The "All 57 Song"

John Jeffers · Post by **John Jeffers** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:53 am

ubertar wrote:To expect people on this board to be impressed by a decent sounding recording made with sm57s is to not understand what this board is about. If George Martin came over here with that attitude, he'd be a noob. Tape Op is supposed to be about the DIY attitude-- making the most out of what you've got... getting a workable sound from less than top-of-the-line equipment is par for the course. Yeah, so the recording sounds pretty good. There's nothing astonishing about that. Maybe on other boards where everybody's got Neves and Neumanns growing out of their butts there's something shocking about that. Not here. It's a given that you can make a good recording with a 57. So what are we going to focus on? The song.

I don't know, man...I have to disagree here. I totally get what you mean about TapeOp being DIY-focused, but this is the "Gear Talk" forum, so it seems obvious what the discussion should be about. Whether you like the song or not should be irrelevant. If this thread was in "Listen To My Stuff", then I'd say you have a point, but in here, not so much.

ubertar · Post by **ubertar** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:57 am

John Jeffers wrote:I don't know, man...I have to disagree here. I totally get what you mean about TapeOp being DIY-focused, but this is the "Gear Talk" forum, so it seems obvious what the discussion should be about. Whether you like the song or not should be irrelevant. If this thread was in "Listen To My Stuff", then I'd say you have a point, but in here, not so much.

Fair enough, but these categories haven't been around very long, and I know some of us feel them as stifling and counter-productive. A lot of us are used to and miss "general recording". I pretty much only use the "mega-board" and pretend it's still GR.

John Jeffers · Post by **John Jeffers** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:02 pm

ubertar wrote:Fair enough, but these categories haven't been around very long, and I know some of us feel them as stifling and counter-productive. A lot of us are used to and miss "general recording". I pretty much only use the "mega-board" and pretend it's still GR.

Hey, I was used to GR, too--check my signup date. I've actually been around longer than you, I just don't post as much.

But this is how the board ops have decided to do it, so I respect their decision. I pretty much only use the Megaboard too, but I pay attention to where I'm posting.

Wow, that sounds kind of snarky. I don't mean it that way...no disrespect intended.

joeysimms · Post by **joeysimms** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:08 pm

A textbook example of why the 80 billion separate forums here is silly..To say 'hey, we're discussing gear here, how dare you talk about the song' is just wrong on every level. Do you care what canvas was used on a painting that does not speak to you? Will it matter if the artist used a 'gizmo' brush?? wft? How about the amazing book binding and graphics on a poopy novel, are you studying that?

ubertar · Post by **ubertar** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:12 pm

I don't like the way people just jumped on the guy-- that's not cool. But posting categories aside, I think it comes from two things:

1. this came out of nowhere, it wasn't posted by someone we have any context for... so it's essentially anonymous. people will be more free with their opinions when that's the case (though that's not an excuse for what happened here).

2. up until a couple years ago, the only two mics I had were a 57 and a chinese condenser (PPA LD-1). I think some of what I did then still holds up. I'd guess that 90% of people here started the same way. when i first saw the thread title, i thought, "yeah, so what". i didn't click on the thread until it was several pages long and i had heard there was some sort of controversy. if he got a good sound with all radio shack mics and a behringer mixer, i might be impressed.

John Jeffers · Post by **John Jeffers** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:26 pm

joeysimms wrote:A textbook example of why the 80 billion separate forums here is silly..To say 'hey, we're discussing gear here, how dare you talk about the song' is just wrong on every level. Do you care what canvas was used on a painting that does not speak to you? Will it matter if the artist used a 'gizmo' brush?? wft? How about the amazing book binding and graphics on a poopy novel, are you studying that?

There is an important difference between your emotional connection to a song and its technical merits.

I might hear a song that's been recorded perfectly, and is sonically amazing, but I can't stand to listen to because it's a style that I don't like. I can still appreciate and objectively discuss the technical wizardry that went into it. The opposite should also be true. Two different focuses, two different forums. Should someone who may be working in an unpopular style be unable to get advice on recording techniques because the majority doesn't like the song?

And to have a little fun with your example, maybe there is a forum somewhere where people discuss different types of book bindings. To be totally honest with you, I *do* occasionally buy books based on their bindings. There's a publisher of computer books (O'Reilly) that uses a binding that allows the book to lay open flat, and not close up on you when you're trying to read it and you need your hands free for typing. When there are multiple options on the same topic, I'll often choose the O'Reilly book for this reason. So there.

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 1:06 pm

I threw up on the bar last night and didn't get kicked out. Secret Chiefs and Sleepy time were great.

JohnDavisNYC · Post by **JohnDavisNYC** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 1:21 pm

thanks for bringing it back on topic, trodden...

john

ubertar · Post by **ubertar** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 1:29 pm

ubertar wrote:
kid-surf wrote:PS.... You can find me at the beach... I surf Malibu. Helps to live in LA though.
Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

Damn, a whole page has gone by, and not one person has chimed in with, "This shit don't PLAY in L.A. homies"??

I'm disappointed with all of you.

Madguitrst · Post by **Madguitrst** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 1:47 pm

Now you ladies

are getting back into the spirit!

BTW, I like your stuff a lot uberstar.

ubertar · Post by **ubertar** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 1:54 pm

John Jeffers wrote:be unable to get advice on recording techniques

but that's not what was happening here. he wasn't asking for recording advice-- he wanted to show off how great his friend was that he could make something that sounded good with just some poor, lowly 57s.

and thanks, madguitarist.

John Jeffers · Post by **John Jeffers** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:02 pm

ubertar wrote:
John Jeffers wrote:be unable to get advice on recording techniques
but that's not what was happening here. he wasn't asking for recording advice-- he wanted to show off how great his friend was that he could make something that sounded good with just some poor, lowly 57s.

I was speaking generally, but OK, you win!

ubertar · Post by **ubertar** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:12 pm

JohnDavisNYC · Post by **JohnDavisNYC** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 3:05 pm

ok... so... i think that this could become a positive thing here if everyone now tried to make a song that sounds as good as or better than kelly's song... i have a few days off this week and will give it a shot... my song will probably suck, too. but anyway.. i'm going to impose the restrictions of only 2 57s, and one type of preamp. hell, i'll even mix it in the box to keep it as fair as possible (a Sta Level sounds pretty good on almost anything... kinda not fair compared to the VS plugins)

ok... so... coming soon... i'll try to do it tomorrow.

cheers,
john

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 3:18 pm

ubertar wrote:. if he got a good sound with all radio shack mics and a behringer mixer, i might be impressed.

Okay, that's my next project then.

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The "All 57 Song"

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