"Nickelback" sound

[Daniel Antix]

Originally Posted by zaza2

This is something that has not been brought up until now and i have been busting at the gut to say, Nickelbacks sounds is not all in those mesa amps, they have a hell of a bass player that mainly plays the hell out of the B string, so its gonna seem like Nickelback is getting a shit load of low end when its really coming from that elite bass player and his skills.....thats a huge 50 percent of more of the sound. And im sure they are tuned down as well.......i never got into bands that tune down, play 440, its the standard, why tune down just so you can sing something ? How do you drop a Trumpet a hole step to make it lower....lol

but that's the beauty of the guitar, you CAN de-tune, you don't have to stick to the norm.

I've never actually listened to Nickelback... yeah I've heard some of their songs but I've never really listened.

[ClaySchmitt]

Originally Posted by Daniel Antix

I've never actually listened to Nickelback... yeah I've heard some of their songs but I've never really listened.

We'll you should get out of the business. Asshole. How dare you.

[TheNoize]

The "terrible" Nickelback sound:

http://www.jonathangrand.com/nickelback.mp3



What sounds bad here?... I wanna see what the exceptionally demanding mixing geniuses have to say in particular. I'm here to learn.

[moon_unit]

This thread actually sparked my curiosity to the point where I went and listened to a few of their tunes ... with a completely open mind.

I basically said to myseld ... "Maybe I'm just being biased because I can't stand their songs."

I've actually done that before ... like one time I actually had a listen to a Britney Spears song -- with an open mind -- and I came away pleasantly surprized at what appeared to be a somewhat original production value. I could tell a lot was put in to the beats, and getting the vocal overdubs to jive and what not. And I walked away thinking ... "Alright, maybe I hate everything about her and what she stands for, but her engineers/producers aren't complete assclowns."

So I approached listening to Nickelback with that same kind of open mind. What I came away with, and this is purely based on their production value ... Is that it's embarassing for me, as a human being, to think that I would actually post on the same message board as someone who actually hung this ... whatever it is ... up as a shining example of fine production value. In fact, part of me half wants to think it's a joke. But only it's not very funny.

Let's start with this vocal effect. What kind of ass clown slapped all that chorus / harmonizer bullshit on there ? ... and then sat back and said ... "Oh yea! That's it. More of that stuff." Honestly, the vocal track is the most important track in a pop song. And some complete moron butchered it with this completely GAY sounding chorus plugin that came bundled with a $100 sound card from guitar center.

To make matters worse ... you've got all the vocal mics you could possibly dream of at your disposal. Who on God's green earth went and grabbed a freakin' Rode mic ? ? Holy shit. Did the Assistant Engineer run in to a Sam Ash clearance sale on the way to the session? That's just irresponsible.

And now on to the drums. I probably consider the drums to be the second most important track behind the vox. And this Nickelback stuff sounds so ... it reminds me of that canned drumkit from hell shit that the amateur metal heads use on their myspace pages. The kind that usually accompanies the obligatory "brick wall" band pose that never fails to force at least an uncontrolled snicker or two.

I can't believe someone would actually pay big bucks to a producer to make live drums sound ... just like canned drums. Bravo there. Why not just use a Boss drum machine or a pirated copy of Fruity Loops in the first place and save youself some time?

Finally, on the amateurish over use of compression. I like compression as much as the next guy, but seriously, when I listed to stuff cranked out by beginner home recordists, one of the fist things that strikes me is how obvious it is that the beginner doesn't actually "hear" what the compression is doing -- they just use it because they think they have to. But I can tell by the way they use it that they don't "get" what the attack and release controls are doing, and how it shapes the sound.

This Nickelback stuff reminds me of that. I don't really sense any comprehension or understanding here. It's like they pulled some Guitar Center guy off the street and said: "Do you know how to work one of these things?" ... "Oh yea, that's one of those compressor things. I saw my brother use one for his band, so I know what I'm doing. Don't worry." They even slap that crap all over the already thin and tinny-sounding accoustic guitar tracks in there -- which, by the way, totally wimpify the songs. Especially when the geniuses decide to patch the free chorus plugin on that, even! I guess someone just discovered the chorus patch -- Oh boy!

