some upcoming great engineers.

[@sebastianpiedrahita37]

This is great to hear!

[@richdesanti2686]

You know THIS WAS THE IDEA behind the Harrison Mixbus 32C DAW. It's the old school console. Use your ears! Use your MIND!

[@josephparry]

Great video as always Joel, thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[@martinpappas9542]

I made it till the end of the video Joel! 🎉🎉🎉

[@joelwanasekurm]

Congratulations 🔥 1st. Haha

[@dreambeliever3652]

Dude. Good to hear

[@nicholascherrey4467]

so I’ve worked in studios in the NYC area as an engineer, couple things. 1. engineers don’t get paid shit. i think the most I’ve seen around here if you want to be a staff engineer at a studio is $25 an hour. and your not full time, your going to have gaps in the year where your not working so it probably only comes out to maybe $20-30k per year, if that. if your able to pick up freelance clients then yeah sure you can make more, but for the most part it just doesn’t pay as well as mixing/mastering. 2. At this point I feel like most of the time the producer/engineer have become the same person. I actually think in most cases this is a good thing anyways, as most of what I’ve seen “producers” do is just go “yeah that sounds good, but maybe play it more softly.” or just make little comments that make such a negligible difference to the song, and is stuff that most engineers intuitively know anyways. sure, there are exceptions, such as Rick Rubin, but it feels like a lot of the time producers who don’t engineer don’t really do shit except carry their enormous ego around 💁‍♂️ 3. I feel like the whole mentality of “getting the perfect sound” is pretty counter intuitive. on one hand yes, you should get the best sound you possibly can on the way into pro tools to get the best result. however, I’ve seen engineers take 20 minutes micing a snare drum thinking they look cool as hell getting that perfect tone 😩😩😩 but instead it just kills the vibe of the session as the artists get frustrated that your taking so long, and you end up just getting a worse performance in the end. to be clear there is totally merit to knowing your equipment and being able to get the best sound you can, as long as it’s not at the expense of killing the vibe of the session for me, at the end of the day, the best engineers are the ones who can 1. get a great sound quickly and 2. have a great vibe in the room so the artists feel comfortable, which in turn will give you the best performance possible

[@steph_nyc]

That's a great discussion. While i disagree with some things you said, many need to be addressed. Not everybody will have the opportunity to work in studio with great equipment and this is also why mixing on a laptop becomes more and more an alternative and plugins companies are targeting this audience by bringing analog gears into the digital world. It's more affordable and it's simply the future. Wether you mix in studio or on your laptop, it doesn't change the fact that if you have zero skills, using SSL plugins won't make a difference for you. It is important to learn the basics an progress. But here's the truth, I live in New York and had some of my tracks mixed in some decent recording studio. Of course, not the NRG type of studio but enough to get a much better sound that I could have done myself. Once I left the studio and and played it on different system, it sounded like shit. Plain and simple. It didn’t translate good in any system, huge problem with the bass, sounded muddy. What a disappointment . The reality is many people, even if they work in big well treated studio, simply don't know how to mix properly. It wasn't even a problem of not understanding my vision, it was really on a technical level. There is a lot of attitude. Studio sound engineering is a competitive field and for some people, when they get there : they think it's a proof that they are good, if not very good. I'm a music producer and sound engineer and I know some great grammy nominated sound engineer much more humble then many I met in those studio. And one of my friend, who is Grammy nominated, mixes from home now after years working in the big studios, for Universal and famous brand...when I asked him if he misses the big studios he told me : Not at all, fuck that. I have my pair of headphones and my laptop, all the clients I needs. I think he charges almost a thousand for a mix. The industry understands that they don't get to decide how and where people prefer to mix and they better to adapt. While I totally understand where you come from with this video, you need to understand that what's happening right now is creating new standards and they will become dominant wether we like it or not. The same is happening with music and the quality of music. How could we go from incredible instrumentation and melodies to such minimalistic music like Ice Spice for example. Even the quality of the mix on some songs is obviously pretty bad. So there is definitely a lot of change happening right now, in what we consider good or bad. But when it comes to mixing in studio with great equipment and mixing on a laptop, depending who is in charge of the mix : talent is talent, skills are skills. Many famous sound engineer such as Andrew Scheps mix on headphones, with a laptop and tools such as VSX emulating speakers and studio rooms almost at the perfection help getting great mixes this way. I did better mixes this way, rather than the sound engineer in that studio who couldn’t manage a great sounding mix that translates good anywhere.

