I'm beginning to realize that one of the big things that seperates the men from the boys is this "mood and vibe".. every pro album obviously has a different one, but they all have one. Most amateur recordings are seriously lacking in this department, among other things.
But what creates it? Obviously each person will have his or her own take on this, and obviously the performers and arrangement are a large part of it, but I'm talking about it mainly from a production standpoint.
I think I've come to the conclusion that the reverbs and delays play a HUGGEE part of this. I'm listening to Lost Prophets - The Fake Sound of Progress right now, and there's just something about the vocal reverb(and even the drum reverb) that does something for the vibe and mood that I just can't describe, nor duplicate in my own recordings. Obviously, like I said, the guy's voice and his melodies and their arrangements and everything else plays in to this, but I feel like even with all that being the same, the vibe would be completely different if the reverbs/delays/etc were different. But how? why?
I'll use another example that I have been trying to figure out for a few days now... try to bear with me cause I know everyone here pretty much despises heavy music, hopefully you guys can put that aside for a second and just look at the vibe factor.
There's this band, "I Killed The Prom Queen" and they have this album called "music for the recently deceased" cliche I know but that's not the point, the point is, the whole album has this incredibly dark vibe. And I don't mean dark as in it is run through a low pass or something, I mean dark is in it has this nighttime depressed autumn/winter feel to it. Call me crazy, but that's what I get from it. But I can't figure out WHY or HOW they did it. You can listen to it on their myspace or something, although the myspace player is really garbage so I don't know how accurate a test that would be.
Again here, I think it's something to do with the vocal reverb, the drum reverb, and something in the guitars and/or bass. Here it's even less about the actual songs and more about the production - I could record a cover of this with a close guitar tone, simliar drums, similar vocals... and it still wouldn't have the vibe that this does.
Hopefully this will morph into an interesting discussion. And even more hopefully I will learn a bit more about what I'm talking about from all you guys (And girls).
Comments
I'm really not sure about these fad oriented recording technique
I'm really not sure about these fad oriented recording technique sounds? I hear a lot of crappy mixing with no use of any time delay/artificial ambience producing devices? Just that RAW sound that I too can appreciate when that RAW sound is bitchin'. But most of the time it just sounds like crap tossed together. This is a trend? Not for me. I still like my mixes fat, punchy, in-your-face, hearing everything, did I say fat? Well, fat, real fat. Big, bold, wide 10 feet tall, 30 feet across, 50 feet deep. I don't think I'm asking for much? Just good engineering and good use of good equipment. Mediocre equipment that supposed to sound better doesn't. Not usually. Old equipment like precious old violins just can't be duplicated.
A truck full of old violins
Ms. Remy Ann David
RemyRAD wrote: I'm really not sure about these fad oriented reco
RemyRAD wrote: I'm really not sure about these fad oriented recording technique sounds? I hear a lot of crappy mixing with no use of any time delay/artificial ambience producing devices? Just that RAW sound that I too can appreciate when that RAW sound is bitchin'. But most of the time it just sounds like crap tossed together. This is a trend? Not for me. I still like my mixes fat, punchy, in-your-face, hearing everything, did I say fat? Well, fat, real fat. Big, bold, wide 10 feet tall, 30 feet across, 50 feet deep. I don't think I'm asking for much? Just good engineering and good use of good equipment. Mediocre equipment that supposed to sound better doesn't. Not usually. Old equipment like precious old violins just can't be duplicated.
A truck full of old violins
Ms. Remy Ann David
Um.. what? Did you even listen to anything I referenced in my post?
in my limited recording experience,ive found that my personal at
in my limited recording experience,ive found that my personal attitude has ALOT to do with the vibe and that totally translates to the music.also,recently,i was recording a band(all separate over-dubs) and was having a hard time getting "vibe" from the musicians....i threw all the previous tracks on two track mix pan hard l/r with some compress/verb and what a difference!!!!the guitar players and singer really dug it and it totally changed the whole vibe of what we were doing.they started to relax and not focus so much on being perfect,rather just havin a good time with the whole process....it was really great:)
Yes, as a matter of fact, I listened to all six cuts. So yes, t
Yes, as a matter of fact, I listened to all six cuts. So yes, they are using some reverb. A fair amount of the drum ambience. Chainsaw guitars. Somebody trying to split up vocal cords. Dark quality? I can tell you how they got this dark quality. THEY HAVE NO TALENT! That makes it much easier. Oh sure, they can make lots of angry sounds that can be misconstrued for playing instruments. And you want to know how to get this kind of sound? Simple. Really quite simple. You only need to work with people with this low a talent level and play with some reverb plug-ins.
Doorknobs would taste good if you ate them every night for dinner.
