Recording session problems

[father of fires]

Here is my ultra quick comment:

You may have labored over a part or a whole song for months. If someone hears it and doesn't like it your first thought should not be, "He doesn't get it what a jerk" but, "What can I do to make it sound better and to convey my meaning/art/style more clearly?"

There is no reason to be obsessed over certain parts because it just leads to heart break. It took me a long time to learn this lesson.

Oh and about opinions changing in the studio: It happens all the time. Some things sound better live. I've had to scrap whole bass lines when I realized how awful they sounded when broken down in a studio enviroment.

 

[father of fires]

A lot of guitarists can only play power chords. How did you find one that couldn't???!!!

 

[Steve]

If I understand the OP correctly the "producer" stopped the track in mid take?

That would be the mark of an inexperienced fool who's credibility would go right down the toilet for me.

Changes come from all kinds of places for all kinds of reasons. AFTER the playback.
Heck even if some huge clam gets thrown and the world hears it, it's faster, cheaper, better to just go back and punch in the repair.

imho, ime, ymmv

 

[JohnMCA72]

I'm guessing the producer didn't attend rehearsals? If he had, he might have been able to find the "problem" then, when it wasn't costing you as much.

If it were me producing, I'd let the 1st pass tracking go on as rehearsed (whether I'd been to rehearsals or not) even if I thought I had a "better" idea for something. Let the tape roll, if for no other reason than to see if something amazing happens that can be captured. I'll put my $0.02 afterward.

As much as I like baseball, that analogy isn't quite right, as was noted. A better analogy would be to an attorney. You hire an attorney to give you legal advice, just like you hire a producer to advise you on making a recording. You'd be stupid not to listen to your attorney's advice, but you'd be even more stupid if you just blindly followed it. Same with a producer. You bring him on board to give advice, & if he's any kind of decent producer he's probably going to have some good advice to give. That doesn't make it automatic that you should do something his way, just because he said so. Listen carefully, evaluate your choices, try it his way, but unless you've signed over ownership of the project its up to you to decide what to do.

 

[danhosh]

If a background vocal was all the "producer" pointed out, I honestly would not fret too much over it. At least you don't have write another record to replace all the songs he made you throw away, or hire a new drummer.... the list goes on...

Everything is under a microscope while recording, and parts that you thought worked well together in rehearsals, sometimes don't sound right under that microscope.

That said, you are the artist. You have to live with the record you're making. The producer doesn't. Make sure you (& the band) are content with everything, first and foremost.