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it takes a lot to kill music, and, if it's alive (skip james, robert johnson etc), the sonics will not stand in its way (up to a point)
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Intresting enough, I was talking to someone last night who had a western electric horn with a big woofer in his mono HI-FI 40+ years ago and he was talking about realism etc. being there..
he also mentioned audiophile 78 records which were pressed on red vinyl and how much superior they were realism-wise to anything he'd heard since.
Frequency response and tonal balance do not make a huge difference in transmitting feel and realism.
Has anyone heard a 78 in good condition lately? they are noisy scratchy and bandwith limited but they make the performer sound more human than todays technology in some ways.
Rhythm is very important feel-wise.
Have you ever seen a band playing live where the rhythm section is locked and grooving? being in the same room is quite the experience.
Would the IC mixer or the discrete mixer capture that vibe better?
The answer is clear to those who have experienced both.
Blues artists recorded on SSL? it would sound like sloppy playing..and that's it..
you need to hear the attack portion of the notes and drum hits cleanly to get the feel.
A good example is one of my all-time favourite groups, that basically existed because of feel and timing:
The FreeThe Free were remixed on what sounds an awful lot like an opamp mixer in the early 90's or late 80's complete with added snare samples. Maybe it was Bob Clearmouintain who re-mixed.
Apart from the great job that was done mixing the tracks, the sound DOES NOT convey the spirit of the band.
It does not convey Rodgers' soulful earthy voice, nor does it convey the stinging crying guitar of Kossoff nor does it convey the physical groove that was layed down by Fraser and Kirke like the original mix, although the tapes were the same.
This re-mixed cd was the first CD I bought of the band and I must say apart ALL RIGHT NOW which is so strong as a song that it was worth a couple of listens every now and then, the rest of the album tasted bland.
When I did years later buy Fire&Water which was the original 70's album mixed on discrete, it was a revelation.
I listened to that cd hundreds of times (I actually wore it out, with scratches) and even got some of my friends interested in it so that we had a little band to play some of the numbers.
I ended up buying everything they ever did including the remasters.
The reason is that the free were a BAND -- they had a band-groove, a blues-based band, which was based on FEEL.
It wasn't the melodies as much as the general feel.
Feel comes down to phrasing, rhythm, and it has to sound real.
Kossoff used to say he didn't want any pedals because they took some of the soul away..
Obviously you have to have soul to begin with to understand.
So yes.. the mixer does make a big difference, and I wish people who sit in a room and read theory instead of listening to music would not tamper with the music making and recording process.