Quote:
Originally Posted by ajmccarrell
There is a such thing as associations of recording engieers that set standards for things, so yes there is a such thing as a definition of a finished track. You're right, I do hate a lot of his songs from Tusk and virtually all of Law & Order. I loved OOTC and Go Insane. Both of those sounded like well developed well played albums. I like GOS very much, I just wouldn't call it finished. The difference between the drums on OOTC and on his last two albums is that the synth drums were supposed to and designed to be finish quality. The stuff he used on UTS and GOS is a metronome and also mic taps. There's a HUGE difference. As far as the last statement, you can't really say that.
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As much as I love FM and Lindsey, and am glad to have new material, this is dead-on.
My question is: Is anyone making a "mastering pass" at Lindsey's home-made recordings? Because that's where you would clean up a lot of the chintzy stuff that has made SOME of LB's recordings of the last few years sound like the Casio Kid. LB himself may not want this step, but take it from someone who has done a lot of demo work (amateur and professional): MANY of his recordings on UTS were demos, nothing more, and there were some glaring mastering errors that don't reflect artistic choice or musicality. And even the best musicians need some mastering work.
Tusk was very loose and organic, and I appreciate that. The easy availability of electronic drums and click tracks wasn't as prevalent back then.
I expect it to hear many of these same issues on GOS, since much of it is "home-made" as well. Biggest question in my mind has always been how the metronome ended up on some of the SYW tracks since they went through mixdown? I found that embarrassing for the band, actually. A lot of my engineer friends made tremendous fun of that record, and wondered if since it was analog to start with that the click got on the tapes somehow and couldn't be wiped out.
With all that said: Musicality is indeed in "the ear of the beholder." If it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother you. No big whoop.
As a pop craftsman and player, I agree LB's a genius and I expect to love these songs. I just think he's overrated in the studio and should put more stock in equally gifted mixers.
~Jamie