JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Recording Studio and Gear Forum The role of the producer????

Amen, Ray,

I have a theory that technology is partly to blame. Years ago, there were limitations with tape and vinyl. For example, engineers had to pan loud bass noises to the center. If you put a loud bass drum thump all the way to the right or left, it would make the needle jump out of the groove on the record. Also, many recordings piled up sounds and reverbs to mask the sssssssssssssss of analog tape.

Then, there's the skill of singing in tune, which is no longer necessary. Jim Reeves' RCA Records contract used to hang on the wall of his museum, it said in the contract that the artist must sing a note on pitch without vibrato for five seconds. I doubt if more than a handful of today's stars can do that, they often sing a song once and leave for the party while the engineer tunes it for them.

All style comes from limitation, whether imposed externally or internally. A rootsy country player might not be able to pick like a speed metal player, the engineers of yesterday could not manipulate sounds as they can today, etc. However,the fastest guitar player in the world begins to sound frantic but boring. The loudest band just gives you a headache, the softest band can't be heard. The most in tune and on time singer loses emotion. A lot of these things were taken care of simply because recording them or presenting them to an audience required care. Now, recording and broadcasting has become almost infinitely limitless and manipulable. Musicians who work in the new media become mesmerized with the possibilities and forget simplicity. It's like when the blues started morphing into jazz. Eventually the jazz got so fast and technical, its main audience (college kids) turned to three guys and a guitar singing "Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley" mostly in unison.

Take heart. History shows, as in the jazz example, that when the popular artists, in their explorations of what is possible, end up losing their audience, other artists will emerge with a simpler approach.