How important is the QUALITY of recording in a song? (1 Viewer)

[Beanstalk]

I find myself put off by a lot of music these days by the quality of their recordings. Maybe its because with myspace, its very easy for bands to upload their demo recordings, so after trawling through a lot of poorly recorded stuff, the well-recorded stuff stands out, even if the well-recorded song isn't as good as the song on the demo.

Its pretty rare that I'll give a poorly recorded tune enough time to listen to the 'song' itself...maybe I'm being an audio snob, but I think the quality of the sounds on a record are almost as important as the lyrics and melody. There are rare exceptions where an acoustic tune stands out despite being poor quality.

And I'm not talking about "home-recorded" vs "studio-recorded" because these days its hard to tell, with the quality of some home-recorded stuff. And I've heard some studio recordings that sound like the band just went into the studio laid down the parts that they play live with no thought for additional arrangement or embellishment.

So what do you reckon...does the "modern musician" need to be more savvy when it comes to the recording process than in times gone by?

 

[Anthony]

pretty important. Although I just bought a CD of Doug Pinnick's demos, while it sounds decent enough the rough edges are part of it's charm.

 

[Beanstalk]

pretty important. Although I just bought a CD of Doug Pinnick's demos, while it sounds decent enough the rough edges are part of it's charm.

I love rough edges too...I don't want a world full of slick squeaky clean polished recordings...just care taken when carrying out the recording/mixing basics.

 

[nEiLo]

http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/staff_top_10/top-ten-worst-sounding-records-1997-present.htm

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

So what do you reckon...does the "modern musician" need to be more savvy when it comes to the recording process than in times gone by?

the quality will obviously affect listening enjoyment however i think its the performance that counts - i'd rather listen to a poor recording of an excellent performace than an excellent recording of dull performance. i also think people will probably record to the best of their ability. if thats a dictaphone on the table then who cares. i think too that the recording process can knock the energy spontaneity out of the song. i give lo-fi the thumbs up. i give hi-fi the thumbs up too.

 

[aoboa]

the quality will obviously affect listening enjoyment however i think its the performance that counts - i'd rather listen to a poor recording of an excellent performace than an excellent recording of dull performance. i also think people will probably record to the best of their ability. if thats a dictaphone on the table then who cares. i think too that the recording process can knock the energy spontaneity out of the song. i give lo-fi the thumbs up. i give hi-fi the thumbs up too.

Ha - was just listening to this (

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) as I was reading your post.

 

[Pantone247]

i find myself liking "lower fidelity" recordings more and more these days... although I always probably favoured lofi anyhow... but especially as popular rock music becomes more sterile and rigid sounding... I like to hear the amp hiss, the slipped strings and missed beats, reminds there's real people behind them instruments not just airbrushed youngsters from some US backwater or a council estate in Liverpool

 

[Lord Damian]

i find myself liking "lower fidelity" recordings more and more these days... although I always probably favoured lofi anyhow... but especially as popular rock music becomes more sterile and rigid sounding... I like to hear the amp hiss, the slipped strings and missed beats, reminds there's real people behind them instruments not just airbrushed youngsters from some US backwater or a council estate in Liverpool

yeah, but you can get sick of lo fi on occasion. i find i like lo fi and hi fi recordings equally. sometimes all you really need is a nice punchy bass drum, fat bass lines and really nice classic guitar crunch to make yr blues go away. unless you're listening to the blues, that is.

 

[clonan attack]

If a song is really good, i wouldn't really care if it was lo-fi but then again you can't beat the squeeky clean sound of something as big as say Daft Punk so genre comes into it too.

Elliott Smiths least best albums are the most cleanly produced ones (Figure 8/Basement)....for example.

Then again i find it hard to listen to the whole first Beck record cos its so lo-fi but i know some people who love that one (one foot in the grave)

 

[Beanstalk]

...but then again you can't beat the squeeky clean sound of something as big as say Daft Punk...

I've been listening to "Homework" in the car all week...soooo good...I have it turned it up twice as loud as other albums and the kick pumps without the rest cutting my ears...class.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Songs, always.
Think anyone cares that Elvis stuff sounds kinda crappy?
Muddy Waters?
etc?

 

[MDR]

A lot of doo-wop stuff is quite rough and ready: one take with four guys standing around one mic - it all depends really. In older redordings it lends a certain verisimilitude (wanker), whereas on new recordings it can just sound sloppy.

I think poverty-induced lo-fi is morally superior to lo-fi caused by listening to too many scottish indie bands.

I spend $3m getting my first album to sound perfect and it paid off, as I got played on Newstalk at least once.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

the quality will obviously affect listening enjoyment however i think its the performance that counts - i'd rather listen to a poor recording of an excellent performace than an excellent recording of dull performance. i also think people will probably record to the best of their ability. if thats a dictaphone on the table then who cares. i think too that the recording process can knock the energy spontaneity out of the song. i give lo-fi the thumbs up. i give hi-fi the thumbs up too.

Personally it bad recording dosnt bother me, unless its really bad. Its the tune that counts. On the other hand few things annoy me more than an overproduced average song. Keep it simple.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

Songs, always.
Think anyone cares that Elvis stuff sounds kinda crappy?
Muddy Waters?
etc?

the echoy sounds on a lot of old rockabilly stuff is due to the crap equipment they had to use; still sound great