What Is Phil Spector's "Wall Of Sound" All About??

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Mike Freze

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Hi! I keep reading about Phil Spector's "wall of sound" as his claim to fame as a record producer. Exactly what is this? Does it occur during the mixing or mastering phase?

Does he use or avoid panning to accomplish this? Does he separate EQ levels on each track for each instrument or just let them "pile up" on top of each other so there is no separation?

Was George Martin a "wall of sound" producer with the Beatles? If not, can you tell me the difference?

Thanls! Mike Freze
 
He did it during tracking mainly. It was referring to his arrangements more than what he did during mixing or mastering. He added lots of parts at a time when studios didn't have unlimited tracks like they do now.
He would have multiple guiarists playing the same part (layering as we would say today) and/or use up to full orchestras adding parts ....... most of it recorded with an echo chamber available.

No ...... George Martin wasn't a wall of sound producer and, in fact, the only producer I've ever heard have that phrase used to describe him was Phil Spector. I've never heard the term 'wall of sound' producer used in any respect other than when referring to Phil Spector.

A famous unsuccessful example of the 'wall of sound' is the Let It Be album with the Beatles where, John I believe, pushed for Spector to do his magic to that album. Many of the over the top orchestrated arrangements have been pretty much reviled by many Beatles fans which led to the semi-recent 'Let It Be -- Naked' version which strips out all the orchestrated crap.
 
What Is Phil Spector's "Wall Of Sound" All About??


It was a sound he got mainly from diffusion due to his hair-do. :cool:




:D
 
Lt. Bob said:
He did it during tracking mainly. It was referring to his arrangements more than what he did during mixing or mastering. He added lots of parts at a time when studios didn't have unlimited tracks like they do now.
He would have multiple guiarists playing the same part (layering as we would say today) and/or use up to full orchestras adding parts ....... most of it recorded with an echo chamber available.

No ...... George Martin wasn't a wall of sound producer and, in fact, the only producer I've ever heard have that phrase used to describe him was Phil Spector. I've never heard the term 'wall of sound' producer used in any respect other than when referring to Phil Spector.

A famous unsuccessful example of the 'wall of sound' is the Let It Be album with the Beatles where, John I believe, pushed for Spector to do his magic to that album. Many of the over the top orchestrated arrangements have been pretty much reviled by many Beatles fans which led to the semi-recent 'Let It Be -- Naked' version which strips out all the orchestrated crap.
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Exactly !
I really enjoy the 'Let It be--Nakd' album, to me it just sounds so much better.
I don't care to much for the Spector 'Let It Be' except for 'Across The Universe' which I think works quite well.
 
I think of Mutt Lange as a "wall of sound" producer. Not sure if I've heard the music press use that phrase to describe him though.
 
Much was made of Spector's "wall of sound" when it was in vogue in the sixties. However, it was a sound that didn't do much for me . . . I found it pretentious, dense, and unpleasant to listen to.
 
Not getting in anyone's face, here (I like and respect both Lt. Bob and gecko zzed...) but I think Spector deserves a bit more respect. The "Wall of Sound" was quite innovative for it's day- as Lt. Bob points out, he did it "at a time when studios didn't have unlimited tracks like they do now." It must have been a lot of work, and achieved both it's creative and commercial goals.

And yes, I know he's doing time for murder. Such a shame.
 
stevieb said:
Not getting in anyone's face, here (I like and respect both Lt. Bob and gecko zzed...) but I think Spector deserves a bit more respect. The "Wall of Sound" was quite innovative for it's day- as Lt. Bob points out, he did it "at a time when studios didn't have unlimited tracks like they do now." It must have been a lot of work, and achieved both it's creative and commercial goals.

And yes, I know he's doing time for murder. Such a shame.
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I didn't disrespect him even a little bit.
I simply used an easily accessible example of something very rare .... a record that you can hear both with and without his sound. Name me another record that you can do that with.
And it's widely accepted that 'Let It Be' was one of his spectacular failures as it didn't suit the Beatles in the way it suited the soul groups.

