What is the Achilles heel of our recordings?

[starfugger]

the article is aimed at musicians.  the moral of the story is: concentrate on song writing, rather than on twiddling virtual knobs. BE A MUSICIAN and make music, rather than spend so much time on the technical aspect of recording.  from this angle, i can only agree.  it was easier for me to write a song then with an old tascam porta studio, than to setup the whole shebang before laying down my ideas.  the lengthy process of preparing for a "proper" recording totally kills a writer's inspiration (or puts it on hold, which is a bad bad thing to do as the muse does not enjoy waiting).

however, from a recordist's point of view (one who doesn't have to dabble in song writing at all), home studios are a godsend.  in a third world country such as ours, home recording studios are the only means for most musicians to actually come up with decently recorded material, other than being unbelievably fortunate to be discovered and signed by a label.

[prodigi]

Ayoko pa po sana mag-post dito newbie lang kasi ako nakakahiya sa mga señor... Pero di ko na matiis eh. Baka lang ma-inspire kayo dito last 2002 pa yan...
  clicky here
Balita ko dyan pinuri ni David Foster hindi lang yung song pero pati na rin yung areglo ang sabi ni idol magaling daw pinoy musicians. Ang nakakatuwa pa dito demo lang dala ni Lito Villareal sa america pero ang malupit 4 na awards napanalunan, 2 yung grand prize dun. (bago ko malimutan yung ibang drum samples dun sa demo courtesy of idol MarvinQ . Bale S1000 4Mb ram, JV-880 and 8 track machine lang ginamit dun sa demo) Kung sa kopyahan lang siguro ng tunog sa mixing o kaya sa areglo eh kayang-kaya natin yang mga pinoy walang duda yan. Ano pa kung gagawa tayo ng orig para may sariling identity di ba. Maraming magagaling dyan sa paligid hindi nga lang sila kilala. Naalala ko rin yung sinabi ng kaibigan kong namayapa na sabi nya "man/machine combination" daw. Parang ganito, kung meron ka hi-tech na gamit pero di mo naman alam gamitin di siguro tutunog ng matino yun. Tama rin si abyssinianson at starfugger minsan kasi naka focus na sa sobrang ka-hitechan kaya na out of focus na di na makagawa ng matinong kanta. Pero siempre pagdating naman sa mix ibang usapan naman yun kahit na basic set-up lang siguro dapat matino rin mga recording gears. Lalo pa ngayon nagkalat na mga magagandang softwares wala na tayong excuse para di makagawa ng matinong mix. Isa pa wag tayo magpakalunod sa theory lang meron ngang ibang mga graduate pa sa berkley alam lahat ng frequencies pero pag pinag-eq mo ang sama ng tunog. Ok lang maging technical pero dapat alam natin kung pano at kelan i-apply. Siguro talasan rin natin ang mga tenga makinig lang ng makinig foreign man o local material research lang natin kahit anong genre pa yan di magtatagal magkakaron tayo ng bionic ears nyan maririning na rin natin lahat  ng mga "kulay" na nagtatago dyan. IMHO lang po...

[abyssinianson]

yeah, which is why I would rather give up the recording equipment than not have my acoustic guitars around. Without those, I can't lay the foundation for anything!

[jplacson]

This is actually true since our mentality is always "Kaya ko rin yan!"... well, of course kaya kung sa kaya... but when turning "pro" - when I say pro, I mean doing it for a living...regardless of skill level... you have to ask yourself, is it worth it?

for example... say I run a cafe.  I buy coffee beans from someone who grows them.  and I say... "well, I can grow my own beans also in my backyard"... ok, so now I'm growing beans... taking time to make sure they grow right... meanwhile, I'm not in my cafe running the business... so business starts slowing down... so I run back to the cafe to try and fix things... meanwhile, my beans at home are dying...

Point being, just cuz you can do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD.  There's a reason why an industry grows... it's when everyone helps support each other with complementary services.  If you're a musician, and don't really know anything about recording... then leave that to the recording engineers.  That's not your job, nor should you feel obligated to know how to use a DAW.  This allows you (the musician) to become better at writing songs (instead of worrying about ASIO and latency) then let the studio tech worry about those things.  That way, you both get better at what you enjoy doing.

