7 Motivational Quotes From Recording Experts That Will Kickstart Your Musical Inspiration
Every year I go to NAMM. My favorite parts are the panels.
Especially the engineer and mixing panel featuring four great veterans of the recording industry: Niko Bolas, Rafa Sardina, Matt Wallace and Eddie Kramer.
I couldn’t type fast enough as the quotes just came flying out of their mouths every time they were asked a question.
So here I bring you a few of the ones that really stood out for me.
On Starting Out in the Industry:
A naive aspect of recording often gets truly outrageously amazing results -Rafa Sardina
Rafa had a good point that even if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, you also don’t know if you’re breaking any rules.
Therefore, you might end up with something really interesting because you went somewhere in your engineering that somebody with experience might never have done.
But then he goes on,
Other times they do way too much. 24 tracks of 3 guitars? I couldn’t make sense of it. -Rafa Sardina
To which Eddie Kramer interjected:
Where as one 57 would’ve done the job! -Eddie Kramer
That brought us to talking about limitations and how everyone can have as many tracks and takes as they want.
All you’re doing is postponing decisions. Limitations are what make great music -Matt Wallace
You shouldn’t be afraid to trust your guts -Niko Bolas
In the realm of infinite Pro-Tools tracks they real music can get lost on the way to that perfect take. To which I say, music isn’t perfect and sterile.
It’s about putting your heart into it and being true about it. Robotically perfect playing can take the soul out of the whole production.
The Art of Producing
As a producer I have to infer what they really really want -Matt Wallace
Musicians speak a different language. They describe things differently and see their music through a very different set of eyes than the listener.
Therefore it’s the producer’s job to not just listen to what they’re saying, but also understanding what they actually mean. Only then can you translate that into a production decision.
On the Reason for Doing it All
Mixing is way more art and soul than science. We don’t really know what we’re doing. We’ve all been faking it for 40 years. We do it because we love music. It’s what gets me going every day. It’s the love of music first. -Eddie Kramer
I think there’s not better quote to end this post with than that one. Because that’s ultimately why this business is so fun. Those of us that get to work on new and exciting projects every day, we do it because we love making new music.
Whether it’s playing it, producing it or simply writing about it, we all do it for the love of the music.
If reading this makes you feel inspired and wanting to get out there an create something cool, take my Mixing Strategies guide along for the ride and use it to help you make better sounding mixes.
It teaches you a completely different approach to mixing your music so if you’ve been feeling uninspired, take this post and my guide on a path to better mixes.
Image by: Victor Bezrukov
Keeping Track
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