soulville
02-25-2006, 08:43 AM
I've always been one of those musicians who enjoyed listening to the production of albums (sorry..cds!) and as I've slowly gotten into engineering I obviously listen more closely. What I find very interesting as of late is the trend to get a "retro" or lo-fi sound. In some cases the craze is for that garage band sound which appears to be appropriate for some of these bands because they play like garage bands, but it's those records of truly talented people that are recorded with a retro sound that I find interesting.
The best example I can think of is a guy named Doyle Bramhall II. Doyle has recorded on two particular records that sit on opposite ends of the spectrum sonically. The Arc Angels cd (which featured Stevie's Ray's double trouble rythm section) is one of the most pristinely recorded cd's I can think of with probably the best drum sound I've ever heard. On the other end of the spectrum is Doyle's last solo cd called Welcome. I was shocked the first time I heard this cd because I thought I was listening to an old Jimi Hendrix cd. I actually couldn't stand listening to it for a while because I couldn't deal with how "bad" I thought it sounded. All I could think of when I first heard it was "Why would anybody put out a cd with drums that sound like this?" Meanwhile my drummer kept telling me how great it was and finally I started listening to it. Eventually I fell in love with the songs and have come to understand that the production could not be more appropriate to the music. It fits the style of music perfectly. It is a cohesive sounding cd because the songs have a "classic" feel to the them and the retro sounding production just adds to the entire project.
If you have these cd's or can sample a song from each I challenge you to do so and remember that the same guy is playing on both cd's. It may alter your ideas of what sounds "good" when recording. As a novice engineer recording in my home studio I think I'm going to try to get a retro sound on at least one song just try thinking outside the box, because my normal mode of thinking is that I have to get the absolute best sonic quality I can when recording a song.
How many of you out there actually attempt to color your recording to fit the music? I'd love to hear of some experiences.:smokin:
Adios!
The best example I can think of is a guy named Doyle Bramhall II. Doyle has recorded on two particular records that sit on opposite ends of the spectrum sonically. The Arc Angels cd (which featured Stevie's Ray's double trouble rythm section) is one of the most pristinely recorded cd's I can think of with probably the best drum sound I've ever heard. On the other end of the spectrum is Doyle's last solo cd called Welcome. I was shocked the first time I heard this cd because I thought I was listening to an old Jimi Hendrix cd. I actually couldn't stand listening to it for a while because I couldn't deal with how "bad" I thought it sounded. All I could think of when I first heard it was "Why would anybody put out a cd with drums that sound like this?" Meanwhile my drummer kept telling me how great it was and finally I started listening to it. Eventually I fell in love with the songs and have come to understand that the production could not be more appropriate to the music. It fits the style of music perfectly. It is a cohesive sounding cd because the songs have a "classic" feel to the them and the retro sounding production just adds to the entire project.
If you have these cd's or can sample a song from each I challenge you to do so and remember that the same guy is playing on both cd's. It may alter your ideas of what sounds "good" when recording. As a novice engineer recording in my home studio I think I'm going to try to get a retro sound on at least one song just try thinking outside the box, because my normal mode of thinking is that I have to get the absolute best sonic quality I can when recording a song.
How many of you out there actually attempt to color your recording to fit the music? I'd love to hear of some experiences.:smokin:
Adios!