[@shanttt]

Hey Joel, thanks for the great video. Is there anyway you can go over this - Maybe pose some situations that an artist would come in and say they want to have a feel for in the song that they’re trying to make And then for the feeling, you go through what equipment you would use, and how you would deliver that feeling through the process of plugging in, plug-ins, what amplifiers, And overall how you would take what a tone that an artist is trying to deliver (through a feeling, they’re describing), and deliver it through your knowledge of audio processing Really long question . Thanks for the video

[@joelwanasekurm]

Good idea. That video would take a lot of work! The other problem is I don’t track anymore. HHa so I don’t own a mic.

[@shanttt]

@@joelwanasekurm awww all right . Well I love this whole concept anyway. Maybe I’ll make it myself someday soon

[@VincentBlack]

100% facts! Maybe I should be an engineer…

[@thebasementrecording]

A large part of why there aren't any engineers is because there's less demand for it than ever. People think they can record themselves just as good as a pro with real experience and gear. Or at least they think they are good enough and the extra money isn't worth it. But, also, those of us that have engineered, eventually want out as dealing with many artists/musicians personally one on one for 8-12 hours a day sucks! haha. It's rare to have the combo of great player and great personality to make the job enjoyable.

[@ctrprog]

101% accurate Joel. - Alex

[@davidduarte2887]

At the local level the artists just don’t have the funds to hire both an engineer and a producer. Or they think they don’t. And now they think it’s the same thing. Along with the producer having to play multiple instruments, program, etc. IMO in a lot of cases it would be cheaper to hire a separate engineer and producer because it will get done so much faster.

[@Mitsch76]

Yeah, so right Joel. But one thing you didn't say as clearly as it should be: Not everyone can be a good engineer. Like...lets say, not everyone can become a good guitar player. You know what I mean? I guess some are trying hard but they never gonna be good. Thats a sad thing but true. So, lets be happy and feel blessed, when we can hear and learn from a good mix(er).

[@buhimoth]

I don't want to be a mixer, I want to be an audio engineer. Sign me up!

[@buhimoth]

ahhhhhh the bit about speakers near the end, you're talking my language!

[@dougleydorite]

I’m surprised you didn’t mention evertune as a tool which would correct half the issues you mentioned regarding proper guitar technique

[@Daneiladams555]

It’s not dying for me🎉

[@djentlover]

I hope people hearing this take proper careful planning before making large investments in recording gear

[@Studio22mix]

And make proper planning and rehearsal before recording a song 😏

[@JakeyWakey]

It's a dying art because it isn't needed to make great music, and gear doesn't matter - Former Full Sail Grad 😢

[@jrtme]

No one wants to pay for tracking engineers. It has always been lower paying than mixing or mastering. No one cares about how good of an engineer you are any more.

[@ABC_A]

You want to "restore" Old Fashion Engineering The future is now and yesterday is gone Who would want several large amps in a room when Software Simulation is giving the results needed and more, so why bother learning something few people would want?

[@BenedictRoffMarsh]

I blame the rise of the DAWsphere as everyone with an un-paid copy of Reaper and some Pluginz is declaring themselves to be a Pro. They then make Tipz n Trix Tutz that draw more people astray to these poor impressions of what the artform is. Then everyone expects everything for free. Some promise futures but they never deliver anything, even FB mentions which is suicide for all. Most times the songs & performances themselves are so broken that these things are not worth anything in a portfolio as people assume the broken feel is the fault of the engineer, rather than the writer/singer. That makes trading your way up all but impossible. Nobody is paying, nobody is doing work worth stooping to and kids are taking these poor mixes as the idea of what is great over say a Queen, Alan Parsons, or Pink Floyd record so they want bad mixes. I put my base prices up simply because I don't want to hear from people who think I can/will deliver amazing from trash for nothing. They can pay for my experience or not at all. Ultimately this all leads to that I also think that within a generation, Mixing as an Artform (DaVinci, Rembrandt, Clearmountain...) will be a gone thing. Kids will still be talking gear and wall-padding but no one will know how to tell a great Story in sound. :-)

