Would you do analog recording ?

[JG96]

Greg/Grim
I totally see what you are saying. There are definitely exceptions to anything. But for those on a budget, it is not possible fake a good performance on tape the way you can on digital. Edits were more time taking but time is money. Now obviously bands like Metallica have the money to have an analog edited like crazy. Before digital bands without major funding couldn't put out heavily edited albums. Today anyone with a DAW can rid their songs of any possible flaws.

 

[gecko zzed]

I have friends who work for a railway museum. They clamber over the old steam locos there, polishing every rivet, oiling every piston, until the old monsters are gleaming brighter than the day on which they left the factory. In truth there is nothing more exhilarating than a steam loco thundering along the tracks. But the golden age of steam has long passed; running and maintaining those locos was just too expensive. Electricity is much more efficient. I lament the passing of steam, but I recognise the reasons for its demise.

The spartan utility of some electric commuter trains compares unfavourably to the luxury of Pullman, but in the end, both had to do the same thing . . . deliver people safely from A to B.

It is true that some passengers enjoyed train rides just for the journey itself (and that is specially true now with steam being such a novelty), but most just want to get where they are going.

That long-winded story above is my analogy for the analog or digital recording thing. Analog recording is an exciting process for some people, who enjoy the mechanics of recording as much as the steam afficianado enjoys his mechanics. And there is absolutely noting wrong with that. And there will be many people who will likewise find it exhilarating recording in an analog studio.

But the people who I deal with just want recordings. They are not analog fanciers . . . they just want the recordings done. I've not yet seen a look of disappointment when they come and see no giant console and no multi-track tape recorder.

 

[miroslav]

Analog recording is an exciting process for some people, who enjoy the mechanics of recording as much as the steam afficianado enjoys his mechanics. And there is absolutely noting wrong with that. And there will be many people who will likewise find it exhilarating recording in an analog studio.

But the people who I deal with just want recordings. They are not analog fanciers . . . they just want the recordings done. I've not yet seen a look of disappointment when they come and see no giant console and no multi-track tape recorder.

Yup...it is a lot of fun working with gear instead of just software....but I do totally understand why in some situations, it's more about "get it done"...with little interest in the mechanics of it.
That said....there are lots of bands who specifically WANT that old-school process....so it's a wash.
People who are just looking for some basic "answer" about which is "better" or which way they should go....will not find it in this thread or others like it.
There was no "poll" that decided how recording should be done....that's why this thread has a somewhat half-assed poll quality to it. Some folks are actually looking to come away with a definitive answer or to prove which is better.
I'm happily using both, and I DO see the value in both...so I'm the last one to be biased about analog or digital.

 

[JimmyS1969]

so much for that

And what troll is this that created a new alias? I already know.

Please just go away dood. This place is obviously not for you.

 

[Greg_L]

But that's cool....you can stick to your guns, just don't criticize the opposition when they stick to theirs.

I'm not criticizing you at all. You like tape because it's fun for you. I can dig it. That's the only pro for your side. It's fun for you. No problem. I don't disagree with that. I disagree with the false notion that it sounds better, because it doesn't, and that there's some magical quality with tape, there isn't..

 

[Greg_L]

Greg/Grim
I totally see what you are saying. There are definitely exceptions to anything. But for those on a budget, it is not possible fake a good performance on tape the way you can on digital. .

People on a budget are not seriously recording to tape, unless they're 4-tracking it to cassette.

Faking it to digital is a very real pro, or con, for digital, depending on how you look at it. Fake is fake. Tape can be faked, so can digital. It's not a knock on digital that it's easier to fake with digital. That's a knock on the bad player. You can't blame digital for people sucking.

 

[Farview]

Oh c'mon now Jay....you know that on HR it has been proven that there is zero value in using anything over 48kHz.

Yes, because there is zero value in recording sound that isn't there for the most part, won't be reproduced by most playback systems and we can't hear anyway.

