I thought
this thread started by Terry Mcinturff was right on:
"Calling out to ?? Using recorded tones as a benchmark
Hello all,
First, questions for everyone, as follows:
Question #1:
When discussing "sounds" with your friends....how often do you refer to musical recordings as any sort of "benchmark" as to how you want your guitar/amp setup to sound?
Example: "I want to get Dickie Betts' lead tone on 'One Way Out' on the 'Live At The Fillmore East' record."
Question #2:
When discussing "tones" with your luthier, how often have you both referred to recorded tones as a way of establishing what you want to hear from your new guitar?
Example: "I want to be able to get the tone that EC got on the Bluesbreakers record, on that song called "Hideaway".
I am sure that all of you readers are getting the gist of what I am driving at.
We ALL use recorded tones as benchmarks for conversation..and indeed, for talking "design" with the builder.
Fact #1
It is a FACT that virtually 100% of the recorded guitar sounds that we think about have been..and we seldom stop to realise this... greatly alterred via the "recording chain". This is the series of equipment involved, as well as the decisions as to how to use this equipment, that result in what we hear from our stereo gear (playback systems).
In other words..in plain English..what we percieve about Jimmy Page's (substitute artist name here) tone on "The Ocean" (substitute song title here) is inherently incorrect as regards what Jimmy's tone REALLY would have sounded like, had we been standing a few feet away from his amplifier as he cut those tracks.
Another example: Had we have had the luck to be sitting front-row, right in front of Duane Allman's amp the night that the famous "Live At The Fillmore East" record was recorded...we would know that Duane's tone only sort-of resembled what the record sounded like.
Duane's tone that night would most likely have been (to our front-row ears) "brighter", "less smooth", and "no-where nearly as compressed".
It would have sounded "rawer" and not so easy to hear...but no doubt we would have been blown away, nonetheless!
Fact #2
The entire recording chain greatly influences how a sound "sounds" in our listening environment. When you play a CD at home, you can be sure that not one iota of what you are hearing is exactly what any particular instrument actually sounded like at the time of recording.
The "faithfullness" of the recorded sound varies from record-to-record...from engineer-to-engineer...from producer-to-producer..from equipment fad-to-equipment fad..all thru the various technology advances...and the list is overlong, indeed.
Go ahead and listen critically to a day's-long local classic-rock playlist; you will surely hear what I am talking about! (probaly, the biggest lesson will be that great songs RULE...the tones and tech behind them are way less important than we may want to admit).
The Basic Elements Of The "Recording Chain", and how these have alterred what we have been hearing.
Let's take a good sound coming from a guitar amp speaker, and see how that sound has been commonly modified into the sound that we have been hearing all of these years...via our stereos, etc......
1) The Microphone
When we place a mic in front of a speaker, the sound is automatically changed ....dramatically...by the characteristics of the mic...and a little "rainbow" of variations are made available via the actual placement of the microphone visa-vi the speaker.
Often, a mere one inch of mic adjustment will completely negate any smaller tonal influences gained via "Paf vs Paf" models, "guitar cable vs guitar cable", and the like. Tone cap values, etc, literrally die..... by comparison.
As regards what we have been hearing at home..or in the car...the microphone's tonal input has been huge, but many of us have not realised that......
2) The Microphone Preamp (the "mic pre")
Now that the guitar signal has been detected...and audibly colored (!) via the mic and it's placement....the microphone's signal has to be amplified via the mic preamp, so that the microphone's signal is strong enough to be recorded.
You know how we guitar players are really "picky" when it comes to our choice of guitar amps? Well...the same can be said about us recording engineers, and our mic pre's!
We all know, and love, the way that various guitar amps will help us to express our music. The amp is...really...the other 1/2 of the instrument (altho many of us builders do not want to admit this!).
Well....ahem...it is just the same for us recording engineers. We choose the correct mic for the job, and then choose the correct mic amp for the job.
The microphone preamp colors the recorded tone...as does the rest of a
mixing board via it's mic pre's, EQ sections, and much more. This amounts to a huge influence upon what we hear.
Again...to our listening ears as we listen to a professional recording....these above two factors...the mic choice/ mic placement and the sound of the mic pre...influence what we hear WAY beyond littler things, such as choice of guitar volume pots, etc.
3) The Mixing Board
The mixer is the interface betwixt the mic and the recorder. Every bit of this unit sculptures sound.
Each section of the mixer is responsible for capturing and sonically shaping sound sources (input modules), grouping multiple inputs together (groups or busses), applying selective sound modifiers (auxiliary ins/outs).
Just as in the world of guitars, there are highly regarded/expensive mixers. These mixers alter the sound GREATLY, so....brands such as Neve, API, Raindirk, Helios, Trident, Neotek, and a few more....reign supreme, just as our LP's and Strats do, in our world of guitars. These desks helped to sculpt the sounds that we love. These mixers have A Sound that is big, wide, and professional. They are loved for the color that they impart to the sound.
This topic from a guitar maker's view
We all use recorded tones as tonal references. I do so, practically every day!
And, I cannot count...simply cannot count the times that a CD has been held up as a standard...."can you build that sound?"
I'll almost invariably say "I don't know. Tell me more".
Given all of the variables...it would be completely unprofessional for me to say that "I can build you a guitar that nails the 'Crossroads' tone (etc etc). I CAN say that I can build that chassis (but I'd rather build-out the dead spots)
How the influence of the Recording Chain has influenced my work
The only way that I was going to take-on the Telecaster...in my mind, a perfect design as originally concieved...was to build something that could mimic my favorite recorded tones of that design. So...among other things....I wanted to see if i could build-in a tad of that LA2A compression (using wood) as well as a select bit of passive inductor based tone control (ala a specific part of the famous Pultec)....the TerryCaster was the result
Let's hear from the Builders
I look forward to hearing from the other builders about this stuff.
What are your thoughts (independant of what I have written) about using recorded tones as references? Please be specific!
What is your understanding of the entire recording chain as it applies to your designs? How do you go about explaining such to clients? What experiences have you had that have informed your logic along these lines?
Finally, how has your knowledge of the recording chain improved your work, and satisfied client expectations?
In Closing
No doubt that we will all be referring to sounds on CD's. etc, forever. And why not...it is all that we have! I'm just trying to point out that the original sound sources on any record have changed by the time they reach our homes.
Go ahead and use recordings as references...with due caution. The more that we understand this...the better job that we can do as regards fullfilling our expectations!
Many thanks to all who have been steadfast and whom have read this long post.
__________________
"Despite everything, I still believe that people are good at heart" From the diary of Anne Frank
Terry McInturff
