Production Values

[wasted]

I don't know, I'm in the middle. Sometimes I like the really highly polished stuff but now and again a band does an album and I just wish it sounded more real, like they had great songs but it just sounds airless. Not sure if this is pro-tools, just wondered if anyone else felt like bands should keep it simple, like Mudhoney used to get really loud sound out of about 8 tracks. I guess the hi-tech stuff opens up a lot of space for creativity which is good.

[ITW 2012]

I think some people use too many tracks and the mix becomes too diluted.

[Young_Gun]

I think some people use too many tracks and the mix becomes too diluted.

Its funny because on some records you have ALOT of different instruments and vocals going on at the same time and then on other albums you have the same but some of the instruments are barely audible. I think alot of it has to do with the actual timing of the notes rather than the mix itself iie. if you have 3 notes(then you have your drums too..) from 3 different instruments too close together or at the same time, you won't hear all 3 that well. That said, i would much prefer a really clean sound like Metallica's black album(or load and reload) than the piss poor jobs done on both St Anger(which was intentional for a "garage" sound) and Death Magnetic(which is typical of Rick Rubin).

Edited October 19, 2010 by Young_Gun

[wasted]

I've notice some keep quite simple but the guitars sound unguitar like. There's drums n vocals but it's in a vacuum. It's like the music is hovering across a surface. It's sort of cool in a way. But sometimes you can't feel the song, it's really loud but sort of empty sounding.

[wasted]

I just wonder why bands do it, is it just what everyone does? They think it sounds better?

It's like live albums are regular studio albums and cd itself is like a synthetic alien replicant sent to test our human senses.

[Ghostie]

I'm no expert, but it seems to me the person that does the mastering of an album has the final say in how organic it's gonna sound, regardless of the amount of layers. I feel let down a bit about the way about ChiDem was done, as the cd just doesn't sound as good as the vinyl. I'm hoping that Mobile Fidelity gets their hands on that one sometime soon.

[Shuffle]

I enjoy everything from really lo-fi demo-quality garage rock to big shiny productions but overall I tend to go for the most "simple" production...y'know, take a song, play it, record it, mix it, master it, release it (or maybe not even bother too much with mixing and mastering shit), if the song's good enough it'll do fine on its own... production is often used to cover up the lack of an actual good song, just like technical (instrumental) skill can be used in the same way. Plus, a more basic sound often feels more "honest" or whatever too be me. But at the same time, when it's obvious that an artist is going for the lo-fi sound for the "wrong" reasons (to seem hip or whatever) it might ruin a good song...

[Jumpin' Jack Flash]

My top 5 producers

1. Steve Albini

2. Martin Hannett

3. Jimmy Page

4. John Leckie

5. Chris Thomas

I really prefer when bands just self-produce though...Usually, not always, works out better.

[artfromtex]

i like older methods where mic placement was of severe importance. it's funny that the sound quality on something from 1960 can sound a million times more authentic than things being recorded today with "superior" technology.

please enjoy the following link:

http://www.scottymoore.net/studio_b.html

Edited October 20, 2010 by artfromtex

[FuddMckagan]

Recording an album on analog sounds much better than on a computer, IMO.

[stevo81]

tbh it doesn't usually bother me that much. Only album I can think of that I had a real problem with was Endless Nameless by The Wildhearts - some brilliant songs on there, but I hate how it sounds.

[wasted]

It bothers me more on heavy rock more.use got metal bands that have the production of a Britney album. And some times it works. I'd just like to hear a band try to capture the energy of their live shows on a cd again.

[dalsh327]

Depends on the type of music...natural or artificial. Make it sound dirty and earthy if it's natural, make it sound like it's created in a lab if it's Auto tuned and Pro-Tooled. I'm on the fence about heavy rock and metal... depends on the song.

I don't know who was the first person or band to play around with mic placement... maybe Geoff Emerick under direction from George Martin and The Beatles. I know the Stones had their mobile truck, but Jimmy Page wound up making good use out of it for Led Zep IV, and then the Stones wound up doing some things for "Exile"... in the doc, Keith said they had 6 usable songs from his villa, and recorded the rest in the studio.

