Quote:
Originally Posted by jim1960
I really hope that's an attempt at humor.
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No attempt at humor. Serious questions that came to my mind from the thread.
A lot of thinking out loud, of course, but as I've thought about it more I realize music is far too subjective for there to be any standards for anything. The final product is art. So whoever is in the production chain is part of the art process--although almost all the credit usually goes to the primary artist.
Practically though, if I were a professional artist making millions, and my famous recording producer was 70 years old, for example, I might want to know just how well can he/she still hear?
On the other hand, if you are such an artist and you are always satisfied with the final mix the person produces, then that's that. Even if the studio producer was 90% deaf, it wouldn't matter. All that matters is the final product and how satisfied the original artist is---or maybe how many units sell.
There may come a time when a professional in this industry hearing declines, as happens with virtually everyone as they age. They will need to rely more an more on all the knowledge they have gathered over the years and pay greater attention to sound input and output levels---or finally, trust someone else for that final listen to confirm what they've produced. That final thing requires ears that can hear well--at least I would think so.
Like athletes past their prime, a professional can still be better than 99.9% of the average public for some years. Eventually, some top athletes do other things, often related to sports, but sometimes not.
Our physical bodies have limits and some types of work is more sensitive and reliant on physical capabilities than others. Until this thread, it just didn't enter my head that the physical attribute of hearing is what it is all about. I was swimming in my head in the ocean of technical info everyone was providing and really enjoying all the discussions--learning a lot.
Then the comment about hearing came . . . . and I realized my lack of knowledge of all things recording becomes minor in light of my age and decreasing ability to hear.
So while I wrote related to those in the field of recording and how this could affect them--not their knowledge--but application of all that knowledge in the final listening test, I was mainly reflecting on a bit of my own despair that regardless of equipment, I was lacking the "key" element of hearing needed to assure anything I did was actually enjoyable to anyone other than myself.
I do think someone with years of technical knowledge and long experience with known equipment could likely continue to produce at a high level using their technical experience, knowing what their equipment was capable of, etc.
This is not a perfect analogy, but Beethoven produced and directed long after he was deaf. Skill and experience is not thrown out the window when hearing fails.
But starting to record and mix
later in life, like so many of us on the forum, without good hearing, that's another story. I'll can still try and still enjoy the process and using decent equipment, but I may now ask for more opinions on my final mixes than I would have before reading this thread. I don't make my living relying on my ears--and for me--that's a good thing.