R/E/P > Terry Manning
Character...
Brian Kehew:
Everyday, I work on classic recordings of the past (it's my job) and am amazed at how badly many "favorite records" were engineered. Not really "badly", but lacking in the tone purity that people seek to achive now. They may not have full fidelity - but they have a great CHARACTER. Sometimes I sit and listen - "How could WE ever get that drum sound today?" It's not HiFi (nor LoFi), just different than we get now, everywhere.
It reminds me of the old man with the crummy guitar he's had forever - he plays the HELL out of it, and makes great music. If you gave him a Paul Reed Smith, it may NOT even be as good, although provably a better guitar. The 'character' goes out the window and he becomes more generic and plain. This also has implications of "originality" and "finding a voice" that is unique...
Do you even think about this, as I do? I sometimes ignore supposed "quality", instead trying to get as much "character" and impact on every track. How low do you go? Would you release a record that has a distorted vocal track or time problems with the drums... (famous examples?!) Not that "character" is LoFi, either...
compasspnt:
I had a couple of 16 track masters of Marvin Gaye hits...two of the very cool, biggest ones he did in LA. When you listen to the tracks solo, they are bloody AWFUL. The vocals sound like they were recorded in 4 or 5 different studios with 4 or 5 different mics, none of them very good...punched very badly, noises everywhere. The drums are very lo-fi, the strings sound awful, the Chamberlin is what it is, but squeaky. The bass has no real bass. The BGV's and horns are distorted. And so on. But when you put it all together, MAGIC. Sounds great. A classic.
I have often worried that sounds I get are all too big, that is, not lo-fi enough. It all has to mix in somewhere, and the sound spectrum gets full fast. It's actually hard to purposely get good lo-fi sounds. The old days stuff just got them automatically.
cgc:
Quote:
How low do you go? Would you release a record that has a distorted vocal track or time problems with the drums... (famous examples?!)
Baba O'Reily. Moon comes in so fast it's hilarious. The piano is really distorted and I bet that VCS3 is way the hell out of tune by the end. I'm sure they noticed, but those tracks are still there in the finished mix.
Here's a surprising one: Kraftwerk's 'Europe Endless'. One of the wannabe automaton drummers (Karl or Wolfgang) triggers the wrong snare sound. It only happens once in the tune and it's not really effective as punctuation, so it has to be a mistake. It's hard to believe they let that go though.
Maybe you've noticed the Lee Perry threads here? Those records are very 'low fi' compared to even contemporaneous recordings, yet they are classics and would not be the same if done 'properly'. PIL's 'Metal Box' took dub mixing to the art of anti-production, and then there are those Basic Channel techno guys that digitally manufacture the tape hiss and artifacts as the main element of their music.
'I know a lot of people are into the inhuman cleanliness of a synthesizer, but I don't like that, ... a lot of the faults that develop are rather interesting, so I leave those alone.' - Brian Eno, who has probably messed up more records than anyone from a technical standpoint
cgc:
compasspnt wrote on Sat, 02 April 2005 13:26
It's actually hard to purposely get good lo-fi sounds.
Let me know if you ever need help with this. I can't get sounds anywhere close to the polish that you achieve Terry. Maybe we can work out some sort of exchange program. ;)
RMoore:
[quote title=cgc wrote on Sun, 03 April 2005 00:30]Quote:
and then there are those Basic Channel techno guys that digitally manufacture the tape hiss and artifacts as the main element of their music.
I never thought I'd see Basic channel mentioned on the forum!
I became a huge fan since my 1st encounter circa 1995, love all that stuff , Basic Channel, Chain Reaction, Maurizio, Burial Mix...
FUNNILY ENOUGH - the story is the 2 guys producing the tunes were /are major fans of NYC's Wackies / Lloyd Barnes lo fi reggae productions (which were hugely influenced in turn by -ta da- Lee Scratch Perry)...
Their sound is supposedly based on the Wackies sound & the TV show Flipper for the underwater vibe, but that last one could be some German humour..
If you check out some of the Wackies 12 inches they've reissued - you can hear a definite link to what the BC guys did in techno & electronic music...
I lurv their sound - very grainy, lo fi and FULL OF HISS...
Very unique
Of their lofi techno reggae stuff - The TIKIMAN 'Showcase' album is classic..
(BTW due to some legal problem TIKIMAN is now known as Paul St Hilaire - so its actually now Paul St Hilaire 'Showcase'..not quite as cool sounding..oh well..))
Some of my favorite music of the last 10 yrs! No kidding...
Check it aus: http://www.basicchannel.com/
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