 

[Farview]

Um, anyone who would try to say that Lars actually played the tracks on 'Justice' is completely delusional. The dood has no internal meter or consistency. He comes up with some cool grooves and fills maybe, but the dood is a hack in my personal drummer ratings. Number one in my book is a drummer who has no sense of timing. Seen Metallica on purpose twice, three other times by default. He should program drums or have a click track surgically implanted into his brain, because he has no natural meter.

You are correct. Live, he is all over the place, but he can play to a click.

'Justice' is also edited to the grid (and I do that with others myself). I am not judging that.

Not sure how they would have done that in 1988. Soundtools came out a year later, and that could only edit a single stereo track at a time.

The 'Black' album may have been recorded to tape. But I would be really amazed if they actually edited the tracks via tape itself. Who would waste that much time?

The black album is very well documented. Lars played each part several (hundred) times. Then all the fills and transitions. Then Randy Staub took the hand written notes and the millions of reels of tape and edited together the songs out of the best performances of each part.

 

[Farview]

I suppose it gives an intern something to do before he becomes a soundman huh? lol

The guy wasn't an intern, he was the engineer.

 

[XploZiveToyz]

Did anyone read the little article-interview with Gary Katz, producer for Steely Dan, today in the Homerecording.com weekly magazine? He said he likes digital better.

 

[Greg_L]

Did anyone read the little article-interview with Gary Katz, producer for Steely Dan, today in the Homerecording.com weekly magazine? He said he likes digital better.

This is the kind of stuff that people latch on to and I can't possibly disagree with it more. Some guy, any guy, famous grammy winning producer for band X, says this and this, and we're supposed to give a shit? I'm supposed to give a shit? Why would anyone give a shit? I can't wrap my head around why so many people look to others to have their own opinion. For me personally, I couldn't care less what some producer thinks. It has no impact on my life whatsoever.

 

[JimmyS1969]

This is the kind of stuff that people latch on to and I can't possibly disagree with it more. Some guy, any guy, famous grammy winning producer for band X, says this and this, and we're supposed to give a shit? I'm supposed to give a shit? Why would anyone give a shit? I can't wrap my head around why so many people look to others to have their own opinion. For me personally, I couldn't care less what some producer thinks. It has no impact on my life whatsoever.

That is kind of the point. Who really cares what anyone finds good for themselves. You could record with a log and a piece of flint if that makes you happy. Makes no difference to me.

Whatever floats yer boat, enjoy that.

Trying to compare another doods personal preferences as to what you enjoy the most is just personal opinion.

I have my own opinion, and that does not mean anyone else should follow it. It is just what works for me.


Why does anyone take the time to argue this stupid crap?

 

[XploZiveToyz]

Cool your jets big boy! LOL! I wouldn't exactly say I latched on to anything. I just asked if anyone had read the article since it was basically about this topic. Personally, if I were rich, I'd have myself a Studer, a nice board, racks of outboard gear, and employ two full-time engineers so that I could record 24/7, whenever the urge hit me. However, since I went bust after the dotcom bubble burst, I guess digital is the way to go!

 

[Bobbsy]

Why does anyone take the time to argue this stupid crap?

Because right now it's raining so hard here (with some thunder too) that it's impossible to record the guitarist I was going to have in this morning. Metal roofs, rain and recording don't mix.

I'm pretty sure it's analogue rain.

 

[miroslav]

I'm not criticizing you at all. You like tape because it's fun for you. I can dig it. That's the only pro for your side. It's fun for you. No problem. I don't disagree with that. I disagree with the false notion that it sounds better, because it doesn't, and that there's some magical quality with tape, there isn't..

OK, we're cool....and if you read some of my earlier posts, I said I use tape because it sounds different than digital. I never used the term "better", so you may be talking about some other people.
Also....I never said tape itself was "magical", I'm against that view and I hate when some people bring out that snake oil mentality about tape or analog gear in general, because it undermines us realistic pro-analog/tape users.
The whole process of using tape and analog gear in a session may impart a certain mood/vibe/whatever that somehow makes it all seem a little "magical"....but tape has NO magic process. Garbage in, garbage out.

