Yep, I agree with you guys, that’s why I tune. I think some of you, by reading your posts, grew up studio brats like me.
Plug & Play HEA is so different than what we did growing up in the biz. For some of us voicing a studio was something we had to do on almost a weekly basis or at least as long as a session would be taking place. Same thing those of us who went from live to studio to home as part of our total listening job.
When you take into account all the variables and have to take them with you you get into this "need a reference" mind set. For me I needed to keep a listening setup in the back of my van so when I would start listening I could run out to the parking lot and grab what I needing to bring back in to get that session started. This is something that happened all session long but that first few days it’s make or break. My studio monitors now I make (as of the late 80’s), but back in the 70’s and 80’s how many times did you guys throw up your hands and grab your set of headphones to do your first run mixes? Soffit monitors, to nearfield, to extreme near field to headphones and that’s just in the studio. How many of you did a quick mix and run out to the truck to listen to what you just did? Then how many of you would setup a system in your hotel room to playback all night what you did that day? Then on break you get to go home and use your playback systems in your house and all you can think about is getting to a Studer and Neve (or whatever your choice is) in a room you can trust and re-do?
The JBL Yammy thing didn’t happen by mistake. Nor did the references used when you went from Miami to London overnight. Would we have chosen JBL and Yamaha today to do the same thing we had to do back then, who knows, but having a place to start was the name of the game back then cause you were the reference some credit craving engineer and producer put on the plane to bring the reels to the next stage. It wasn’t really about the speakers but more the sound that was in your head that you had to justify when you landed. My most important tools that I carried with me were my tweaks (screwdrivers for those of you who haven’t done) and my soldering iron.
For you audiophiles reading this saying WTF (I said freak), you picture recordings being cookie cutters LOL. Those who were moderate engineers think stock with EQ, but for the guys who did the "must do" it was about having something to give you that quick picture then you went to town. It was an unappreciated existence maybe, but it was life. As I said, for me, I started making my own monitors to ship with me, but back before this you had quick cues to get you on track. Go look at pictures from control rooms back then and what do you see. Usually a soffit setup and one or two nears. Also look at the different control room acoustics. See any alike lol. Most engineers, producers and artist I dealt with had their own groove. I could go on and so could you, but I think you have to look at the practical applications here to understand the whole picture. You also have to ask what were the engineers looking for through the different stages of the production.
Live, to control, to preview, to control, to master, to playback, back to remaster, back to live, back to master, back to playback. It all has it's place, and I didn't even get into the mods lol.
mg
