What's the right balance between raw energy and polish

[JRogero]

I am currently playing bass in an Alt Rock band and things are going pretty well but me and the guitarist/lead singer differ a little on how we like our recordings to sound. He likes recordings that are a little too polished for my taste while I'm sure he feels my recordings are a little too rough around the edges. How could we find balance between the two. It seems like very few bands get the raw energy vs polish ratio right.

[jason41224]

i guess my take will be met with some shame. i'm into polish. to me raw=messy, and i don't see how the "energy" part only seems to fit onto raw recordings (in some people's minds). i think you can have tons of energy in a really nice sounding recording. take the Foo Fighter's last record for example. the record was chock full of energy, and it wasn't sloppily made either. if anything i'd say the tracks on there are pretty polished. that's because they took the time as a band in the recording process to really get it right and sound tight as a band (without non-destructive editing at that!)

I think a lot of it also depends on your genre, but no matter the style, make sure you guys play together as a band and have your timing down to a T.

[Les Paul Lover]

Muse = polished raw power

It sounds pretty darn good to me!

From a personal point of view, i might prefer things to be a bit polished.

I lovr jack white - but the recordings done with the raconteurs are much better than those of the white stripes.

That said, it' still pretty raw in power, and self produced i believe.

One could confuse polished with more technicaly proficient recordings??

[jangle]

In my view the road forks more than once i.e. I'd rather have a high-fidelity recording of sloppy playing than a low-fi recording of absolute precision.

If by 'ragged' you mean fumbled notes then sorry no sale. I've got through that with musicians who say 'let's make this cover version our own' which translates to 'I can't be bothered to learn the original part or come up with my own that's as good so I'll just wing it.'

On the other hand, musicianship and math-rock precision are not necessarily synonymous, which is why we spill oceans of virtual ink here and elsewhere asking why it's so difficult to find other players with feel, who can play in the pocket, are not technical, etc. We want Cheryl Cole but we want her to be a virgin.

A hi-fi recording is invisible to the listener if the producer/engineer has done his job and the focus rightly stays on the instruments and performances even if those performances are ragged, intentional or otherwise. Speaking of producers, it may not be too early to use a third party in that role in order to serve as a neutral set of ears, make suggestions, etc. as both a psychological and practical means of taking the egos out of it. If you're doing home-studio recordings i.e. the time and facilities are free of charge, why argue about the recipe and simply make two batches of bread - individual tracks and/or full-band mixes - and compare the finished articles? It would be a petty individual indeed who wouldn't listen and state a preference even if his version is inferior.

[OrangePaul]

Rehearse the tracks well to please your singer but when it comes to the recording go with the first 2 to 3 takes.

Doing the same part over and over trying to get it perfect is what kills the energy IMO. If it gets to that stage take a break.

[hellagnar Brosevelt]

I have struggled with this for a long time and I have found to things to be true to my ears. Mids and Compression.

Scooped lows and sizzly highs are often very crisp and have a ton of definition but I find usually that the mid presence is where the rock is.

Next is the current and very henious trend of compressing the living sh!t out of everything on the record. This sucks the life right out of any performance. The performance lows and highs and feeling we try so hard to get across get squashed and clipped right out.

I am assuming you are talking about tones and not performance. Performance should be spot on everytime.

Some will roll their eyes for sure but like it or not I think this recording sets the bar for ferocious feel with "radio quality" production

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOcrKFiB ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jason41224]

Rehearse the tracks well to please your singer but when it comes to the recording go with the first 2 to 3 takes.

Doing the same part over and over trying to get it perfect is what kills the energy IMO. If it gets to that stage take a break.

i would agree, but rehearse the tracks to perfection BEFORE you go to the studio. that's the winning recipe.

[baytamusic]

I like both. It's the song that matters.

As far as getting a super great hi-fi major label type polished recording, there aren't a ton of people that do it right IMO, and those people are more than likely out of your budget, unless your band has at least a good 5-10k set aside for recording your album. So, IMO you are more than likely going to end up with a somewhat raw mid-fi type recording by default.

[bclaire]

You have to have some edge. How many times have you said "Their CD is good, but they sound so much better live."?

It's too much polish... I like a little bit of space, some energy, and attitude...

[hellagnar Brosevelt]

a little bit of space,

Space is the perfect word. Every sound needs its own spot to do what it does.

[JRogero]

Scooped lows and sizzly highs are often very crisp and have a ton of definition but I find usually that the mid presence is where the rock is.

Next is the current and very henious trend of compressing the living sh!t out of everything on the record. This sucks the life right out of any performance. The performance lows and highs and feeling we try so hard to get across get squashed and clipped right out.

Man you hit the nail on the head with that one. When I say over polished I'm not referring in anyway to the quality of the musicians, sound equipment, or skill of the recording professional. When I listen to Dark Side of the Moon I never think to myself "Man, is that record too polished." Quite the opposite thanks to Pink Floyd's dramatic use of dynamics that record has plenty of energy.

It is the overuse of compression and EQ'ing all the messy mids out that's the problem. It takes the life out of the music. I think a lot of recordings today are overproduced in that sense. Personally I'd rather err towards under produced than overproduced.

[baytamusic]

Scooped lows and sizzly highs are often very crisp and have a ton of definition but I find usually that the mid presence is where the rock is.

Next is the current and very henious trend of compressing the living sh!t out of everything on the record. This sucks the life right out of any performance. The performance lows and highs and feeling we try so hard to get across get squashed and clipped right out.

Man you hit the nail on the head with that one. When I say over polished I'm not referring in anyway to the quality of the musicians, sound equipment, or skill of the recording professional. When I listen to Dark Side of the Moon I never think to myself "Man, is that record too polished." Quite the opposite thanks to Pink Floyd's dramatic use of dynamics that record has plenty of energy.

It is the overuse of compression and EQ'ing all the messy mids out that's the problem. It takes the life out of the music. I think a lot of recordings today are overproduced in that sense. Personally I'd rather err towards under produced than overproduced.

Well, in that case I wouldn't consider overly compressed and badly EQed "polished". I consider it untastefully recorded and mastered.

[JRogero]

Well, in that case I wouldn't consider overly compressed and badly EQed "polished". I consider it untastefully recorded and mastered.

But untastefully recorded and mastered doesn't work as well a headline.

[pages plexitone]

So where does Iggy and the Stooge's "TV Eye" fit in this spectrum. Cause that's where I'm going

If the mistakes are cool then it's just spice. If it's too polished then it's modern country.

[jangle]

If it's too polished then it's modern country.

Is that the 'country' that features Les Pauls, Marshalls and Def Leppard songs?