I totally agree with everyone helping each other and treating each other with respect especially in our scene/industry. Ako rin, I learned that here as well as with my friends who are really active in the music scene.
I can understand that sometimes people can be hot-headed and or cocky and or just wanting to vent. Online forums are a prime place because you can remain anonymous. I think we've all been guilty of that at some point or another.
Then again, there's threads like these that are really laced with malice.
---
On the engineering side, as an upstart engineer, it usually takes me a few days to get a mix that can compete with foreign recordings. A week or more for fine tuning pa.
When dealing with home studio limitations and variables like the artist's performance and tone, time is really needed.
And of course, time is money. Money is always an issue in this country.
In some cases, time = money = better mixes/masters. Agree?
Actually, I think IN MOST CASES, time = money = better mixes. Now I believe what the pros in the US say: Book as much mixing time as tracking. There are some issues that you cannot address if there is way too little time for mixing. For some, they mix a song in 2 hours, whereas, abroad, maybe 2 hours would be wholly dedicated to cleaning up the drums alone.
We are all facing economic issues in record production, because if not, then why do artists invest on home recording equipment nowadays, thinking they can "save more" doing that than paying a real studio?
Another thing I wanna point out: If artists are HAPPY with the recording, don't assume that the engineer is happy with the sound. Maybe, the engineer is happy for the artist because, he did his job, but not necessarily happy with the tone, the performance, etc. On the contrary, if the artist is NOT HAPPY with the results, do not assume that the engineer was satisfied/happy with the turnout (for lack of saying, ok na yan). There could be many reasons why the mix didn't turn out well. It could be poor communication, poor choices in tone, and a lot of other things that could have been cured or addressed in the tracking stage. An engineer would not move forward to the next step if the artist or producer doesn't say so.
Moreso, if a band is a no-show, or has punctuality issues, and much time is wasted, don't blame the engineer. To be honest, it is the same sardine band that I had the most issues with in terms of punctuality. They cannot even get their a$$es in the studio on a regular basis. And to prove my point, they had no drummer for their EP launch and hired somebody on the drums the day before the launch and frankly, it was a subpar performance. Talk about focus - they cannot even focus on their own relationships in the band.
Anyway, I am more than glad to hear any complaints about my work. Every engineer should. Every studio should. It is not like I am gonna beat you up if you complaint. In fact, I have a policy that if you are out of time, you have the benefit of tweaking your mix for 15 mins FOR FREE. Just listen to the final mix over a week or month and scribble down the comments and the time registers. Beyond 15 mins (hey that's enough for tweaking, thanks to memory recall) you pay for the time.