Are 50', 60's mixing tools good for electronic EDM

[HAL76]

Inserting an LA2A or a neve eq is done quickly. I use them to push things in the sonically right direction. Modern digital tools are mostly much more complicated and don't have that much "character".

I don't like clean sound and I prefer simplissity as long as I have doubts that investing more time will really pay off so I prefer analog emus - but not necessarily fromm the 50s.

And I'rd never buy a Motown eq or comp since those are like a Holly grail made of plastic and martha is unfortunately not available yet :/

[horizon7]

I believe that vintage mixing tools still have a place in modern music, in fact, more so now than in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Perhaps not so much as something you'd use across the entire mix, but vintage compressors, saturators, and especially delays can be used effectively to add color to certain mix elements.

This works great for having contrasting elements in a mix, which "hooks" the listener and makes the whole mix sound richer and more interesting.

I covered some of this in more detail recently in a mixing tutorial on my website: https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2022/1 ... ing-music/

It's a long read, but there are a few sections that cover how specific compressors and saturation can enhance a mix.

Thanks ppblog for your kind feedback including your article I really appreciate that.
Your given tutorial beside other articles are great which is clear & understandable.
I'm glad to see some information directly from author & founder of famous music production website & platform.
perhaps you are the one who coined the definition "Bed Room Producers" that was mentioned officially among musicians.

[horizon7]

Inserting an LA2A or a neve eq is done quickly. I use them to push things in the sonically right direction. Modern digital tools are mostly much more complicated and don't have that much "character".

I don't like clean sound and I prefer simplissity as long as I have doubts that investing more time will really pay off so I prefer analog emus - but not necessarily fromm the 50s.

And I'rd never buy a Motown eq or comp since those are like a Holly grail made of plastic and martha is unfortunately not available yet :/

 

Yeah Vintage EQ's are known for there simplicity also they have advantage of coloring when boosting them unlike digital ones. there are also the graphical type Eq's & not sure when to use those.

also not sure if 80's producers were using those 50's or 60's tools in there setup & those tools were part of the 80's recording secrets (I mean not just using 80's tools but rather there preceders ones due to there massive analog character).

or it might be that music market industry was changed since introduction of midi which commercial deals were common & many studios bought completely new studio setups specially at the end of 80's decade when something like FM synth were famous. while commercially 70's equipment for example were so expensive with less availability at that time.

[HAL76]

For me it´s not just "colorization". Some Neves just sound more "energetic" and "real". Others add a certain sound / vibe or "depth" (API).

I use graphical EQs pretty often. They are great for balancing.

All in all I mostly use Acustica Audio EQs. Since I have them all others have become "boring" somehow. AA Ultramarine also has two 50 EQs (Fairchild) that I really like.

Concerning the 80s recording "secrets": you can read a lot about it. It´s not really secrets anymore. As much as I know people always did things differently. There were many many studios in the US and UK back then and if you listen closely you´ll quickly discover that they and their engineers also sounded different.

And afaik people also thought different back then. They wanted new tools and often didn´t look back. Just think of Michael Cretu. His Studio was completely digital and "80s digital" was also a special sound again (e. g. Lennox Medusa). That was new, while they had enough of this muffly rock sound already.

Concerning your question: contemporary EM / EDM has "no soul" for my ears and I think it might profit of "vintage" characteristics. For sure. But I fear that that would also mean a necessarits for stylistic changes.

Heller & Farley are still far ahead:

Andone of my conclusions after lots of testing and comparing is that EQ/FX may change something, but the source / Synth is way more important. A Motown EQ VST on a Softsynth is just like a plastic pearl on a plastic ring. That won´t change much. Definitely. I´ve just spent >4k € because it just didn´t work before.

[El°HYM]

A Motown EQ VST on a Softsynth is just like a plastic pearl on a plastic ring. That won´t change much. Definitely. I´ve just spent >4k € because it just didn´t work before.

KVR the place where Dreams are destroyed.

What did you buy if I may ask?

[subterfuge]

And afaik people also thought different back then. They wanted new tools and often didn´t look back. Just think of Michael Cretu. His Studio was completely digital and "80s digital" was also a special sound again (e. g. Lennox Medusa).

Michael Cretu's all in one digital mobile studio Alchemist is a concept which he started using around 2005, afaik. But all his work from 1978 to 2003 were done in different studios containing both analog and digital hardware and software. In early 90s Cretu was already using WaveFrame AudioFrame 1000, basically a DAW with a sampler, hard disk recorder and digital mixer in the box. But his studio still had even some analog synths amongst racks full of romplers and samplers, so it was not a completely digital setup. Unless you are referring to the recording side of things?

