Alan Ratcliffe wroteThat's the usual way to do it. Engineers are usually divided into recording/tracking engineers, mixing engineers and mastering engineers. The studios themselves often specialise in one or the other. Sometimes the tracking and mixing engineer will be the same guy, but even if he's not, the producer should work with both to assure consistency of vision between the two.
Unfortunately, this is not always true of South Africa. I so dearly wish it was. There are a lot of guys that wear a lot of different hats in our industry (including me) and I believe it's to the overall detriment of the situation. In my view, the problems are that, 1. we don't have a mentorship system, 2. we lack a number of large facilities that require a breakdown of jobs to multiple personell, and, 3. the advent of the DAW-based studio.
There's a part in the Mixerman diaries where he talks about "tying the hands" of the mix engineer by committing to tape then and there the sound he is trying to achieve. He wants to make his mark and promote his "brand" or style. That takes some balls and a surefire attitude. You just don't get that type of attitude in ANY of the pros I know. There's a level of confidence in his skills that is staggering to me because he KNOWS what sound he's going for and he knows how to get there. On top of that, the budget is unlimited, it's a top priority of not just the label but the PRESIDENT of the label, and he's gonna make that level of commitment. It is clear that each person involved in the recording process is able to focus to make sure that their part in the machine is not the faulty one and only adds to the quality. This is no doubt the best way to make excellent sounding records (besides having a hot band, of course).
Cheers ?
