Quote:
Originally Posted by lawrence_o  I'm sorry Bruce to disagree with ya but what you say might be theoretically true.
However, it's the sound that counts and if I can make a kick e.g. really get out of my speaker to literally kick me in the family jewels when really comressed hard, then I say Halleluah. Let the compressor kick in!
Also, I once recorded a dude on a simple SM58 through a focusrite red compressor using 10:1! It sounded bloody cool on that dude. So what's the problem?
All the best either way
Regards
Lawrence |
Lawrence.....
I LOVE to be disagreed with!!!!
Which brings me to the: So-called rules.....
I must tell you at this point that the before-mentioned facts, like many other so-called 'rules in the art of recording sound, are to be understood and kept in mind, but not necessarily regarded as gospel. I do, in fact, frequently break those rules when I am looking for a certain 'sound' or 'sonic image'.
I should, at this point, along this same line of thinking, tell you another thing about the evolution of my 'sonic personality' that I regard as exceedingly important..
I will always sacrifice a technical value for a production value....
In other words, to me there is no technical rule, axiom, or creed, that is so sacred as to make itself more important than a musical value, or production value, in the recording of modern music. If I were looking for a very 'breathy', sensuous, vocal recording 'sonic image', for instance, I would place the singer as close as is physically possible to the microphone, thereby eliminating almost all early reflections. I would even use no windscreen, if possible....
You can hear this technique in action for yourself, as I used it on Michael Jackson’s lead vocal on the song "Earth Song" on Michael’s “History” album.
I recorded Michael's lead vocal on "Earth Song", with one of my Neumann M-49 tube mikes. I used no windscreen. I placed him as close as he could possibly get to this incredible old mike. "Earth Song" is a piece of music that has many different effects and reverbs as part of it’s sonic image. Since right now we are discussing mainly a vocal sound, I’d like to take this opportunity to point out that I came up with a very unusual Lexicon 224XL “Inverse Room” type lead vocal effect, for my mix of “Earth Song”. As an additional point of interest, there is a TC Electronics M5000, highly modified, “Wooden Hall” reverb on the drums.
Bruce Swedien
