I received the following from Cindy Mack (her music is the subject of the first series of mix deconstruction videos):

The purpose of art is interpretation. The first person to interpret your new song will be your engineer.He is the professional who must understand what it is you are trying to accomplish as an artist and help you transfer that vision to tape.(or digital information) To do this, he must ask the right questions and may give opinions on your song as it progresses.
The answer to this question lies in the reason behind the engineer giving his opinion/interpretation.
The best recordings are created out of performer/engineer relationships that are born of a detailed understanding of what the goals of the recording artist are for that song. It helps to have a cosmic connection with your engineer when embarking on a recording project. The right chemistry will create a result where the artist and the engineer's talents radiate throughout the entire creation. The engineer has an obigation to voice opinions that may enhance the recording or make it better as long as it is understood that it is following the direction of where the artist wants it to go. And of course, anytime the artist requests his opinion that is fine-even if it changes the entire direction of the recording.. If you are the kind of artist that doesn't want any comments from the engineeer, then you need to state that up front politely. But let me say, many a great idea will be lost if you tune him out completely.
I have had engineers commandeer a recording session because they have worked with this so-and-so- and that so-and-so and therefore gives them emminent domain. .Although your vast experience at the board with other artists may give you exceptional insight into the techincalities of the recording industry, the way you interact with them is what will take you to the next level professionally. No artist likes to be told how to create their personal vision.There are plenty of technical wizards who can't keep a job in a studio because they don't know how to deal with people. You have to know when to blurt out an opinion and when to keep it to yourself. For most of humanity, this is a talent that is learned through time. That is why I generally choose my engineers that have had years in the business because, hey, they are still here and working-they must be doing something right. Longevity in the music business is rare no matter what side of the board you are on. Hats off to anyone who can walk into the fire, burn for years and emerge just a little singed but still smiling.

quote:

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The right an engineer has to re-interpret a song should be understood in the agreement between the two parties before the work is performed. If there is no agreement then one may be overstepping his/her boundaries.

It's fairly obvious that in most cases an engineer has a higher level of control and understanding of audio and its related components. He/she is more likely to be a better judge of a composition but one needs to keep in mind that a song to be beautiful does not require enhancements of any kind. It can be as simple as a feeling that someone has inside. A songwriter/musician may know how to interpret such feelings or they may need help from a friend and in most cases end up getting it from an engineer. Maybe that's a good reason for an engineer to be a friend to his customers?

I would say it is encumbent on the engineer to be as transparent as possible while making the experience of the song as enjoyable as possible.
I'd also say that the customer has a right to make an informed choice about what's best for his/her product so giving options is a good thing.

Bob

I think an awful lot of misconceptions exist out there. People seemm to actually believe that horse dung can be made into Filet Mignon.
Guitar players come in and have no idea what their base sound is!
If a band is experienced then, one obsticle has already been avoided.
Bruce is right, and in spades! It's about the song! If there is no song, you'd might as well go home.
I think engineers are forced to get creative.
Gone seem to be the days when a band could actually walk in and perform their material live.
Being fully prepped is the first and most important step in the recording process. To me anyway.

I don't have a whole lot to add to the many ideas already expressed.

I think that mixing almost IS the art of skillfully reinterpretting what has been recorded for the song. I've made the mistake many times of thinking an artist knew what they were doing and not suggesting things I thought would work. Also made the mistake of thinking they didn't know what they were doing and suggesting changes to things they had well under control.

In my mind the biggest mistake was NOT suggesting something or just trying it out to see what impact it had. The artist can always say "um...no!" and you've only spent a few seconds on it.

Mixes often get this kind of odd momentum going- as if the final product is somehow pre-determined and you are slowly building towards it. Don't touch the faders or we'll never get it back!! People make judgements based on where the mix is NOW instead of what the raw materials are and where it COULD go. An artist or producer that knows where they want the song to go might not need a "take 2" mix, but my experience is that everyone else benefits from the creative input of the mixing engineer.

Assuming that said mixing engineer also knows what s/he's doing...

Take care,
Chris

I believe it is a matter of trust, wherever that comes from. The late Tom Dowd, for instance, was a musician himself. He talked music to musicians, not audio engineering jargon. They related to him, a sense of trust was established, and from that ... music history.

Other matters involve, unfortunately, egos. I have had dealings with one such impresario who expressly forbade his paying clients to hover over his shoulder during a mix ... because they then could pay attention to EQ and compression curves, and possibly take notes. He considered such settings his own proprietary recipes, and was one of those people who would rather continue selling people fish dinners than fishing lessons.

Finally, it is a matter of chemistry. For starters, I guess the safest thing the engineer can do is make sure the settings and levels are right, so the artist and producer can make "artistic" decisions based on having good, clean tracks from which to choose. Once it becomes evident that he/she has recorded faithfully accurate tracks, the session's atmosphere may then encourage artistic input from "everyone" ... including the engineer.

Shorthand: Promote a sense of trust by doing your job well ... keep your ego in check, and from there, who knows? You may find yourself in a position to offer some artistic thoughts and suggestions.

Tom Dowd was THE man.

'nuff said