mtf week 6: at last

This week's forum saw the beginning of producer presentations in earnest (one snuck into last week's forum). Now, it seems to me that there is a definite pattern forming, the producer is also a musician/performer (and sometimes a failed one at that). Also, it seems that in every case, the end creative output of the band owes at least a little bit to the producer. Lauren raised the question of whether Nigel Godfrey lifted Radiohead to success or vice versa. In the case of the producer Bob Ezrin, his creative input was substantial to the point of forcing a change of style upon the bands he recorded, just about every band he has produced sounds like a seventies rock band. An ample demonstration of his attitude is found in this quote “I’m going to turn ‘Jane’s Addiction’ into a real rock band”. Could it be that Bob Ezrin is some sort of 70s rock music mould? A band goes in one end sounding original and comes out the other sounding just like everything else Bob Ezrin has produced? Once again, that issue of versatility/diversity has been raised. Example…an up and coming producer produces a few bands of the same genre (Pantera, Iron Maiden and the such) and gets tagged as a producer of that style of music. Change the style and you risk losing your customer base. In other news, the second half of the forum consisted on some handy advice for recording Classical music. Handy hint number one, place a mic (or many mics) over the head of the conductor. Why? I hear you ask? Well, the conductor might not know a thing about mixing desks but he knows the Classical piece of music you are trying to record off by heart and has already got some ideas about interpretation. What’s more, he is in a perfect position to communicate his wishes with the whole orchestra. Why mix the thing yourself when you can imitate your conductor’s ears and get the thing perfect first go. (There are even a few techniques developed for doing this including the Orft technique – 110 degrees based on the locations of the average human’s space between the eardrums, the dummy head technique – placing mics where the ears ought to be and the binoral technique – same as the last. The general feeling is that, for Classical recordings, a combination of separated and live recording will yield the best results. It is important that, as the sound engineer, you understand the dynamics written into the score. It wouldn’t do to be boosting the volume through movements marked pianissimo or vice versa. Being able to read the score will help immensely with recording the piece in parts (and not straight through). It isn’t enough to ask the orchestra to play their parts at 1 minute and three seconds, they need to know bar numbers.

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

Oh man!

Figuring out what the forums are actually about is really hard too.

Not everyone uses myspace.

Who would have thought blogging required a certain skill, that must be learnt somewhere? What's all this "dear diary" informal gaff anyway "in my opinion..."

You're all wrong, WRONG! Gah.

Just a quick note on versatility in producers, it has been put to me that producers are sought out for their signature sound and that if you were to employ a producer with a signature sound, getting a product with someone else's signature sound might cause some dissatisfaction, not to mention accusations of infringing copyright. I am of the opinion that, while this may be true of the really big, famous producers, on a local scale, having your own signature sound and sticking rigidly to it is not necessarily going to get you very far. In the defence of versatility, your signature sound will be at its most unique if it has evolved from a mastery of a variety of different styles of sound engineering.

MTF week 3.

The producer is to an album what the director is to a movie. Place of origin, music heard whilst growing up and people worked with all play a role in the development of an individual producer’s style. Some producers develop a trade mark sound for which they are sought out by aspiring artists (however, a producer that possesses versatility in recording style is preferable). This sound can be a result of the choices made when miking up, a tendency to create bright/moody sounding recordings or using (or abstaining from using) heavy effects post production. The producer does five key things. He/she is responsible for the overall sound of the product (playing a part in the decision whether or not to create an album that reflects the artists’ sound or alters it). The producer decides what songs will be used, the order they will appear in and the instrumentation that will be used (the producer may also get royalties for these efforts). The producer takes care of budget distribution and ensures that the recording is finished on time. It is crucial that the producer has good communication skills. Stylised production ranges from the raw basics of the instruments recorded to heavily synthesised and affected audio. Examples of raw recordings include AC-DC, Queens of the Stone Age and Primus (the Brown album). Albums featuring heavy post production include Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’, songs by Muse and PJ Harvey. In the field of Dub music, the role of the producer becomes that of the artist as the finished product is the result of much, tasteful cutting, pasting and editing. A prominent Dub artist is Bill Laswell. Employed by Sony, Laswell travels the world getting traditional musicians together for massive ‘jam sessions’. He mixes these ‘jam sessions’ down into marketable tracks with plenty of bass and a techno overtone. Producers often employ little tricks to create a sound that is unique. A favourite of these tricks is to begin a track quietly in the hopes of tricking the listener into turning up their stereo, 30 seconds into the song, the listener will be hit will the full force of the song. This trick is especially useful in the case of radio for ensuring that the song is actually listened to.

test stress complicated

as above