Devin Townsend in YOUR band.

Vocals. But every song has to be sung like "Earth Day" was

Production. Easily.

@T: As a person, he is indeed incredibly humble and out-going (having seen the man perform live). If he's a "musical egoist" however, that would not surprise me. I would suggest watching some interviews of the man because I totally agree with Henry based on that account. Here's a 2-part one where he talks about Ki and overcoming his addictions.


Edited by birdwithteeth11 - February 24 2010 at 16:44

Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: The T wrote: I wouldn't want him in my band. His gigantic ego would clash with my ideas... If it's my band it better be MY band, and I doubt one can have a band with Devin wherein he accepts to keep a low profile...  I wasn't aware he had a big ego. Enlighten me, because people I've spoke to say he comes across as a very humble, down to earth guy and all the interviews I've watched of him seem to indicate that is the case

No need to enlighten you. A man with 464748 different projects where he is almost always at the top of the creative process, that partakes in projects like Ayreon but controls his own input. He may sound extremely humble and maybe he is, but it's clear he has a big musical ego, to give it an inaccurate yet descriptive name. He and I would clash in a group. And that was the question in this thread. I'm just answering. Enlightment is for those who own the light.

The T wrote: I wouldn't want him in my band. His gigantic ego would clash with my ideas... If it's my band it better be MY band, and I doubt one can have a band with Devin wherein he accepts to keep a low profile...

I wasn't aware he had a big ego. Enlighten me, because people I've spoke to say he comes across as a very humble, down to earth guy and all the interviews I've watched of him seem to indicate that is the case

rushfan4 wrote: I'd put him in charge of bringing coffee to the studio each morning.

He could be the opening act when I toured, but that would be the extent of it. 

Hmm... Vocals or guitar? I can't seem to decide. There's only one thing for it! I must listen to everything of his I have and then decide

The Pessimist wrote: Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: The Pessimist wrote: Producer. No man can produce tht same wall of sound that he creates in his mixes... if not that, then vocals. I'm quite sure plenty of producers can create that wall of sound he does. It's more to do with his actual composition than production anyway. Give any good mix engineer a dense and layered composition and he will give you a wall of sound that sounds clear and defined I doubt it would sound the same... He does have a signature sound, there is no denying it. True enough, partly is the instrumentation and part writing, but a lot is down to production as well. I take it you don't really think very highly of his production Harry

He has a signature sound, that is true, but so do many other producers, engineers and mix engineers.
Whether the wall of sound will sound the same if Andy Sneap or Randy Staub mixed it, I don't know, but guys of that caliber are no less capable of doing it than Townsend.

Townsend is good, but he's done some rather questionable things on his productions.
The band Darkest Hour springs to mind. The guitars are a bit overly fizzy and a bit mid scooped on the albums he engineered and mixed.
AFAIK, he mixed Dichotomy by Becoming the Archetype. Cool album musically, and the production is by no means bad, but again the rhythm guitar sound is a little too thin and mid scooped for my tastes.
His mixes for his own projects tend to come out better than the stuff he does for other bands, since obviously he is more in touch with the actual music and is better able to tailor the mix to suit the music.
He's good enough to a pro, I'm not denying that, but I don't think his best strength is mix engineering for other bands/artists other than his own work

Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: The Pessimist wrote: Producer. No man can produce tht same wall of sound that he creates in his mixes... if not that, then vocals. I'm quite sure plenty of producers can create that wall of sound he does. It's more to do with his actual composition than production anyway. Give any good mix engineer a dense and layered composition and he will give you a wall of sound that sounds clear and defined

I doubt it would sound the same... He does have a signature sound, there is no denying it. True enough, partly is the instrumentation and part writing, but a lot is down to production as well.

I take it you don't really think very highly of his production Harry