MTF week 4.

In this week's lecture, topics looked at included 'a great recording versus a great release' and a 'timeless production versus a perfect production'. A great recording should have high fidelity and be well recorded regardless of the music. It should serve the purpose of the artist in regards to sonic quality and (when this is the desired effect) it should make you feel like you are in the room with them. An album that sounds good will not only have all of the above but songs/music that move the listener and can be heard many times over. Technically speaking, a great recording can be mistake free (something much liked by record companies) however, in terms of this making the recording a great release, this 'over production' can have the affect of wiping the human element from the recording (think, every top of the pops CD ever made), making it (in my opinion) somehow less worth listening to (as it sounds like music made in a factory somewhere solely for the purpose of selling CDs, predictable, cliché, bad). A timeless production always feels right, sounds good and "doesn't buy into the cultural trend of the month."[1] Examples of these cultural trends are use of the wah pedal (an effect that was in fact banned for a few years was everyone was so sick of hearing it)[2] and the use of auto tune on the voice (Cher and a slew of singers for the next two years).[3] Once a sound (like Cher's auto tune) has become identified with an artist or time, using it in any new music results in the music seeming like nothing more than imitation Cher (or 80's synth bands or clean cut 70's rock). Just a note, some artists like David Bowie, U2, Madonna and Kylie Minogue (the first two of their own craftiness, the last two I would imagine under the direction of any number of producers) stay in vogue by following trends in music, adapting their sound to suit the listening ears of each successive generation of teenage music consumers. Another thing looked at was cliché production tricks. The advice given? If you have to use them, use them well. Also, knowing what they are will help you avoid using them where you wish not to. In the case of some genres like Blues, learning the cliché tricks will save you having to reinvent the wheel leaving you with time to improve on its design. Some producers become predictable in their use of cliché tricks. Commercial tricks that are timeless money winners include making a big guitar sound by recording the guitars twice then playing the two recordings, one through each speaker and, making the recording loud (or inserting a quiet bit to emphasise the rest). In regards to record companies, the record company will want to hear first and foremost the vocals, then the beat (the beat was once in the sound of the snare, then, in hip hop, the kick drum, now it is a combination of the two). [1] Fieldhouse, Steve, (2007).Tech forum week 4, presented at the University of Adelaide, 22th March [2] Ibid [3] Ibid