There are two voices inside you.
The engineer, and the artist.
The engineer is the one who geeks out on gear and plugins. The engineer is the one who wants to know what signal chain your favorite mixers are using. The engineer is scientific, objective, and technical.
Then there’s the artist. The artist is the one who feels. The artist interprets the world and turns it into music. The artist is creative, subjective, and instinctual.
For most people, these two voices are at odds with each other.
The engineer cares about the details. Are you using tools correctly? What is the “right” way to approach a mix or master?
The artist questions if the technical details even matter. At the end of the day, will the end listener even notice?
Historically, different people fulfilled these roles.
In a studio, the artist would perform the music. And the engineers would record it, mix it, and master it.
But even in this setting, many engineers would think like artists. While the “technical” engineer would obsess over what hardware was being used… the “artistic” engineer would care about getting the best take.
In my opinion – the artist always wins. We’re making music, at the end of the day.
My favourite mixers that I admired growing up were the ones who were most musical. The ones who cared about doing what was best for the music, and were somewhat dismissive of what gear they used.
But in this day and age, it’s almost irrelevant.
Because the artist has won.
There’s no longer any separation between these roles.
As a self-producing artist, you have to wear all of the hats.
That doesn’t mean you should dismiss the engineer entirely…
In fact, I believe you should start there.
Start by learning the technical skills. Achieve mastery over the tools at your disposal. Gain a true understanding of the principles of audio.
Then you’re free to create with no technical hurdles in your way – and you can become an artist who has the technical instincts of an engineer.
At that point, you’re unstoppable.
