Bruce
a quote you had in another post ...

quote:

Personal opinion will affect your work. It is important to never approach a project as something you may not "get into" as your mixes will show it.

... got me thinking.

Will you touch on things like:
- getting yourself into the right frame of mind for a session.
- ergonomics, making sure you can stay the distance, preserving your back etc.
- when to take breaks
- volume management

?

just a thought

Tube

I Agree. I am interested in this also.

Yes, those are great points. Let me start with the following:

Be well rested before working (the session may go MUCH longer than scheduled - my longest day was 72 hours for a YES remix).

If you are in a bad mood it will be harder to "get into" your work. You may have to force yourself to focus. Remember expressions such as "be in the moment" or "be here now". When I would work with Marcus Miller, he would stop playing if he wanted to go back and play something differently. He would not tell me in words where to punch but rather PLAYED the part he wanted me to start recording from. Sometimes it was just one note. Because I was "in the moment" and hanging on everything he was playing I was always able to go back and punch perfectly without having to listen and take notes on WHERE to go in. If you can't lose yourself in the work you are doing, you are definitely in the wrong business.

Try to get up and stretch every hour or so (many people will say more frequently). I actually do most of my work standing up - I've been told it looks like I "attack" the console.

Taking breaks is not always convenient (ever try to tell a producer on a basic tracking date with expensive musicians that you want to take a break?) So you have to work smart rather than hard to help you last. If you have an assistant, have him get things partially set (mics on stands going into certain inputs) so you can do the crucial work. Be organized to avoid "spinning your wheels".

Of course while others are taking THEIR breaks, you should be very busy double checking mic placements (things do move), listening back to takes to check sounds/leakage, DOCUMENTING what is being recorded, etc. I almost NEVER take a break with musicians unless things are going very well and I feel confident that I am on top of things. And even then I double check everything before resuming work.

Volume....
Loud is fun.
Clients like loud.
Clients become very happy when they hear their music loud.
.................do NOT work loud.

Working at loud volumes can be easily fatiguing and deceptive. You (and your clients) will make decisions that may not hold true at lower volumes with "fresh ears".

Yes it is necessary to listen loud, but it should be a VISIT to "volume land" to listen for specific things rather than a one-way ticket.

You want to try to be able to work effectively and keep your ears as "fresh" as possible. Try listening at medium volumes on various speakers and sometimes listening especially quietly. And when you feel that your ears are fatigued, take a break and try to leave the room. When you return, start by working QUIETLY and slowly build yourself back to a medium volume. If you come back to full volume you will not last long at all.

-B

re: volume:

A fun thing to do is to check your monitoring volumes with an spl meter. Even a sub-$50 radioshack one will do. Contrast this value against OSHA's limits for SPL exposure. Good times indeed.

the osha chart can be found here:
http://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/noise/standards_more.html

Hey Bruce,
Not to stray from topic but, I notice the Japanese martial arts ranking system being used on the message board here. Are you a martial artist? I am myself, and that leads me to my working frame of mind. I do my best to remain in a state of NO-Thought as much as possible. I write music this way as well. I sit and wait, and the music just "comes" to me. I totally relate to your train of thought here. Being in the moment is crucial for me. I'm not an engineer by any means. I am a creative type and work with the musicians very well.
I do my best to study and learn the role of the engineer as we work as a team. This is what brings me here. I understand what's going on and what the gear iscapable of but, I try to stay on the creative side of the brain and allow the engineer I am working with to be the analytical one. I can go into analytical mode but, when we are tracking I listen more as a songwriter/arranger would, and allow my creativity to lead me. When the vibe is gone I can always feel it if i stay in this "Zen" mindset.
I try to bring the musician's whom I am working with to this same mindset of not thinking about playing, but rather just playing like it might be the last time they ever get to play. I try to work on this before we even get to the recording process. This seems to develop a creative bond.
A great athlete never thinks while he/she is playing their sport, this is easy to see. I believe the same rings true with musicians. When you put a musician in an analytical situation such as recording, sometimes their comfort level seems to disappear. I find it to be quite crucial to do some pre-production work with an artist. I believe if you track great performances and have great source sounds then a mix is so much easier.
Am I too "old school"?

As a recording engineer I feel my job is to create an environment conducive to musical creativity, and then to CAPTURE that creativity as best I can.

Musician comfort (with their environment, headphones, etc) is very important. If they don't perform good music, all the best mics in the world will not help.

-B