using gear's color to your advantage

[floid]

so, in a recent thread joel hamilton was talking about the ways in which he used variations of the dbx 160 to his advantage, like the darker one on a synth and the brighter one on a mandolin. which got me thinking, you could just as easily go the other way around, depending on whether or not you wanted to de/emphasize tendencies inherent to the sound source. the same thing goes for any stage in the recording process, really; and i suppose it's a pretty basic concept, but perhaps one that bears repeating.
i guess it caught my attention because my usual tendency is to pair opposites: dark voice? use a bright mic. flubby bass? use a tight pre. I've always thought of it as checks and balances, keeping what i like about a sound without letting it get out of hand...but maybe that's just keeping my sounds a tad bland.
thoughts?

[Fletcher]

Here's a thought... there are no rules!!! As you progress with the craft you will learn how to use the tools to best compliment your sense of aestetic and your perception of the client's sense of aesthetic to create a presentation that supports the musical statement of the artist while pleasing yourself with the work you've done.

The music is the music... what we do is to try to translate the client's music to the best of our ability so it suits the clien'ts musical statement. If they hear things "dark" then you should strive to give them the best interpretation of "dark" you can while not losing the essence and emotion of the music... if they hear things "bright" then you should endeavor to help the artist create a presentation of their music that is "bright" while not being thin or losing the power and emotion of their music.

Serve the music and you'll be in high demand and love the shit out of your career... try to muscle the music around and it'll come back to bite you in the ass everytime [it took me well over a decade to figure that out!!].

Peace.

[JASIII]

so, in a recent thread joel hamilton was talking about the ways in which he used variations of the dbx 160 to his advantage, like the darker one on a synth and the brighter one on a mandolin. which got me thinking, you could just as easily go the other way around, depending on whether or not you wanted to de/emphasize tendencies inherent to the sound source. the same thing goes for any stage in the recording process, really; and i suppose it's a pretty basic concept, but perhaps one that bears repeating.
i guess it caught my attention because my usual tendency is to pair opposites: dark voice? use a bright mic. flubby bass? use a tight pre. I've always thought of it as checks and balances, keeping what i like about a sound without letting it get out of hand...but maybe that's just keeping my sounds a tad bland.
thoughts?

I think you are right. I sometimes pair opposites too.

[drumsound]

I think Fletcher hit the nail on the head.

[PublicMelody]

Here's a thought... there are no rules!!!

OK, no rules. I got it!


...except for this one:

If they hear things "dark" then you should strive to give them the best interpretation of "dark" you can while not losing the essence and emotion of the music... if they hear things "bright" then you should endeavor to help the artist create a presentation of their music that is "bright" while not being thin or losing the power and emotion of their music.

...and this one:

Serve the music and you'll be in high demand and love the shit out of your career... try to muscle the music around and it'll come back to bite you in the ass everytime [it took me well over a decade to figure that out!!].

[PublicMelody]

I like the topic of this thread, BTW.

One heuristic that I've found very useful is from Mike Stavrou's (sp?) Mixing With Your Mind. He describes hard and soft sources and microphones. The notion is that opposites attract (i.e., use a soft mic on a hard source and vice-versa).

It has taken me a while to understand what he means by "hard" and "soft" (no boner jokes, please), but it has been a real eye opener, since.

Example: fiddle (hard), ribbon mic (soft)
Example: banjo (soft), Beyer MC930 (hard)

Come mix-down, the tracks sit so much nicer without major processing or fader moves.

[joel hamilton]

The subtleties of response in gear choices as a reaction to the source is an ever evolving process.

Notice the cyclical love affairs we all have with certain pieces of gear... because it is "perfect" for a session, and not perfect for the next.

You are the most important part of the chain.

there are no "opposites."