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Welcome to my world.
I hear stuff like that -- and much worse -- all the time.
Funny thing is, if I mention one of 'em on a forum, it almost always draws flames from some fan or other...
--Mac
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What's really crazy is that these are certainly "nit picky" things to point out, but probably largely spot on. Yet when we try to (helpfully) critique one another on production values, or song writing we often find some very thin skin. Let's use these forums to spur one another on to greatness.
Thanks for the post. Those were very interesting and entertaining.
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I believe there should be a tolerable level of disfunction in both my spelling and all the other stuff we try to create. Those examples were interesting but look at some of the live performances like "Woodstock" that are raw, gritty and great. Half the musicians were stoned, the sound was mediocre at times but the event was greater than studio perfection could attain.
There is no excuse for sloppy studio work but when I saw Janis Joplin in concert there was an energy that few can translate into the studio track.
Who hasn't heard a recording of "Lead Belly" or other early portable recordings of Blues artist, that enjoyed the background noise and crackle as much as the music.
If the Mason Willam's "Classical Gas" was released with a flub, that would be inexcusable, because we expect near perfection in that piece.
Just a different POV from a wannabe that can't play a radio, but it all gooood.
Wyndham
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In the truly excellent BBC radio series, the Record Producers, Steve Levine explained how that bizarre skip on Blondie's Heart of Glass (we're so used to it now that we don't even notice it) was the result of Mike Chapman having cut off too much tape during an edit. He had made the basic error of using the original and did not have a copy.
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Wyndham, I don't disagree with you for the live stuff - but studio blunders like these are inexcusable - particularly the comped in crappy sounding middle section in that John Lennon bit.
-Scott
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Quote:
He had made the basic error of using the original and did not have a copy.
That's not an error when you are dealing with analog magnetic tape, my friend.
You see, there really can be only one copy, because to copy analog tape you lose too much in the generational transition.
Yes, "back in the day" the engineer with the marking crayon, razor blade and the splicing tape really only got but one shot at it to get it right.
--Mac
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Great Point
If you even dubbed to another track for doubling effect you had a heck of a time restoring the second track to match the first. A 'backup copy' didn't exist back then. Many many recordings will live only on vinyl, since tape losoes so much quality not only when duped, but also over time. Magentics fade, air eats away at the tapes, oxidation, etc.
We have it SO much better now in the digital age, I think a lot of us take that for granted!
Not meaning to start the age old analog/digital debate. Just sayin' that digital gives us so much more safety.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Lots of Master Tapes are still stored away safe in the underground climate controlled vaults, though.
What's becoming unobtanium are THE MACHINES.
Whenever there's a project to resurrect an old Master for digital reprocessing, the call goes out for the few who have maintained certain old pieces of equipment just waiting for the moment. It will surely cost more and more to do it that way as time goes by, too.
There's another problem there also IMO.
A lot of "digitally remastered" stuff is crap. Run it through the Sony automated mastering software and call it a good job. Poo.
--Mac
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Journeyman
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Interesting. I do have a defense for those recordings of the audio tape less than 16 track recorder days. I don't think the technology then caught much of these nuances. Case in pont, I remember someone playing Green Onions to me just when CDs came out. He swore that you could hear the drummer dropping a stick during the song.
Another thing you have to consider is the amount of hours spent on recording. I recalled how by the time the recording was "satisfactory" I already hated the song and dreaded the thought of having to play it again. I commend those musicians who endured the hours of writing, practicing, recording and then turn around and faced with having the hell of the audience demand you perform it for the next 40 years of your life!!! That took out Ricky Nelson.
The concern I had when we got into all this digital design was the fact that people would become overly critical of the final sound forgetting that it was crafted by humans that by default means there will be flaws. Taking those subtle flaws out and you have removed the human touch. The greater irony is if you open a musicians gear catelog and all you see are digitally processed "analog" effects for that human feel. Too funny. Then I think about Real Band. If I wanted audio perfection I would have stayed with MIDI; every note is cut to its precise position. I love Real Band... flaws and all!
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