Early 70s sound

[TYY]

I have been listing to the Waylon Jennings records of the early-mid 70s (lonesome onry and mean, ramblin man), as well as some elvis from the same era (moody blue), and I am reminded of how much I LOVE the sound of these records. The RCA sound?

There is a SMOOTHNESS to the mixes that I cannot even approach with my mixes. The acoustic guitars and drums have a softness and air that baffles me. The vocals are BIG sounding, with lots of space around them (I know this has a lot to do with Elvis and Waylon as vocalists). Individual tracks seem quite dynamic, and yet the mix has a certain softness to it, and the overall levels are pretty decent on my recent CD releases.

I have a feeling a lot of the sound comes from tracking techniques, but surely mixing technique plays a part. It seems like the guitars are highpassed VERY high. Drum overheads are almost non existant, everything seems close mic'd on the kit. Lots of plate reverb on various tracks, but it never gets muddy or washy. Lots of hard panning, even on drums.

I figure it can't be the gear (i.e. tape), because records made later in the decade (not to mention the 80s) sound COMPLETELY different, even though they were made on similar (if not the same) equipment.


Any thoughts on this? I can't even get close.

[tINY]

Everything was EQ'd for playback on LPs. Not to mention that the monitors in the studio probably had horn-loaded tweeters. If you did the same thing today, you would think it sounded dull....

...or not.



-tINY

[cdog]

I would say tape is a significant factor if not the only one. The 80s records sounded different because the production techniques and musical styles changed, not the medium...

[TYY]

Originally Posted by cdog

I would say tape is a significant factor if not the only one. The 80s records sounded different because the production techniques and musical styles changed, not the medium...

Is this what you really meant to say? It seems contradictory to me. If the medium stayed the same, then how would tape be a significant part of the sound? I think you were agreeing with me about the technique changing radically?

[laser]

Originally Posted by TYY

Is this what you really meant to say? It seems contradictory to me. If the medium stayed the same, then how would tape be a significant part of the sound? I think you were agreeing with me about the technique changing radically?

I think what cdog is saying is that the 70's smooth sound you're hearing compared to today's music can be primarily attributed to the medium--i.e. using tape versus Pro Tools, ect.

The difference between the 70's sound and the 80's sound, since they both used tape, had more to do with the artists styles changing, changes in production techniques and changes in what the general listener wanted---not the medium (tape).

Cdog--jump in and correct me if I'm wrong.

Laser

[Bob Olhsson]

Those were among the last major label recordings that were tracked live, vocals and all. They used very little eq. and virtually no limiting. Dynamics were handled by the players, the arranger and some very astute gain riding.

We had a bunch of hits at Motown using methods that have become SOP today but THOSE were the benchmark records for sound WE were looking up to in total awe.

[TYY]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

Those were among the last major label recordings that were tracked live, vocals and all. They used very little eq. and virtually no limiting. Dynamics were handled by the players, the arranger and very astute gain riding. We had a bunch of hits at Motown using methods that are SOP today but THOSE were the records WE looked up to in total awe.

YES, I was listening the other day, and I heard what I figured had to be A LOT of gain riding on the lead vocals (waylon). So I assume this one done heavily on the tracks instead of resorting to compression? Perhaps this explains the phenomenon I hear of very open and dynamic tracks, whose levels are pardoxically well-controlled and SMOOOOOOTH.

Any insight on drum recording techniques? On some tracks I hear maybe room mics panned hard left right soft in the mix, with the hat close mic'd. It sounds like the drums were tracked in a nice big room, but most of the level in the mix is coming from the close mics. The room mics give space. There is almost never reverb or any substantial ambience on the drums; the snare is bone dry most of the time.

[Bob Olhsson]

Drummers played a lot softer prior to the mid '70s. Miking was typically one overhead, a kick and a snare. That all changed with rock bands.