What is an objective perspective? It is the idea of getting a perspective (aka opinion/observation) of someone who is not biased and has been outside of your situation looking in. The objective perspective has many uses in music. We have all had problems in our life with our significant others where we go and talk to a friend and all of a sudden you have a new found clarity on the situation. Even if they told you what you already know, you sometimes just need to hear it said by someone else. Other times you have gotten so deep into something and worked so hard on it, it becomes hard to see the forest from the trees. Follow me to the jump and I will show how this works in our world of music.
Songwriting
As a record producer I do a lot of rehearsing with bands. The simplest thing I bring to the situation is someone who wasn't around for the whole songwriting process and can come in with a first impression of the song that hasn't been skewed by hearing it 92383983 ways. I can come in instantly and tell you when a part is being played too many times or if the bass players busy line takes away from the vocal. You may have gotten used to the way that stuff sounds over time, but my objectivity allows me to immediately see things from the get-go. Being objective doesn't always make me right, but it is an opinion to consider seeing as this person does have a totally fresh perspective. Bands will often say they wish they could write the whole song with me, but I tell them this would not be as effective since I would then lose my objectivity.
Mixing/Mastering
Wise guru Mastering Engineer Alan Douches often says one of the most important parts of what he does as mastering engineer is being the objective perspective. While you were mixing, hearing the song 89398732 times you may have gotten lost in some details of the mix. It is his job to try to compensate for any ways you may have lost perspective and perhaps gone a little bass crazy during your hours mixing. He comes to the table with an objective perspective and can help get your head back on track with suggestions.
Recording
When you work hard on things it is easy to get lost. When you work on recording a record for a long time, it is easy to get used to hearing the instruments the way they sound during the rough mixes you have up while working. When it comes time to mix you may not get the optimal balance since you are used to the rough mixes. This is often why outside mixers are hired on records, to bring their objective perspective to the table. As well, I find sometimes when you are punching a part forever and the artist isn't getting it, it is easy to let something sub par slide. I often have my engineer punch some parts when I know they are going to take a long time and I come back in after they are satisfied and give an unbiased perspective that isn't sick of hearing the part. I don't have to think about how long it took to get the part when I tell them to go back to square one.
Life
Don't know which cell phone plan to go with, it helps to ask around. Sometimes when I work on one of these blog entries for hours I can't see the mistakes or that I didn't clarify something well enough and I need Todd to read it and give me a new perspective. We have all put on an outfit and had everyone laugh at us for an audacious fashion choice. All of these things are great objective perspectives that really help us!
As a record producer I do a lot of rehearsing with bands. The simplest thing I bring to the situation is someone who wasn't around for the whole songwriting process and can come in with a first impression of the song that hasn't been skewed by hearing it 92383983 ways. I can come in instantly and tell you when a part is being played too many times or if the bass players busy line takes away from the vocal. You may have gotten used to the way that stuff sounds over time, but my objectivity allows me to immediately see things from the get-go. Being objective doesn't always make me right, but it is an opinion to consider seeing as this person does have a totally fresh perspective. Bands will often say they wish they could write the whole song with me, but I tell them this would not be as effective since I would then lose my objectivity.
Mixing/Mastering
Wise guru Mastering Engineer Alan Douches often says one of the most important parts of what he does as mastering engineer is being the objective perspective. While you were mixing, hearing the song 89398732 times you may have gotten lost in some details of the mix. It is his job to try to compensate for any ways you may have lost perspective and perhaps gone a little bass crazy during your hours mixing. He comes to the table with an objective perspective and can help get your head back on track with suggestions.
Recording
When you work hard on things it is easy to get lost. When you work on recording a record for a long time, it is easy to get used to hearing the instruments the way they sound during the rough mixes you have up while working. When it comes time to mix you may not get the optimal balance since you are used to the rough mixes. This is often why outside mixers are hired on records, to bring their objective perspective to the table. As well, I find sometimes when you are punching a part forever and the artist isn't getting it, it is easy to let something sub par slide. I often have my engineer punch some parts when I know they are going to take a long time and I come back in after they are satisfied and give an unbiased perspective that isn't sick of hearing the part. I don't have to think about how long it took to get the part when I tell them to go back to square one.
Life
Don't know which cell phone plan to go with, it helps to ask around. Sometimes when I work on one of these blog entries for hours I can't see the mistakes or that I didn't clarify something well enough and I need Todd to read it and give me a new perspective. We have all put on an outfit and had everyone laugh at us for an audacious fashion choice. All of these things are great objective perspectives that really help us!
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