Commonly misunderstood fact about Michael Cretu's different studios is also that he didn't create any of his most famous Enigma works in the ill-fated hillside mansion which was demolished in 2009. His first A.R.T. Studio in Ibiza where the classic albums were created was near the south east coast in Santa Eulària del Rio. The construction of the mansion on the north west coast in Santa Agnès was started in 1996 and completed in 2001. Good luck finding articles that get that right. Many are mistakenly talking about the latter place, when they are actually showing studio pictures and referring to music done in the previous place.

[HAL76]

And afaik people also thought different back then. They wanted new tools and often didn´t look back. Just think of Michael Cretu. His Studio was completely digital and "80s digital" was also a special sound again (e. g. Lennox Medusa).

Michael Cretu's all in one digital mobile studio Alchemist is a concept which he started using around 2005, afaik. But all his work from 1978 to 2003 were done in different studios containing both analog and digital hardware and software. In early 90s Cretu was already using WaveFrame AudioFrame 1000, basically a DAW with a sampler, hard disk recorder and digital mixer in the box. But his studio still had even some analog synths amongst racks full of romplers and samplers, so it was not a completely digital setup. Unless you are referring to the recording side of things?

Commonly misunderstood fact about Michael Cretu's different studios is also that he didn't create any of his most famous Enigma works in the ill-fated hillside mansion which was demolished in 2009. His first A.R.T. Studio in Ibiza where the classic albums were created was near the south east coast in Santa Eulària del Rio. The construction of the mansion on the north west coast in Santa Agnès was started in 1996 and completed in 2001. Good luck finding articles that get that right. Many are mistakenly talking about the latter place, when they are actually showing studio pictures and referring to music done in the previous place.

Í couldn´t find out the date he founded it, but he worked in the A.R.T. Studio in Ibiza until 2005. That was what I was thinking of and the digital mixing and recording setup he had there.

And I think he thought pretty mich like my audiophil dad back in the 80s when digital technology made it possible record, mix and hear things much more clearly and exact than it had been possible before. "80s digital" - also Cretu - was all over my late childhood. That´s probably why I did absolutely not care about analogue in the 90s anymore. We thought that time was over

Why do you know so much about him? Are you walking in his traces and does he inspoire as he did me?

[subterfuge]

I like some of his earlier stuff, but haven't really followed him recently. Certainly not as much that I have studied some other musicians. But I love reading everything music and gear related, and do remember some of it. I also still have a library of music magazines and articles from 80s and 90s, so like in this case, I can go back to original interviews straight from the source to check things. Cretu's studio history is just one unfortunate example of how things can get misunderstood and later on the repeated and copied misunderstandings become the new history.

[HAL76]

A Motown EQ VST on a Softsynth is just like a plastic pearl on a plastic ring. That won´t change much. Definitely. I´ve just spent >4k € because it just didn´t work before.

KVR the place where Dreams are destroyed.

What did you buy if I may ask?

you may

Arturia Microfreak
Waldorf M
Waldorf Pulse 2
Sequential OB-6
Sherman Filterbank classic

[HAL76]

I like some of his earlier stuff, but haven't really followed him recently. Certainly not as much that I have studied some other musicians. But I love reading everything music and gear related, and do remember some of it. I also still have a library of music magazines and articles from 80s and 90s, so like in this case, I can go back to original interviews straight from the source to check things. Cretu's studio history is just one unfortunate example of how things can get misunderstood and later on the repeated and copied misunderstandings become the new history.

That is often what they want. I guess so. Michael Jackson also wanted all the merits. Reality looked different.

But back to the topic: people always made things fifferent and also changed their ways, often pretty drastically. Many who sold theor analog stuff backk in the day probably just spent housands over thousands to get it back - and this analog sound again.

[_leras]

I would say all the UAD emulations of old gear sound really good.

Do you need them, maybe not, but they can give a nice sound to things.

E.g. La2a, pultec eq, the 610 preamps, fairchild compressor can all sound great.

I also think their vintage chambers and reverbs are just great.

[Uncle E]

Also, getting the sound of that old gear without the noise.

[Igro]

EDM is a very broad meaning.
For instance, there is not much to do with la2a in techno music (maybe only for pad sounds). Distressor (without fixed attack) and DBX emulations would fit that style much more. And probably 1178 emulation. SSL buss comp? Meh...

[sqigls]

What about for acoustic EDM? What are WE to do!?!?!?!

[Igro]

But what about symphonic EDM or gospel EDM? So many questions with no answers.