Ms. Remy Ann David
RemyRAD wrote: Yes, as a matter of fact, I listened to all six c
RemyRAD wrote: Yes, as a matter of fact, I listened to all six cuts. So yes, they are using some reverb. A fair amount of the drum ambience. Chainsaw guitars. Somebody trying to split up vocal cords. Dark quality? I can tell you how they got this dark quality. THEY HAVE NO TALENT! That makes it much easier. Oh sure, they can make lots of angry sounds that can be misconstrued for playing instruments. And you want to know how to get this kind of sound? Simple. Really quite simple. You only need to work with people with this low a talent level and play with some reverb plug-ins.
Doorknobs would taste good if you ate them every night for dinner.
Ms. Remy Ann David
Ok so once again you have proven your point to be ignorant and worthless. We get it, you don't like metal. That's fine. I don't like folk music from the 60's or whatever it is you listen to. That's fine too. I'm not about to go around saying that the musicians you like have no talent. Because I am sure they do.
I mean, I know you know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING and all, but come on. If you are going to put your input on a thread, at least make it worthwhile. OBVIOUSLY they used reverb and drum ambience. What I want to know is how they made it so dark, and "low talent level" is not a contributing factor.
Why is it that you insist on making genuine threads into arguments? I didn't post here to argue with people, I just want to learn, and there are many people here that know more than I do. Including you, I am certain, however if you do not want to share your knowledge, then it would be appreciated if you keep your ignorance out of my thread. Thank you.
Anyone else, please do chime in.
When you talk about the vibe and feel of a recording I think the
When you talk about the vibe and feel of a recording I think the musicians and their arrangement and talent have the greatest influence. As far as how this band got their sound I am not really going to comment. When we are recording we all add our own unique touches, hopefully these are different for each and every group we record, and while we can learn from what others are doing I don't want to create a sound just like so and so, if that's what I wanted, go to that studio, use that engineer. Overall vibe and feeling are created more by the band, to some degree by the recording engineer, also the mastering and sometimes it is overlooked but a great producer. A huge number of musical projects got their unique sound from a great producer.
Also remember when we solicit others opinions we will get them, like it or not. That is Remy's opinion, this is mine etc. Try to take it for what it's worth.
Hi, I like the guitars in this music. They are more like old s
Hi,
I like the guitars in this music. They are more like old school 80's Heavy Metal like Testament. Anyway, I do not hear one single thing different about this recording than any of the hundreds (and that's literally hundreds) of Nu-Metal recordings I've heard in the past ten years.
"Dark" sound to me is Joy Division. This sounds more mean to me. I'm sure you probably already do this, but tuning your guitars down to C can make things immediately shift from rocking, to mean. Other than that I honestly don't even hear anything unusual, and I don't mean that as an insult... I just don't hear a sound quality difference between this and say, Slipknot. The guitarist is definitely better though. ;)
I think it's like this: first the musicians and their vibe, If t
I think it's like this: first the musicians and their vibe, If that goes well, then in second comes the producer and his or her vibe with the musicians as well as his ideas for the mix and the tracking, then in third comes the engineer's (tracking and mixing) talent, vibe and ideas to make the producer and the band's image of the record come to life and last comes the mastering engineer's talent and perception of the record's feel or vibe to make the record sound great everywhere. If any one of these fail, the record will suck, and the band will sound talentless. I think it's all about talent, perception and concept
I don't get the vibes that you get from this music, but I think
I don't get the vibes that you get from this music, but I think we can still analyze it.
In the verses from that Progress song (im listening to the YouTube vid) the vocal is up front, dry and somewhat flat (dynamically)...there is verb on it but it's in the background, the vox isn't washed down with it. The reverb may have been run through a filter to give it some different character. The vox in the choruses is doubled and then there are harmony tracks on top of that. The doubling isn't a delay though. He sang it twice which adds a particular character to it.
Check out the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The vocals in a lot of their tunes have that upfront/dry sound. Do they give you the same sort of vibe? If so, then maybe that's what you are looking for.
Now with the other band, the only darkness I get from it is in the music. Maybe what is going on there is the balance between the instruments.
Interestingly, a similarity between the Progress song and "sharks in your mouth" by the other band are that there is a guitar rif that plays throughout the verses that never changes while the bass does change. And both do that minor note thing. Perhaps it is more the music rather than the ambience?
Like I said, I don't get the vibe from these songs that you do. If it's a production thing and not a composition thing, I'm not sure what it would be. Maybe it's just the sounds being used...IDK.
I have to agree with BrianaW and Progr4m. There is nothing outst
I have to agree with BrianaW and Progr4m. There is nothing outstanding about the recording. Nothing that says wow that's a great recording technique. The use of minor scales in music has long been thought to have a dark sound but once again you are back to the musicians and the arrangement.
Yep reverbs can help, like the icing on the cake, but in the end
Yep reverbs can help, like the icing on the cake, but in the end its the artist that creates the mood. Its our job to make sure recording and mixing methods we use enrich and define that mood.