[marvinq]

I really miss those times when recording an album involved a lot of people. First, there were the producers. These weren't just like most of today's "producers" who just show up during the recording sessions, contributing nothing. (Some of today's producers don't even show up - you just see their names on the cheques and on the album credits). They used to do a lot more than that, hahaha. Then, there were the composers/songwriters. Minsan iba pa nga yung lyricist dun sa composer. Arrangers, of course, then orchestrators, if they were relevant tot he project. The, copyists. Then the recording engineers, and the musicians. It's only at this point where the singer/solo artist comes into the picture. Ideally, at each stage, the music is improving, and everybody is very good at what he/she does. It's the interactive aspect of music-making that seems to be missing, IMHO. Music of today's music, at least those in the mainstream pop, aren't given as many chances to improve (given that there's way less people involved in them), given today's budget constraints, and several other factors, i guess. The software sequencers and recorders have greatly improved the quality of the demos being produced at home, and probably music that are done at a DIY situation. Those pieces of software have greatly reduced the relevance of big studios and 'real' audio engineers, and 'real' producers and arrangers. The industry is getting smaller and smaller for them. And that shouldn't be the case. Their expertise is still very relevant. They can still help shape the music we make.

Well, I also agree with that saying about too many cooks...

A lot of these changes, i guess, is a matter of economics too. These aren't the best of times. Medyo tag-hirap. Yung iba, hindi lang medyo. Tag-hirap talaga.

The quality of the recordings that reach the consumer has greatly improved too. That's why it's only now that piracy is hurting so many industries. Noon kasi talagang mas maganda yung mga orig. And the cost of piracy has gone down by a great deal. Ngayon kahit sino kayang kumopya ng cd, vcd, or dvd. Noon kasi, pag cassette ang kinopya mo, maingay na yung kopya. At hindi nakokopya yung mga plaka. LP to cassette, pwede siyempre. Pero hindi kasing bilis ng mga CD burners natin ngayon.

At ang cassette at LP, hindi nado-download.

Ngayon pati yung recording studio (a.k.a. DAW software) mahahanap na sa limewire.

Ganon din naman ang nangyayari kahit sa Amerika. Ang pagkakaiba nangyayari dun sa itaas ng 'food chain' nila. Dun sa mga malalaking proyekto nila makikita ang pagkakaiba. It's at that point where great recording equipment, great recording engineers, orchestrators, mixing and mastering engineers remain in the picture.

Great musicianship, arranging skills, good songwriting are all relevant regardless of budget, or setting (whether in a home or pro situation).

Artistic integrity of course, is very important too. And by this, i don't mean that we should exert effort not to sound like foreign recordings/songs. I mean that there shouldn't be an effort to sound like them. Kung yun ang lumabas dun sa kanta, then congratulations. It's my opinion that efforts to sound like American &/or British recordings are best done in a learning situation. Marami talaga tayong pwedeng matutunan sa kanila.

If there is something that I think we should all push, it's that we should support our local music industry (and whatever's left of our film industry too). Let's buy legal copies of the good albums(and movies). Let's empower the greatest of our artists, and make sure they'll keep on making good songs. Let's give them enough support to make them able to afford the good studios, and good engineers, and great producers.

Maybe then, we can really compete with the rest of the world.

There's a lot that we can do about our aspirations as a race, we just don't know where to start...

We're too busy looking for new pirated dvd's and mp3's.

[abyssinianson]

This is actually true since our mentality is always "Kaya ko rin yan!"... well, of course kaya kung sa kaya... but when turning "pro" - when I say pro, I mean doing it for a living...regardless of skill level... you have to ask yourself, is it worth it?

for example... say I run a cafe.  I buy coffee beans from someone who grows them.  and I say... "well, I can grow my own beans also in my backyard"... ok, so now I'm growing beans... taking time to make sure they grow right... meanwhile, I'm not in my cafe running the business... so business starts slowing down... so I run back to the cafe to try and fix things... meanwhile, my beans at home are dying...

