With major labels dropping like flies, records not selling, studios closing and musicians starving, one has to ask himself every once in a while (more often than not actually) ‘why do I do this?!’
Well, there is no good empirical answer to this. It’s an urge, a feeling, a calling from within… It’s often difficult to justify, vague to understand, and very hard to quantify. But every so often I do a session or write a song or play a part and do a mix and get some feedback that will really strike a chord with me.
This past Saturday, I spent the day engineering and recording drums for Murray Creagh, a London-based singer/songwriter/producer. It was a long session with various different drum sounds, all tracked to 24-track tape. Joe Ryan was absolutely brilliant on the drums. I had never before seen someone playing with such consistency for 12 hours!
I got the following email today from Murray:
Hey Adam, just wanted to say thank you again for your engineering genius on Saturday and organising the session! I’ve had a listen through the takes and it sounds fucking great to me, it’s exactly the sound I wanted to get…. though having said that when listening back I’m still like “whoa, those mics + that Neve desk + that outboard + that kit + whatever else is going on” really is the full catastrophe! But of course it’s knowing how to put all that together – so thanks dude, you really nailed it!
Your place in heaven is assured!
– M