The Velvet Underground Sounds

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Red Rockets Glare
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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by Red Rockets Glare » Fri Sep 10, 2004 9:28 am


slowcolors
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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by slowcolors » Sat Sep 11, 2004 3:25 pm

overdrive the f@!% out of all your equipment starting with the amp

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by jach » Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:55 pm

slowcolors wrote:overdrive the f@!% out of all your equipment starting with the amp
Well, thats a bit of a stereotype of their sound. VU have great clean sounds on many of their songs. What I was wondering is how they got that sort of dulled sound on their self-titled album(grey photo not banana)? I really love that album's sound.

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by potsandpans » Fri Feb 11, 2005 3:20 am

flood the tape, of course.. but also watch the treble.. I remember an interview with Lou expressing his dislike for cymbals.. or high end in general..
Also, it was a jazz label that was recording zappa at the same time... focus on the midrange..and hack everything from 5k on up.

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by jeddypoo » Fri Feb 11, 2005 6:41 am

Yup, all good suggestions. I may not be the most professional recordist here, but one thing I know a lot about is getting THAT sound. You know what? Experiment with a 4-track. Cassette, I mean. As far as I can tell, a cassette four-track with at least 8 bounced tracks on it comes closer to replicate those old boards, mics, and tape than anything else. I'm totally serious- I know it sounds like bullshit. Try it.
I find adherence to fantasy troubling and unreasonable.

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by Girl Toes » Fri Feb 11, 2005 8:07 am

potsandpans wrote:flood the tape, of course.. but also watch the treble.. I remember an interview with Lou expressing his dislike for cymbals.. or high end in general..
Also, it was a jazz label that was recording zappa at the same time... focus on the midrange..and hack everything from 5k on up.
Yeah, who was the guy who produced it??? I forget his name, but all his other credits were for jazz.

Look into see what Verve was using in those days for their jazz artists, and you'll have your sound.

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by jeddypoo » Fri Feb 11, 2005 8:15 am

Verve was the label. Tom Wilson (who also did a bunch of Dylan) produced.
I find adherence to fantasy troubling and unreasonable.

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by I'm Painting Again » Fri Feb 11, 2005 8:43 am

I got the 180g White Light not too long ago..I put it on yesterday and fell asleep on a leather couch..i fell asleep to Sister Ray and woke up and it still hadn't ended..

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by soundguy » Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:56 am

the sound on those early VU records is the sound of the band in the room. Get your band to sound like that when you jam and then you can make a recording of it and you'll be close to that idea. Its pretty mcuh that simple, dont cloud yourself with where to set an EQ or what mic to use to the point where you miss this idea completely. The band just sounded like that, some other guy just recorded it.

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by Girl Toes » Fri Feb 11, 2005 1:04 pm

soundguy wrote:the sound on those early VU records is the sound of the band in the room. Get your band to sound like that when you jam and then you can make a recording of it and you'll be close to that idea. Its pretty mcuh that simple, dont cloud yourself with where to set an EQ or what mic to use to the point where you miss this idea completely. The band just sounded like that, some other guy just recorded it.

davve
Yes, yes, its all the band. But, particularly on Nico, there is a very warm, lo-fi sound to it that rules. The approach to it seems more that of a jazz band than a rock band, kind of Getz/Gilberto-y, recorded for Vereve a few years earlier. Its totally the Verve sound.

BTW, Nico's Chelsea Girls??? Awesome.

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by jach » Fri Feb 11, 2005 3:01 pm

potsandpans wrote:flood the tape, of course.. but also watch the treble.. I remember an interview with Lou expressing his dislike for cymbals.. or high end in general..
Also, it was a jazz label that was recording zappa at the same time... focus on the midrange..and hack everything from 5k on up.
Yeah this is interesting. theres nothing too high pitch on that first record. the highest it goes is with the viola on venus and furs. and a viola has a lower register than violin. i find a lot of stuff that is recorded right now is exhausting to listen to. it is so high pitch in places. it causes fatigue and you have to turn it off. also, cassette four-track could be the way to go. i heard somewhere that the cassette four-tracks that are manufactured now are better in terms of sound then that telefunken or whatever that the beatles were using.

