Contrasting Art: Al Schmitt & Mike Dean

Inevitably, I find myself in a lot of conversations with engineers on the record making process. When we land on the topic of favorite albums I sometimes cause some eyebrows to raise. A few of my favorite albums are not always technical masterpieces, sometimes far from it, but it doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the music in any way. I love albums like...

• "St. Anger" by Metallica 
• "Doolittle" and "Surfer Rosa" by The Pixies 
• "It Takes a Nation.." by Public Enemy 
• "Either/Or" by Elliott Smith 
• "Cypress Hill" by Cypress Hill 
• "Tim" by The Replacements

...you get the idea... 

Most of these albums you might be able to argue sound 'bad', yet that doesn't stop me from playing them back over and over.

On the other side of the coin, I love some incredible sounding records like...

• "Eat a Peach" by The Allman Brothers 
• "Talking Book" by Stevie Wonder 
• "Bad" by Michael Jackson 
• "A Love Supreme" by John Coltrane 
• "Wrecking Ball" by Emmylou Harris 
• "Da Good, Da Bad & Da Ugly" by Geto Boys 

The only thing some of these albums have in common is that they're made up of music and that I like them. And you may look at these lists and want to rewrite them for me, and that's okay. 

That leads me to my next point...as audio engineers working in the music industry, our job is to help facilitate art. This is art and just like these paintings can exist under the umbrella of art... 

So can these albums...

 

 

Many times as engineers, we need to be asking ourselves what tells the story for this artist better, a clean class A preamp or a dusty blown guitar amp. 

There's room for distortion and clarity, and the skill of an engineer is to know how to facilitate both those needs. And the role of the producer is to know which one is appropriate for the project. 

Whether you use Ableton Live or an original Neumann U47's to create your music...the goal is the same...great art. And there's plenty of room for both.