Again, I'll reiterate : It's embarrassing to listen to. So much so that I honestly find it hard to accept that I currently live in a world where there are people so misguided as to consider this to be, in any way, "good." God have mercy on their tortured souls. This isn't actually the worst band on the planet. If their tunes didn't have more hooks than a tackle box ... no one, and I mean no one would ever think this was anything but myspace fodder. This is pure mullet rock at it's finest, produced by mullets ... of, by and for the mullets.

Yea, it's that bad.

[StrykeBack]

Originally Posted by TheNoize

The "terrible" Nickelback sound:

http://www.jonathangrand.com/nickelback.mp3



What sounds bad here?... I wanna see what the exceptionally demanding mixing geniuses have to say in particular. I'm here to learn.

Dude just give it a rest! This has become 5 pages of a pissing match over the musicality or suckiness of nickelback after it started with wanting to know about their production!

Obviously a bunch of people saw the word nickelback and came in here to dump their own shit opinion all over the thread.

Personally I would have liked to hear some ideas on their production and could have really done without the "they suck because of this" and "they blow me in a verticularly oblominal pattern sideways kinda way" remarks.

I dig the heavy production for this type of "rock" along with the likes of other bands such as
Chevelle
Incubus
Breaking Benjamin
Alter Bridge
etc.

I listen to plenty of other music but I enjoy this because its just plain fun and despite what us elitists on this forum tend to think that are views count for anything..a lot of people out there don't mind it too much either (whether its being force fed to them or not not withstanding).
If it sells well, is popular radio fodder, then you should probably have an idea on how to get this type of feel or the best way to that type of sound of some of these artists if people paying you request it, should probably be good to know.

[rootsandruins]

Originally Posted by HIGHENDONLY

Well they sold over 5million of their cd, last year so they are doing something right.

McDonald's sold a billion cheeseburgers last year. Take that, Nickelback.

[TheNoize]

Originally Posted by moon_unit

This thread actually sparked my curiosity to the point where I went and listened to a few of their tunes ... with a completely open mind.

I basically said to myseld ... "Maybe I'm just being biased because I can't stand their songs."

I've actually done that before ... like one time I actually had a listen to a Britney Spears song -- with an open mind -- and I came away pleasantly surprized at what appeared to be a somewhat original production value. I could tell a lot was put in to the beats, and getting the vocal overdubs to jive and what not. And I walked away thinking ... "Alright, maybe I hate everything about her and what she stands for, but her engineers/producers aren't complete assclowns."

So I approached listening to Nickelback with that same kind of open mind. What I came away with, and this is purely based on their production value ... Is that it's embarassing for me, as a human being, to think that I would actually post on the same message board as someone who actually hung this ... whatever it is ... up as a shining example of fine production value. In fact, part of me half wants to think it's a joke. But only it's not very funny.

Let's start with this vocal effect. What kind of ass clown slapped all that chorus / harmonizer bullshit on there ? ... and then sat back and said ... "Oh yea! That's it. More of that stuff." Honestly, the vocal track is the most important track in a pop song. And some complete moron butchered it with this completely GAY sounding chorus plugin that came bundled with a $100 sound card from guitar center.

To make matters worse ... you've got all the vocal mics you could possibly dream of at your disposal. Who on God's green earth went and grabbed a freakin' Rode mic ? ? Holy shit. Did the Assistant Engineer run in to a Sam Ash clearance sale on the way to the session? That's just irresponsible.

And now on to the drums. I probably consider the drums to be the second most important track behind the vox. And this Nickelback stuff sounds so ... it reminds me of that canned drumkit from hell shit that the amateur metal heads use on their myspace pages. The kind that usually accompanies the obligatory "brick wall" band pose that never fails to force at least an uncontrolled snicker or two.

I can't believe someone would actually pay big bucks to a producer to make live drums sound ... just like canned drums. Bravo there. Why not just use a Boss drum machine or a pirated copy of Fruity Loops in the first place and save youself some time?

Finally, on the amateurish over use of compression. I like compression as much as the next guy, but seriously, when I listed to stuff cranked out by beginner home recordists, one of the fist things that strikes me is how obvious it is that the beginner doesn't actually "hear" what the compression is doing -- they just use it because they think they have to. But I can tell by the way they use it that they don't "get" what the attack and release controls are doing, and how it shapes the sound.