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by Girl Toes » Fri Feb 11, 2005 3:09 pm

jach wrote:
potsandpans wrote: i heard somewhere that the cassette four-tracks that are manufactured now are better in terms of sound then that telefunken or whatever that the beatles were using.
On cassette?? That's ridiculous. The parts are cheaper than ever.

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by soundguy » Fri Feb 11, 2005 3:37 pm

Girl Toes wrote:
soundguy wrote:the sound on those early VU records is the sound of the band in the room. Get your band to sound like that when you jam and then you can make a recording of it and you'll be close to that idea. Its pretty mcuh that simple, dont cloud yourself with where to set an EQ or what mic to use to the point where you miss this idea completely. The band just sounded like that, some other guy just recorded it.

davve
Yes, yes, its all the band. But, particularly on Nico, there is a very warm, lo-fi sound to it that rules. The approach to it seems more that of a jazz band than a rock band, kind of Getz/Gilberto-y, recorded for Vereve a few years earlier. Its totally the Verve sound.

BTW, Nico's Chelsea Girls??? Awesome.
again, its the band. Jazz guy makes the record and jazz guy has them turn their amps down. Their reaction of course was getting rid of warhols pop add on Nico, turrning the amps back to 10 and letting all hell break loose on white light white heat.

Whatever recording gear credit you want to give these recordings, its of course valid but really insignificant when you consider the style that most engineers brought to recordings in the late 60's. Sure, knowing about the gear has a place, but unless your band sounds like that in the room, anything you know about the gear becomes irrelevannt real fast. Its my thought that if your band sounds that cool in the room you arent looking to the gear to make it sound cooler in the first place, you are just recording because it sounds so cool. This is all the people back then did. Work on making your sounds before the mic sound the way you want them to sound on the record and it will be a whole lot easier to get done what you need after the mic. This of course is the logical approach, dont let me ruin all the fun with reason.

dave
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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by honkyjonk » Fri Feb 11, 2005 3:46 pm

potsandpans wrote:

i heard somewhere that the cassette four-tracks that are manufactured now are better in terms of sound then that telefunken or whatever that the beatles were using.


On cassette?? That's ridiculous. The parts are cheaper than ever.
_________________


Maybe he meant the little Tascam handheld digital jobs that are always on the back page of guitar player magazine.
Now those truly are better than those big silly machines the Beatles were using.
The add says so.

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Re: The Velvet Underground Sounds

Post by Slider » Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:10 am

soundguy wrote:
Girl Toes wrote:
soundguy wrote:the sound on those early VU records is the sound of the band in the room. Get your band to sound like that when you jam and then you can make a recording of it and you'll be close to that idea. Its pretty mcuh that simple, dont cloud yourself with where to set an EQ or what mic to use to the point where you miss this idea completely. The band just sounded like that, some other guy just recorded it.

davve
Yes, yes, its all the band. But, particularly on Nico, there is a very warm, lo-fi sound to it that rules. The approach to it seems more that of a jazz band than a rock band, kind of Getz/Gilberto-y, recorded for Vereve a few years earlier. Its totally the Verve sound.

BTW, Nico's Chelsea Girls??? Awesome.
again, its the band. Jazz guy makes the record and jazz guy has them turn their amps down. Their reaction of course was getting rid of warhols pop add on Nico, turrning the amps back to 10 and letting all hell break loose on white light white heat.

Whatever recording gear credit you want to give these recordings, its of course valid but really insignificant when you consider the style that most engineers brought to recordings in the late 60's. Sure, knowing about the gear has a place, but unless your band sounds like that in the room, anything you know about the gear becomes irrelevannt real fast. Its my thought that if your band sounds that cool in the room you arent looking to the gear to make it sound cooler in the first place, you are just recording because it sounds so cool. This is all the people back then did. Work on making your sounds before the mic sound the way you want them to sound on the record and it will be a whole lot easier to get done what you need after the mic. This of course is the logical approach, dont let me ruin all the fun with reason.

dave
I believe Tom Wilson was not around for most of the recording of the "Nico" album. I thought he was focused mostly on "sunday morning" as a single.
Anyway I love these records.
The recording techniques are really nothing special, happy accidents really.
You love the records, and the sound becomes part of why you love them, even though they sound grainy and distorted.
It's all in the band and songs.
White light white heat is a jumbled mess.
They were way loud, and everything is bleeding through and overloaded.
The engineer was clueless of how to deal with it.
Still a great record.

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