Do We Obsess Too Much Over Trying To Get "The Perfect" Sound?

[chagzuki]

Joe and Mary Partypeople grooving to a track at BOOM or any festival wouldn't stop dancing if they suddenly discovered the DJ was playing music by an artist who used VSTi's instead of hardware, or they heard MS-20 filter in one of the clone synth's patches didn't properly implement the Sallen-Key filter topology.

Even if that synth was the focal point of the track the specifics probably wouldn't matter in a poor acoustic environment, but would in a pristine environment to a non-casual listener. If that element wasn't the focal point then it probably wouldn't matter much in a pristine environment.

Real world constraints are always binding, but in former days there'd be a lot of selective criteria before anyone get into a recording studio, and then the studio would have lots of expensive gear. The recording process would be subject to time pressures, so the artists would have to be good at their craft. Now you edit till the cows come home on a laptop, but often in a poor acoustic environment, and potentially get away with being sloppy in performance technique. So prior constraints led to compensatory higher standards in certain ways.

But for all the examples of old recordings where things just worked well, there are plenty of examples where the constraints of the time didn't pan out well at all, and it's a bit of a shame. For example, the early death metal bands, produced in small studios on low budgets, and prior to an understanding of how to the mix the genre.

[whassup]

Mostly I prefer good music over good sound.
It gets more interesting when good music sounds good.
I react to both.
And when both happens in the same acoustic thingy then... Yeah.

[foosnark]

If you expect perfection you'll always be disappointed, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't still have standards. A lot of what used to be acceptable in recordings is pretty poor today and there's no excuse for it. At the time, there were fewer expectations, lower technology, and a lot less audio engineering knowledge.

I'm sure some people do obsess too much over perfection. Particularly on the more creative side, spending hours tweaking a particular kick drum or whatever.

Really everyone has to judge for themselves how much attention to detail pays off, and how much laziness/nonchalance might cost.

[zerocrossing]

There was a time when hardly anyone knew about spectral imbalances, creating harmonics relating to a vocal's fundamental, using subtractive eq to attenuate any frequencies that make the vocal sound unintelligible, ladder, Korg, SEM, or Steiner-Parker filters, and records sold.

Depends on what you mean by “hardly anyone.” I would bet that many, if not the majority of audio engineers did actually know about all those things, and it shows in the quality of the recordings that they made. People didn’t get “smarter.” More like they just have access to technology at lower prices, and information is easier to find. I went to school for audio engineering in the early 80s, but that was basically the only way to get that information, unless you knew someone who was willing to take you on as an apprentice.

My first employer was obsessed with getting “the perfect sound,” and it shows on her records. Having a front row seat to that was very illuminating. Part of it definitely was having a good ear and knowledge, but I saw a lot of what I’d consider time wasting, when the options were all equally good and hours were spent worrying about not getting it “right.”

I personally like to work fast and loose, and then maybe go back and fix issues. My biggest flaw is that I put too much in, especially when it comes to drums and percussion. No matter how many times this happens, I always end up removing about 30% of what I put in a track. I love playing, so that sort of thing feels like “work,” and I avoid it. If you heard the last track I did, you definitely wouldn’t accuse me of perfection. I mostly just wanted to get a decent “demo” quality, because, let’s face it, who’s listening? But now I’m working on music and sound effects for a client, so it’s a totally different story. I’ve spent days working on a complex sound effect, though it depends on the schedule. Sometimes there just isn’t a lot of time and you just have to work quickly and hope your instincts have led you to a good result.

One other thing I’d like to say is that we now have the tools that allow for a level of polish that would have taken a crazy amount of time in the past. I use Wave’s F6 EQ to surgically pad or boost specific parts of the spectrum based on what’s going on in other tracks in a way that I don’t think it was possible 30 years ago, or at least not easily.

[dblock]

There was a time when mono recordings were perfectly okay, and records sold.

There was a time when hissy four-and-eight track recordings were okay, and records sold.

There was a time when scratchy 45's and LP's were the norm, and records sold.

There was a time when recordings had out-of-tune guitars and vocalists, out-of-time drummers and bassists, and records sold.

There was a time when hardly anyone knew about spectral imbalances, creating harmonics relating to a vocal's fundamental, using subtractive eq to attenuate any frequencies that make the vocal sound unintelligible, ladder, Korg, SEM, or Steiner-Parker filters, and records sold.

