I just finished reading the book, Here, There and Everywhere, by famed Beatles recording engineer Geoff Emerick. Not only is this a great book for Beatles fans, but it also provides recording and live engineers a glimpse into the beginning of modern recording and production techniques. Emerick documents his career from his 1962 internship with the iconic EMI’s Abby Road Studios all the way through to the completion of the band’s 1969 Abby Road album and onward into his professional association and work with Paul McCartney, as well as a plethora of other well-known acts.
Well-Defined Roles
What is also striking about Mr. Emerick’s memoir is how he describes the defined relationships between each of the engineers and the famed producer George Martin. There was the recording engineer, the assistant engineer, the mix engineer, the mastering engineer and the producer. Each one had a defined position according to the rules prescribed by the head honchos at EMI. The assistant engineer worked the tape machine and watched over the tapes themselves while the recording engineers set the recording levels and utilized the compression, reverb and delays as needed. The “Blend” or mix engineer did the final mixing of those tracks, and the mastering engineer mastered the final mix onto vinyl. The producer oversaw the whole operation and made sure that everything was done according to protocol and that the best record would be made in a timely fashion. In George Martin’s case, the producer also acted as an arranger and added string, horn and other orchestral arrangements to the songs besides helping with the vocal harmonies.
Back in the 1950s and into the early 1960s, the EMI studios were run like a corporate laboratory, with maintenance engineers in white coats and the janitorial staff in brown coats. The recording engineers were required to wear coats and ties, and there were very strict rules regarding gain structure and mic placement as well. Geoff talks about his involvement in breaking the studio’s recording rules in search of new and innovative sounds while working with the world’s foremost band. His creatively unorthodox and rule-bending methods fashioned a new set of recording standards and practices that are still in effect today. We recognize many of these techniques as recording innovations. However, let’s not forget that these advances often found their way into the world of live sound and helped modernize a field that — during the early days of the Beatles — was so lacking that the Fab Four decided to retreat into the studio and retire from the world of touring altogether.
While there are still delegated titles such as engineer, producer, assistant engineer, etc., the number of professional recording facilities has declined and, due to the proliferation of inexpensive digital recording devices, many more musicians and engineers are now able to assume the mantle of producer. Of course, it makes sense for these studio-owning engineer/musicians to call themselves “producers” since, after all, they are producing a product, but that said, not all producers are created equal, nor can they all produce hit songs or even truly viable products.
This disparity in production values has led to an abundance of producer jokes such as: How many producers does it take to change a light bulb? Two — one to tell the engineer what to do and the other to say, “I don’t know, what do you think?” It’s a cute joke and, like any good joke, it has a bit of truth behind it to back it up. Yet once you work with a good producer, there is an “Aha” moment when you finally understand what it is a producer does. (By the way, if you ever want to have a good laugh regarding producers, Google “The Troggs argument.”)
Unfortunately, the same jokes hold true for live event producers and production coordinators, and it is my experience that there is a spate of event and show producers that have nary a clue as to how to organize an event other than adhering to a budget. Certainly, there’s more to an event than just technical production, yet success requires a producer or production coordinator with enough knowledge of the working parts of said event in order to avoid a 12-car pileup when the disparate high-speed bits come racing for the finish line.
Live vs. Studio
Production is a completely different beast when one is touring with an act or working in a music venue. In the music world, there is a defined set of rules, and everyone knows how to play the game. Once an audio company crosses over to the event side of the production world, we end up assuming the role of production manager just to avoid having to watch the accountants in charge when they start crashing and burning. Like a record producer, being a production manager is a real job, even if it doesn’t appear that way at times. After all, the lighting crew, rigging crew, audio crew, labor crew, video crew and just about everybody else involved in an event has their own production manager and they all know production, but there is only one person who is overseeing the total event, and that is the production manager.
Let me deviate from that thought for a moment. Years ago, when I was on the road doing sound for a well-known jazz artist, the artist asked if I would be willing to make some extra money by assuming tour manager duties as well as continuing in my capacity as audio engineer. Always willing to make extra money I jumped at the deal. After all, it was a four-piece band, so how hard could it be? Well, it took only about three months of me pulling double duty before I abdicated my tour manager duties and went back to the comfort of sitting behind the console. Not that the tour managing job was overly complicated, but it had demands of its own, which conflicted with my audio responsibilities.
And State Your Case
In the event universe, it is self-defeating to assume the role of merely the “audio vendor” who will show up when told and bring the “basic PA system” requested by the client. As I have learned from experience, it is of great importance to hash out the client’s plan, even if they don’t have one. Help them make the plan so that the final outcome is not at all like The Troggs in the studio. Fight for your clean and dedicated power, and pick the client’s brain as to when the tent is being erected and the caterer is setting up tables and chairs. Let them know why you do not need to arrive before the stage is built. Don’t be shy about taking control of the situation and letting them know your crew will not be driving home at two in the morning just because your company is based out of the same state in which the event is being held. Make them aware that while a 50-foot push is not out of the norm, that same push into the middle of a grassy field requires a bit more planning and crew.
Most of all, it is imperative to let your client know that, in the future, if they really want to save money and avoid monetary surprises, they should call you (or someone like you) before they start making all their beautiful plans. By default, those of us in this business learn production techniques just by being around it all the time, and most likely, at one time or another, we have all helped a hapless client traverse the treacherous terrain of production world. Regrettably for us, this scenario happens more often than not and — in our own best interest — we fall into the role of production manager so that the event goes smoothly and we can avoid being involved in a “blame game” fiasco. Individually, either job is not overly difficult, but they each have their own requirements and demands. For even in a perfect world, the wearing of two hats is a tricky proposition best achieved by a two-headed man.
