Producin' or engineering?

[earthboundaudio]

What do you folks prefer to do? I prefer production personally, but I'm always doing both, I have yet to be brought onto a project as just a producer, and have yet to engineer something where a band brings in a producer. Don't get me wrong, I love engineering, and love getting good sounds from gear and all, but I really bust nut with production.

[richiebee]

I prefer engineering... in fact as far as recording artists goes, this is my job. I do seem to be taking a producers role sometime too though, and I'm fine with that - as long as someone else isn't getting paid to do it.

I wish people had more production skills to bring to me. I find that my taste tends to end up on tape, and it'd be great experience if I had to work with people with a totally different taste (or in some cases, any taste at all!). I might bite my tongue some more, but at least I'd get a wider experience in doing what I'm doing rather than just doing it the way I want to.


R.

[brandondrury]

Many times they are not all that different. In my studio, I'm kind of a one stop shop. I'm expected to record, mix, and usually master (sort of) the music of the bands that hire me. I find that while my principal job is indeed engineering, there are many cases where the engineering and producing ends are interdependent.

Most often they've created a lead that simply will not cut through no matter how hard we try. I have to become a producer to tell them that they may need to play something in a higher range, for example.

Also, I've never had an exciting sounding vocal from an unexcited singer. I'm talking about exciting in frequency and engineering terms. So many times I have to get the singer excited so that my engineering doesn't sound boring.

Brandon

[billpaxten]

Being an excellent producer takes in-depth knowledge of music theory, commercial music history, and a vast knowledge of audio engineering. To be a successful producer, you really just need to be able to communicate to the engineer and musicians how the song should unfold to fit the style and the band and also fitting into some sort of commercial viability. Sometimes producing is natural and easy and sometimes it's a challenge to find or create what will work, but it's always fun!

[dach]

I prefer producing and writing. I'm a writer/musician by default. I have a love/hate relationship with much of the production process... and I've spent years and ridiculous amounts of money to do everything I can to simplify the process to the least amount of headaches.... gear, chops, ergonomics, etc. It can be very difficult at times wearing all the hats, especially when recording yourself on a variety of instruments... and trying to keep everything in perspective. It's mentally hard to play a great performance after you have been switching gear and mic placements for 2 hours and have played the passage 40+ times... when the first take was great.... the sound of the take was fine, but not exactly the timbre/color I wanted. The performance is always what I'm after but timbre is just as important to me. I love engineering but just not engineering myself because I'm such a timbre freak. I've always cared about the "sound/color" of the recordings as much as the actual music because that's so important to the perception of the music. That being said I could not imagine going back to a situation where all I did was engineer other peoples music... I admire people who do that.

[brandondrury]

One disadvantage to just engineering is your hands are often tied. Even when you know you can improve the recordings by giving a little advice, you may or may not be able to give the input.

It's a little frustrating when your name is on a project, but you can't maximize it.

Brandon