Now.....as far as it being fun, for me and others....well, that's "value".
If you have fun, the session might go easier, then you might play/record with more enthusiasm and exictemnet...therefore that IS a great value on its own.
There is also a sound from some tape, under certain circumstances, that digital hasn't quite been able to emulate completely....and the fact that there is SO much effort to do that, to emulate tape and analog gear, proves that a lot of people find value in THAT sound....doesn't it?
Along with that....when you have a lot of tracks, tape mixdowns have this tendency to "glue" things....it's nothing dramatic, but that's the best way to describe it. Not to mention, when some instruments, they just sound really good when going to tape. Some may not...for some, the clarity and transparency of digital is the better option.

 

[miroslav]

That is kind of the point. Who really cares what anyone finds good for themselves. You could record with a log and a piece of flint if that makes you happy. Makes no difference to me.

Whatever floats yer boat, enjoy that.

Trying to compare another doods personal preferences as to what you enjoy the most is just personal opinion.

I have my own opinion, and that does not mean anyone else should follow it. It is just what works for me.


Why does anyone take the time to argue this stupid crap?

You often take the view that people are "arguing" whenever someone makes more than a couple of posts, and a thread goes for more than a couple pages....but Jimmy....there's NO arguing here.

There was a minor skirmish earlier with some unsolicited offer of sex... ....but this thread, like so many, is just a debate of differing views. If we didn't have these...then you could just close down HR and there would only be an FAQ on how to do this and that for recording.....no discussion and no differences of opinion.

To me....arguing is when it gets real ugly, with lots of personal attacks and name-calling for no reason, other than to just insult each other.
We really don't have that all too often. Mostly it's just drawn out debates....and if some folks get tired of them and of reading the endless posts....they can simply move on to another thread.

 

[XploZiveToyz]

You often take the view that people are "arguing" whenever someone makes more than a couple of posts, and a thread goes for more than a couple pages....but Jimmy....there's NO arguing here.

There was a minor skirmish earlier with some unsolicited offer of sex... ....but this thread, like so many, is just a debate of differing views. If we didn't have these...then you could just close down HR and there would only be a FAQ on how to do this and that for recording.....no discussion and no differences of opinion.

To me....arguing is when it gets real ugly, with lots of personal attacks and name-calling for no reason, other than to just insult each other.
We really don't have that all too often. Mostly it's just drawn out debates....and if some folks get tired of them and of reading the endless posts....they can simply move on to another thread.

Actually, you're all wrong, and I'm right. End of story!

 

[miroslav]

Because right now it's raining so hard here (with some thunder too) that it's impossible to record the guitarist I was going to have in this morning. Metal roofs, rain and recording don't mix.

I'm pretty sure it's analogue rain.

Shit....it's like raining all over the world right now!
All day today and tomorrow here....rain, rain...rain.
Just talked to my mother down in Florida....all day rain.
Now you down under....also rain, rain, rain.




He's ^^^^^ a real tape/analog guy!

 

[JimmyS1969]

You often take the view that people are "arguing" whenever someone makes more than a couple of posts, and a thread goes for more than a couple pages....but Jimmy....there's NO arguing here.

There was a minor skirmish earlier with some unsolicited offer of sex... ....but this thread, like so many, is just a debate of differing views. If we didn't have these...then you could just close down HR and there would only be an FAQ on how to do this and that for recording.....no discussion and no differences of opinion.

To me....arguing is when it gets real ugly, with lots of personal attacks and name-calling for no reason, other than to just insult each other.
We really don't have that all too often. Mostly it's just drawn out debates....and if some folks get tired of them and of reading the endless posts....they can simply move on to another thread.

That is exactly my point man. You can create an argument from nothing. If you were not the head of your debate team in high school, you should have been.

I made a statement and........... you know what, I'm out... I just don't care enough to continue in this thread.

Have fun with it.

Bye bye.

 

[miroslav]

Hey....blame Grim.....he started this!