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Jesse Adams
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8/23/2008 11:13:48 PM
---- Updated 8/24/2008 12:34:24 AM
Production, or lack thereof
I have to admit, I find it hard to enjoy music that is not of... substantial listening quality. Even if it's something lyrically good or I dig the chords and whatnot, I find the listening experience to be diminished by poor recordings. Wow I sound like a snob after reading that, haha. I'm sure you could say I'm quick to dismiss something of poor recording quality as no good, guilty as charged. I know I'm picky, but I don't think I'm missing the point. I realize not everyone is fortunate enough to have fancy equipment. Even those that do sometimes can't make things sound good. I don't expect everything to be spit-shined and polished up to where you can pass a crappy product off as good, however I do enjoy music of a more professional sounding nature.
I'm not a stuck up bastard am I?
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8/23/2008 11:29:26 PM
Depends if your ears are jaded from your own production work. There are absolutely a number of unlistenable tracks, that are so lo-fi they're just terrible. However I've seen many people lose a sense of their appreciation of music as they got further into DYI production. They start hearing everything with their mixer ears and forget how to listen to a song in a more broad sense. Personally, when I listen for pleasure, I try to remember my early joy of listening in my youth, to my sister's transistor radio on the beach. That's harder to do when listening to my own work, because I'm noticing levels that aren't perfect and such. Hopefully you aren't transferring that kind of energy to your basic listening because it can make it much tougher to appreciate indie music.
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Jesse Adams
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8/23/2008 11:34:45 PM
I guess what I'm saying is it's hard for me to take a track seriously if it doesn't at least sound respectable. To me it can be as much a part of a song as say the vocal performance or guitar work, for example.
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8/23/2008 11:47:02 PM
well yeah, there are lots of songs where for instance the vocal right away doesn't suit one's tastes.
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The Man With No Band
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8/24/2008 12:03:09 AM
I don't mind a track with good production .... as a matter of fact I don't hold that against the song at all ... :)
Guess it's from my years of listening to old recordings and live music, but I prefer raw, unaltered, unpolished sound ... I like real ... not something that sounds to pristine to be real ... I wish I did have better equipment to get a little better sound ... but I don't so I do what I do and enjoy it very much ....
I listen to others tracks that I know are in my situation or worse ... and I always remember that .... I listen for heart ... you can't cover that up no matter how bad the recording is ...
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Jillidom
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8/24/2008 12:25:28 AM
I understand, I liken it to having a really comfy armchair but it doesn't match the room, like Mr. Crane in Frazier. Or like making love to a less than attractive person (no personal experience here) Can you really appreciate the feel, the sensation and the intent of something that offends one of your other senses on some level?
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Jesse Adams
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8/24/2008 12:32:49 AM
By that I mean the sound quality can be as big a factor in a song as things like the vocal performance, whether it's good or bad etc...
Sam, you got it man. That's what it's about. Very good point. ;) There's stuff today that is over-produced, and it has that too perfect studio gloss vibe thing going on to where the music or performance loses it's life in a sense, it becomes sterile. Like Hollywood! Fitting really.
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Jesse Adams
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8/24/2008 12:38:17 AM
Scilly that blew my mind a bit, plus it was funny. :)
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Conversation Suicide
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8/24/2008 1:54:27 AM
Not every song is recorded at a time when quality production/recording equipment & proper MIXING is available....
Sometimes you have to LOOK BEYOND the scratchiness, or LO-FI experience, and listen to it as if you were at a concert, with semi-poor sound system, but STILL hearing a GREAT band, with great ideas...
-from a POOR musician, who's only gotten the beauty of production or a sound person, on a FEW of his tunes....
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Hop On Pop
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8/24/2008 7:00:26 AM
I think that the production is, of course, a factor.
But then, there are those bands and those songs that use poor production to their advantage. You know, there are things that you can do with poor, or lo-fi production that you just can't get away with with a pristine-sounding recording.
It's an aesthetic and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Just ask Steve Ison or Daniel Johnston or Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices) or Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel). Or even The King Of the Delta Blues, himself Robert Johnson. You ever listen to those original recordings?!
Some of my favorite music is what most would call "poorly produced", but there is a magic there sometimes that cannot be captured by working it over and over and over again.
But yes, for the most part poor production is poor. Just don't make any blanket statements.
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Richard Scotti
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8/24/2008 7:55:23 AM
I can enjoy any kind of recording but there are three things that I think are important.
(1) Make sure instruments are in tune (2) Vocals should be in pitch (3) Keep a consistent tempo.
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BonsaiChainsaw
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8/24/2008 8:38:18 AM
Well said, Richard. Those things hamper a quality song much more than poor production.
- Steve
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Jesse Adams
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8/24/2008 10:23:34 AM
By no means am I a wealthy person. I work part time and make 8 bucks an hour. I spent many years and countless hours practicing mixing, setting EQ's, blah blah. You should see how many CD's I've gone through just to remix the same crap over and over then check it in my car or wherever to improve upon the last mix, honing my skills if you will. That stuff is important to me. I record and mix everything myself, I don't have sound people or any of that. Maybe that's where my perspective is coming from. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that if a song isn't recorded well that it's no good, I'm just a believer that if it is recorded well it delivers more fully. Why do you think IAC has their mastering service?
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Hop On Pop
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8/24/2008 4:06:27 PM
Jese,
Just out of curiosity, what do you think of this:
http://www.iacmusic.com/songs.aspx?SongID=4050
The aesthetic is intentionally lo-fi, with the desire to squeeze as much out of that situation as possible, and, in fact, to do things that I would NOT do in a "better" produciton.
Just curious.
Thanks.
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Jesse Adams
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8/24/2008 6:00:25 PM
I hope everyone realizes that I'm not being critical or trying to sound like a dick, I merely like to post thoughts on here from time to time and gather others opinions. You can learn a lot.
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Jesse Adams
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8/24/2008 6:13:40 PM
Hop On Pop, I think that's very cool. If it's intentional, that's a completely different story. It becomes part of the song. I actually really dug that tune and I think I'll add it to my station. I think I'm being misunderstood here, but that's OK. I'm kind of over the subject. I was only trying to express my feelings on nice sounding recordings and how they can strengthen a song. By "production" I meant a quality recording. I probably didn't word my post the best way. I'm not saying every song needs 19 bells and whistles and gimmicks to make it sound better than it really is. That would insult our intelligence as listeners and musicians.
Just to clarify, and maybe as a response to another recent post, no amount of production can cover up crappy songwriting or musicianship. Either it's there or it's not, bottom line.
Pop I've checked your page and heard the other things you call lo-fi, and they sound pretty good to me. I record all my shit on a DAW on the floor of my freakin' bedroom, so who am I to judge?
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