if vintage gear is so great then howcome the 80s sound crap?

[bluedad]

I dunno guys, I think the '80's had probably the BEST productions of any era of music.

80's drum sounds!

synth-brass! (dwa-d-d-dwooow!)

80's drum sounds!!

sterile, freezing cold reverbs!

80's drum sounds!!!

munchkinized samples!

80's drum sounds!!!!!!

I was thinking exactly the same thing
(well not the munchkinized samples)

[clueless]

So I think we're talking more late 70's/early 80's, aren't we?

no! we're talking 'exceptions that prove the rule'!

[waveriderarts]

a whole lot of CRAP sounding songs.

yes it is true, and hair styles were pretty bad too... just look at what women wore at the time...


...anyway you are right, in a way, there was the 808, the tb303, but they were not used like they are used now in techno.... you would have to be there at the time, but when I heard thoses instruments in the early 80s, they sounded so plastic, like in cheap japanese crap (oh, that is another 80s thing..).... they sounded so artificial, you know they were marketed as replacements for drummers and bassists...!!!! and they did not sound like that at all... at the time I only taugh they sounded real crappy. At one time I was recording some guy on a tb, and while recording he was teaking filter cutoff, and I said do not do that, it is stupid!!! Did sound way too strange at the time, but I remerber at the end of the recording session, I said to myself, wow, that cheap plastic thing sure has some nice sounds from time to time...!

Before the end of the 80`s, all those tr and tbs were collecting dust in pawn shops.... untill some started using those cheap instruments, in a very new way...

... all that was a nice story to live...

[wrench45us]

i think there was huge leap in production quality in the late 70's and early 80's

i recall a compilation called
'Beserkley Chartbusters' with some Jonathan Richman tunes and some others. By that time I had a big record collection and I'd never heard a record so clear and clean.
at the same time a whole lot of recording gear was getting into the hands of a lot of DIY punk bands and some of that was remarkably clean as well (like the Minutemen 'Double Nickels on a Dime')

then some like Husker Du purposely seemed to want really basement production values -- probably as some sort of statement -- but years later, accustomed now to cleaner production, i find it hard to listen to.

new technology comes along, some gets adapted for its own sake, but there really was a leap forward in equipment.
just like sound systems progressed to finally make stadium rock possible, for better or worse. Journey power ballads may never have happened otherwise.

a few bands like the Waitresses and a recent REM release purposely used the old analog gear and found the experience 'interesting' in all its quirks and drifting tunings and occasionally happy accidents.

[xoxos]

there's fuckall bass in the cure's 'lovecats' but it used to pack the dancefloor year after year. and now it's supposed to be a song because it's got a bit of bass in it.

yeah, there's a lot of tech factores, eg. more peole tody have more engineering experience et al. but ultimately, music is more than its' medium.

hmmmmmmm?

[Shane Sanders]

To my ears, the reverbs we have now are much more natural sounding and this can help prevent things from sounding brittle or grainy. But sometimes brittle is good.

Then there are bands like Led Zeppelin who were miking the room in unique ways to get reverb, so those recordings have such amazing character. I suppose it really comes down to all the stuff in the process, from the song itself all the way to the way the final was mastered.

[Stupid American Pig]

80s production in general sucked, mainly because the digital technology that everyone adopted sucked. the late 70s brought us some of the best analog technology available, and thereforethe late 70s ruled...

[aldred]

what use is pristine shite, eh? we all know it's the content that's boss.

[jones-y]

80s production in general sucked, mainly because the digital technology that everyone adopted sucked. the late 70s brought us some of the best analog technology available, and thereforethe late 70s ruled...

I disagree with the technology connection, but the 70 were friggin awesome! I think commercialism had a much greater effect on the overall quantity of sucky 80's music. Because IMO there was still a lot of good stuff being produced then. Not everybody was using a 303 and an 808 and a DX.

The 60's were the best, IMO. It was just so raw back then...

[Stupid American Pig]

Analog recording was approaching perfection in the late 70s, and I think only recently has digital tech caught up. early 80s music is full of digital reverbs and bad dats. of course, it could just be that music biz was putting the squeeze on artists and they had to skimp on production to make a profit...

[bastien]

Hold on a second...

Have you listened to 'Two Tribes' or 'Relax' lately? They still sound f**king awesome!

As does anything touched by the mighty hand of Vince Clarke.

And Soft Cell! Duran Duran! Anything from the Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards camp. And Prince!

Even some old Stock, Aitken & Waterman productions still sounds great - Brilliant or Dead or Alive for example.

(maybe I've just got very very poor taste? I dunno...)

[farlukar]

If modern gear is so great, how come I only hear crap on the radio?

[clueless]

If modern gear is so great, how come I only hear crap on the radio?

*edit* is your radio digital?

[bastien]

If modern gear is so great, how come I only hear crap on the radio?

Is it tuned in?

[farlukar]

If modern gear is so great, how come I only hear crap on the radio?

Is it tuned in?

Sometimes... I generally like the static better than the music