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Why we choose passion above over production
I was having a miserable day yesterday, waiting for a contractor came over to the studio to make a bid on fixing a beam in the studio. I wasn’t thinking about much except how much of a pain it was to do the work. Then he said, “Hey, what’s that? Who’s playing the guitar?”
Clawfoot Tibs (Garett Brennan) A wonderful short song by Garett Brennan with Jon Neufeld. Cliick on the link and it’s Track 3.
https://bluecoastmusic.com/garett-brennan/room
I had a Blue Coast Records Playlist playing on Qobuz, soft and low on my Tannoy’s endlessly rolling as I usually do. I didn’t think much about it. It was Garett and Jon playing Clawfoot Tubs.
The contractor couldn’t believe the sound of the guitar. He thought it was in the room. He gushed over the sound as if it had been years since he heard a real guitar. We stopped and listened for a while. Knowing how much he loved the sound certainly helped take the pain away from what the cost of the repair was going to be. At least I made someone very happy that day.
Garett and Jon were playing in the studio - live, with no headphones. I was recording direct to DSD. You hear every nuance of their dynamic acoustic guitars, every snap of a string and all the brilliant lyrics Garett wrote and sang. The two played guitar and sang in harmony for 3 minutes one day and we were able to capture that sound to DSD. Of course, it took more than an hour of setup, a few takes, several crew members and a pizza to help get that sound, but we got it.
Most productions today create dynamics by adding more instruments to an already flat sound of sampled drums and chordal instruments. Overdub the vocals, pitch correct them until they kind of sound intune. Then compress everything so it’s all the same dynamic….. loud. Even ballads are pushed to be so loud that the singer sounds like they’re lisping.
The songs of today seem to lack passion and meaning. The build up in a song today seems to rely on overdubbing more instruments. Most of us are unaware that the samples being played rarely change except by adding more sampled sound. To me, this only points out that what we call a “musician” today has little to do with how one plays an instrument - including their voice.
Not all recordings are this way, but most of the “popular” music being forced on us as to ‘what is good’ seems to be a victim of ‘plugin fascination in production’.
I think that’s why I prefer to hear bands live or watch live performance videos on youtube.
Think of a live orchestral performance or a concert with live musicians playing (not lip syncing to pre-recorded background music). You hear them playing together - moving the groove and dynamics as one entity. It’s a captivating experience that is being overlooked in the studio.
Do you have any favorite live or recorded experiences where the dynamics moved you to be overwhelmed? Leave a comment or write to us at support@bluecoastmusic.com
Enjoy your music!
Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer
Blue Coast Records and Music
34 hours of non-stop Blue Coast Records sound to enjoy!
Put it in shuffle, turn off the the default compression of your computer and let it roll for days as background music while you work and play. Enjoy! Remember - Qobuz and Tidal offer high resolution audio for the best streaming sound. We’ve assembled our Blue Coast Records playlist on a few platforms and called it Blue Coast Radio.
Qobuz - Blue Coast Records Radio
https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/27245691
Tidal - Blue Coast Records Radio
https://tidal.com/playlist/089ec3a9-f9c9-4cff-8add-47cb4aaa18e2
YouTube - Blue Coast Records Radio
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiWDrjNeis2WAmebn74RDBKMUjKc8Hkn2
A great review of our music and techniques
https://www.magazine-audio.com/blue-coast-records/
Previous newsletters you may have missed!
For those that want DSD in their home - here’s an hour of acoustic music performed live in the studio direct to DSD
“Sometimes, you don’t want the burden of lyrics in your listening experience.”
Cookie Marenco - Producer and Engineer
Blue Coast Instrumental on all streaming services
https://bluecoastrecords.com/recording/blue-coast-instrumental/
Blue Coast Instrumental in High Resolution Downloads
https://bluecoastmusic.com/various-artists/blue-coast-instrumental
Blue Coast Records is a reader-supported publication. To receive an unreleased download monthly, please consider becoming a paid subscriber
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