What are different mixing/production conventions in other countries?

[rlm297]

 

This might be an odd question, since majority seem to discuss getting the best commercial sound. But I've been wondering, what are the different conventions in terms of audio mixing based on country?

I always thought the mixing style and production for 70's to 80's Mexican rock music sounded cool. Not because they used substandard gear, since they likely had similar equipment as the studios in the US, but it seems they had a certain mixing/production style.

Everything might be McDonaldized now, but to my ears I could hear a clear difference in audio production for different markets in older songs. I'm somewhat familiar with the differences between U.S. and U.K. mixes (British EQ), but how about other places? What did those guys value?

[Phil O'Keefe]

It's a good question, and an interesting topic for discussion, although I'm not sure how detailed the replies will get.

 

Years ago, there was a "sound" that certain cities and regions had - the Philadelphia sound, The LA / West Coast sound, the Chicago Sound, the New York Sound, the Memphis Sound, the Bakersfield Sound, etc. etc. Some of that may be attributable to the approach the mixing engineers took, but I think it had much more to do with what was happening regionally from a musical standpoint. The music in the region was influenced by the other acts who were living in the same area, and who were part of that same "scene." The music, in turn, dictates to the engineer what it's supposed to sound like - IOW, we change our approach depending on what we're given to work with, and depending on the demands of the music.

I think that those regional "sounds" are largely a thing of the past. There's less of a vibrant local or regional music scene in most cities today, and the impact of outside influences is greater - with the internet, you're more likely to get ideas from around the globe instead of only from the local musicians that you'd almost exclusively be exposed to without it. IOW, things can be global in terms of reach now instead of being limited to the local area, and you can converse with, and be influenced by a larger range of people today than was the case back when those regional "sounds" were in their heydays.

[saturn1]

 

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Phil O'Keefe wrote:

 

 

It's a good question, and an interesting topic for discussion, although I'm not sure how detailed the replies will get.

 

 

 

Years ago, there was a "sound" that certain cities and regions had - the Philadelphia sound, The LA / West Coast sound, the Chicago Sound, the New York Sound, the Memphis Sound, the Bakersfield Sound, etc. etc. Some of that may be attributable to the approach the mixing engineers took, but I think it had much more to do with what was happening regionally from a musical standpoint. The music in the region was influenced by the other acts who were living in the same area, and who were part of that same "scene." The music, in turn, dictates to the engineer what it's supposed to sound like - IOW, we change our approach depending on what we're given to work with, and depending on the demands of the music.

 

I think that those regional "sounds" are largely a thing of the past. There's less of a vibrant local or regional music scene in most cities today, and the impact of outside influences is greater - with the internet, you're more likely to get ideas from around the globe instead of only from the local musicians that you'd almost exclusively be exposed to without it. IOW, things can be global in terms of reach now instead of being limited to the local area, and you can converse with, and be influenced by a larger range of people today than was the case back when those regional "sounds" were in their heydays.

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I agree that those sounds were more based on a community of musicians dictating what something was supposed to sound like.  Perhaps those 'regional sounds' are more comparable to 'genre' or 'sub-genre' sounds today.  Nashville may be a great example.  If you are talking about top 40 country music there is definitely a Nashville Sound.  It may evolve and mutate, but at any given time many of the popular country recordings have the same sound.  On the other hand, many other types of musicians go to Nashville to record, use the same studios, same musicians, same engineers but end up with vastly different sounds.  It seems that producers will hear a sound that was successful and they will seek to do something similar, no matter where they are located.  Artists do the same, at least until they reach a point where they are successful enough or creative enough to find their own.