It occurred to me, after the last post was published that I had made a statement that needs some serious clarification, before someone misunderstands what I was thinking and takes exception to it: That an album made in few takes is a poor album.
Of course, I realize this is not always the case, and was generally speaking of the type of multi-layered production that I make, and of which most popular music consists. There are many highly talented solo performers and small ensembles that, once the technical aspects are set-up for a fine recording, can go ahead & in a few takes each can make a series of magical tracks that can become a great album.
Not to suggest that this is an "easy method" either, since behind those few takes lie many, many hours of arrangement & rehearsal.
Also there are those "happy convergences" where everything seems to fall into place to produce something special. I'm thinking now of Norah Jones first album, which was actually supposed to be the "demo tracks" for that album...but when they got everything together to make "the real thing", they found there was no way to capture the expressions and sense of intimacy of the "demo"...so they published it, and the rest is....well, you know.
I know of several similar stories, and I don't believe that "failure to re-capture" has anything to do with lack of talent or engineering skill. A recording has many subtle features which are deeply connected to the time, place & mood and can't be reproduced at will. I read a story (the artist & tune elude me right now) where the singer/writer made a reference track for his recording while he had a bad cold. When the tracks were done, and he attempted to make a polished final vocal for it, try as he might, he could not reproduce the feel of that reference track. It was put out that way and became a big hit.
Something similar has happened to me on at least one of my tunes for the next album. I made a reference track in one take, went back and cleaned up a couple of "screwy" lines where I forgot the lyrics or some such; but later when I went to make a final track, I could not top it despite using all the same technical settings, etc. There are a few really small "burbles" (as I might say), but the charm of that performance overwhelms any small flaws in the delivery.
Finally, in addressing this topic, is another potentially unanswered criticism...."What about a LIVE album...where a great performance by a band is captured on a recording and published?". Putting aside the many instances these days where bands go back to the studio and "fix" live albums before putting them out, all I can say is this: live performance and recording very often have two different goals. While both share the idea of "putting the tune in its best light", the excitement and connectivity with a live audience, and achieving the same thing thru a more tightly controlled process are usually not that compatible.
So many bands have tried to put that "live excitement" into a studio album, that it has almost become a cliche...sometimes successful, sometimes not. But if you listen carefully to a truly unretouched LIVE album, you will seldom hear the technical mastery that can be achieved in a studio. I think to most listeners it won't be that obvious, but to those in the industry, the technical flaws in that "great" live recording are obvious and many. I think its a tribute to the high levels of skill by both artists and engineers that the vast majority of fans don't find these obvious.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
More "Nothing"....
If I haven't written anything interesting lately, it's because I'm involved in a lot of that "drudge" work of music that I occasionally have mentioned. Don't get me wrong, for the most part I actually enjoy this work, especially when an occasional creative idea pops up that will improve the end result.
Mostly what I'm doing has been re-inputing all the arrangements (charts) that I lost when this computer crashed last fall. (They have a habit of crashing the week before I plan to do a major back-up.) Fortunately, I had printed out all of them in almost up to date versions...still a heck of a lot of work.
I was beginning to break these up and put them into parts. This is necessary since you cannot play off of a score, because there are so few bars on a page that you'd be turning pages constantly instead of playing.
It was then that a small idea in the back of my mind came to the forefront so I dropped everything to pursue it. I had written a tune that was in my backlog of "forgotten" home recordings. When I compiled these for storage, I had separated out the tracks for this tune, polished/updated a couple, remixed it and put it on the shelf, where it sat......What happened was that I suddenly realized, that it fit the tone and direction of the next album perfectly.
It's a tune called "Against the Tide". Only a few folks have ever heard it but to favorable feedback. So I began to do a "record-copy" of the tune back into the computer to update the chart, since the organ part was the only one that existed, and it was nearly unreadable.
This is my news, such as it is...but also I wanted to give a glimpse into the world of the songwriter/musician, because most folks don't have a clue what can be involved. They see a band get up onstage. They start playing and three minutes later they've done a great tune....and people think "Great way to make a living. Music is easy."....and when they record an album, they figure the musicians just get up, play that 3-minute tune (maybe a couple of times to get a good one) and stick it on the album...I'm here to tell you this happens only in fantasyland! Or else it's a very poor album!!
As many hours as I put in finishing tunes, writing and polishing charts and transferring them to parts, that is only the beginning of the long arduous process of recording, mixing & mastering. This becomes even more difficult when one is not only the musician playing all the parts, but the recording engineer as well.
Often trying to get a good take, in tune & well-recorded is like trying to get the stars to align in the heavens.
I write this to foster the attitude that even though you may not like the music of a particular independent musician, they deserve respect for the monumental achievement the making of a musical album represents.
Mostly what I'm doing has been re-inputing all the arrangements (charts) that I lost when this computer crashed last fall. (They have a habit of crashing the week before I plan to do a major back-up.) Fortunately, I had printed out all of them in almost up to date versions...still a heck of a lot of work.
I was beginning to break these up and put them into parts. This is necessary since you cannot play off of a score, because there are so few bars on a page that you'd be turning pages constantly instead of playing.
It was then that a small idea in the back of my mind came to the forefront so I dropped everything to pursue it. I had written a tune that was in my backlog of "forgotten" home recordings. When I compiled these for storage, I had separated out the tracks for this tune, polished/updated a couple, remixed it and put it on the shelf, where it sat......What happened was that I suddenly realized, that it fit the tone and direction of the next album perfectly.
It's a tune called "Against the Tide". Only a few folks have ever heard it but to favorable feedback. So I began to do a "record-copy" of the tune back into the computer to update the chart, since the organ part was the only one that existed, and it was nearly unreadable.
This is my news, such as it is...but also I wanted to give a glimpse into the world of the songwriter/musician, because most folks don't have a clue what can be involved. They see a band get up onstage. They start playing and three minutes later they've done a great tune....and people think "Great way to make a living. Music is easy."....and when they record an album, they figure the musicians just get up, play that 3-minute tune (maybe a couple of times to get a good one) and stick it on the album...I'm here to tell you this happens only in fantasyland! Or else it's a very poor album!!
As many hours as I put in finishing tunes, writing and polishing charts and transferring them to parts, that is only the beginning of the long arduous process of recording, mixing & mastering. This becomes even more difficult when one is not only the musician playing all the parts, but the recording engineer as well.
Often trying to get a good take, in tune & well-recorded is like trying to get the stars to align in the heavens.
I write this to foster the attitude that even though you may not like the music of a particular independent musician, they deserve respect for the monumental achievement the making of a musical album represents.
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