Point being, just cuz you can do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD.  There's a reason why an industry grows... it's when everyone helps support each other with complementary services.  If you're a musician, and don't really know anything about recording... then leave that to the recording engineers.  That's not your job, nor should you feel obligated to know how to use a DAW.  This allows you (the musician) to become better at writing songs (instead of worrying about ASIO and latency) then let the studio tech worry about those things.  That way, you both get better at what you enjoy doing.

having dual roles in music depends on what you want out of engaging in being a musician and producer at the same time. sure, some people are good at being a producer than being a musician and vice versa, however juggling both roles have to do with your goals, and how much time you want to put into your passion for music.. you dont HAVE to make a living out of both to be considered a full fledged producer or musician. in the scene I am in, most people who take that route are literally stuffing all their eggs in a basket that carries no guarantees. i mean, what are the chances of gaining recognition if you have that mentality? slim at best so, imagine the potential disappointment and tension if you depend on it as a main job! i've known some bands and producers that have done great work and dont worry about recognition at all. as long as they work in music and work with passion, all is good. moreover, they occupy roles of musician and producer because of one simple reason: the better you know the process of writing and recording, the better you can write - and record - your songs as you mean them to be heard.

i really like doing production work and playing music as a performer because I have the freedom to work on music and experiment. do I do this as a fulltime job? nope, but I accept gigs and projects based on MY schedule. my profession has nothing to do with the arts and music. i have always divided both cleanly mainly because I want to retain the main element in my passion for music: fun. besides, i wouldn't want to do work in music as a professional; it gets ugly. where is the fun in working on a deadline and dealing with the pressure of a profession that is unpredictable as all hell? investing in that pursuit 100% is basically going to sap the fun out of music for me. as long as I feel no pressure, all I have to worry about is experimenting and having fun. seriously, the business side of music sucks, touring for months sucks, dealing with booking agents and promoters suck, negotiating pay for projects suck, negotiating royalties suck...blah..blah...blah. i've been on both ends of the spectrum and there isn't anything glamorous about playing at a club 2,000 miles from home and doing that over and over for at least a month, and doing all of this because you are a professional who depends on this livelihood to eat.

as far as collaboration goes, I am a sucker for group projects and shuttling ideas back and forth. maybe this is why I love doing remixes so much and will rarely turn one down. involved producers are rare these days, i think, but it is always a good thing to have a producer that actively plays a role as a musician because they are better equipped at comminicating ideas and tailoring them to the needs of the musicians that might not know much about achieving specific sounds for a song. some stellar examples of producers like these are: Butch Vig (Garbage), Adam Durkewitz (Killswitch Engage), Steve Albini (Shellac), Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Charlie Clouser (Nine INch Nails/ Atari Teenage Riot), and BT (DJ, musician, composer).

[YJMCowboy]

I think Big factor un Producer ng record. A lot of Pro records are intentionally, "downplayed" mixwise and soundwise para mas maging
radio friendly. Madalas the big sound of a band is not portrayed accurately on record to compensate for the radio listeners, lalo na
on many rock records. The big sound i think is often an executive
decision or producers call. Pwede naman cguro ma gawa un "big Record"
sound ng foreign records, kasi may gamit din naman dito yun big pro studios. I think yun main factor influencing the quality of the records is
the producers and executives listening to the sound. Exception to the rule yun mga bands like kamikaze and Slapshock, other heavy bands. pero in their case, parang lumalabas un skills na ng nagmix or yun gamit. Kasi they're suppose to sound big pero mejo lata parin compared to say
Black Album ng metallica, or kahit Blink 182 nalang. I guess we can say
dahil nga contrived yun mga engineers natin to do what the top executives say, they can't really experiment that much. kaya naman huli pa tayo sa getting that big record sound. Take Japan for instance, nung  late 80's palang huli na nila yun mga big sounds ng La studios from early 80's. Kaya tingnan nyo how a japanese record is produced, kuha un big sound from UK or US. Kasi dehins takot yun mga engineers, producers don to experiment and do WHATEVER it takes to get that big sound. Dito malayo pa. Gear is a factor, pero yun producer is the one who calls the shots, eh madaming producers dito contrived wether artistically or financially.  Talagang mahirap burahin un norms na na set nila gary V. and martin N. na what a pop record is supposed to sound like. Yun parin yun tunog na naririnig kay Regine, Side A. Yun "safe" record sound.
Hanggang hindi nadedevelope yun cutting edge mentality sa mga
producers natin, mejo matagal pa tayo hahabol sa sounds sa Abroad.
Meron naman gear, meron naman skills, pero yun mentality kulang pa.

