5 worst Audio Trends of the Noughties

PaulBrewer

http://blog.mixonline.com/mixblog/2009/12/18/5-worst-audio-trends-of-the-noughties/

or are they ?

What do you think ?

DamagedTrax

1. BS. download stores have offered wavs aswell. most are just too stingy to spend the money.

2. kinda true.

3. theres always been pitch correction but i agree, the abuse of it is quite old now...

4. agree 100%

5. BS. in the box is just as viable as outside. this kinda bull is usually spouted by dinosaurs that have no idea how to mix inside and are afraid to try. spike stent is now mixing ITB hybrid, anyone gonna argue his mixes? considering the amount of analog a sound goes thru before getting to PT i really dont think this is a valid arguement at all.

PaulBrewer

Point 5 -

I think excluding the idea of leaving 'The Box' is the point being made - NOT saying it's a given.

Obi-Jim

I agree with all of it. More so that all of the points combined have added up to produce the culture and attitude from grass roots upwards, that is "the norm" today.

but, on the points:

1. I think more importantly "the bar" of quality should be raising, rather than a) lowering as is suggested, or b) remaining the same

2. Of course.

3. I agree. All the tools available are amazing these days, unfortunately it has encouraged people (musicians, producers, recording engineers, management) to embrace using them as "the method of recording" rather than what they are intended for.

4. Yea, i like dynamics

5. I think it's great that the technology is there to be able to work completely in the box. This can help and inspire lots of things. But it definitely shouldn't be the norm. The analog world has much more variety to offer. Variety is good in life.

And yea, once anything other than a DAW is used, its not really ITB.

dav nagle

Staying inside the box:

Again if we had all the analogue equipment and plug ins we needed most of us would most likely combine the two. I think those who stay in the box do so to because that is all they can afford to do for the most part, of course analogue outboard sounds better but it depends on what line of business you are in within the music business.

Illegal downloading:

A crying shame that it has happened period. All worldwide internet hosts who supply torrents should be illegal under a universal law and music royalties should be given back to the bands and artists alike.

Pitch correction:
It is a tool a very powerful one but so be it we all have deadlines.

The death of high fidelity:
The is a scary one, so if everything is going to be reduced then re-verbs are effected? Next thing we will be mixing entire records on a laptop to meet the needs of the common laptop listening illegal downloading music junky with his 50 megabyte connection with eircom.

maccored

i dont like the idea of the death of hi fidelity. Point 2 is something that we'll have to incorporate into life. Think of the long tail. I think 3,4 and 5 are things that have to be addressed. Louder is NOT better, if you cant sing, dont (then theres no need for pitch correction) and hardware probably always is the better option.

DamagedTrax

dav nagle wrote: »

Illegal downloading:
All worldwide internet hosts who supply torrents should be illegal under a universal law and music royalties should be given back to the bands and artists alike.

well i use torrents for transferring sessions when theres no ftp available, should that be illegal?
there lies the biggest problem with the piracy game, its not the technology that should be blamed its the user. the technology is actually a life saver sometimes.

dav nagle

DamagedTrax wrote: »

well i use torrents for transferring sessions when theres no ftp available, should that be illegal?

Certainly not but the line has to be drawn somewhere we will all have to make some sort of sacrifice and if ease of use is one of them so be it.

DamagedTrax

dav nagle wrote: »

Certainly not but the line has to be drawn somewhere we will all have to make some sort of sacrifice and if ease of use is one of them so be it.

i have to disagree. nobody has any right censoring technology because of idiots using it illegally. what right has anyone to make my working life harder than it is?

next step thought police if we start down that road.

if poeple are downloading encrypted files then its just something the industry has to suck up. we all know that the industries business model is fcuked and 95% to blame for the mess we're in now. let the industry come up with its own solutions that dont push the blame onto legit users like myself.

dav nagle

DamagedTrax wrote: »

i have to disagree. nobody has any right censoring technology because of idiots using it illegally. what right has anyone to make my working life harder than it is?

next step thought police if we start down that road.

if poeple are downloading encrypted files then its just something the industry has to suck up. we all know that the industries business model is fcuked and 95% to blame for the mess we're in now. let the industry come up with its own solutions that dont push the blame onto legit users like myself.