This Nickelback stuff reminds me of that. I don't really sense any comprehension or understanding here. It's like they pulled some Guitar Center guy off the street and said: "Do you know how to work one of these things?" ... "Oh yea, that's one of those compressor things. I saw my brother use one for his band, so I know what I'm doing. Don't worry." They even slap that crap all over the already thin and tinny-sounding accoustic guitar tracks in there -- which, by the way, totally wimpify the songs. Especially when the geniuses decide to patch the free chorus plugin on that, even! I guess someone just discovered the chorus patch -- Oh boy!

Again, I'll reiterate : It's embarrassing to listen to. So much so that I honestly find it hard to accept that I currently live in a world where there are people so misguided as to consider this to be, in any way, "good." God have mercy on their tortured souls. This isn't actually the worst band on the planet. If their tunes didn't have more hooks than a tackle box ... no one, and I mean no one would ever think this was anything but myspace fodder. This is pure mullet rock at it's finest, produced by mullets ... of, by and for the mullets.

Yea, it's that bad.

Ok... we have no idea what recordings of Nickelback are you listening to, so just tell me what you think of this:

http://www.jonathangrand.com/nickelback.mp3

And show me some of your work that you think sounds much better, for me to have some orientation.

Thanks

[Brad Blackwood]

Originally Posted by TheArchitect

The ones they put the money behind do.

People don't buy the crap labels release because they like it. They buy it because they don't know the difference.

Do you seriously believe this? That if the majors spend enough, any band they choose from their roster will sell millions of copies?

Wow.

If only it were that easy.

[Daniel Antix]

dfegaddfegaddfegaddfegaddfegaddfegad

Originally Posted by ClaySchmitt

We'll you should get out of the business. Asshole. How dare you.

[ClaySchmitt]

Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood

Do you seriously believe this? That if the majors spend enough, any band they choose from their roster will sell millions of copies?

Wow.

If only it were that easy.

This, coming from the dude who masters for "Evanescence".

[ClaySchmitt]

Originally Posted by Daniel Antix

dfegaddfegaddfegaddfegaddfegaddfegad

Someone's sarcasm-o-meter is not working.

[Brad Blackwood]

Originally Posted by ClaySchmitt

This, coming from the dude who masters for "Evanescence".

As well as many others - what's your point?

[ClaySchmitt]

Well it is my (I'm sure)exclusive pov that that Evanescence happens to be the prime example of a band selling records due to major label marketing.



Not talent.



BTW I am in no way saying I would turn down a mastering job for any shitty band if they are willing to pay for it. I am sure you did a terrific job, I am just saying for the sake of this argument.....you understand.

On a side note: 50th POST!!! WHOOOOOOEEEEEEEEWWWWWW!

[TheNoize]

Originally Posted by ClaySchmitt

Well it is my (I'm sure)exclusive pov that that Evanescence happens to be the prime example of a band selling records due to major label marketing.



Not talent.

Yeah well it's not just the band who's getting paid. Producers need love too and they're getting a royalty percentage. So the people who actually have talent and did a good job are getting paid when you buy an Evanescence CD.

[Brad Blackwood]

Originally Posted by ClaySchmitt

Well it is my (I'm sure.)exclusive pov that that Evanescence happens to be the prime example of a band selling records due to major label marketing.



Not talent.

So what happened to all the major label bands that didn't sell anything? If it was as simple as spending dough to break a band, every major label artist would sell millions.

Seriously, no offense, but your posts sound as if you have no experience in the industry.

And for the record, David, Ben and Amy are all very talented folks. You may not appreciate their talent, but please don't diminish their accomplishments with your flippancy.

[ClaySchmitt]

Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood

So what happened to all the major label bands that didn't sell anything? If it was as simple as spending dough to break a band, every major label artist would sell millions.

Seriously, no offense, but your posts sound as if you have no experience in the industry.

And for the record, David, Ben and Amy are all very talented folks. You may not appreciate their talent, but please don't diminish their accomplishments with your flippancy.

1.) I didn't say they weren't talented folks. I feel that they were pushed to making music that was corporately influenced.
2.) I am not saying major labels suck. Death Cab for Cutie is on a major label.
3.) I believe the marketing for this band is done REALLY well. They are influencing every twelve year old girl I know.

Now please, I am not trying to be offensive here, I am just being honest. And honestly: I had to look up what flippancy meant.

[TheNoize]

Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood

So what happened to all the major label bands that didn't sell anything? If it was as simple as spending dough to break a band, every major label artist would sell millions.

Seriously, no offense, but your posts sound as if you have no experience in the industry.

