How to pick a good sound engineerApril 4, 2011

Picking a sound engineer, whether live or in studio, is a vitally important process that many bands simply neglect – either for want of experience or money.

soundengineer How to pick a good sound engineer A decent sound engineer is absolutely crucial, acting as the gateway between your music as you hear it as your audience hears it. Your band may sound amazing, but a bad engineer has the tools available to make you sound like rubbish. We’ve all had the experience of playing a gig mixed by a bad engineer – constant feedback, muddy sound and poor monitoring. You don’t feel comfortable and more importantly the audience doesn’t feel comfortable. Your performance is compromised and the gig is ruined. Conversely, a decent engineer has the ability to not only convey your talent accurately to your listeners, but to polish the tiny imperfections that all bands exhibit – a good engineer can make you sound better than you otherwise would.

Here are some tips about picking the best engineer for your act:

Ask about their experience: The key thing to ascertain when trying to find an engineer is their level of experience – qualifications are mostly unimportant in this industry. Studio engineers will often have a portfolio of music they’ve recorded that will give you a good idea of the calibre of their work. Listen to this mix side-by-side with artists whose work you admire. How does it stack up? A live sound engineer will be able to tell you which acts they’ve worked with previously and what venues they have experience with, so you can ascertain whether they’re hitting at your desired level.
Meet your engineer: A decent engineer will be happy to meet up with you, assuming you’re serious, in order to ascertain whether you’ll work well together. An engineer worth their weight will make the effort to pop by a gig of yours and assess your musicianship, song-writing ability and professionalism. A quick chat over a beer will quickly reveal whether you’ll be comfortable working together in the long term. Remember, this person will be medium through which your music is conveyed. Not only do they hold the power over how you will ultimately sound, but a fair chunk of your time will be spent with them. Not that you have to be best friends, but make sure you’re on the same wavelength, both professionally and musically.
Visit some studios: If you’ve found a studio engineer you’re happy with, make sure that the studio they’re most comfortable with is also the one you’re most comfortable with. Make sure the vibe of the studio makes the whole band feel all warm and fuzzy. The less comfortable you are the more quickly the band will become stressed during the already stressful recording process. Ultimately, if you don’t feel comfortable when you’re recording, it’ll most likely be reflected in the final product.
Try and genre-match: Regardless of your budget it’s important to genre-match your band to your engineer. Whilst the underlying principles of mixing are similar from genres to genre, and a decent engineer will do a good job irrespective, the intricacies and nuances are often genre-specific and important to understand. An engineer who mixes a lot of bluegrass probably shouldn’t be your first port of call as a doom-metal band.
Ask other bands for their advice: It’s vital to ask other bands for their recommendations. Don’t be captivated by flashy websites or big names. Like-minded bands are often a great source of information; you’ll end up with a much more honest and spin-free account of the various engineers they’ve encountered.
Be nice to your live engineer: A decent engineer will know what’s best for your overall sound. If you’re asked to turn down your amps it’s not because the engineer has an irrational hatred of guitarists – it’s because doing so will make you sound better as a band. Remember that they hold the keys to your show, treat them with respect and they’ll do the same back. Working together is a collaborative process and you both win if the show runs smoothly.
Keeping costs down: Make sure when shopping for a studio engineer that all costs are taken into account. Many engineers are freelancers, meaning that they don’t operate their own studio, but rather rent time at others. Make sure that if discussing final project costs that nothing is left out. Find out whether revisions are possible after the product is finalised, and if so, how much they cost. Another strategy for keeping costs down, especially with live engineers, is to try and lock an engineer in for a certain amount of shows/time. A constant source of work is a must for most engineers so they’ll be more willing to lower their fees if they can count on you for upcoming work. Similarly, if you’re happy to refer an engineer to other bands then they might be willing to negotiate a cheaper price.
Be ready to record, pre-production is key: A common mistake made by bands without a solid recording background is to enter the studio underprepared. You’ll want to spend a decent chunk of time planning the sessions with both your band and your engineer. Though it can seem like a waste of valuable time a well-planned session will actually save you serious time and money in the long run. Skimping on this will only hurt your music. You’ll want to make sure that not only are all your songs finished but that your members are comfortable playing their parts properly. The more quickly you can nail your parts the less time (money) you spend on re-takes or editing and the more time you can take to experiment and put the final polish on your songs.
Hire a student: This is actually a very good way to minimise costs whilst maintaining quality. Obviously the biggest advantage of hiring a student is the cost (often free depending upon experience) but there are several other advantages to take into consideration. A student engineer is likely to be entirely committed to you so it’s unlikely you’ll have to compete with other bands in order to keep your engineer.