When to say “NO” in the Recording/Mixing Process…

When to say “NO” in the Recording/Mixing Process…

Any good sound engineer knows that maximizing quality at source does wonders to the final product.  However, how did we get so tangled up with EQ’s, plugins, etc. after-the-fact?

Well, the job of a music producer used to be (as RobertDiFazio puts it on his YouTube interview series), to communicate on musical terminology the end result sought after in the composition.  That is why in the beginning, the music producer was also a music composer. 

However, with the evolution of musical transferability, and digitation of sound, the process of music production became a bit more open-ended.  Therefore, it is presumed that along with music recording capabilities, there also came the need to enhance the sound in order to imitate the live performance quality (or stray from it in some cases).  No one likes to hear on a record, a cold, and dry, emotionless sort of sound.

So, where do we draw the line when it comes to adding to the recording via excessive plugins, EQ’s, etc.?  Well, as stated in the beginning, the sound engineer (which may be the producer or not) should always try to maximize the quality of the recorded audio at its source.  Although there are countless ways to “fixing it in the mix”, as they say, it will never substitute a good quality original take.  So again, WHERE to put the potential excessive use of virtual/non-virtual EQ’s, plugins, and other available resources?  Well, there is a place for them, and these should be utilized for what they do best!  That is, to enhance the performance.  If too much is required, as stated by Bobby Owsinski, (a superb sound engineer and teacher), then you should really think about another take.    

For various artistic issues, we tend to swing from “Technical” to “Conceptual” approaches.  The idea should be to attain a solid end product without fearing experimentation along the way.  This will sometimes require that we say NO to the little indulgences of sound in the recording/mixing process.