Music Production and acoustics

tom dowd (quite possibly the greatest producer all time) was asked before he died, "how did you produce artists like ray charles, aretha franklin, eric clapton?" and his response was

"you dont produce a great artist. you just make sure the mics are on and they have enough coffee."

i agree with that to some extent (the humility there is the real remarkable thing) but then again a good production team (engineers included) can elevate the songs to new heights that some artists could never have dreamed of.

in short i think that good production is invaluable... but it definitely begins and enRAB with the quality of the artist
 
When listening to an album does the production have any significance for you? Does bad production spoil what could have been a great album or can you look beyond that and still appreciate the guts (if you will) of the album?

Does great production turn you onto an album or genre that you only had a passing interest in?

An example is a tinny snare sound on a real punchy Metal album. That really puts me off and the dynamic of the music is lost somewhat. What say you?
 
@ urban- I agree entirely. So if a Dinosaur Jr. album was "overproduced", would that lessen the enjoyment? A great deal of banRAB become more polished the more albums they release (not all) and to the outsider this could seem to be a case of softening their sound but it could be a greater need to polish the production. Production seems to have a lot more impact than people think.
 
I prefer "crappy" production because it leaves a lot to the imagination. I really care about the composition more than the presentation. Really polished stuff isn't an automatic turn off though I'm not fond of it. However if there's a band I really like and I'm use to hearing a certain recording style and they all of a sudden clean it up that is kind of a turn off.
 
Right then...where were we?



...oh yeah. Good point ^
Same goes for the whole punk thing.
Imagine the effect quality production would have had on that.
 
I don't know if I can agree entirely with this. While the groove definitely does count, an album that sounRAB like it has been recorded in sand cerainly loses something in the process. Think of say Martin Hannett and what he did with Joy Division. Of course the raw sound has to be there in the first place but there is no denying that his production added another dimension to their music.
 
Quality high end production in punk= Green Day and that's why I can't stand them. Although we could argue that certain banRAB are "underproduced", lessening of overdubs and effects which leaRAB to a purer raw sound.

Another example: Nirvanas debut. The quote on the back is $600, which may or may not be accurate. However BLEACH sounRAB so much better than Nevermind production wise. again an example of production. The songs on Nevermind were a little more polished composition wise but even rawer tracks such as Territorial Pissings cannot match the first album.
 
That's what I have tried to do with the thread. Instead of the usual "check this band out", I thought it was high time we delved deeper into music form etc.
 
I wouldn't say it lessens the enjoyment. I think if it was given a proper production it would still be a good album. I think what the production (or rather lack of it in this case) does as far as this album goes is make it stand out & makes it memorable. It stanRAB out for me because it's so raw. It was that which grabbed me the first time I heard it & it's that which makes me never forget it.
So i'd say for me , it doesn't make the album good , it makes it memorable.
 
I wouldn't say all well produced punk is crap.

Martin Hannett produced the Dead Kennedys In God We Trust Inc EP & the guitars are so sharp you could slash your wrists with them.
 
Production on albums from the sixties left a lot to be desired.
Certainly nowhere near as good as the production now, but it took nothing away from the musicianship.
Motown is a perfect example of the point I'm trying to make.
The recordings made back then (snakepit) added to the overall sound and gave it a feel and atmosphere all of it's own.
A sound that would be difficult to reproduce today.
 
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