And for the record, David, Ben and Amy are all very talented folks. You may not appreciate their talent, but please don't diminish their accomplishments with your flippancy.

Yeah Ben Moody is a truly amazing artist and producer. If we compare Fallen to the latest Evanescence album, it's easy to see the "with Ben Moody" / "without Ben Moody" contrast.

[Daniel Antix]

Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood

Seriously, no offense, but your posts sound as if you have no experience in the industry.

i'll second that... but i don't care if i offend or not.

[Daniel Antix]

Originally Posted by ClaySchmitt

1.) And honestly: I had to look up what flippancy meant.

well don't you feel like an idiot now.

[Brad Blackwood]

Originally Posted by ClaySchmitt

1.) I didn't say they weren't talented folks. I feel that they were pushed to making music that was corporately influenced.

Their 'hits' were written and initially recorded in an apartment in Arkansas, paid for with their own money - far away from any corporate influence. What you initially heard from them is them...

My whole point here is that you have perceptions about these bands that are based on assumptions and are inaccurate.

[AllAboutTone]

can we let this thread DIE out........you guys are getting worked up over nothing.....
we have all spoke our piece..........hell pick another band to pick on, this ones old.....

[ClaySchmitt]

Well geez-loise your right, I am wrong in my assumption. Personally, I don't care to look these kinds of things up about bands I dislike. Which is what I can say for sure, to me it sounds like these songs were written with little emo girls in mind, and I dislike them. - not your mastering.

I feel that the argument here is lost and I am somewhat to blame.

Listen, I don't think any one will disagree with you Noize. The clip you posted, the production is very near flawless. I think the argument has grown out of spite. I personally hate the fact that bands like Nickelback have these kinds of resources and engineers and producers at their fingertips, and they don't take risks that exploit the talent of these people.

I apologize for starting my side of the flame war. It is simply a matter of taste and nothing will change that.

[Jimsmack]

I've gotta say it. Randy Staub's mixes rock. Tons of energy. Even my death metal clients will admit that.

[StrykeBack]

Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood

As well as many others - what's your point?

Well I think that it was mastered just a tad too hot. Really flippin bright. Oh and not your fault but they definitely needed some death metal cowbell!

Totally kidding about all that but with everyone spotting opinions about shitting production I was suprised we've gone all of 5 or 10 minutes without that being thrown out there. I love working on rock but one thing that really allows me to enjoy Pop song projects is helping produce vocals. And that new Evanescence album has a boatload of vocal work all over it.

Its good to put names on here to face...or in this case CDs I've had spinning in my car. And yes I bought it.

[desol]

[QUOTE=ClaySchmitt;1425879]Well it is my (I'm sure)exclusive pov that that Evanescence happens to be the prime example of a band selling records due to major label marketing.



Not talent.

QUOTE]

It's not like i'm a big fan...but,

No talent? Amy lee has a 'huge' set of lungs?
She can sing like the wind...

Wtf are you saying?

D.

[ClaySchmitt]

ehh..... there are better voices...trust me. Sure she has a set of pipes on her, but I really don't like her voice.

But there again, that is an opinion.

To quote the band in question:

Now that I've seen
Not really Diggin This!
Now that I know
Not really Diggin This!

lol

[Daniel Antix]

Originally Posted by desol

It's not like i'm a big fan...but,

No talent? Amy lee has a 'huge' set of lungs?
She can sing like the wind...

Wtf are you saying?

D.

yeah she can sing like a mofo

the guy has no idea, typical jaded "i know it all" uni/college student.

[ClaySchmitt]

Originally Posted by Daniel Antix

yeah she can sing like a mofo

the guy has no idea, typical jaded "i know it all" uni/college student.

Right so your saying I don't know my own opinion?

Typical jaded internet post.

Yeah well, its hard, but this is the last time I post in this thread.

Sorry for any tears I have caused with my opinions, again I was being honest and meant no harm.

[Daniel Antix]

Originally Posted by ClaySchmitt

Right so your saying I don't know my own opinion?

Typical jaded internet post.

Yeah well, its hard, but this is the last time I post in this thread.

Sorry for any tears I have caused with my opinions, again I was being honest and meant no harm.

if your opinion is that she has no musical talent then you are an idiot. you dont have to like her music... i don't particuarly like it... but the girls talented you gotta give her that.

[Lou Albano]

Nickleback = Shit Sandwich