“oh wow your photography is so nice what camera do you use?”
._. photography is 80% skill and 20% gear and yet, i never get asked “what technique did you use?”, it’s always about the camera i use, as if this entry level DSLR is framing and shooting on its own
I’m a web developer. People assume the following:
- I’m an expert with operating systems.
- I’m good with math.
- I eat junk food and drink energy drinks/soda.
- I’m a proponent and consumer of all new technologies.
- I like (insert) TV, Movie, or Anime.
I assume you wear programmer socks. DM pics?
I wear black GOLDTOE socks or leather sandals.
Hello? FBI? Yes, this post right here.
Therapists are not “always analysing” you.
Seriously, you gotta pay me before I’ll spend the energy to do that
My ex girlfriend is a therapist, and she was CONSTANTLY “analyzing” me, even when I begged her to turn that shit off and just be my girlfriend.
Count Dracula doesn’t like in a castle because he’s a vampire.
He lives in a castle because he’s a count
I feel like even after paying therapists don’t do much
Sucks that you’ve not found them helpful.
Therapy can be great, a place to get stuff that’s hard to find in the day to day life.
But it’s not the only place to get that stuff. So I hope whatever it is you need, you find a place that works for you.
That I spend all day coding, I spend most my day reading. Code usually but still
That I can make the band suck less. Sure, there’s something to be said about polishing a shit… But ultimately, it’s shit in>shit out. Your guitar doesn’t sound like ass because of the EQ; it sounds like ass because the guitarist had nine beers before he even walked on stage, and he can’t stay on beat to save his goddamned life.
Psychoacoustics is a fascinating subject. Just like placebo, people will fool themselves into thinking that something sounds good or bad, simply because they want it to. I always keep a DFA fader on my console, for when random people walk up and have suggestions. I make an adjustment to the DFA fader, they smile and nod to themselves, and then walk away. DFA means “Does Fuck All”. It’s literally a fader that isn’t doing anything at all. It’s not in the mix, it’s not in the monitors. It’s just a spare fader. But by adjusting the DFA, audience members will feel like I took them seriously, and they’ll placebo themselves into thinking that I took their advice.
To be clear, not all audience advice is bad advice. But for every “it’s too loud” complaint, you’ll inevitably get an equal and opposite “it’s too quiet”. There’s a reason music festivals have their audio console fenced off with a very wide perimeter. It’s specifically so drunken audience members can’t just saunter up and start yelling suggestions. That shit is distracting and 99% of the time is entirely unproductive.
At my home venue, I have no protection. If you fuck with me—particularly within the first twoish songs of a set—my usual response is to look them dead in the eye and say, “Where do you work? I’m going to come to your job and help you on Monday.” And that usually scares them off.
Sometimes, I feel bad about it and will find and apologize to that person later, explaining why I reacted like that.
My favorite is when it’s a local/college-age band and parents are around. Or spouses of older band members. “No, I can’t get her vocal any louder because she’s whispering six inches from the microphone and Jimi Hendrix up there is blasting his amp at 11.”
All this said, it’s a common misconception that “asshole” is the default mode of operation for a sound engineer. It’s just that the job is fucking stressful, and if you catch us at the height of that stress, we will react poorly. I’ve definitely come across a few grumps, but most folks are nice on average — kinda have to be so that people will want to work with you. Most of us just want to work with the team to make a good show happen.
To your original point, it’s 100% true that the better the artist, the better/easier the mix. Can only polish a turd so much before it crumbles.
My favorite is when it’s a local/college-age band and parents are around. Or spouses of older band members. “No, I can’t get her vocal any louder because she’s whispering six inches from the microphone and Jimi Hendrix up there is blasting his amp at 11.”
There’s a reason the lead singer’s girlfriend is the butt of so many jokes. And I have 100% had to use the Baffle of Shame for guitarists who won’t turn down. It’s just a doghouse made out of pink foam board and tape, that you can throw over the top of problem amps. Add a corner notch for cables to run in/out, and dust it in some black paint.
If it’s a tube amp, I can at least understand it; Tubes distort at higher volumes, and the distortion is part of the tone. And if you try to argue with a guitarist about their tone, you’ll lose every time. The nice once will smile and nod, then not make any changes when you ask them to turn down. The rude ones will make direct eye contact as they turn it up more.
But if it’s a solid state amp, putting a 2x4 block under it (or putting it on a spare guitar stand) to tip it towards their head usually works. The guitarist is used to having all of the sound blow right past their knees, so actually aiming it at their head makes a world of difference.
Good idea on just homebrewing a baffle!
I normally just ask them nicely to turn down, if they can do so without sacrificing tone, and otherwise encourage them to point their amp towards the curtains.
I’ve definitely seen some folks prop their amps to angle them toward their heads from time to time — I’ll start working that suggestion in for sure, since every little bit of db decrease will help in that small room.
I also want to get a set of ClearSonics or similar for cymbal wash. May not be able to use them all the time (stage real estate is at a premium), but they would be nice to have.
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That I smoke all day, everyday. I don’t. I read reports, I check environmental variable, I take readings from and make adjustments to tanks, I instruct people on how to prune and I sob over the new room of completely bare ones because nobody fucking listens to me.
People assume that because I’m into technology that I can unlock
stolenphones or do XYZ whatever with their Facebook/Twitter/Instagram accounts or whatever. One, I don’t touch stolen devices. Two, I don’t have any accounts with any of those sort of services, and ain’t about to start one to learn the ins and outs for other people.Software engineering.
Most people don’t have a clue what we do. Especially management. Most people think we’re code factory workers, just writing code all day. In reality, it is closer to being an artist than it is a factory worker. There’s a ton of thinking, discussion, design, and unfortunately politicking.
I’m in engineering. If I tell someone I work for the phone company they think I work on phones. Not sure what my mom thinks I do.
Your business degree does not make you an industrial engineer, you don’t even fucking understand why I keep crusading against variance!
I had the reverse experience. I was in school for finance and I had a roommate that recently graduated with an engineering undergrad. They decided to do a masters in finance because they thought it would be easy. They dropped out after 1 week and said “I have no idea what they’re talking about” like no shit buddy lol
User end hands on IT for the elderly.
that it’s hard. “Oh I could never do your job”
It’s literally a customer service job with tech paint. Reboot the device. Don’t yell at the decrepit person doing their best in a digital world. Collect check and praise.
The amount of times I’ve been called a genius for relogging into someone’s email is greater than 7.
Yeah. Real hard.
I’m a physical substation designer, and people ask me if I can do electrician stuff.
No, I can’t, and don’t ask me anything about electricity, thanks.
I just had to google what a substation was. My initial guess was that you made subways lol.
AI can do it - translator.
Example of Google lens fail:
I’m working with computers => I can fix their windows problems.
Nope. If I work on windows, and it eats itself for no reason, I call IT. I don’t waste my time on that crap software.
No one knows the difference between fire eating and fire breathing. Everyone asks me for fire breathing lessons. I don’t fire breathe. I also highly advise against it.
