Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[TheViking]

Fibes wrote on Mon, 06 August 2007 12:02

Brian, Right on. Too many people go for great sounds when appropiate sounds would be well, more appropriate.

YES!!!

I was having this conversation with someone yesterday.   We were talking about how extremes have killed just about everything.   It's not football, it's music.   Going with your gut may not 'reinvent the wheel' of recording, but it feels right.   That may be all that matters.

Thanks Fibes!   Well put.

[pg666]

Quote:

However, I would offer one counter opinion to those who say to "do their best work" "work harder" "get the best sound" etc etc. I think we get lost in this CONTROL mindset. Examples of why I feel "best" is not an issue: - I can get better kick drum sounds than ANY Motown record. - Some great records have distortions or low vocals in the mix.

interesting point, but all that it tells me is that those kick tones and distorted vocals don't really matter when the music is great. saying "all the best records have flaws" isn't going to make me try any less hard.

to me, 'great sounds' and 'appropriate sounds' are one in the same. that great 'Back in Black' snare drum would sound like crap on a Marvin Gaye record.

as far as that point about the Beatles and Zep keeping their not quite brilliant takes.. that just serves as a reminder that records are not the end all measuring sticks for a bands quality.

..still doesn't make me try less hard to make great records.

the trick is.. great does NOT =perfect. the pursuit of 'perfection' (if i may be so zen for a moment) is often where the greatness is lost. *puts down the bong*

[Brian Kehew]

>>the trick is.. great does NOT =perfect<<

Yep - so one corollary to learn is that "perfection" does not take you closer to that goal. THey are independant of each other: a great record can sound great or terrible. Sometimes it NEEDS to be one or the other.

So - you should be flexible enough to say "This needs a weird/bad vocal" and not ALWAYS your U47 clone into your Neve clone on vocals. "All-Fi" is something Jon Brion has come up with - not LoFi or HiFi - encompassing all that can be needed to make a record great. Too many people stay on one side or the other.

[iCombs]

MAN. OH. MAN.

I wish I could get my bandmates to understand what you're saying!  The phrase "it's only rock and roll" really needs to be embraced more fully in a lot of circles.  Not as an excuse to be sloppy, but as an excuse to leave great attitude alone and worry about whether or not it kicks ass, not whether or not it is perfectly grid edited.

[stevieeastend]

On the other hand.. Great equipment and accurate producing has never killed great rock music...so far... as far as I know...

[iCombs]

I'm not saying "use crap and be sloppy," I'm saying use the best of what you have available, bust your ass to play it the way it should be played, have some fun doing it, and don't worry if it doesn't sound like it was played by a robot.  Leave enough room to let some mistakes happen, because God only knows what awesomeness can come out of that.

[RSettee]

My philosophy: lots of beer, and strippers. Works every time!  

[0dbfs]

Don't forget the hookers and blow!

That reminds me of a couple sessions some years back during the 90's...

-j

[floodstage]

I've never been interested in producing music and have had decent luck with a "I'm not here to make you sound different from who you are, I'm just here to make a really good recording of you" way of doing things.  (I had this philosophy years before I heard of Steve Albini)  I do affect the sound, but it's more my gear/habits, than a effort to produce bands.

However, years later, I've noticed that bands don't really want to sound like themselves.  

Oh well.

[j.hall]

floodstage wrote on Mon, 13 August 2007 14:35

However, years later, I've noticed that bands don't really want to sound like themselves.   Oh well.

i've noticed that too.  kinda sad in a lot of ways.

[Fibes]

j.hall wrote on Tue, 14 August 2007 09:53

floodstage wrote on Mon, 13 August 2007 14:35 However, years later, I've noticed that bands don't really want to sound like themselves.   Oh well. i've noticed that too.  kinda sad in a lot of ways.

Not always but the ones that do want to sound like themselves can sometimes not know what they really sound like.

That's always a wondeful scenario.

I'm working on a total Southern Pop record right now that is unabashed sweetness and i'm loving it.

No pretense.

No posturing.

No 10 minute songs.

[j.hall]

Fibes wrote on Tue, 14 August 2007 09:05

No 10 minute songs.

and that is a beautiful thing.  thankfully i haven't had to deal with this very much yet.  i have a feeling it's coming though.

[Fibes]

How many of you have had to kick band members out of a tracking session because they can't stop being the center of attention when someone else is making takes?

Or they give negative reinforcement?


Or they fart every five seconds?


Or they ask questions more often than they fart?


Sometimes having "everyone involved" is like last nights episode of Entourage.

[j.hall]

Fibes wrote on Mon, 20 August 2007 09:34

Or they give negative reinforcement?

seems like this happens every time i track a record.

last year i had to kick a drummer out because he hadn't showered in days, and i just couldn't handle the stink.

[kats]

I have no philosophy. I am who I am and do what I do in the way that I do it. I philosophy like crazy before or after the fact, but I think that's just me taking myself too seriously  

I have all these crazy ideas before and after - but when it comes to the actual session(s) it seems that it all gets thrown out the window.

I have a funny quirk. It seems that I love every song that I record for people. When I'm recording I'm always like "wow this music is great!" I don't think I've ever recorded a band that I didn't think was making a hit record (I've yet to figure out why none of the records I've recorded have been hits    ).

So I don't think of this as some kind of accumen you can follow, it's simply the way you are (or are not). But for me, what gets me out of bed is:

I love music (not judge it), I love people, and I take alot of pride in what I do.