Use of the words "warm" and "punchy"

myphx · Post by **myphx** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:39 am

"Warm" and "Punchy" are the most overused words in recording (probably by amateurs who want to sound hip)...........So what do they really mean?

.......Give some examples of some recordings that you think sound either "warm" or "punchy".

....or both.

JASIII · Post by **JASIII** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:27 am

I think GBV's "Isolation Drills" sounds 'punchy'

So do the drums on any Shellac album.....

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:37 am

stewart copelands drums on 'ghost in the machine' are punchy, but police records sure aren't warm.

drums on breeders 'pod' are super punchy.

i hate the term 'colored' as much as either warm or punchy.

apropos of nothing · Post by **apropos of nothing** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 12:08 pm

Lynard Skynnard's Southern Rock Opera is both punchy and warm; It was tracked while drinking heavily in a uniform shop without air-conditioning in Burningham, Alabama during a heat-wave.

JASIII · Post by **JASIII** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 1:06 pm

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
drums on breeders 'pod' are super punchy.

Yeah, pretty much on anything Albini did, I'd say the drums sound 'punchy'. Ironic since he sort of started the "I hate the terms warm and punchy" routine.

DGoody · Post by **DGoody** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 7:33 pm

Punchy and warm?

Los Lobos - Colossal Head
Beck - Sea Change
Neil Young - On the Beach
T. Rex - The Slider
Elbow - Cast of Thousands

I think Albini's drums are neither warm nor punchy, myself..... but my tastes lie elsewhere......

Bedfordstop · Post by **Bedfordstop** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:20 am

Last weekend i was in the prospect park barbeque pit playing frisbee when an errant toss hit one of the locals in the head. I rushed over to apologize, but he wasn't having it. In a fit of rage, he reached into the grill and grabbed a burning coal. Closing his fist around it, steam whistling out as it burned into his flesh, he wheeled back and sent a roundhouse right hook smashing into the side of my face. The effect was both warm and punchy.

DGoody · Post by **DGoody** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:35 am

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!

I think that closes the warm and punchy topic!!!!

Fieryjack · Post by **Fieryjack** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:08 pm

yes, there is such thing as 'warm'.

Listen to the strings in Nick Drake's "way to blue"

johnny7 · Post by **johnny7** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:24 pm

Hey FIERYJACK!
Does this mean you are a Toy Dolls fan?

Johnny

sorry for sidetracking the thread...

japmn · Post by **japmn** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:32 pm

I used to do these sessions for visual art people who were taking sound classes. They were supposed to make "audio autobiographies" and they continuously use the worst ways to describe sound.

"hotter, no, not louder like it is getting hot" = Add 6dB of 5K
"Make it Red, green, purple, gold..." = I have no idea
"Sound like it is falling" (my favorite) = FADE OUT!

They never really seemed completely happy with what came out but I had no idea what they actually wanted. I question if the did either.

japmn · Post by **japmn** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:36 pm

DGoody wrote:

Beck - Sea Change

I think Albini's drums are neither warm nor punchy, myself..... but my tastes lie elsewhere......

I think Sea Change sounds like Late seventies / Early eighties Kenny Rogers... In a good way.

Also, Albinis drums sound icy and afraid of the dark with a hint of dirty orphan.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:14 pm

I shit thee negative, the review of Radikal Technologies' Spectralis synth in this month's Electronic Musician magazine includes the phrase "Warm, fat and punchy" in the Summary section.

BusyBoxSt7 · Post by **BusyBoxSt7** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:39 pm

WARM: acoustically speaking means that the lows in the reverb last longer than the highs (at least that's what some acoustics books say)... not having brittle highs or being spitty... lacking severe transient spikes...

PUNCHY: a powerful, quick transient sound often characterized by a controlled/shorter sustain and decay...quick= things like amps w/ lower noise floors and quick rise time tubes= "punchier" vs. a blues type amp w/ slower tubes. thus solid state is sometimes "punchier" because there aren't tubes to slow down rise time.

so the two could actually be kinda opposed to each other. 2 things that must be balanced against one another in many scenarios.

...one of the few studios in my area says, "We specialize in getting a warm, punchy, high impact sound that competes with cd's released on major record labels." hmm. using "specialize" and "major record label" seems oxymoronic.

MoreSpaceEcho · Post by **MoreSpaceEcho** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 12:59 pm

i hate the word 'compete' way more than either warm or punchy.

Message Board

Use of the words "warm" and "punchy"

Use of the words "warm" and "punchy"

let's try to define

Who is online