People skills keep the gig…

So I’m working my way through discs of Willow tech breakouts from this year and the past several and taking notes as I go of things worth remembering. Robert Scovill gave this “pearl” in passing during his class last year and I think it is worth a post all it’s own. It’s so masterfully stated that I’m going to quote it word for word. So much is made of gear skills and the ability to mix, but there’s more to it than that…

“There are better mix engineers on this planet no doubt about it. But they don’t have the people skills and they don’t keep the gig. The best thing going for me is that the artist believes in me and believes that it is never going to get out of hand when I step behind the console. That, for them, is way beyond my mixing skills. Don’t make yourself this mysterious entity at the back of the room…interact, be their ally.”

In my experience, that “it” factor really has earned me more gigs and helped me keep them than anything else. I don’t know how you teach that confidence/knowledge/peace…it seems through failures and growing, you just develop it. For me, one of the highest compliments I have been paid is that someone knows when I’m behind the console, everything will go well and that it is under control.  I think that “it” factor is something every audio engineer, and technical artist for that matter, should strive for.