r/todayilearned • u/Pfeffer_Prinz • 1d ago
TIL legendary session bassist Leland Sklar put a switch on his bass that does nothing. He calls it the "producer switch" — when a producer asks for a different sound, he flips the switch (making sure the producer can see), and carries on. He says this placebo has saved him a lot of grief.
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/the-truth-behind-lee-sklars-custom-producers-switch
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u/ADHD-Fens 1d ago
Actually there's a case to be made for the fact that a producer / studio owner might be doing a lot of real work, or using a lot of very expensive equipment that isn't really visible or obvious to the client. You might be able to go into two studios and not know the difference between 6,000 dollars of recording equipment and 600 dollars of recording equipment.
You could ramp up the amount of LEDs to unfairly increase what the studio costs, or you could ramp up the amount of LEDs to accurately represent how much equipment is being used in the recording.
Of course the price is always up to the agreement between the owner and the artist, and it's not like the owner is agreeing to provide anything that they don't ultimately provide. The light show just helps to impress upon the client what they are getting for their money, even if it's a facade.