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Why are small town SOUND MEN so egotistical?

from: popeye-x 03-03-22-02:47

Its really strange how pig headed sound mixers are. They aren't even musicians. They sit around acting like know it alls, trading stories they've read in the latest engineer magazines, but they've never actually tried out what they act like they know about. They only read about it in EQ or MIX, and they think this gives them the right to even speak to MUSICIANS. Its amazing. they always think they have all this incredible taste and superior judgment. but you see, they have to. That's all they've got, just their big shot attitude and know it all personas.

I know EVERYTHING any sound man knows, plus much more. They way I learned audio was from being a musician. All the engineers know me, they all respect my knowledge, why? Because I have the sound to back it up, and I CREATE that sound. Mixing it is the easiest part, but there's more to it than that. I know how to give it to the audience in the form of a performance. That's how I learned all this other shit. When you perform music for an audience, you get a perfect laboratory to see what works, what doesn't, and why. Picking up an engineer's magazine and understanding every word that's in it is a snap for someone like me, not because I'm up on their bullshit, but rather because I've lived it my whole life. I'VE DONE IT. I don't use those stupid magazines to validate what I know, I use what I know to validate those stupid magazines. I could write those magazines, and sound man pricks would be all respectful of me because I'd break their balls trying to keep up with me. To me, the sound man part of it is all based on practicality, its just a means to an end that is much more GENIUS. I'm not condescending to them about it, I'm glad to have their help, but where do they get this ego trip bullshit?

I have been in the music business all my life, and I have observed, the bigger they are, the nicer they are. These small town dickheads are the only ones who act disrespectful, they want you to kiss their asses, and jump thru their hoops, or else they won't even allow you to exist. Who gives a fuck what a goddamn sound man thinks? I don't. I don't work for them, and they certainly don't work for me. I don't need their stupid ass in my way.

When I think of the engineers around here I respect, two examples come to mind immediately. There are others, but these two are perfect for what I am saying now. I'm talking about RB Blackstone and Marius Perron. Now those are what I call REAL "sound men". I don't like that term because it sounds like an insult to me. Please take note, both of them are EXCELLENT musicians, and they always have been. That's why they are so good at engineering. They know what the fuck is going on because they've done it. Neither one of them is rude at all. That's because they're good at what they do, not just good, they're fucking GREAT. These little nobodies with their chests puffed up and their mouths running full blast don't matter, especially not to me. I own my own studio. I use it to make my own music, and I help others make their music, too. It pays very well. I made 47 digital masters in one day for a well known 40 voice male chorus, they chose 16 cuts from that and I mastered a CD for them. I made great money. They love me. They don't give me shit because I'm weird. I don't have to kiss their asses to be accepted, I'm in demand! They can't wait to do it again. I'm not even a sound man, I'm just a musician who invested money in himself. I have the skills because the music industry would never give me permission to exist, I have friends who love me who taught me everything I know that I didn't teach myself.

I play the piano, and I have all my life. When you play a piano, you are constantly "mixing" because everything is controlled by how you touch the keys. Learning how to do the same thing with one knob is child's play to a person who has put in the work it takes to play a piano in real time using ten fingers and playing in rhythm. That's why guys like me will always be the bane of a sound man's existence. But its not the talent they're jealous of. They dismiss that outright and have negative regard for it because its a threat to them. The thing about guys like me that bugs the shit out of sound men is the RECOGNITION we get from everybody. Its the sound itself that gets the recognition. The noise attracts all the attention they ever wanted and will never get, and you know why that is? Its because they don't MAKE the sound, they only MIX it, and even the audience knows its all about the singer, not the microphone they sing into. The GREAT sound engineers are the ones with MUSICAL insight into the process. They don't give a fuck about fame and recognition. They're too busy protecting the music to be egotistical about it. They don't crave recognition. If they did, they would be performing musicians instead of sound men. Small town sound mixers with big egos are worthless to me. Its funny, they know about me, and I don't know about them. There's a reason for that. Its called MUSIC.

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