Originally posted by Ensnareyou:
I have to disagree. There is a standard for audio quality that is well known in the music industry. While many labels and engineers don't necessarily adhere to that standard, others do and record labels and distributors will reject any submission if its not up to par. Any engineer who has done work for major labels is well aware of these standards and will meet them. Some labels are very strict about audio quality and I admire those labels because they not only believe in delivering an album that has great musical content but quality audio as well. GRP and ZTT are some of those labels.
As an engineer I have worked on all styles of music and no matter what genre or audio format I work within (analog, digital), I strive to give the client the absolute best audio quality possible. Just because I am recording a RAP record doesn't mean the standard for that recording should be any less than that of a Jazz or Pop record. Any engineer who cares about their work will strive to make any recording they do as good as it can possibly be.
I realize many people today record vanity CD's at home each year and sell them at gigs but that doesn't mean the CD quality is any good. I'm personally disappointed when I purchase a CD where the music may be great but the delivery of the musical recording is sub par at best. A great song may be a great song no matter how it is recorded but I still don't want to pay good money for a recording where the artist didn't care enough to make it of decent audio quality.
One of the reasons CD's today sound so horrid is that many people are commanding the helm of a mixing console and recorder that they aren't qualified to mix on. One wouldn't pick up a scalpel and expect to be a Surgeon so why is it one can buy Pro Tools and call themselves and audio engineer?
You are missing the point. The END USER doesn't care. The END USER is not that sophistacted. What sounds great to them may sound like crap to you. You may not pay for it with your educated ears. But Avg Joes are buying it anyway! There is no "industry standard" for the end user. They are listening to songs on MP3 @ 128bits.
Of course the "industry" will pan home grown work. But the bottom line is they sell their CDS whether crap[ or good and the end user is happy. I have never had someone return a CD because it does not sound like an industry standard CD.
Even as you say "pro" engineers and record companies are not adhering to "industry standards" which makes me wonder what they are. I certainly don't make a CD as good as can be done in a $100,000 studio. But I'm not making them for those people either. We make them for Joe and Joan who show up at a gig and pay ten bucks for a CD. Even with today's home gear its a hell of a lot better than it was 15 years ago. With mastering plug ins and all the SW help it's nearly fool proof. The avg person could not tell the difference. The average person is the market. Home Recordists like me don't worry about "industry standards". Im not going to spend $3000 for a Pre-Amp or $2000 for a mike when the Joe Meek and Rode NT2 does the Job. People really cannot hear the difference and more than that they don't EXPECT a personal CD to sound like a Steely Dan production.
I learned along time ago. I did not have to send a CD off to a mastering house. I would have sold the same number either way. But then again I was not sending them of to "industry professionals." Recording pros beat up everybody's work no matter who. You have DIKI telling you GRP is not all that great an example. You see its all relative.
IT's all about the end user. Theres the market. They will buy anything and listen to it on anything and if they like the tune nothing else matters.
It's all about the song. A great song can be recorded using "piano voice" on a Zoom H-4 and still be great. A bad song will never survive the best engineers. I don't call myself a "recording engineer" and I turn down any outside requests for recording other's songs. I did that once and would never do it again. So in my case anyway I support and ENCOURAGE Home Recordists. Always have. The lack of "industry standard" sound more than makes up for watching the clock while paying someone else. stsaying up until 4AM working on a tune that would have cost $25 an hour and up. People can make some pretty nice sounding stuff in their bedrooms. Especially to average Joes. I understand how professional engineers can find that a threat between that and the dumbing of the listener.
And the line between "industry standard" and Home Recording is pretty narrow nowadays.
[This message has been edited by Kingfrog (edited 10-27-2008).]
Previous Topic
Index
