Welcome to another episode of Viewer’s Comments- my weekly show where I help you guys out the best I can with your best comments and questions.
Sean Morgan comments:
I’m 55 so I was there for the birth of Metal and, even though there are so many really amazing bands out there, most of today’s recordings sound so generic to me. Antiseptic is the best word I can find…
I’m right there with ya. I’m a bit younger than you, but I came up in the ‘80s and the bands that I grew up with really had to play, and really had to sing because there was no autotune!
The records we have today have just cheapened the sound in so many ways. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that most people don’t have access to a drum room, which is fine, but I think the art of recording drums is being lost along the way because we’ve been satisfied with “good enough” instead of great.
I can only reiterate what I said, because I think engineers need to start drawing a line in the sand and saying “enough is enough, let’s make some music.”
Jake Winchester asks:
How do you feel about using pitch correct to fix one note that was slightly flat or sharp in an otherwise amazing take?
I have to make this really clear. If there’s a sharp or a flat in it, it wasn’t an amazing take. Punch. In. That. Line. Get the singer to sing it correctly! This is one of the biggest problems I have with a lot modern production techniques. They’re settling for “good enough” and not great.
“What if I fix one or two notes?” What if you have the singer punch it in? WHAT IF YOU HAVE THE SINGER ACTUALLY SING THE FRICKEN NOTES HOW THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO BE SUNG!
“But it’s only one or two notes!” No. When we let stuff like that slide, that’s when the art stuffers. Don’t settle for second best. The people who are buying your record- the people you are selling to deserve better. Don’t treat them like idiots.