Torrents are not necessary to the survival of your business DT. In fact you would benefit as a producer if music wasn't so readily available for piracy. The old dogs did without in the 80's and 90's we don't need torrents now. You are one of a small minority who use the torrent system legally and I agree that you shouldn't have to suffer or take responsibility in any way for your perfectly legitimate use of torrents. The harder they clamp down on the torrent sites and the more they prosecute illegal downloading the better. Eircom have started with the pirate bay.The UK 3 strike system along with internet ban would be a great start.

maccored

its an internet technology though which can be used for legal or illegal means. the easy way is to ban it outright, but easy isnt always right.

dav nagle

maccored wrote: »

its an internet technology though which can be used for legal or illegal means. the easy way is to ban it outright, but easy isnt always right.

I agree easy isn't always right but the line has to be drawn, action should be taken against those who download anything that they know is not theirs to download. Take a look at HMV, I would say that 90% of all goods they sell can be obtained through illegal downloads. This means the shops especially the smaller ones are doomed and closing down to beat the band! This effects peoples jobs which in turn causes depression and the list goes on and on.

maccored

there needs to be a calm, well thought out stratefgy to deal with internet problems like file sharing and torrents. The music industry, media experts, ISPs etc on many levels, imo, are kneejerking and not taking the time to think things through.

DamagedTrax

dav nagle wrote: »

Torrents are not necessary to the survival of your business DT. In fact you would benefit as a producer if music wasn't so readily available for piracy. The old dogs did without in the 80's and 90's we don't need torrents now. You are one of a small minority who use the torrent system legally and I agree that you shouldn't have to suffer or take responsibility in any way for your perfectly legitimate use of torrents. The harder they clamp down on the torrent sites and the more they prosecute illegal downloading the better. Eircom have started with the pirate bay.The UK 3 strike system along with internet ban would be a great start.

what you're talking about is sites that host rather than torrents. and again banning them is very very questionable in my books. hence why the pirate bay is still operational even after the court cases.

this is a moral argument that cant be won on either side.
the industry will ALWAYS claim that these sites damage their business while people like myself will ALWAYS claim that screwing people on prices will always damage your business and you have no right to infringe on my lifestyle choice.

but as always its the lower end that feels the hurt. musicians are still getting screwed either way.

have a look at this blog by steve albini from the days before torrents and illegal downloading. http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

not sure if its factual but it gives a good insight into just how evil these people are and puts the illegal downloading in a new light.

after reading that and the recent case against the unmarried mother that they've decided to butt **** to prove a point, i really find it hard to have ANY sympathy for these people.

as for HMV, they've only themselves to blame. for years they ripped us off. CDs reached €24 at one stage! its only now that they're losing business that they sell them cheaper. yes i feel sympathy for the workers but they arent my priority in life.. as i am not theirs.

maybe a cull is whats needed in our industry? sometimes things need to hit rock bottom before they can improve and maybe our timing getting into all this is just unfortunate.

personally i'm happy as long as i can feed myself and my son. if i get rich along the way then so be it. i'm not losing sleep over it though.

madtheory

Interesting points!

Downloading can be made to work I think, it's early days yet. One issue I wonder about is how does it compare to home taping? Wwe have no way og knowing, so I wonder if DL problem is exagerrated because it can be tracked, whereas home taping was completely off the radar.

Pitch correction- is cool, but it completely ignores temperament, unless the user has a good ear or reads the manual in depth. We often don't sing in equal temperament.

ITB is a godsend for recalls. It also sounds really good now (has done fro about 5 years).

Generally, with digital gear the performance gets forgotten, because there are so many tools (pun intended).

Robin Ball

I hate this "in the box, out of the box" argument. If you can mix well in the box it's every bit as good as out of the box. Know your methods, know your tools and you'll get a good result.

People don't know the difference anyway!