[atlantaprog] Re: another aspect

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brain21" <brain21@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Most serious producers these days still prefer the OLD medium of analog
> tape over anything modern.  You still see 70's Studer decks in lots of
> studios, and they are proud of them.  The most sought after mixing
> boards are Neve boards from the 60's & 70's.  Some of these sell for up
> to the million dollar mark.  An individual mic preamp from one of these
> boards will bring you $5000 because they are so sought after.

When we were mixing in Chicago we had a 2" Studer deck slaved to ProTools,
mixed through an SSL 4k series board-- a great combination of old and new.


> My comments are interspersed below...
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> >=20
> >=20
> > What about the recording quality of commercial radio music as=20
> > compared to that of the 70s?  While the variety of 70s FM=20
> > radio was "a damn sight better" than today, you've got to=20
> > admit that a huge amount of it had passages or sections that=20
> > were unclear at best or barely audible at worst. Some of the=20
>
> Well if you are talking vocals, listen to the first few REM records.
> Decades of technology didn't help us understand Michael Stipe any
> better!  :-)

And for that I'm eternally grateful!  ;-)  God I can't stand that band.  The
only thing I ever liked about them was John Paul Jones' string arrangements.
Shiny happy people need to DIE!


 > You wana know why Are You Experienced? Was not the greatest recording
> quality?  Because it was recorded in several studios over weeks and more
> at a time, but only a few hours at a time as Jimi could afford to do it.
> Jimi would go into one studio one day and get in 4 hours of recording,
> getting down some basic tracks.  Then 2 weeks later he would go back and
> do overdubs.  This would continue on and one so you have VERY
> inconsistent recording procedures the whole time - different setups,
> etc.  Then, after Hey Joe is released as a single and makes him some
> more money Jimi takes it all into Olympic Studios in London, records a
> few more tracks, and mixes them all including the hodge-podge tracks
> that he had before that.  This is a mastering engieers nightmare!  And I
> think that the White Album sounds great!  Sgt. Peppers was recorded
> before that and is a frickin master piece!  Listen to the Beach Boy's
> Pet Sounds!  Really great stuff there.  Just about every record that is
> recorded today rides on the shoulders of the techniques pioneered on
> those 2 albums.  Not only is the technique amazing, but the SOUND is
> great too.  There is no digital delay, and there is no pristine reverb
> added in the overall mix like a lot of people do today, so a lot of it
> was "upfront" and not so spacious, but that was the style back then,
> nothing more.


Hendrix also said he, like many others, was frustrated by the track
limitations.  AYE? was done on a 4-track!


> > standard of sound for commercial recordings.  Compression and=20
> > other processing was still not totally effective without=20
> > producing a lot of noise, as I understand it.  Today you can=20
> > get a $100 digital compressor to do the job of an old giant=20
> > comrpessor with almost no noise, so there's a huge=20
> > improvement in making every musical element audible.  That is=20
>
> Absolutely positively NOT.  The opposite is true.  The older compressors
> sound a lot better.  However, there are some REALLY good ones being made
> these days that are on par (but not really better than) the older ones.
> None of those is $100.  They are more like $3000+
>
> Go hang out on prosoundweb.com and listen to some of these guys talk
> about their compresors.  Compression and using compressors is an art
> almost unto itself.  Any of these guys will tell you that the
> compressors made today that are under $1000 can't even think to hold a
> candle to the vintage compressors.

Amen to that!

Brian

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