Iba ito dun sa colonial mentality. Ibig sabihin ko yun minset ng producers,
a desire to go beyond the norms. Hindi yun, pwede nayan, ganun ginawa namin kay Bamboo eh. Or ganito yun drums sa album ni Regine.
Innovate. Easier said than done.

hindi ko naman sinasabi na masama yun records natin. Eh yun "i stand with you" ng Dawn kahit low tech pa, eh was a good record. River maya's
records are excellent. Pero for a lot, mejo feeling ko is too downplayed by the producers. Usually nga drums un tell tale ng mediocre record
production. But Sandwhich is good. Kitchie is good. Even yun mga bago ni gary V. and regine ok naman eh. Pero can still improve from a recording point of view. Yun opm natin can use more "balls", be it Pop or rock.
Like take Celine D's song, the song from Titanic, it takes a lot to make a record sound as big as that. They won't settle for anything less.
Ganun sa US i think.

Marami naman ok na local records. Pero sa japan pare, makinig kayo sa
mga hapon. Kahit pop, big sound. Lalo na Rock.
Malupit! They have they're own sound, kahit sa kano papalag.
Minsan nga mas astig pa. Kasi yun mga kano, minsan feeling ko have lost some of the edge.

Having said all this, I think we're on our way to a bigger sound. It's a lot
better, recordingwise, than most records we had say 10 years ago.

[jplacson]

having dual roles in music depends on what you want out of engaging in being a musician and producer at the same time. sure, some people are good at being a producer than being a musician and vice versa, however juggling both roles have to do with your goals, and how much time you want to put into your passion for music.. you dont HAVE to make a living out of both to be considered a full fledged producer or musician.

Abyss, my point was just that... you don't HAVE (that's the key-word) to have dual roles.  Some people like to have multiple roles... and that's just fine... there's no clear cut JD for production anyway (whether it's film, tv, music, etc)

A lot of big musicians actually are better producers than musicians, or some are good at both... bjork does hands-on mixing and recording... eminem produces. and so on.

[abyssinianson]

having dual roles in music depends on what you want out of engaging in being a musician and producer at the same time. sure, some people are good at being a producer than being a musician and vice versa, however juggling both roles have to do with your goals, and how much time you want to put into your passion for music.. you dont HAVE to make a living out of both to be considered a full fledged producer or musician.

Abyss, my point was just that... you don't HAVE (that's the key-word) to have dual roles.  Some people like to have multiple roles... and that's just fine... there's no clear cut JD for production anyway (whether it's film, tv, music, etc)

A lot of big musicians actually are better producers than musicians, or some are good at both... bjork does hands-on mixing and recording... eminem produces. and so on.

oh sure - i wasn't disagreeing which is why I offered that occupying dual roles depends on what your goals are, AND how much time your are willing to put into the learning curve of what you need to use as a producer. anyone who has done recording or mixing knows that the learning for the process is steep, and that there is always a process involved. knowing this tradeoff might deter some who wish to remain strict musicians and would rather deal with gigging rather than tweaking, you know? some people are just more inclined to tweak since it doesnt bother them as much as booking gigs and dealing with all the pains that goes with  being a performance musician.

Bjork has always remained at the cutting edge of what she does by experimenting and suprising people. Eminem, on the other hand, I am not a big fan off because other than his songs (how many times can you REALLY make a song about your daughter Hayley??), his sound is nothing special; it sounds west coast which is nothing suprising since he did learn the ropes from Dr. Dre. All in all, contemporary rap records in general don't rely on too much technological fancy, really. Programming on eminem records are spartan compared to other artists who rely on live instrumentation and MIDI/ synth programming in addition to establishing a solid vocal sound.

