Getting a 60s 'authentic' sound

  • Thread starter Thread starter Will25
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Richard Monroe said:
smoke some thai sticks that are really from Hawaii,
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Whenever I think of thai sticks, I think of Ricky the righteous' flat in Hampstead and laughing without stopping in the deep lifts at Hampstead station.....those were babies not to be taken lightly. I'm amazed anyone could record anything, 60s sounding or otherwise on those !
 
grimtraveller said:
... but there were people who felt that sound could be better. Technological developers obliged them. Some felt it went too far and was "too clean" and perhaps looked at analog with newer ears.
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Oh yeah...many engineers wanted a recording medium that was 100% colorless/transparent...just so that they could have more control on the front and back ends rather than playing to the medium.
But digital has yet to really deliver that...since even with digital, you can't avoid the A/D/A conversion...and no matter how colorless/transparent the actual *digital* part is...the conversion isn't due to the analog filters and all that mumbo jumbo, though it has been steadily improving over the years down to even less expensive converters.
Of course...the irony, as you say, is once the colorless/transparent "effect" became quite obvious...lots of people realized just how much they miss the color of specific gear!!! :D

I still like the signature color of some gear, as I find it provides a working "comfort zone" that I am familiar with, rather than trying to put some color into a digital, "colorless" track. I like when I transfer to digital for some of the color that I am already familiar with to be there rather than me having to figure out how to then add it.
Some folks prefer to add everything later on...but I think if you know the color you are bringing in when you go to digital, and you aim for it consciouly...it's not in any way an imposition or a problem.
It can work both ways...I just find it's easier to work with the various analog colors right up front...as you track...rarther than waiting for the mix. Not to mention, I find when things go into digital 100% colorless/transparent...they really DO tend to sound strident and stark, and even though I can then tweak them to give them some color...it seems like more work doing it that way.

YMMV..........

Now...what's this about Thai sticks...??? :cool:
 
I had to edit my original comment...I didn't want it to seem like I was actually looking to get some Thai sticks. ;)
(You got me before I could.)


:D
 
To get back on topic for a moment, I was just thinking, when I've heard bands' music described as emulating 60s groups, to me they rarely, if ever, actually sound like that. And I also find that songs from about '68 onwards seem less 'dated' (by that I mean 'harder to place' rather than 'passe') than songs from earlier in that decade.
 
My suggestion is to 'really' listen to what you're trying to sound like. Then just try to get those sounds. Sometimes it may be hard and you'll have to adjust. For instance, the drums used on old recordings were probably much better than the cheapos we have handy and who today is using flatwound bass strings? If you listen closely, some of those instruments are hard to hear, even though it all sounds good. And there isn't a lot of high-end or crispness.

In the mid to late 90s I worked at a small studio. I was so excited when the adats came out, but was so disappointed in their sound. I became a strictly analog guy. I wouldn't have anything to do with midi and I hated mixing to DAT (but loved mixing to hard disk, hmm, ironic). We had our 16track out for service once and wanted to keep working without going to our 8track then back to our 16. We picked up a newer Adat, an LX or something. I recorded some samples using my preferred chain and HATED the result. A few days later we got a Rode Classic tube mic. I hooked it up and let it warm up for 20 mins or so. Then I recorded some samples onto the ADAT. I fell in love. It wasn't the digital that was the problem, it was my good ole AT4033, that sounded just fine on tape. It took some adjusting.

Another friend had been using Adats in his personal studio. He solved his 'warmth' issues by running everything through an outboard compressor before it went to Adat. But when his service and maintenance bills started adding up he traded the Adat for an open reel tape deck, 8 track I believe.
 
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