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Good question I hate the auto-tune sound. But I do love the rich mono raw sound from 60's and 70's is it pure just listen to Donovan on vinyl any album he made in 60's to 70's is breathtaking, especially through headphones with volume control etc I recommend trying it. Cosmic Wheels, H.M.S Donovan and Catch The Wind brings them to a new life without the pointless remastering.
Bedroom producers may well be to blame, if you’re wearing all the hats, melody writing, lyric writing, singing, rapping, effectively “playing” all of the instruments, engineering, producing, mixing and mastering... it’s got to suffer. Using samples or templates can’t help either as they may be professionally played but that doesn’t mean they’ll work in every song you drop ‘em in.
The Simon & Garfunkel documentary recently showed other musicians being drafted in to play acoustic guitar (where you’d expect Paul to do this), piano, bass etc. and the thought of it being engineered or produced by them would probably have been laughable.
I guess there are a few reasons but at the end of the day it all boils down to money.
Indeed K - you're right; add to that the fact that, having eliminated the element of filter - and the process of publishers and record labels deciding whether to spend large sums releasing and promoting it; and giving no critical feedback to the artistes, the quality of so much subtly declines.
It's great that anyone can create, make and release anything. It's great that it can be played anywhere. But there are huge downsides too. Genuine talent gets ignored and is rarely encouraged to improve and develop.
I have listened to quite a few recent big name dance releases and they are pretty poor in terms of production, there is no energy in the drum track and the processing and techniques used are all wrong obviously energy is vital for a dance drum track. I have noticed that more and more tracks are being made with VST software instruments and they just dont generate the same amount of presence or slam as their hardware counterparts leaving a rather thin sound.
I really do hanker after the rich and full analogue sound productions of yesteryear, I dont think digital mediums are really suited to music production.
I still love my turntables and 12" records I dont think they can be beaten for either sound or collectability.
I was blown away when my dad brought home Relics by Pink Floyd Julia Dream is awesome on vinyl unlike the CD version. Don't buy Graceland by Paul Simon remastered is awful the sound is way too loud to be enjoyed it's like ELP with an African sound in my opinion. I stick to my early release CD it's soft gentle album.
There is so much generic crap in the charts it over-shadows the really good well-crafted stuff. The thing is now there is so little quality in the pop idiom due to the swamping of the market with X-Factor nonsense (manufactured with no craft whatsoever) and modern R'n'B sub-genres built around samples and computer-generated noise. On that count, I feel 'pop is dead', alas - it's been declining for the best part of 15 years.
The craft has left pop music due to computers, but there is still a lot of great, well-produced organic music being released but you have to be aware via the successful artists (the marvellous Laura Marling for example, produced by Ethan Johns) of the ones that don't get the publicity & sales.
As for sound quality, I love vinyl - but digitally I only burn my music at only 128kbps and I honestly don't hear a noticeable dip in quality. I can hear things in music I have known for many years I haven't heard before using my iPod on both my car system (200W all round with external amps) and Sennheiser earphones.
The pathway of old in training great producers is all but gone. There is no better way to become a producer than to be in a major commercial studio being apprenticed under the tutelage of legends under real world constraints working on real recordings. I was fortunate and of the right age to be in on the tail end of this, and at least get some of the benefit. Now in London the Town House and Olympic have closed as well as many others. Same thing in New York. (LA's large rooms can survive on film and Television work)
Many in the Producers Guild have lamented that kids are not being trained as described in the mentor/protege/ apprenticeship way. Going on tuition music production courses is simply not the same thing.
One had to fight like hell just to get into one of those studios to start on the lowest rung. Kids don't understand this level of persistence. That is lost as well.
This all ties in to bad productions by the millions. A beat programmer is not a record producer, but they will call themselves one and not have a clue what it takes to run a real session.
Part of my conversation this lunchtime with Steve and Clare - I raved about that Harmony Game/Bridge Over Troubled Water programme. Steve agreed - a truly momentous show for anyone interested in production.
This is the most stupid post I have read in my entire life and all the sheep bleating
in favour of all things past shows you lot up to be complete dinosaurs who have refused
to engage their brains.
Who said that today's music is poorly produced? especially the ones in the charts?
and to blame it on bedroom producers has got to be the most laughable nonsense I have heard.
Most major label releases are still being produced in big studios by experienced engineers
whose job it is to get the sound right.
Here are a couple of examples for you to view:
Hardly a bedroom producer. As for the X-Factor buhhahah. Simon Cowell uses bedroom producers?
Please this is just stupid.