Joe and Mary Partypeople grooving to a track at BOOM or any festival wouldn't stop dancing if they suddenly discovered the DJ was playing music by an artist who used VSTi's instead of hardware, or they heard MS-20 filter in one of the clone synth's patches didn't properly implement the Sallen-Key filter topology.

Do we obsess too much and does it really matter?

Depends on what you want to do with your music and how you want people to react to it.

[Borbolactic]

"There was a time when mono recordings were perfectly okay, and records sold.

There was a time when hissy four-and-eight track recordings were okay, and records sold...

Do we obsess too much and does it really matter?"

I have downloaded and been listening recently to some older tunes that I was only vaguely or at least somewhat familiar with, but never owned a recording of. Ever heard of by 'Blues Image'? I quite like it, for now, say, for this month, maybe the next.

But here's another thing: You kept writing 'sold' and my philosophy on this one is simple and goes like this:

If you are making so-called 'art' mainly for this system's money-profit motive, your art is not as pure as it could be and therefore will likely suffer, perhaps in a kind of kind of way where you don't realize your underpants are missing but somehow you feel a little colder.

Going back to older tunes, I seem to recall Cat Stevens saying that he tried to keep his music recordings simple with relatively little 'processing'. Maybe there's something to this if one wants to maintain some integrity with the instruments as if they are in a live-music acoustic realm.

Maybe-- and, granted, I'm just getting back into it after not much experience to begin with, so that's a big qualification/grain-of-salt-- if you want to limit your spikes on an instrument, just turn down its track volume. Sure, use a limiter for your own ears, but maybe not for the final mastering/recording.

In general, much of what we are sold is not really about what we need, despite the sellers' best attempts at what those in the biz might call 'need creation'. IOW, we are often sold an illusion or fantasy than anything else.

[heyheycnv]

Pop music, especially since the Fifties, is built on the "what next" angle. Could be songs, could be instruments, could be sounds.
You really hear about when someone waxes about the Sixties. "OMG, listen to how rock and soul progressed so much then".

[vurt]

Pop music, especially since the Fifties, is built on the "what next" angle. Could be songs, could be instruments, could be sounds.
You really hear about when someone waxes about the Sixties. "OMG, listen to how rock and soul progressed so much then".

some of my favourite songs from the sixties, were recorded in a flat above a luggage shop.

[Borbolactic]

some of my favourite songs from the sixties, were recorded in a flat above a luggage shop.

So not up, then, in

Give us an example or examples, I'm curious.

[vurt]

some of my favourite songs from the sixties, were recorded in a flat above a luggage shop.

So not up in then?

Give us an example or examples, I'm curious.

or any of joe meeks recordings.

[Borbolactic]

some of my favourite songs from the sixties, were recorded in a flat above a luggage shop.

So not up in something like here (URL edited out) then?

Give us an example or examples, I'm curious.

(URL edited out)

or any of joe meeks recordings.

Would that be a general indication of the style of Meeks' stuff? LOL
It's interesting how much of our former faves come from the young ones, ay? Mind you, at the same time, I might prefer some of Gary Numan's recent work over some of his older stuff, not that I've ever bought any of it.

Stay safe, girls.

[vurt]

no, not at all. that's screaming lord sutchs style.
meeks most famous hit would be telstar by the tornadoes.

[Borbolactic]

no, not at all. that's screaming lord sutchs style.
meeks most famous hit would be telstar by the tornadoes.

I wonder if I know of it, if not in name. I'll take a listen...

[vurt]

no, not at all. that's screaming lord sutchs style.
meeks most famous hit would be telstar by the tornadoes.

I wonder if I know of it, if not in name. I'll take a listen...

from before my time (born 74) but id heard this one played by my granddad a fair few times.
then at university i read up on joe meek for an essay piece, was mainly going to be an example of an early home studio compared to the then (20 years ago) meaning of home studio, but he was such an interesting character, i couldn't stop reading and finding his recordings.

the royalties for telstar, got held up as some french guy claimed the melody was stolen. on top of various other shit, this pushed joe to kill himself, not long before the french guy lost the case and would have left joe minted

[heyheycnv]

no, not at all. that's screaming lord sutchs style.
meeks most famous hit would be telstar by the tornadoes.
 

Joe Meeks is great.

This sounds just like Joy Division at the start. And then it gets better.