[BALDO]

the achilles heel? it lies in between the spinny stef and the sylvimmouse sbarkley..
ps... to be at par with US -UK- EUROPEAN recordings,  i think we actually need
1. better preamps
2. better mixes
3. better arrangements
4. better monitoring
5. better mastering
6. a producer/arranger who's always ready to take risks and not be too comfortable with the tried and tested past recordings.
7. last but not the least , ORIGINAL compositions....
    only then we can claim to have world class recordings. regardless of
    GENRE of music and LANGUAGE being sung.

[fascinatedbymusic]

Everytime I listen to local BAND recordings, one thing I notice is the flimsy drum sounds.  Add some processed-sounding guitar tracks, you end up with an unlistenable song.  Ang daming bandang magagaling na hindi mabigyan ng magandang representation sa recording dahil sa pangit na:

-GAMIT BA?
-SKILLS BA?
-BUDGET BA?

Anyway, just wanna know what makes our recordings sound so Pinoy...

ATTITUDE!

[xjepoyx]

Everytime I listen to local BAND recordings, one thing I notice is the flimsy drum sounds.  Add some processed-sounding guitar tracks, you end up with an unlistenable song.  Ang daming bandang magagaling na hindi mabigyan ng magandang representation sa recording dahil sa pangit na:

-GAMIT BA?
-SKILLS BA?
-BUDGET BA?

Anyway, just wanna know what makes our recordings sound so Pinoy...

ATTITUDE!

@ fascinatedbymusic

Huh?!?!

what do you mean attitude?

Do u mean Local Engineers/Studios doesnt have the attitude to make a record good sounding?

FYI... Dojie/Skunkyfunk is refering to the sound on a mix



hehehe another buried thread that resurrected

[skunkyfunk]

ATTITUDE!


@ fascinatedbymusic

Huh?!?!

what do you mean attitude?

Do u mean Local Engineers/Studios doesnt have the attitude to make a record good sounding?

FYI... Dojie/Skunkyfunk is refering to the sound on a mix



hehehe another buried thread that resurrected

 This thread was made 2 years ago.  in fairness, our recordings have improved for the past 2 years.  Heck, 2 years means a lifetime in terms of software, soundcards, blah blah.

But you're right.  Attitude is the common problem.  When engineers dictate what the artist should do than otherwise.  When engineers don't look for alternatives because they're lazy. When engineers don't want to admit that they're at fault for a bad recording.  I made a lot of sucky recordings myself but the common problem among those sucky recordings was not being creative enough to think of other methods to achieve a particular sound.  Equipment is just another factor.  But then again, the attitude of the artist plays a larger role on output.  Hence the tardiness, laziness, and mediocrity issues with some thinking that technology and the engineer can save their lives.

Someone's been searchin' my threads lately huh? 

[xjepoyx]

You've been searchin' my threads lately huh?

not me man! its the newbie guy. hehehe
backread bro! hehe

Yes and your point is?  This thread was made 2 years ago.  And don't tell me our recordings haven't improved for the past 2 years.  Heck, 2 years means a lifetime in terms of software, soundcards, blah blah.

Im not into arguing bro...

But you're right.  Attitude is the common problem.  When engineers dictate what the artist should do than otherwise.  When engineers don't look for alternatives because they're lazy. When engineers don't want to admit that they're at fault for a bad recording.  I made a lot of sucky recordings myself but the common problem among those sucky recordings was not being creative enough to think of other methods to achieve a particular sound.  Equipment is just another factor.  But then again, the attitude of the artist plays a larger role on output.  Hence the tardiness, laziness, and mediocrity issues with some thinking that technology and the engineer can save their lives.

