March 20, 2009

There were 4 posts published on March 20, 2009 (this is page 1 of 1).

Another GPS talk

My recent list of commitments this week left out an important one: another GPS talk at Conn today! I met the class at 2:45, which was the time I was given. I got to the media center hearing “oh, there he is,” which made me suspect I was expected earlier.

I don’t know if there was a mix-up in time, the kids just had spring fever and I was keeping them from an extra recess, or I wasn’t as engaging speaker as before but I don’t think this talk went as well as the last. Not to say that it was bad, it just wasn’t as good as before.

I’m still very happy to have been invited and I will cherish my Conn guest speaker water bottle. It feels great to be in the classroom, if only for 45 minutes.

Bring back acoustics to the studio

I was poking around the Mailboat Records site this morning and enjoying the version of Margaritaville that Nadirah Shakoor sang in the [auto-playing!] Flash music of the site. It was recorded live and it sounds like it. The acoustics are very warm. You can hear the music bouncing off the walls.

It made me recognize that these acoustics are part of what I admire in the old Squirrel Nut Zippers’ Hot record. It was recorded in a house in New Orleans – and again, you can hear the musicians in the room. Same goes for this Jolly Boys songs I have. The stand-up bass sounds like it’s right inside your head. And the O Brother, Where Art Thou record wall full of this – it’s a great record.

Recording studios think they’re improving the sound when they dampen the acoustics so that all you hear is the source. But that’s not the way music is really played, or enjoyed. The lack of these acoustic details puts a barrier between the artist and the audience, saying “what you hear isn’t real – it’s plastic.” It’s the audio equivalent of the airbrushed pin-up: sure she’s cute but she’s not real.

I think artists and producers should make an effort to put more acoustics in their recordings. It’s only natural.