But yes, as I said, istudios didn't have that many tracks back then. 24 tracks often and even the biggest might have 48 so what he did was amazing for its' time.
That doesn't mean every single example is successful.
 
Perhaps you were giving the man due respect, Bob- as I said, I am not GIYF. I slept on how I felt before I posted, this morning, and felt like the overall tone of this thread sounded a bit dismissive- and I wanted to correct that. That is all. Thanks.
 
Sound on Sound magazine's "Classic Tracks" columns are great reading to find out exactly how the old albums were made. LOTS OF TIPS HERE.

Also good brief explanation of Wall of Sound on this article too.
 
stevieb said:
Perhaps you were giving the man due respect, Bob- as I said, I am not GIYF. I slept on how I felt before I posted, this morning, and felt like the overall tone of this thread sounded a bit dismissive- and I wanted to correct that. That is all. Thanks.
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well ...... Phil Spector was definitely a historic figure in the development of the recording art for sure and it's probably easy for todays' recordists to not even be aware of him, as the OP wasn't.

But there's no doubt that he carried the process way further than anyone had done prior to him and the 'Wall Of Sound' concept was VERY influential at the time.
He, and his sound, were very high profile. You read about it all over the place and heard people trying to emulate it. The 'Philly Sound', to me, was a version of the Wall of Sound and it was also ubiquitous on the radio waves during its' run of popularity.

At the time, getting that many tracks together must have required almost hurculean efforts and it was a very desired sound for many, many years.
Actually, the only example I can think of where it was considered too much was "Let It Be' so perhaps that was a bad example but the fact is, that's the only piece of music I can think of where you actually have a before and after to be able to clearly see what he specifically contributed.

As for his murdering someone ...... to me that's very removed from his recordings. They stand on their own merits ........ the fact that he was apparently a bit of a douche is irrelevant to me as regards his body of work.
 
Some of, that is most of Todd Rundgen's music always reminded me of that wall of sound. *A wizard a true star* and *Something/Anything* Right up there on my top 10. ;)
 
The Ramones' worst sounding record was done by Phil Spector. :laughings: :laughings:


Minimalist band + over-producer = trainwreck
 
moresound said:
*Something/Anything*
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That was an album I listened to repeatedly for several years ......... an awesome piece of work.
'Where were you when the carousel burned down?'

'Piss Aaron'


and my fav at the time 'You Really Left Me Sore'.

:laughings:
 
Greg_L said:
The Ramones' worst sounding record was done by Phil Spector. :laughings: :laughings:


Minimalist band + over-producer = trainwreck
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OMG! :eek:

I was unaware of that! :laughings:

I'll go find that today without fail. I cannot think of a poorer match than that!
:D
 
Lt. Bob said:
OMG! :eek:

I was unaware of that! :laughings:

I'll go find that today without fail. I cannot think of a poorer match than that!
:D
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It's called "End of the Century". Great songs, awful production....for a Ramones record.

As a contrast, check out their album before that one - "Road to Ruin". It was produced by Ed Stasium and is a classic example of proper Ramones sound.
 
Lt. Bob said:
That was an album I listened to repeatedly for several years ......... an awesome piece of work.
'Where were you when the carousel burned down?'

'Piss Aaron'


and my fav at the time 'You Really Left Me Sore'.

:laughings:
Click to expand...

Same here Lt.! Listening to his work over and over gave me the insight of what can be done in the studio and broaden my artistic ability. :cool:
 
Greg_L said:
It's called "End of the Century". Great songs, awful production....for a Ramones record.

As a contrast, check out their album before that one - "Road to Ruin". It was produced by Ed Stasium and is a classic example of proper Ramones sound.
Click to expand...
will do mang. Time for me to understanbd the Ramones and I know you're the guide for that.
 
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