The Obligatory Fake-Out Lo-Fi Intro, is it Cliche Yet?

[trodden]

The only time this ever worked for me was Minor Threat's classic cover version of Stepping Stone.

totally.

[JASIII]

Dynamic mixing seems to be more important than ever now that the mixes are getting crushed at the final stage. It probably is getting cliched, but there are a limited number of ways to make the current forms of music sound dynamic while being super squashed.

Bingo. I think this sums it up. And as a technique it is cliche and it sucks in the first place.

[wrenhunter]

No, not at all. I think this technique is completely valid and also TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!

[???????]

maybe we should make a list and see how many major label releases have used the technique.

I seem to remember the first track of "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" did that. Of course it was probably still relatively fresh then.

On the Joni Mitchell record "Blue" there's one track where that happens in the middle, and I don't remember which one. It's sort of word-painting something in the lyrics about a jukebox or stereo or telephone or something, if I remember right. That certainly had a reason for existing so it gets a pass for sure.

[tateeskew]

Check out the opener to Barkmarket's album L Ron. I think they kinda finished off the whole technique with that intro. It's perfect.

-marc alan goodman

yes, i love this track. incredible dynamics. it just kills. what a fucking cool sounding album this was.

[logancircle]

I don't think it's as much a surprise techniques as it is a fade-in, like the establishing shot in a movie which often has an affected feel to it, that changes once the actualy movie begins. You wouldn't want it to happen more than maybe once in a movie/record, then it would get annoying, but I don't think it's annoyingly cliched.

[roygbiv]

Does it count if it starts lo-fi and then, well, gets slightly higher?

I'm thinking of a cool track on the Liars first album "They threw us all in a Trench and stuck a monument on top" (circa 2001).

The track ("The Garden was crowded and Outside") starts with lo-fi typewriter clacking away.

This lil' rhythmic ditty is soon accompanied by a Bonham-esque simple drum beat, which was recorded on a little monophonic cassette recorder.

After ~ 30s, this yields to a full version of the song. Cliche I guess, but I still think it sounds pretty cool. 'specially if your good and buzzed.

[apropos of nothing]

Wish You Were Here. I'm pretty sure there must be a track off of American Prayer that does this. Don't one or two of the Beatles tracks do something similar? Its just a different version of the soloed ostinato, isn't it?

[fossiltooth]

Sure, the lo-fi intro sctick is a bit of an overused trick, but not quite as overused as a 16th-note hi-hat disco beat section in the middle of an indie rock song. I don't think it's gotten to that point of being totally nauseating and contrived yet.

Grandiose changes in mood, feel, tempo or sonic landscape will always be with us.

Is it an attempt to lower the listener's expectations to make the regular mix sound better by comparison?

I think this is one of the primary reasons we hear this. There is no big without small. Lo-fi intros can definitely make ok mixes sound better by comparison... at least for the next 16 bars or so.

[LVC_Jeff]

It's about as cliche'd as a reversed cymbal crash and then a short pause before the first chord of a metalcore song

But I enjoy them both. Cliches can sound good. Depends on the record and the band.

[Mane1234]

I hadn't thought about it being an official cliche yet but I've tried to stop thinking about music in those terms because especially with pop/rock music it's all cliche and it's all been done a zillion times. It's a formula. Just like someone else pointed out the whole I IV V chord progression. I've done the lo-fi vocal/guitar intro technique three or four times recently and it didn't make me cringe so at least in those cases it helped more than it hurt but it was their choice so I just did what I was told. Usually by the time we're at the mixing stage I can give an honest opinion and if I think it sucks then I'll speak up but ultimately I'll do whatever I'm told to do.

Thanks for mentioning Barkmarket I'd forgotten how good they were. Used to see them out in Philly, always loved the name.
And hellyea it works on Stepping Stone.....I just finished a book about the history of American Hardcore music. Great great stuff.....

[RefD]

I intend to have ten seconds of glorious full spectrum ROCK at the beginning of my next record, followed by 45 minutes of transistor radio static.

*steals this idea*

*fails to make anything entertaining out of it*

[cgarges]

Like many "engineering gimmicks," I'll say yes.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[msmith]

I think its like everything else in music....Theres only 12 notes...That doesnt mean that there are songs that dont still surprise and move me....Creativity, context, and connection....

[cgarges]

Yeah, but this isn't like the possibilities involved in organizing those twelve notes (assuming standard western harmonic thinking) into something. This is a specific technique.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC