No matter WHAT we do, these two knobs will override the final mix. It took ALL of our composure for the rest of the session not to let the cat out of the bag. We never told him. Another producer Jingle session with a young female producer whose only experience in the past has been voice-over work. Nevertheless, given the role she is determined to fill it.
Studio musicians are of the best caliber and the charts are spot-on.
One famous East London studio had an engineer who, when asked for impossible effects, used to dive under the console and tap parts of it with a spanner. When he emerged he used to say it was a secret tweak only the factory knew about and to keep quiet about it. During the mixing of an African band's album, the producer kept asking for the finger cymbals to be lower. The engineer couldn't understand it as he'd brought the level down several times, and the fader was now really low. Then when the tape stopped and the sound continued, they turned and saw the guy sitting on the sofa playing the finger cymbals.