Is innovative engineering a curse?

[devinb]

I've thinking about this for a while now.

 

I've mentioned before my distaste for dated sounds, which kind of makes me think that inventing anything new ultimately is a poor idea. That's disheartening.

 

I know it isn't so black and white.

 

I'm considering engineering as a field...I'm in a unique situation where the actual work of it (irregular and not having benefits) may not be a big problem.

[I was The Funk]

Theres no harm in creating something new. Thats what a lot of us strive for.

 

However, thats no excuse for not working through methods from the past, as there is a lot of good stuff to be learned. Everyone has their own approach. However, bear in mind that what might sound "innovative" to you might sound "{censored}ty" to everyone else.

 

Also, its likely someone has thought of it before....and it didn't catch on. Understanding aesthetics and art and music history go a long way towards helping you develop a truly innovative sound.

[devinb]

Yeah, I posted this because as I type I'm listening to The Breeder's Pod, which I remember thinking I loved the sound of when it came out, but now, all the Steve Albini disciples have made it sound like the early 1990's...

 

For my own stuff, I certainly take classic approaches, I think, and in the end, I'm not sure it would bother me too much...I think I'd be more happy getting the best sounds I thought I could most of the time.

[wwwjd]

do you mean NEW sounds are equal to being "dated" or being stuck in the era of their invention? IE 50's 70's 80's sound?

 

as far as recording technic, anything goes as long as the end result is excellent. musically, you can notice the "Classics" are usually made up of STANDARD instruments and don't grow beyond them yet thrive on their interesting composition and lyrics to make them timeless.

 

There's plenty of space in the "Creative production engineering" department. I've have created a list of new and maybe bizaar, yet listenable techniques I plan to record soon. It's a lot of fun coming up with ideas, and I think there is still a lot unexplored territory out there.

[devinb]

What I mean is more a feel...I guess it's most obvious in drum sounds, but sort of the idea that you could carbon date a song within a few years by the recording techniques...New sounds can be great, on the other hand, would Sgt. Pepper's sound as good recorded in 1975? 1980? 1990? 2000? Sure, lots of little things would be better, but the over all feel? I'm not sure.

 

I was watching some of The Beatles Anthology last night, and a lot of the interviews were videotaped in a studio's tracking room, and I remember a computer monitor that was placed in some of them, probably to look modern and slick, but now ten years later it looks so very dated...they would have looked much cooler today being interviewed in the tracking room, or an analog studio, in my opinion.

 

It's sort of like filming something now in black and white, to make it timeless, I guess.

[catscurlyear]

i think you can rap on about this subject all day . if you want to avoid sounding dated i think you would have to stop using all current fx units and recording techniques ,they automaticly put a date on tracks ,then where would that leave guitarists ,keyboard players and engineers who can`t fart about fiddling with nobs and current sounds .then your just left with the band and their songs which can usually be dated by the style of tunes they write. (unless its country and western)i think its kind of fun listening to old techniques and they will probably be all used again at some point ,we`re all slaves to fashion(unless it`s country and western)try carbon dating a recording of a big orchestra or brass band you won`t ever do it.

[Phil O'Keefe]

What does actually "date" a sound?

 

In the 50's it was slapback echo.

 

In the 70's it was dead dead dead drums.

 

In the 80's it was DX-7's and gated snare drum verb.

 

Of course, if you're recording a rockabilly track, a bit of slap echo isn't really a bad thing IMO...

 

Some techniques - such as the Glyn Johns "three mic" approach to recording drums are still equally valid today, and still useful. OTOH, stick a big gated verb on the snare and you're instantly in 1985...

 

I think a well rounded engineer is wise to learn about as many techniques as possible. You never know when you may need to / want to use one of them for a "period piece", or even in a new way; on something in a completely different style than what it was used on originally. Of course, if you want to come up with something new, that's cool too... but knowing what came before is beneficial in that endeavour IMO.

[jackcheez]

I love and respect innovators so much, but I think of engineering the same way I think about playing bass.

 

Do what the song wants you to do.

 

The single biggest obstacle I have to being innovative is the fact that I remember what I've heard over the years. I hear a song and it will trigger something in my memory that tells me "what it should sound like". It's hard to erase that programming. I don't want to be tired and boring, but I don't want to be different for the sake of being different either. That can be worse.

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

I think that's the key - do what the song asks for - IOW, if it's musically appropriate to do something new, then by all means... OTOH, you don't have to always reinvent the wheel, and I see nothing wrong with using tried and true approaches / techniques either - as long as they make musical sense.

[wwwjd]

I agree with all of the above. As a writer, I especially agree with the fact that the SONG is the purpose for the engineering part to exist. BUT... there are many occasions when my engineering side CREATES the basis for building a song out of a technique or idea of a way to record or what I'm recording. True, these types of songs are not the most well thought out "Pop Formula" structures, but, to me, they are very entertaining to LISTEN to. Hopefully interesting to others also.

 

My goal right now is to capitalize on unique recording methods or situations AND write within the confines of popular formula.... thus bringing creative engineering to the masses with the flavor they connect with and appriciate. Maybe it won't be successful, but then again, I've not heard many others try it yet. Seems like an open oyster to me.