Question for Recording Musicians
 

How important is production to you?

You see, I'm recording an album for my own solo project UUUUUU right now (link is in my sig) and I'm concerned that my production on this stuff will never be good enough due to a lack of things (no money for a bass, can't afford a noise gate or compressor etc.). So does production REALLY effect one's enjoyment of an album? I've always thought the production was to reflect the particular act but every artist I've listened to that does the sort of same sound as me has a much fuller, bright sound. Okay, I'm going on now...

So yeah, is production really important? Does it curb your enjoyment if the production doesn't neccessarily 'fit'?

And here is one of my freshly recorded tracks for reference: http://www.box.net/shared/r34uhup8q1

Personally, it's very important. But production doesn't have to mean spending oodles on fancy mics. Just what's appropriate for the songs. Your sort of stuff needs quite a dense production, I'd say. It's really difficult to know what you personally want though. The second track on your myspace is, to my ears, murkily recorded and convoluted - is that stereo-panning or bad recording? Is that self-induced peaking or accidentals? - but that might be precisely the sound you're going for. By contrast, you've used similar production for the track you've uploaded, and that sounds fine to me - however, I could gaurantee a lot of my metaller mates would be put off by that production (consciously or unconsciously - I think production works that way).

what glice said!
the question is what are you aming for?
your recordings seem far away, which can be wanted or not.
like the sound of erm...lets say grouper it sounds like it was recorded somewhere outside 100meters away from the mic, but it sounds good in my ears, like she decided to let it sound that way.
you dont seem to be satisfied with your sound, if so you wouldnt post this thread of course. maybe any link to something which sounds like you want it to be would help

Here is where I offer up my recordings- www.myspace.com/fauxhemiansband

As far as my own production goes, I never really have the time to think a lot about it because everything is recorded in a big hurry. I often record other people (I'm the only person with a 16 track in my circle of friends) and I put more care into it. I try to have as many mics as possible on the drums and amps.. I go for a sort of 60s pop vocal production, which is a fair bit of reverb coupled with a small amount of delay. I wish I had some better examples, but I don't.

Overall, it is important FOR ME when making music, but listening to lo-fi stuff doesn't bother me. Tom Waits, Daniel Johnston, Sparklehorse, et al.. some of my favourite recordings are horribly low fidelity.

it also depends on the genre you are listening too.
if you listen to singer songwriter tunes the "production" is more like the captured atmosphere then the tight kickdrum in some hip hop cuts.

Yeah, exactly.

Blues and rock and roll mostly benefit from lo-fi, dirty, crummy production because it reflects the aesthetics of the genre. Pop music is clean and tuneful, so it needs a clean and sleek production. Hip Hop is bombastinc and exuberant, and so in turn requires an ear-catching range of big bass and snappy snare, ETC. I am just generalising here, but you know what I mean..

I don't know much about production, I just listen to grime or hip hop and take inspiration from what I hear trying not to mimic. Mixes are a particular source of inspiration.

I know of quite a few LPs that have been ruined or made awesome via production. For my own stuff, I use what is available to me and affordable at the time, but always try to improve things as I go along. I know that I enjoy the sound of the records I have made on Good Equipment quite a lot more than the old stuff I recorded on cassette tapes in the early and mid 90s, material notwithstanding.

"Casually see but don't do like the soul,
'cuz seeing and doing are actions for monkeys."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSnJ5uoyptY

it depends on the stuff you do.
If you do lofi stuff don't hire Butch Vig, that's my piece of advice for today.

Hahah! Or Nigel Godrich. Fuck..

Thank you. Just the sort of reply I was looking for.

Is 'Baudelaire Blushing' supposed to sound like a mellowed-out 'Go-Go Gadget Gospel' by Gnarls Barkley? It's soothing but funky.

How important is production to you?

Production is very important to your music. The production is cataclysmic
in your final product. The word production also is suffering from scutiny right now..(its under review)

Two things I learned from going in a studio. #1 You have to be twice as hardcore to sound half as hardcore if thats makes sense. I always thought
some bands sound lame. But it is difficult emotionally to sound heavy or loud. I have no idea how SY recorded a track like Brother James...

Second, the mix is so crucial and you might want to get another person to mix as opposed to recording. Mixing is where the magic happens. It is the playing of each track off of each other to make something happen.

Third, know what you want to do in the studio or in someones recording shop. Don't go in with half-formed ideas unless you have someone footing your bill. Since there are so many guys recording pay for them to do the recording and you focus on your material...

Derek, Don't buy things like a noise gate or even rent a bass if possible. I know you can do that here and it makes a world of difference..

Sadly, big coin buys big toys and this is really evident in recording...

Danny Himself,

I checked out your myspace and most of us know where Liverpool is...

Thanks..

I've... never heard that song ever!

Oh! Haha well that does happen, doesn't it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHswuHiceWA

Production isn't important for everything, because a good song will stick out more than good production any day. But good production helps.. you will become a good producer once you've experimented enough within the limitations (?) of your setup. It took me years to be able to say, "I'm a pretty good producer." But I am just using a computer microphone, you know?

Generally, and this seems obvious but.. just experiment with what sounds good to you. That's all that matters. Adobe Audition, Cakewalk, etc. can do wonders. Or horrors.

If the songs are shit you can be a good producer all you like. End of story.

Yeah, my 8 track doesn't have an EQ function so I forgot I could change the track with computer programs. Heh.

And porky, yah.

right

If your songs suck, they suck. HOWEVER.

A bad recording (not necessarily noisy but bad as in not fitting the vibe of the songs or genre you go for) can make a good song sound bad.

Didn't know where to post it so I guess I'll just post it in there,
but I just listened to yr album Derek, and it's good stuff. A few drawbacks of course (but nobody's perfect), but it's really a good album. If you want I could review it on my blog

actually yeah... that'd be really helpful!

my next one will be better like i've said heh

Something I didn't quite put clearly earlier: there's a common misapprehension, often around this forum, that 'a good song is a good song whatever'. In some senses this is true - Beat Happening or Urusei Yatsura, when both were good, wrote some amazing songs that were very lo-fi. But the point of lo-fi wasn't that 'anyone can do anything cheap', it wasn't a liberation of production values, it was an exploration of poor production values. It's like a lot of African music, to me, sounds better when the bass drum is rattling the mic's diaphragm... I'm basically saying that lo-fi isn't a virtue, and should only be used when it's appropriate. Some people spend a lot of money sounding lo-fi.

The production is very important, but the first thing is you have to very clear about the sound you wanted, that's before you go into the recording studio (which it is free). then you should try your best to bring your recording toward that direction. most of the case, the recording is a process of how the capture 100% the sound you heard while you were writing the song / jamming, sometime you got it by change, or you know which mic to use. in most no-budget case, the best recording production is yet to come, but the recording will not turn the good song bad for sure.