Maybe you're right... Attitude can be a big factor if an Engineer is too "lazy" (a) to improvise on a mix (b) do good recordings/mix because he/she really doesnt like to work with a certain artist/band (c) research on an output which foreign record producers/ foreign studios "produced"

But then again... Pinoy tayo! Lets be proud with other Engineers/Studios produced that made the Top Chart. And also... lets be proud of what we accomplished with our respective recordings and studio perhaps.

again ...like this famous quote "A mix is never final until a producer says so..." Whenever I open a old session... i found myself mixing again hehe.


Peace Bro

[jplacson]

the achilles heel? it lies in between the spinny stef and the sylvimmouse sbarkley..
ps... to be at par with US -UK- EUROPEAN recordings,  i think we actually need
1. better preamps
2. better mixes
3. better arrangements
4. better monitoring
5. better mastering
6. a producer/arranger who's always ready to take risks and not be too comfortable with the tried and tested past recordings.
7. last but not the least , ORIGINAL compositions....
    only then we can claim to have world class recordings. regardless of
    GENRE of music and LANGUAGE being sung.

You're forgetting the most critical part (hardware wise) of the studio...

The studio itself.

Most "recording" studios here are NOT acoustically correct in any way.  There are only a handful that are correct... there are a lot that "look" correct... but that's like saying a kit-Ferrari is as good as the real thing.

The best preamps & mics in the world will not compensate for poor acoustics (or poor mic technique..but let's assume miking is correct)

I'd rather have a $300 mic and a $100 preamp and a great room... over a $4000 preamp and a $2000 mic in an eggcrate 5m x 5m room.

[fascinatedbymusic]

You may own the best tools/gears(mics, pres, acoustics, etc.) in the universe but these are just tools. These will not sound all by itself. What really counts is the user of these tools.

We're not focus enough to use these tools because we're always comparing. And that is the BIG ATTITUDE problem I'm talking about. If you can't understand what I'm saying, then that's a BIG BIG problem.

You don't need to argue with my stand-point. This is what I observe just from reading the posts and threads and in an actual studio situation.

[titser_marco]

our recordings need to get better.... not better than...

I agree with you guys on this bit. In my very limited studio experience, I think what needs to improve in the studio scenario here in the Philippines would be the ability provide several options (of equal quality) for the musician.

I know that we've made really great records in the past with very limited equipment and - this is NOT to be taken as an insult - limited formal training, but more of these two things can definitely help in giving more options for the musician when he wants to commit his music to tape, in a manner of speaking.

[jv21]

i've heard of a band na nag-record sa malaysia.. i don't see any differrence between their malaysia recording compared with pinoy records..

[jplacson]

jv21, true...but then again, I'm not gonna hold that as the gold standard.

as many veterans have pointed out, local recordings have gotten better... I personally like Slapshock's recordings.  I mean, I'd go as far as saying that production-wise, Metallica's older albums sounded worse (pre-black album...specially RTL)

I also like Overtone's album recording.

I'm not particularly fond of Jap or HK recordings...they're clean...but a bit too clean... Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are more or less in the same level as us.

[xjepoyx]

I dont know how you guys gonna take this post...

Clean Recordings/Mix is good but sometimes being too clean will "TAKE OUT" the character of a rock band. What i mean is... ive heard some bands who are really "maangas ang tunog sa live" but when you listen to their recordings... it softens.

I dont know... maybe its just me.

How bout u guys?

[titser_marco]

I dont know how you guys gonna take this post...

Clean Recordings/Mix is good but sometimes being too clean will "TAKE OUT" the character of a rock band.

I dont know... maybe its just me.

How bout u guys?

I  am completely with you on this. Rock records that are too clean to the point of being sterile do not sound like a rock album at all. I personally think that some hiss from a high-gain amp forms a big part of the rock and roll sound. Or perhaps the minute noises that you can hear on Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" give the recording that character.

However, one must still try to record things as correctly as possible, i.e. minimizing noises from outside, mic-ing things properly , et cetera in any recording event. Some people think that your statement above is a valid excuse for not even trying to record things properly. Yes, I like character in a rock record, but I'd also like to hear all the instruments in any record that I listen to.

[BAMF]

I dont know how you guys gonna take this post...