Too many people on here are just sycophants pandering to JK's every proclamation. I guess music
has suffered since JK got incarcerated just like all the other ills befalling the industry is down
to his forced retirement.
You people need to wake up. Maybe you want to read the criticism of pop music in every decade.
It seems the only people who think pop music's production is any good are the people who made it.
Almost every other producer (established and bitter dinosaurs) had nothing good to say about it.
Don't start me on the analogue taliban who seem to think that obsolete technology is better than
progressive technology. Perhaps they want to drive a wind up car or fly in one of them ancient airplanes.
There is NO technical or academic qualification to be a producer. The one who produces (brings it to fruition)
is the producer. Be he a beat maker or Bob Clearmountain. Get over yourselves.
Besides almost all of you who have dared to share their music on this site, your production ain't all that.
JK's music is produced terribly (in my opinion) and is worse than the worst chart production you are criticising.
So for all his "filters" his music is awful and has always been. HOWEVER, I recognise him as a producer
and who says ones production has to meet this invisible code of conduct.
This post has really annoyed me and is another case of dinosaurs in their last throes of life. Get out of
the industry and let music evolve.
The music industry has changed forever. Filters are gone forever and the current system is being propped up.
Just like this Alex Day hype is being propped up and is not indicative of a real buzz which is why it won't get
to number one.
Radio is meaningless and we are being sold a lie as to its influence. A lot of hits are bought and are not as genuine
as you think.
Spotify and similar sites are driving the final nails in the radio coffin. The digital switch will all but kill it.
Internet radio will be the only radio format to survive. With www.tunein.com developing apps on mobile phones and the like.
Radio is finished. Advertisers are NOT stupid and are finally waking up to the fact that radio and TV have been scamming
them for years with ridiculous CPM.
As for Chris you are burning music at 128k? what!
If you can't hear the difference between 128k and the real thing, then you really have no credibility in this debate.
Of course there is some terrific music produced today - I adore Bruno Mars - but I had dinner last night with Alex, Charlie and a friend of theirs from America. She's the same age - they really are such nice young people; I think this generation is one of the nicest ever, which is good. Also, they do understand the worries and dangers of virtual life. They have a very balanced view of the world - apart from being extremely bright and talented.
She is a big fan of Jim Croce - there are too few of them around. Check out Operator. His biggest hits are Time In A Bottle, I had to say I love you in a song (for me one of the finest ever love songs) and Bad Bad Lerpy Brown. If you've never come across him (he died very young) you have a treat in store.
And it's an example of beautifully produced "old" music.
You are right this generation is one of the nicest ever and that is thanks to things
like good education, political correctness (yes it can be a good thing) and a really
good life. There are lots of great produced music and I am just fed up of people rubbishing
today's technology. Granted there are a lot of lazy production out there but technically
they beat anything from the past. Where the past wins is in composition, invention and
simplicity but it was much maligned by the experts of its day.
I have been listening to Sonny & Cher and I would love songs like that produced with digital
technology to get a crisp and clear version. It would be fascinating to hear but then again
it would lose its essence.
Britain still has the best produced pop music in the world as far as I am concerned.
I often think DP that some of my productions sound thin; not enough depth and richness. On the other hand they have loads of imagination and ideas (ooga chagga on Hooked on A Feeling for example; turning It Only Takes A Minute into a pop track). Different production skills are needed for every producer. I point you at The Harmony Game for a stunning example of TV examining intelligently great production.
I shall have a look at The Harmony Game. You are good at what you do and
creativity and innovation is what it is all about. I would not worry about
the sound too much though you can always remix/remaster them. I often wish that a lot
of my generation of producers will actually believe in themselves more and
break all the rule. It seems that once we had sampling technology, creativity
suffered as we all went for realism rather than build upon the 80s legacy.
It is a great time to be in music right now.
The production on the 12" of Donna Summers I feel love is sublime what a fantastic track there is a percusive sound in the bassline breakdown that morphs into a percusive clav its fantastic. A brilliant track years ahead of it time and still sounds fresh today. Moroder was a genius
I'm certainly not against today's technological advances. It just takes me a few minutes to download a flac version of the latest album and burn it to disc all for free!
I have a soft spot for music from the 60s which was the music my parents listened to.
As a young boy I would play all their records so it always has a special place in my heart.
I can understand why people hate today's music production, I am not a fan of it that much
but I think there is a lot of band wagon jumping, no experimentation and with all the rich
tools and plugins available there should be no excuse. I think we need to be daring and break
the rules.
Here is a very good example of beautiful 60s music
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