"Pop style has stopped happening"...

general questions, comments and ideas about recording, audio, music, etc.
Knights Who Say Neve
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by Knights Who Say Neve » Fri Dec 17, 2004 3:41 pm

sserendipity wrote: in order to get anything done, you need to begin with the end in mind
That's exactly the problem! On old school gear you could just turn knobs and find cool sounds...and with a little experience you could get into the guts of stuff and really twist it. Now you have to have a goal in mind to not get lost. Can you get into the guts of a digital synth? I don't have the time to learn computer programming...My ideas are never half as good when they come from a pre-concieved goal, as when I can be improvisational and react to a moment's inspiration.

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bobbydj
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by bobbydj » Fri Dec 17, 2004 3:49 pm

johnny7 wrote:I think back to these fine lyrics

"Freedom of choice is what you got
Freedom from choice is what you want"
Oh yah. I mean, I'm sitting here and I'm thinking hmmm - FET 47? U87? Or - uhm - PZM?
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inverseroom
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by inverseroom » Fri Dec 17, 2004 4:39 pm

thethingwiththestuff wrote:doesnt the grammar in that numan quote make anyone else cringe?
You're kidding, what's the matter with it?

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johnny7
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by johnny7 » Fri Dec 17, 2004 5:05 pm

sserendipity wrote:
logancircle wrote:That's why we gotsta gotsta follow the Tapeop mantra of do what sounds good. Don't stop till it sounds really good, but once it does you can move on. No need to say, "Yeah this sounds really good, but it might sound really good in M-S, too," unless you like spending hours and hours on trying to make a very good piano sound reach a celestial fantasy sound. Maybe we should say, Reach for the stars, but stop once it sounds good.
I disagree. I say, don't start till it sounds good, but don't waste your time on the wild goose chase for perfection.
But, if you are not experimenting, then you are doing things by rote. Is that not the opposite of creating? The other day I was set to record a guitar part and I had a feeling that the tele through the standel would be perfect, but that is my most tried and true set-up. So, instead I went through various combinations of four guitars and five or six amps and ended up full circle -tele/standel. But if I hadn't of tried those combos ,I wouldn't have known...

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Karlos the Jackal
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by Karlos the Jackal » Sun Dec 19, 2004 4:07 am

Has anyone seen the documentary "The Five Obstructions"? It came out on DVD a couple of months ago.

In it, director Lars von Trier challenges another filmaker (Jorgen Leth) to remake Leth's own 1967 short film five times, with a different set of obstructions each time. For instance, in the first one, Leth must shoot in Cuba with no constructed sets, and each shot can only be half a second long.

Von Trier grows frustrated throughout the film as Leth overcomes the obstacles and continues to make excellent versions of the film. One of the more difficult obstacles occurs when von Trier challenges Leth to remake the film with no obstacles at all, with complete free reign. Leth complains that this is unfair!

Anyway. I dunno how on-topic this is, but I thought it was a great film, and actually inspiring to my own creative process. Check it out.

--K

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inverseroom
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by inverseroom » Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:11 am

Karlos the Jackal wrote:Has anyone seen the documentary "The Five Obstructions"? It came out on DVD a couple of months ago.
As someone who adores high-concept structural-challenge art, I am all the hell over that.

phantom power
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by phantom power » Sun Dec 19, 2004 12:42 pm

Sserendipity,

I don't know why but, the word "romplers" made me lose it. I think I'm gonna change my username. -AE

joel hamilton
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by joel hamilton » Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:43 pm

With a million options, it certainly smokes out the people with bad taste in the world.

We always have a million options in a million facets of our lives, people with good taste seem to make better choices than people without.

This brings us back around to the "can I make an awesome record with a four track?" question.

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JGriffin
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by JGriffin » Sun Dec 19, 2004 7:48 pm

inverseroom" wrote:
Karlos the Jackal wrote:Has anyone seen the documentary "The Five Obstructions"? It came out on DVD a couple of months ago.
As someone who adores high-concept structural-challenge art, I am all the hell over that.

As much as Lars Von Trier kinda pisses me off, I really enjoyed that film.
"Jeweller, you've failed. Jeweller."

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shedshrine
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by shedshrine » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:52 am

llmonty wrote:i agree with some of this as well, but creating artifical rules about options seems pretty dopey to me.

right now i am going through something similar - i need more time and space than i need gear these days. While it would be great to have a multi-pattern mic, tube pre, upgrade puter sw, and all sorts of effects, i really have enough to do what i need to do. i just need the time to do it.

this thread and the cheap gear thread got me thinking about this.

i get comments all the time about how great some of my 1st recordings sound - that were done with the stock soundcard on my laptop, a sm58, art mp pre. but i feel like the ideas and performances being recorded were good to begin with.

some of my newer stuff - i had less time, more gear = something i am not happy with.
That's me also. I got so exited by my first forrays into 4 track cassette recording with just one effects unit (korg a3), a beyer dynamic mic , a boogie studio pre (!) and an sr-16 that I thought, wow, how about I get more/better gear! That led to the mackie 1604 and a black face adat. Which led to the Mac G4 with the Digi 002. and a small rack of other amassed gear.Somehow, as the rig size and complexity increased, I obtained a spouse and a child and no time and some "exquisitely" recorded so so music. But I will always be in love with the process, the gear, and reading about others who do the same thing. Thanks for all the great responses.

In the immortal words of Gary Numan: "here in my car, I feel safest of all, I can lock all my doors, it's the only way to live,..."

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wedge
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Re: "Pop style has stopped happening"...

Post by wedge » Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:50 am

Joel Hamilton wrote:people with good taste seem to make better choices than people without.
Word!

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