Clean Recordings/Mix is good but sometimes being too clean will "TAKE OUT" the character of a rock band. What i mean is... ive heard some bands who are really "maangas ang tunog sa live" but when you listen to their recordings... it softens.

I dont know... maybe its just me.

How bout u guys?

Not just you bro. Rock is supposed to be dirty. Or at least that's what's in my belief system. Parang peds...sticking an OPA chip in a dirt pedal is uncalled for...why put a "clean" chip in a "dirt" pedal ? Ooops. Geekspeak.

[BALDO]

You're forgetting the most critical part (hardware wise) of the studio...

The studio itself.

Most "recording" studios here are NOT acoustically correct in any way.  There are only a handful that are correct... there are a lot that "look" correct... but that's like saying a kit-Ferrari is as good as the real thing.

The best preamps & mics in the world will not compensate for poor acoustics (or poor mic technique..but let's assume miking is correct)

I'd rather have a $300 mic and a $100 preamp and a great room... over a $4000 preamp and a $2000 mic in an eggcrate 5m x 5m room.

I beg to disagree, between the two factors.. excellent room acoustics with poor mic and mic pres. better mics and preamps and poor room acoustics . i'll settle for the latter because i think i can get better results..but hey its just me..

[abyssinianson]

I dont know how you guys gonna take this post...

Clean Recordings/Mix is good but sometimes being too clean will "TAKE OUT" the character of a rock band. What i mean is... ive heard some bands who are really "maangas ang tunog sa live" but when you listen to their recordings... it softens.

I dont know... maybe its just me.

How bout u guys?

it happens...a lot of producers who are aware of the dynamic stage presence of a band try and capture that when producing a full length CD or an EP. if you ask me, knowing what a band is capable of and trying to bottle that up accurately on a CD is a good thing because you are representing what the band has to offer to prospective fans and labels.

[xjepoyx]

I dont know how you guys gonna take this post...

Clean Recordings/Mix is good but sometimes being too clean will "TAKE OUT" the character of a rock band. What i mean is... ive heard some bands who are really "maangas ang tunog sa live" but when you listen to their recordings... it softens.

I dont know... maybe its just me.

How bout u guys?

it happens...a lot of producers who are aware of the dynamic stage presence of a band try and capture that when producing a full length CD or an EP. if you ask me, knowing what a band is capable of and trying to bottle that up accurately on a CD is a good thing because you are representing what the band has to offer to prospective fans and labels.

+1


But then again... An engineer wont be able to do much if a Producer is just there for the money or sales of a Rock Band, He/She sometimes doesnt care what will be the output of the recorded track that is if the "Producer" per se doesnt have the knowledge about Audio Engineering and all he wants is if it sounds "good".

What im pointing out is most of the time they care about "sales" than the sound of the band itself.

To justify the sound of a rock band:
a. Lets get to know what a certain rock band is capable on stage so we can justify their sound on a mix before a certain producer puts a stop on our mixing and before he/she says "Thats final". atleast if he says "linisin mo pa ng konti" it'll be just a minor tweak

b. As engineer, Sometimes we really have to love our clients even we dont really feel them So we can have a really good output.

c. always put passion on your work


Going back to the Topic 3 things were mentioned

-Gamit Ba? - ive heard some indie projects lately thats been recorded by a home recording enthusiast. And yes it sounds like a foreign made project even with limited equipments

-SKILLS BA? - maybe yes, maybe no. Most of the big studios have trained engineers and who really knows what they're doing and knows how make a mix sounds good.

-BUDGET BA? - Money is always a problem.
1.) Sometimes clients focus on how they can record fast and always ask the engineer on how long is it gonna take for it to mix the song. Always in a hurry because time is running and they have a short budget for a studio. Unless maybe its a package deal.
2.) client doesnt have the budget for Mastering.
Well ive heard songs thats not been mastered but it sounds great.
   


Anyway...
I still agree with marvinq's post

"our recordings need to get better.... not better than..."

I guess research and being exposed on different recordings (both foreign and local) will somehow increase our knowledge to do better recordings.


Peace!