Hit Song headphone bleed

Farm sounds · 22nd March 2003

Ok , I admit , I like this Christina Aguilera song "Beautiful". It's all over the radio.

One thing about this song though,...I can't believe how audible the headphone bleed is!!?? Am I the only one that can hear this??It's painfully obvious it's the click track.

The beginning of the song, the very first "Mmmm.." she does, you hear it- and the worst one is at the end , right before the last chord. Can't they get some better phones for her???Is this acceptable for a major label release?? Does anybody care??

Kinda strange.

kakaroto · 22nd March 2003

I was told that that Ch Agg Vocal on Beautiful was a reference that they we not planning on keeping, but they "Loved" the magic of the reference.. I dont know. Whaterver.

To me it sounds more like a reference drum loop playing in the back. I dont think it was just the click. They probably replaced the loop with the live drums later and ditched the loop. Too bad you cant ditch the bleed too. hahah

Anywhoo.. Just another sunny example that only the song really matters in the end.

kakaroto

C.Lambrechts · 22nd March 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Farm sounds
Is this acceptable for a major label release?? Does anybody care??

Kinda strange.

apparently not .......

NYC Drew · 23rd March 2003

I've seen many a whack thing end up on the "masters". Sometimes it's roadkill, other times it's intentional.

mdbeh · 23rd March 2003

Intentional or not, I'm sure that everyone involved on the engineering side knew it was there. A lot of times people post "gotchas" about albums with the idea that they're exposing something that wasn't previously noticed. (Not saying you're doing this, FS.) In the real world, mistakes happen, and you're not always allowed to go back.

Dave Martin · 23rd March 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by mdbeh
Intentional or not, I'm sure that everyone involved on the engineering side knew it was there. A lot of times people post "gotchas" about albums with the idea that they're exposing something that wasn't previously noticed. (Not saying you're doing this, FS.) In the real world, mistakes happen, and you're not always allowed to go back.

Something else to think about - if the guys doing the tracking have the loop turned up during the overdub phase (As I remember, the main drum/ loop or whatever it was doesn't come in till later in the song), it's quite possible that they didn't notice the bleed until it was too late. I've been there and done that a time or two, since I usually keep the click in the headphone and control room mixes all the way through all of the overdubs and up until the mix stage begins...

e-cue · 23rd March 2003

It's much more noticeable on the radio with it's god aweful compression. It's less apparent on the CD...

Jay Kahrs · 23rd March 2003

It happens. I remember tracking one song with the drums and guitar starting, the bass player didn't have his cans on when I started the click and they started to play so it's all over the drums. That was 'the' take and there was nothing I could do about it. Poo happens. The best thing to do is not make it sound like a mistake and do something interesting with it.

Pricey · 23rd March 2003

Hell, I don't even use closed cans for vocals. I'd rather give the vocalist a pair of Sennheiser HD580's, because they're SO much better when it comes to sound and comfort. I'll even use them for group vocals. I have to do a "strip silence" and carefully trim everything before it hits the compressor, but I think avoiding fatigue is very important. A couple times I ended up with drum loop leakage - no big deal.

I'm similarly picky when it comes to drum headphones. I'm a drummer, and I found all the isolation 'phones on the market to be horrible - either bad sound, poor isolation, very uncomfortable, or all three. I ended up sticking a pair of Radio Shack 'phones (their $40 on-ear model) inside a pair of Peltor hearing protectors.

If anyone is in the headphone business, I'll be glad to show you how I put them together, because they're a lot better than any of the stuff on the market.

22nd March 2003	#1
Farm sounds Gear maniac Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wisconsin,USA Posts: 268 Thread Starter	Hit Song headphone bleed Ok , I admit , I like this Christina Aguilera song "Beautiful". It's all over the radio. One thing about this song though,...I can't believe how audible the headphone bleed is!!?? Am I the only one that can hear this??It's painfully obvious it's the click track. The beginning of the song, the very first "Mmmm.." she does, you hear it- and the worst one is at the end , right before the last chord. Can't they get some better phones for her???Is this acceptable for a major label release?? Does anybody care?? Kinda strange.

22nd March 2003	#2
kakaroto Gear interested Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 4	I was told that that Ch Agg Vocal on Beautiful was a reference that they we not planning on keeping, but they "Loved" the magic of the reference.. I dont know. Whaterver. To me it sounds more like a reference drum loop playing in the back. I dont think it was just the click. They probably replaced the loop with the live drums later and ditched the loop. Too bad you cant ditch the bleed too. hahah Anywhoo.. Just another sunny example that only the song really matters in the end. kakaroto __________________ Grid-Mode is for Fags

23rd March 2003	#4
NYC Drew Gear maniac Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: NYC area Posts: 193	Re: Re: Hit Song headphone bleed I've seen many a whack thing end up on the "masters". Sometimes it's roadkill, other times it's intentional. __________________ NYC Drew

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23rd March 2003	#5
mdbeh Gear addict Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Chicago Posts: 459	Intentional or not, I'm sure that everyone involved on the engineering side knew it was there. A lot of times people post "gotchas" about albums with the idea that they're exposing something that wasn't previously noticed. (Not saying you're doing this, FS.) In the real world, mistakes happen, and you're not always allowed to go back.

23rd March 2003	#7
e-cue Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Lost Angeles Posts: 4,061	It's much more noticeable on the radio with it's god aweful compression. It's less apparent on the CD...

23rd March 2003	#9
Pricey Gear nut Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 109	Hell, I don't even use closed cans for vocals. I'd rather give the vocalist a pair of Sennheiser HD580's, because they're SO much better when it comes to sound and comfort. I'll even use them for group vocals. I have to do a "strip silence" and carefully trim everything before it hits the compressor, but I think avoiding fatigue is very important. A couple times I ended up with drum loop leakage - no big deal. I'm similarly picky when it comes to drum headphones. I'm a drummer, and I found all the isolation 'phones on the market to be horrible - either bad sound, poor isolation, very uncomfortable, or all three. I ended up sticking a pair of Radio Shack 'phones (their $40 on-ear model) inside a pair of Peltor hearing protectors. If anyone is in the headphone business, I'll be glad to show you how I put them together, because they're a lot better than any of the stuff on the market.