The problem when bands self-produce is that they're partial to hearing themselves louder in the mix. The producer's job is to be the extra set of ears and have the band perform to the best of their ability, as well as play referee when the boys (or women) don't play nice. I don't know if the Kim Fowley way of getting a band to do their thing is good for one's self esteem. And in the case of Shania and Mutt, even though they worked well together, it might be a good idea not to be married to someone you work with, although Tori's made it work for 15 years.

[Guest deleted_19765]

I would like to say whatever is appropriate to the music, but I have a sort of overproduction fetish. I find it endearing when someone like Barry White goes all out with the strings, keyboards, multi-layered vocals, etc. I also just tend to like Popular music. I have no illusions about straightforwardly disliking Punk and its aesthetic. But there is music, like Pre-War Blues and early Rock and Roll, that doesn't need much.

Most of all, though, I would have to say that since production is inextricable from the final product in any case in which production can be discussed, it is impossible to say what sort of production one likes. Its always a component of the final product that can't be separated and viewed "on its own." No such case exists.

[Gordon Comstock]

Dusk... And Her Embrace is probably my favorite album production-wise... it's just so... atmospheric. That sound has never been captured again by the band....

(Produced by Kit Woolven)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8v_nDap-i8

Edited October 20, 2010 by RickRoses

[wasted]

It just sometimes there's no space opened up inside the music. It's very linear, like No quaternary sounds futuristic and organic but today it would probably get flatten out or numbed out.

No quarter. That was meant to be.

[Spoon87]

I love it when I think that I'm in the studio with the band. It has to sound real and vibrating.

[artfromtex]

i would also like to mention that i really like Mutt Lange's early work with AC/DC, The Cars, and Def Leppard. I also enjoy Roy Thomas Baker's style. I think Ted Templeman did a great job capturing Van Halen's raw energy on tape.

[Vincent Vega]

Speaking of production, is it just me or does Chinese D feel very...I don't know, ''fake''? Or dead? There's a certain something missing to the production, it doesn't feel organic.

[Young_Gun]

Speaking of production, is it just me or does Chinese D feel very...I don't know, ''fake''? Or dead? There's a certain something missing to the production, it doesn't feel organic.

Thats probably because there is 6 instruments playing all at once WITH vocals on top of it, not to mention all the effects of the vocals, guitars and synthesizers. The actual volume mixing was good though, it doesn't clip or distort like Death Magnetic, although at times you can't hear the bass(probably because of too many other instruments).

[Vincent Vega]

Speaking of production, is it just me or does Chinese D feel very...I don't know, ''fake''? Or dead? There's a certain something missing to the production, it doesn't feel organic.

Thats probably because there is 6 instruments playing all at once WITH vocals on top of it, not to mention all the effects of the vocals, guitars and synthesizers. The actual volume mixing was good though, it doesn't clip or distort like Death Magnetic, although at times you can't hear the bass(probably because of too many other instruments).

Yeah but you could have a lot of instruments playing and still have an ''alive'' feel. Look at Led Zeppelin's records from Houses of the Holy to Physical Graffiti. The song Ten Years Gone has 14 guitar overdubs alone and it still sounds raw, emotional, it doesn't sound artificial.

I guess the thing is CD sounds a little too mashed together. Having a lot of instruments is fine if it's mixed well, because you can mix in each instrument where it's important. The fact that you can't hear the bass guitar on almost all of the songs goes to this bad mixing.

[GivenToFly]

^ I blame Autotune. I like big, elaborate production, but leave the vocals alone. When you start fucking around with the vocals on a computer, that's when you lose the human element.

[Vincent Vega]

What would you guys describe the mixing style of Tool's Aenima like?

Also, Led Zep Physical Graffiti?

And lastly, Guns N' Roses UYI albums? How would you say UYI is different from AFD production wise?

I ask because I'm interested in music production and want to get an idea of different sounds.

[WhazUp]

What would you guys describe the mixing style of Tool's Aenima like?

Also, Led Zep Physical Graffiti?

And lastly, Guns N' Roses UYI albums? How would you say UYI is different from AFD production wise?

I ask because I'm interested in music production and want to get an idea of different sounds.

I would say UYI is more polished than AFD. Darker drum sound, more instruments layered in (Axl's backing vocals, piano, synths, horns, etc.) and overall a little more polished.

Compare the drum intros in Rocket Queen and Locomotive. Rocket Queen has a more lighter tone, while Locomotive has a big dark tone to it

[wasted]

CD has the production of Latter day Zeppelin.