eclipseownzu
Gold Member
Story time here kids. I got the chance to track some drums at Nick Bellmore's studio in New Haven, CT a few months ago on some tracks Zeuss was producing. Nick has engineered a couple of albums by little bands like Hatebreed and Down. Zeuss produced albums by some guy named Rob Zombie, so I assume they know what they are doing. The bottom line is I trusted them and had heard enough to know the drums would sound amazing when we were done.
I asked if I should bring my gear and was basically told "no, yours will sound like crap. You will use ours." When I showed up everything was tuned really high, the snare was as dry as a marching snare, the cymbals were like 4 feet over my head and the hi-hat felt like it was on the other side of the room. This was all for separation, and the tuning was what they felt was right for the room. I personally hated it, but again, I trusted them, so I just went in and played my parts.
In your case it is completely possible that the engineer did know best. Or it is possible you just went to the wrong guy. If all this guy does is extreme metal then he is likely engineering your sound with those same requirements. Not everybody is versatile, but in the end it is up to you to know that before you go in. In the end, the proof is in the pudding. Listen to the final mix and then see how it sounds. you may be surprised.
I asked if I should bring my gear and was basically told "no, yours will sound like crap. You will use ours." When I showed up everything was tuned really high, the snare was as dry as a marching snare, the cymbals were like 4 feet over my head and the hi-hat felt like it was on the other side of the room. This was all for separation, and the tuning was what they felt was right for the room. I personally hated it, but again, I trusted them, so I just went in and played my parts.
In your case it is completely possible that the engineer did know best. Or it is possible you just went to the wrong guy. If all this guy does is extreme metal then he is likely engineering your sound with those same requirements. Not everybody is versatile, but in the end it is up to you to know that before you go in. In the end, the proof is in the pudding. Listen to the final mix and then see how it sounds. you may be surprised.