what makes a great recording to you?

[smopo24]

we all have our own taste in music, but songwriting and genre aside, what asthetically do you look for/find pleasing in a piece of music (production-wise)?

[GearJunkie]

Oddly enough, I listen for the snare as the first thing. I think a great drumset can be ruined by a crappy sounding snare.

I'm a big fan of odd ball production. If I hear another dual rectifier on another rock recording I might sit on top of a tall building with a high powered rifle. I've always been a big fan of multi-layered guitars with very different sounding amps. Have one track be a fender champ, the next, an old supro, the next a marshall JMP. You get so much more dynamics to your guitar tone that way. At least, that's how I've always recorded.

Drum "loops" I'm getting sick of, but weird percussion I'm all about. If you have a drummer playing a trashcan for a percussive verse track and then going back to the kit for the chorus, I'm all for that.

Production's a weird thing. I think it really varies from song to song. Some songs sound great with a TON of production on them. Some songs sound good being very lo-fi and stripped down. It's all about the mood you're trying to portray of the song.

[johnS]

I agree that drums are usually very telling. One sound I dig is the super-dry, papery, tape compression snare sound, like on Ziggy Stardust. Weirdly, that same snare sound cropped up on Beck's Sea Change a couple of years ago.

[dagosto]

Originally Posted by GearJunkie

If I hear another dual rectifier on another rock recording I might sit on top of a tall building with a high powered rifle.

2nded.

Production is really an album to album thing for me. I am all about content. Just like with movies or books I am a content guy. I like cohesive written songs within the context of a cohesively thought out album. The sound should reflect the thrust of the project. I like clear full sounding recordings a lot, but I also like vintage sounding stuff depending on the content.

Think about the difference between Weezer's first two albums. The Blue Album was essentially a pop record with some talent. The production was clean and slick. Then there is Pinkerton which is more of a "laying you're soul out for all to see" record. The production is much more raw on this record and very appropriate.

Sorry about turning this into an aesthetic thread.

[johnS]

I also like the kitchen sink approach, if it's done well. The last Pavement album I thought was a great leap forward in that regard, and the Malkmus solo albums are that way, too. Really eclectic parts, recorded in a distinctive way, that somehow all fit together. It's all in the recording and arrangement, and there is obviously a real art to it. Jon Brion seems to be a master of this approach, too.

[dolivas]

I love the sound of natural distortion and clipping on recordings from the late 60s early 70s. I guess for me as long as I hear a clear bass thump and clear drums im good to go. The most important thing though is that it sound realistic not ultra clear or smooth like recordings are nowadays which makes you know right off the bat some "tone-wizard" was spending all day doing acoustics tests, making sure the mic placement was set just at the right angle, that there weren't any reflections coming from the drums snare.. you know just bull**** stuff audio tech guys care about and most people could care less, I know I do.

I know audio guys do a lot cleaning up and making sure music sounds right but I mean if you're freakin Fela Kuti and the Africa 70 you've just got 2 mics capturing some of the hardest funk you've ever heard and it sounds flier than 300 mics capturing freakin Luther Vandross hogging it up.

[GearJunkie]

Originally Posted by dolivas

I love the sound of natural distortion and clipping on recordings from the late 60s early 70s. I guess for me as long as I hear a clear bass thump and clear drums im good to go. The most important thing though is that it sound realistic not ultra clear or smooth like recordings are nowadays which makes you know right off the bat some "tone-wizard" was spending all day doing acoustics tests, making sure the mic placement was set just at the right angle, that there weren't any reflections coming from the drums snare.. you know just bull**** stuff audio tech guys care about and most people could care less, I know I do.

I know audio guys do a lot cleaning up and making sure music sounds right but I mean if you're freakin Fela Kuti and the Africa 70 you've just got 2 mics capturing some of the hardest funk you've ever heard and it sounds flier than 300 mics capturing freakin Luther Vandross hogging it up.

Amen. dolivas for president.

[lukedavo]

IMO, good, clear, concise, natural sound. I don't care if the song is shitty, most are, but if the recording sounds like the instruments natural character, and that character is captured clearly, I believe its a good recording.

[puffpastry]

I want everything to be in phase.

[Professor Riffs]

I just wish more people would remember the mids.