I've always had this personal theory that some things are sonicly right and some things are sonicly wrong. Usualy when I talk to people about this they say that it is a question of taste but I don't really agree.
I am convinced that sounds should have a base in or a link to physical reality. If you listen to live accoustic instruments, they might sound good or bad or whatever but they always sound real because that is exactly what they are: Real vibrating physical objects in space that cause sound waves in air.
When you are recording, doing a mix or are mastering, that link to reality should remain. This isn't a question of taste. It is a question of objective reality. Everyone (with undamaged hearing) can hear this objective reality and is intimately familar with it because they have been hearing it all their lives. If you lose that link, it won't sound convincing.
Now I have to explain what I mean by "link to reality": The sound doesn't have to be exactly true to the source. If you have good skills, hearing and a sense of sonic ojectivity, you can use your knowledge and memory of how things sound naturaly to manipulate the source sound to become something different while keeping that reality link.
You can make it sound bigger or smaller or closer or further. You can completely mangle the sound. You can do many things to it as long as you are doing it in reference to that objective reality. If you don't, the listener has no reference, no context and can't understand the message you are trying to convey. They can't relate.
This applies to all sounds! I make electronic music which in theory should have no bounds but in practise really does (if you want anyone to relate to what you are doing at least). A simple example of this is the electronic kick drum.
Imagine if you are repeatedly hitting the trunk of a tree with a bamboo stick. The stick is quite light so it makes a light "tok" sound and you can hit it quite fast. These aspects go hand in hand because they come from the same physical attribute: The stick is light.
If on the other hand, if you are hitting the tree with a big log, because of its weight and density, it will make a heavier "thud" sound and you can't hit that trunk as fast. Again the same physical properties of the object result in these two sonic characteristics.
Now if you are creating your own electronic kick drum hit, consciously or unconsciously, you have to keep these physical attributes in mind. It doesn't mean you can't go and make a big heavy kick that thumps at an insane speed but to pull it off convincingly, you need to instinctively know the rules to be able to break them. This means that it has to fit in the context of the sonic world you are creating.
If you are doing a mix, you can go from a small space to a big space or whatever but to engage the audience, you have to do it in such a way that it is "realistic".
Back to the original subject.
I think some people just have a better sonic memory of how things sound naturaly. This isn't just a question of hearing, it is a question of not projecting too much onto the material. Some people seem to get lost when they are in the sonic isolation of the studio. They lose track of how things sound naturaly. The longer they are in the studio, the further they drift from that universal base-line which we share: Physical reality. (This applies to many things besides just sound but thats another subject).
Again, I am not advocating that everything should just sound like real life. I am saying that if somehow the sounds convey a cohesive and consistant physical world, real or imagined, the audience can be convinced to believe in that world. A bit like a good Sience Fiction book. All SF books are fiction by definition but some are believable and others just seem silly.
The people that have this sonic memory and feeling of objectivity
will make music/mixes/masters that tend to sound convincing to most people. The audience will relate easier and faster to the ideas. They will be sucked into the virtual sonic world.
Then again I might just be rambling. I havn't slept in about 48 hours ....
Alistair
