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Article on the Foo Fighters latest album - No PCs allowed


Tenstrum

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Grohl is right, of course, but this isn't a particularly new phenomenon. Milli Vanilli, anyone? Autotone?

 

What's that song by the Limousines that I hear sometimes..."that drum machine ain't got no soul."

"Everyone wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves." Leo Tolstoy
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I liked this... it's cool to know that there are still some bands that keep it real.

\m/

Erik

"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

--Sun Tzu

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I dunno. Crybabies. Foo Fighters used tape because some producers made stuff on hard drives that Foo Fighters didn't like? That's keepin' it real? Time to grow up and not be so damn high and mighty. Foo Fighters music ain't for everybody, and not every bit of music needs to be "for" the members of Foo Fighters.

 

Yes. Get off of my lawn.

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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That, and Milli Vanilli was riveting.

 

Don't be dissing Rob and Fab just because they couldn't sing. They both had damn nice hair and made the ladies swoon.

 

Wish I could make the ladies swoon like that, and so do you.

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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Na. I take it all back. I really don't feel that strongly about either the Foo Fighters or Milli Vanilli. Blame it on the rain.

 

But you should still stay off of my lawn.

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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I dunno. Crybabies. Foo Fighters used tape because some producers made stuff on hard drives that Foo Fighters didn't like? That's keepin' it real? Time to grow up and not be so damn high and mighty. Foo Fighters music ain't for everybody, and not every bit of music needs to be "for" the members of Foo Fighters.

 

Yes. Get off of my lawn.

 

I don't think it's that so much. I've done a decent ammount of recording over the past 15 years, some on 16 track & 24 track analog, and other sessions on ProTools or Sonar hard drive based systems. And there are differences in the sound and production styles that are inherent to both kinds of recording platforms.

 

Pro Tools is an amazingly powerful program for recording music. But it's so good that it's led to a lot of really slick sounding recordings. Recordings with individual instrument tracks that have been analyzed in their waveforms until they're perfect. And sometimes you can have a recording that's too perfect, and some of the humanity gets lost from the performances.

 

I can understand a producer or bandleader wanting to get back to basics. Get back to musicians focusing on playing the song from beginning to end, instead of being able to punch together a part bit by bit. Get some cohesiveness going. Play it right the first time to tape and don't leave it to the producer and mixing engineers to fix it in the mix.

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"My concern is, and I have to, uh, check with my accountant, that this might bump me into a higher, uh, tax..."

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I can understand a producer or bandleader wanting to get back to basics. Get back to musicians focusing on playing the song from beginning to end, instead of being able to punch together a part bit by bit. Get some cohesiveness going. Play it right the first time to tape and don't leave it to the producer and mixing engineers to fix it in the mix.

 

I know. Makes perfect sense. But to blame it on the 'puter is kinda lame. Blame it on the producer. Or the type of music the producer is trying to produce (read: sterile dance music?). But to blame it on the 0's and 1's? Nope. Not gonna buy it.

 

And Milli Vanilli totally rocked it on MTV back in the day. Dead Sexaaaaaaay.

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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I dunno. Crybabies. Foo Fighters used tape because some producers made stuff on hard drives that Foo Fighters didn't like? That's keepin' it real? Time to grow up and not be so damn high and mighty. Foo Fighters music ain't for everybody, and not every bit of music needs to be "for" the members of Foo Fighters.

 

Yes. Get off of my lawn.

 

Actually, if you read the article, Dave mentions that one part of the exercise was the deliberate self-confinement regarding tech. I agree, when you're in a small box, it definitely forces you to think outside the box when solving problems. The bigger the box, the lazier you tend to think.

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And sometimes you can have a recording that's too perfect, and some of the humanity gets lost from the performances.

 

isn't that what steely dan is loved and hated for?

 

robb.

 

I don't know. Even Jeff Porcaro's uncanny sense of tempo on those Steely Dan recordings still seems more organic than what can happen to a drummer's performance once it goes through the rigors of a protools mixdown.

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"My concern is, and I have to, uh, check with my accountant, that this might bump me into a higher, uh, tax..."

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I would buy a cd of the rhythm tracks for Peg: Chuck Rainey on bass and Rick Marotta on drums.

 

The Dan spent years making their recordings with months and months of pre-production. They would also have a variety of rhythm sections and soloists playing the same song and then they would choose the one they liked the best.

 

The rhythm sections always have a great live feel.

 

I hate modern recording. I don't care if it's digital or analog; I would like to have the other musicians with me in the studio at the same time and we could create a performance. It has been years since I've seen another musician at a session and nearly all the time I am asked to put my part down first and then the rest gets layered on top. I suppose that means that they trust me to lay a foundation, but it isn't a whole lot of fun.

 

I've even recorded tracks and emailed them to another state where they were then added to rest of the mix. I never even met most of the other people on the recording.

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There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/geoffbyrne/Stuff/rolling.gif

 

G.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the World will know Peace": Jimi Hendrix

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=738517&content=music

The Geoff - blame Caevan!!!

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There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/geoffbyrne/Stuff/rolling.gif

 

G.

 

+1

"Everyone wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves." Leo Tolstoy
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It's like everything else: garbage in, garbage out. Foo Fighters have matched their technology with their creative vision. So did Steely Dan. All the computers in the world won't make a great song or a great band, if there aren't great creative ideas and great musicians involved. The presence or absence of technology is not the main issue.

 

The Beatles recorded Sgt. Peppers on four tracks and there wasn't a computer in sight. Case closed.

"Everyone wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves." Leo Tolstoy
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There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

And those who understand Gray. :)

Tenstrum

 

"Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face."

Harry Dresden, Storm Front

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I heard a recent interview with Warren Haynes as well, where he recorded his latest soul CD using all analog devices as well. The reason he stated was that he "wanted that analog warmth". More power too him but after capturing that "analog warmth", I would dump it down to digital for mass production.

 

I don't necessarily believe that the Foo Fighters needed to go the all analog route to achieve what they wanted. They could have just recorded digitally, using the same process and still achieved the end result.

The technology is just the means to an end. It's the process that is important.

 

Life's a journey, not a destination. Or life's a garden, dig it.

 

Tenstrum

 

"Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face."

Harry Dresden, Storm Front

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There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

And those who understand Gray. :)

That would make it go to 11.

Push the button Frank.
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My point was that it is nice to find out some of the bigger artists still record like a band I would know--in someone's house with less-than-ideal sonic situations, multiple takes, etc. I can relate to that kind of recording.

\m/

Erik

"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

--Sun Tzu

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There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

And those who understand Gray. :)

That would make it go to 11.

 

Isn't that the point? :D

 

Quick nerd info splash:

Gray Binary code is different from "normal" binary code. In "normal" binary 10 is equivalent to the number 2 in decimal. In Gray binary 10 is the equivalent to 3 in decimal.

 

Therefore, not only is my joke brilliantly funny, it is 100% accurate! :)

On a side note, I used to be able to hand convert to Binary, Gray Binary, Hexidecimal, and Octadecimal. I'm proud to say that I'm not that huge of a nerd anymore.

Tenstrum

 

"Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face."

Harry Dresden, Storm Front

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My point was.....

 

Pfffft....I knew that. I was just bored at work and needed to shake it up a little.

 

Shake this up a little.

\m/

Erik

"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

--Sun Tzu

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