niteshift
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11/13/2008 4:22:14 AM
Unplug the Plugins
Well, what a harrowing week it's been. Having the time to sit down and actually get it all togther and create something has got to be a gift at the best of times. A month just to write, a collection of internet collaboraters to help speed the process along, and long days drifting off into the creative ether. Nothing could be better right ?
Now, nothing at all is suppossed to go to plan, and with no agenda, the pressure should be off, to just go with the flow and let the mind have a mental splurge. That is, until internet collaborater No1 comes up with some lyrics, a great tune, and a great voice to sing the tune, to a musical piece first visited a couple of months previous.
So, it's into the dark recesses of the computer, to pull up the track, and see how it sounds with a new melody line. Sounds great, and everything is flowing along well. So, it's a quick mixdown, and onto the internet for peer review.
First comment : "There is something very wrong sonically like the music is playing from a separate source than the vocals. I have never heard you have this sound before, is something off on the set up?
Second comment : " ...but the vox sound like they are recorded in a room quite different than where the music is taking place "
Third comment : ".....had the same sense of something off, so I'll look forward to the next one? "
And so they went on . OK, check and recheck, and yep, there is a phasing issue, and yep, those vocals are sounding really different to the backing track, so what's the problem ? The problem was, that the backing tracks were recorded months ago, built up one by one, with various effects being added to the tracks. Sometimes 2 or 3 units per track, as it was a bit thin at the time and needed some "oomph" After adding a total of thirty five tracks, each with it's own clutter of little gizmos to make it sound "better" the whole thing ends up a sonic cosmic slop, spinning around in the phones like a demented cat in a clothes drier.
Only solution. Back to basics. Back to square one. Back to kindy school and back to the simplicity of the sandpit. Like a child scribbling with crayons, the plugins are unceremoniously detatched and thrown out the virtual window hopefully to be shattered on the ground into a million little bits never to return. Replaced with just an EQ, a bit of reverb, a smidgeon of compression, and a big dash of ears, all is well in sonic land.
We live, we learn, and try to remember that "better" does not always mean "burden me down with gadgets" So the next time you consider brewing up a batch of sonic soup, just remember....... unplug the plugins.
cheers, niteshift
*** Ironically, the new single, "You Do It Right", featuring Letha Allen, is due for release in the next couple of weeks ******
Do it right ? Yeah, right.........the tenth time around !
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