[@luizansounds]

im actually of one of those kids from reaper (that i intend to buy eventually bcs im broke) or free plugins (and im fortunately one of those that wont dare to call myself a pro without working with it properly) but i somehow managed to break away from the bad references, so for the best (and for the worse) i measure myself to works from brian wilson, roy thomas baker, george martin/geoff emerick, Glyn Johns and etc, what ppl dont really do is trying to make the best of what they have to get a great sound instead of trying to copy the big figures that have years of experience but arent there in the situation, im no means good but at least i try to do my best to improve and specially use the DAW as a 'room' instead of a tool

[@UncleT525]

It’s just signs of the times…mentorship is still there if you need it but it’s not nessacary anymore because information and technology is more accessible and more advanced . People forget that having access to a great studio back in the day was like being part of a exclusive club it was essentially gatekeeping..so take in the fact that the average wannabe during those times did not have access or having that knowledge or equipment so they did not have proper practice to put in 10,000 hrs. So actually these kids nowadays are way more advanced and further a long than the old guys at the same age..imagine being 16 years old in the 80’s and hearing about a Moog synthesizer but never actually playing one or knowing it’s sonic character. Same with outboard gear and even hearing music. If they want to study Zeppelin it’s right there documentaries and music at their fingertips..if they want to study neve, api, Neumann it’s all accessible. Emulations and digital techniques can be applied on analog..back then all you had was analog so Would you trust someone back then that has no experience or memory of sonics than a kid today with UAD? Ima trust the kid today because he is actually putting his knowledge into practice..if you wanted to hear a ssl board back then you had to find a studio that has one. So when I think about it only the great engineers from back in the day were the ones in the industry and it’s why a lot of older engineers that were not in the industry are not good at mixing or making records because they never had enough experience or acesss with certain sounds. There’s no Godly figures like Bruce Sweden in todays industry but the average Joe today is way better than the average Joe back in the day. Also the performance and musicianship, creativity and producers will always be more valuable than an engineer…it’s nice to patch cables but can you make a record? Even if it’s a simple but good pop song that is a hit that’s still a skill within itself otherwise everyone would be making hits. We have to stop making the past mythological..

[@BenedictRoffMarsh]

Wow, you really chugged the Cool Aid didn't ya!! I was there in the 80's and it was nothing like what you claim. You are the one reinventing, based on all that Cool Aid. Yes, that is indeed a sign of the times indeed. Find me even two kids with UAD subs who can equal Clearmountain, and we can carry a conversation. Until then, making such posts when you have absolutely nothing to show to back your opinion ('tood) is not a smart thing ;-)

[@UncleT525]

@@BenedictRoffMarsh I already stated besides Engineers in the industry. Bob Clearwater was definitely in the industry back then that was not the comparision...The Home studio/equipment in the 80's was absolute trash compared to todays converters and technology and was more expensive. Warren Huart and plenty engineers have stated that today there are way more good options and ways to achieve quality. So yes an wannabe engineer from the 80's that did not have experience in the major studios could not compete an kid with UAD today its not even skill its just hours put into practice with useable tools...Your arguement doesn't even make sense. Labels were more involved back then and Studios were actually high end ..I'm not trusting an guy with 20 years of knowledge of basic things like signal flow, and patching in cables,a and understanding of compresson, eq, acoustics when they had no experience using good sounds and putting it into use, or have evidence or what good recordings actually sound like until recent times. The 50 year old engineer that didn't make it starts to put things into practice until Digital became revelant. So you're comparing kids that have infinite research and useable tech to some guy that MAYBE went to a studio once a week if he can afford it. No Contest the kid with UAD would wipe the floor versus that guy

[@NHFTL]

Idk, I prefer this method of learning. I personally dont care about top level equipment, gear, locations, or producers. Ive never really cared about the names that get name dropped frequently, i just enjoy working FOH or recording/mixing at home. The only issue I have with modern mixing, is the use of quick templates or use of AI

[@tothemoon8031]

All true but it seems no musicians are interested in that kind of skill because it will end up expensive for them.

[@TheirIAre]

What's your newest release? I Google your name and wiki etc is showing 2019

[@joelwanasekurm]

Yeah that’s way outta date. Rain City Drive “Frozen” came out yesterday. spotify.link/n3Y6BAb6kDb