Well...that's been the default answer to 99% of audio discussions...which often implies that anything goes, anywhere...and it can all be made to sound great...because it's all "subjective"
It's not so much that it implies that anything goes, but rather, that there is a huge well of possibilities from which to draw and that they all have their place.
but I do think in many cases that's simply a self-serving argument.
I agree. And I don't see a problem with that. When people are discussing what they do, what they think, what they've found to be the case, there's a huge degree of self serving. If I tell you I prefer X over Y or would choose B over Z, who else am I going to be serving ?
Everything has a context though, so it's not always as bold as that.
It's like saying that some major band, back in the day, used a corridor with matrasses, and still made a great record...therefore we can all do the same and forgo worrying about anything formal
Well, I guess some
could make that argument and on one level, they wouldn't be wrong but I'd argue that the moment they limited everyone to what
their experience was and stated that their experience is the only real parameter, that they are wrong.
When I mentioned the circumstances under which Deep Purple and Horslips made their 1972 albums it wasn't with the intention of saying that all albums should be made that way, in hotel corridors and barns with rats running about, rather, that they
can be made that way and that the way they were made and where they were recorded wasn't an impediment to a great album, therefore it is more than possible to record a good album in less than stellar circumstances. With that in mind, if you were in a flat/apartment or close house situation, if you had to look at soundproofing, that would not automatically condemn your project to a shitty sound because there are all kinds of ways to achieve a good sound, whether it be a specific room design or other ways you have to get around the room and what it may bring.
I like to think that there is more to it than that. The fact that there ARE specific rooms that are highly sought after, and that deliver the goods pretty much every time...makes me pretty confident that it's not all "subjective"....that there are quite a lot of very defined spaces and also gear for that matter, that always deliver the goods
If one looks over the last 70 years, music, good music that we've all loved and hated in equal measure has been recorded in a huge variety of studios, halls, rooms, stairwells, combinations of all of them, all different and the science of it all hasn't diminished from the reality that a good song is a good song in the ear of the beholder. Of course some songs/albums have been poorly recorded, mixed, mastered. But ultimately, science has been a double edged sword. Because while it has progressed in terms of actual studio construction and sound exploration {for want of a better word}, it has simultaneously enabled music to be created and recorded and reproduced in ways and spaces that compensate for the absence of that which one wing of the debate venerates.
Without a doubt some rooms are highly sought after. But they're not sought after by everyone which tells me that there's a lot of subjectivity that goes into matters. Like I said earlier, subjectivity for me is not a negative.
I simply don't accept that someone can capture the same acoustic quality in a small bedroom as they could in one of the purpose built live rooms of many great studios.
That would surely depend on the small room in question, the gear used and as importantly, how.
I've done the small, dead room thing...and while I can make it work, it's just not the sound I want or way of tracking I'm interested in anymore...so OK, in that way, it is subjective
It's quite interesting looking back over time and seeing how fashions change. One moment live rooms are too bright and dead is in, next dead is dead and long live the live. And what's really interesting is that in so many instances it's the same producers and engineers that were singing the praises of one then the other. Some got versatile, some had and remained in their preferences, almost all learned to do good work in all kinds of spaces/rooms and in varying combinations.
I hear all kinds of sounds in songs and some of them I really dislike, even though I may love the song.
I see a lot of home rec guys who worry mostly about the soundproofing...but then later end up frustrated because they can't get any good sounds in the room
That's a different matter.
Having said that though, I cannot recall once coming across anyone that soundproofed their studio on HR. Many have inquired about it but I can't think of anyone that actually did it. There were some that had dedicated studios built, in some ways, like yours, and there was definitely a soundproof element because the studio was virtually a new build, either added to the existing building or in the garden or something. But actually soundproofing a place, especially just a room, is really in-depth stuff and for what would go into it balanced against what comes out of it and the fact that it would essentially be a single use space, not really worthwhile to start smashing one's abode about.
Kind of side deflect here
Actually, you kind of brought things back on focus !
....at least with respect to posting, but if you're making the analogy to the rope jumping thing, I get what you mean.
