Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

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markjazzbassist
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Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by markjazzbassist » Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:23 am

I really hate the modern trend of the super bright condensers on drum overheads and the drums mixed like your head is stationed next to the cymbals (overheads running hot). i don't want to hear that. listen to a james brown record, hear how the drums don't have a ton of super high end content yet are still the focal point, i want that.

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by kslight » Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:33 am

I hate it when someone has tried to pan or otherwise duplicate effect a single mono guitar part across the stereo field, sounds like my ears are in a vacuum. I have someone who will do this with his guitar parts, like 3 or 4 duplicate tracks. Just play it again, fool (it’s not complicated parts either..)

This may just come down to more production / genre aesthetic choices than recording techniques, but I’m not a fan of heavily sample - replaced drums, and it’s a cliche to complain about it, but the cliche of excessive auto-tune application. Seriously don’t get the appeal of sounding like every other person that’s doing the same effect. It’s just so tired to me, not interesting when everyone is doing it, like gated reverb I guess.



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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by losthighway » Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:55 am

I don't really love the new standard definition of 'hi fi' rock drums that sound like they're in a surreal, digitized space that doesn't sound like it actually exists (think ultra hip, L.A. or NYC indie rock with new wave influence). I'm impressed that someone has the technique to create a virtual soundscape out of a drum performance, but I still prefer the sound of drums in a room (real or fake), be that room live or dead or somewhere in between. When I hear a lot of fancy mixes I can't help but think that there is no performance where the drummer's drums actually sound like that.

If you don't know what I'm talking about I can probably find examples.

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by Magnetic Services » Mon Apr 05, 2021 12:17 pm

Really unnecessarily DEEP-sounding snares, especially with roomy, Albini-style ambience. I used to listen to a lot of post-rock/math-rock stuff and it seemed like every record had this kind of sound, often when a smaller, snappier snare would have been the right choice.

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by losthighway » Mon Apr 05, 2021 12:24 pm

Magnetic Services wrote:
Mon Apr 05, 2021 12:17 pm
Really unnecessarily DEEP-sounding snares, especially with roomy, Albini-style ambience. I used to listen to a lot of post-rock/math-rock stuff and it seemed like every record had this kind of sound, often when a smaller, snappier snare would have been the right choice.
Maybe it was an overcorrection in response to the metal piccolo sounds of both 311 and nu metal bands.

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Mon Apr 05, 2021 12:26 pm

I greatly miss hearing mistakes. They make things sound exciting and are often the coolest part of the recording.

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by Zacharia Matilda » Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:56 pm

This is more if a mixing technique, but I hate songs that end with the backing track dropping out and the singer crawling inside your ears and getting all breath-y and stuff. I miss fade-outs (as well as mistakes).

It used to drive me crazy as a kid when the dj would dare to interrupt the fade on “Every Breath You Take” before Sting would flex the melody a little higher when he sang the final “watching you”. That song really leant itself to a great fade, but I digress.
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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by drumsound » Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:32 pm

I feel like drum replacement has become so obvious and ridiculous. I want to hear how the player played their instrument.

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by vvv » Tue Apr 06, 2021 12:03 am

I hate the ubiquitous basketball kick sound.
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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by Rodgre » Tue Apr 06, 2021 5:51 am

I guess I get tired of clients who aren't really thinking forward and ask for things that were cliches 25 years ago, like the "telephone" vocal effect. I am also a little tired of the sidechain compression from the kick drum pumping the whole mix thing. It was a neat trick at one time, but it's the new "Cher extreme autotune" effect (even referencing Cher is dating me) and it's just so tired by this point.

I suppose I just grow tired of gimmicks that become popular for a while and then get long in the tooth and overused.

You can't argue with a great straightforward production with a good arrangement and good sounds (and a great song). You don't need the gimmicks.

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by roscoenyc » Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:32 am

When somebody starts going on about the "fabulous analog sound" of a cassette!

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by losthighway » Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:49 am

roscoenyc wrote:
Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:32 am
When somebody starts going on about the "fabulous analog sound" of a cassette!
Or when someone starts gushing about how they just bought a 1/2" 8 track 'reel-to-reel' that will sound as gorgeous as a Pink Floyd record.

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:21 am

roscoenyc wrote:
Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:32 am
When somebody starts going on about the "fabulous analog sound" of a cassette!
I have an irrational love of cassette formats and love it's "fabulous analog sound". That said, I'll be the first to admit that it's a limited and crappy analog sound and is so far removed from the real deal that it shouldn't even be considered related. It does have its charms though.

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by standup » Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:00 am

I still record to 4-track cassettes because it’s fun. Especially collab’ing with others by dropping a cassette in the mail.

If I want fidelity I use the DAW.

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Re: Recording Trends/Techniques that drive you nuts

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:19 am

losthighway wrote:
Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:55 am
If you don't know what I'm talking about I can probably find examples.
I know exactly what you're talking about but I'd like examples anyway!

I don't like drum samples any more than anyone else, but at least now people have learned to mix them correctly. I remember back around 2006, hearing lots of mixes where the drum samples were a good 6db too loud, just pounding away, 40 feet in front of the rest of the mix.

At the other end of the spectrum, for awhile now I've been wondering what's up with the crazy midrange drum sounds on some indie rock records, like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xeg3WOY7mW0

(btw I know that as the closing music on "Difficult People", highly recommend that show, so funny, shame it got cancelled after 3 seasons). I don't actually mind that sort of thing, as I've always liked more mids on my drums than the norm, but having grown up in the scooped out 80s it's just funny to me.

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