Reference CD recomendations.

[Cosmonauta]

I will get involved in a "pop romantic" project a la Julio Iglesias, (late) Rod Stweart, Micheal Bolton etc...
Any good modern well produced-mixed CD I should check for inspiration and reference?
thx!

[Synth80s]

Hi Luke,

Since there's obviously no such thing as a perfect recording, your reference recordings should really be records you enjoy and admire. Of course, if commercial success matters a great deal for your project, it doesn't hurt to listen closely to high-selling and/or award winning albums in your target genre.

It sounds like you already have some artists in mind whose work you are interested in using as references. I'd buy some of the more popular albums from these and other artists, listen on a good reference system and take some notes about what you like and dislike about each track. Examples:

-- Which instruments are forward in the mix and which are pushed to the back?
-- Is the stereo image wide or narrow? Where are the various instruments panned?
-- Are there many layers of vocals or are they relatively direct?
-- Is the recording realtively dry or does it have lots of ambience and reverb?
-- How are the dynamics?
-- How is the overall frequency balance (using a spectrum analyzer can help here)?

One more tip: in addition to using a good speaker-based monitoring system, using a really good set of headphones (I generally lean towrd Sennheisers) can help you pickup additional details in a mix.

Good Luck!
Synth80s

[Cosmonauta]

Hi Synth, thx for the reply. Your points are right.
My personal taste is Acid Jazz, 70's Funk, Bossa Nova, etc... So of course, I save that stuff for my own thing... which is not the case now.
This specific project, is the client's project.
So I would like to be more familiar with this romantic-pop universe to be comfortable enough and know the limits of how far can I let my own taste go inside this style without being non-sense to what romantic-pop music consumer is used to listen.
The "Iglesias/Stewart'Bolton" reference was what the manager said about artist's kind of music. I already checked those guys on I-Tunes Store... most of their popular albums were recorded at 80's and mid 90's, most of them not impressive (Iglesias actually sounds terrible). Bolton have a recent CD wich sound's very good (Vintage), but it's all romantic jazz standards... not pop. I know most of the Gearslutz here are rock dudes, but maybe someone can point me to a decent reference CD beyond Stewart/Bolton stuff.

ps: When I'm in a serious project I'm all paranoid about monitoring refernce: genelecs, yamahas, fostex phones, my car's stereo, a couple of mini-systems, my TV, my mac speaker and a multi-media kit joins the party! ;-p

[Synth80s]

Hi Luke,

I'm not too familiar with that genre, so I don't know what recordings are held in high regard. I imagine a strong vocal (either intimate or spacious) is key. I've heard good things about Tony Bennett's recent recordings -- I'd add him to your list of artists to preview for the project.

Two albums I can definitely recommend that are *sort of* in the genre:

Sting -- "Mercury Falling" -- More AOR or "adult pop" than straight romantic ballads, but a great reference recording all around. One of the more balanced mainstream recordings I know of, and one I think will age very gracefully.

Morten Harkett -- "Wild Seed" -- Great songwriting (including several ballads that aren't too sappy) and a fantastic recording. You may already know, but Morten is the lead singer of A-ha and this 1995 album showed his vocal range. This could be a great reference CD for the project if you can find it. From what I hear about A-ha's popularity in Brazil, you may be able to find this CD easier there than we can in the US.

-Synth80s

[tINY]

Get a copy of Thomas Dolby's "Aliens ate my Buick". There are a lot of clean, slightly over-the-top production titbits in there. For this project, you could probably get some ideas from "Budapest by Blimp" and "My brain is like a sieve".



-tINY

[Synth80s]

Originally posted by tINY


Get a copy of Thomas Dolby's "Aliens ate my Buick". There are a lot of clean, slightly over-the-top production titbits in there. For this project, you could probably get some ideas from "Budapest by Blimp" and "My brain is like a sieve".



-tINY

Interesting call! Thomas Dolby is one of my absolute favorite artists and an oft-overlooked innovator. I was fortunate to see him on tour for the "Aliens" album at the famed 101 concert in 1988 (at the Rose Bowl). The acts in order of appearance were: Wire, Thomas Dolby, OMD and Depeche Mode.

People only seem to remember Thomas Dolby for his one big hit single, but his albums show a great range of creative thinking and musicianship. No two of his albums are really alike, though if you like one, you may like them all.

-Synth80s

[tINY]

Ever since I discovered accurate speakers, I have loved Thomas Dolby's production. The songs and performance aren't bad either (especially lyrically).

Back to the original thought: Most of the "Pop-Romantic" albums tend to be about the singer. Feature the singer (make him steamy if you must) and make the insturment secondary. I mentioned the album I did is that there is a lot goine on with dynamic EQ, slight compression, and stereo processing that takes things out of the background and into the center of attention as the singing stops.



-tINY

[HudHudson]

Check out any of Andrea Boccelli's albums from the past 5-6 years and anything that Mick Guzauski has mixed...