Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Does anyone have favourite recordings that they listen too just for the quality of sound (or A sound)? And what is it you like about it?

Tom Petty has a stunning recording quality in just about anything he's ever done & sometimes I listen just to appreciate the mastery of performance & sound. Likewise, the new Muse album.
I had a vinyl recording of Etta James & whilst the backing was typical of the era in sound quality, the vocal leapt out at you, with such superb warmth & presence, that the album was a pure joy to listen to for that reason alone.

A few of my favorites...

Red hot Chili.... Blood Sugar (amazing imaging, very live feel to the record)

CodeSeven... Dancing Echoes (even with alot of layers, nothing gets lost, the vocal might as well be sung in front of you)

Any early Zeppelin... The recordings capture the band's power so well.

'90's Live... very warm-sounding records, great presence

I could think of others, but these are a few I like to keep in mind when I record and mix.

A lot of the Fleetwood Mac recordings benefit from a certain "sheen" on the production side of things.

I think this is a result of Lindsey Buckingham being so influenced by Brian Wilson's approach to "ear candy" on all those classic Beach Boys' productions.

I love listening for all the "frosting" on the sonic cake, if you know what I mean!

Bob, your point about the vocal being sung in front of you, is a feature that I love to hear too...a really great feature of some recordings.

The 'frosting' is a great analogy for the dark art of mastering Alvaro. I work occasionally in the mastering suites of Abbey Road, with Nick Webb, a mastering engineer of many years. I love mastering & despite all the top end, mega bucks equipment, it still almost entirely relies on an experienced ear & an empathy with the material being worked on.

Most of the later Beatles stuff is great, and the Hendrix stuff is too. Some of the older Ray Charles stuff is really nice. When you get that old its all about mic placement and volume.

One of my favorite all time recordings for the quality of sound and the overall warmness to the sound would be "Wings at the Speed of Sound" by McCartney. Very nice balance to all the instruments and vocals, and it sounds like it was recorded and mixed on all tube gear its so warm.

Radiohead - OK Computer and Kid A - the best sounding modern recordings, IMO.

I love the music on those Radiohead ones, but they sound to me like they were digitally recorded...kind of harsh sounding in a way. I've done some recording myself and like to go to tape first...it warms it up quite a bit.

I forgot to mention Aretha Franklin recordings, although maybe its her voice thats giving me the shivers and not the recordings.

Greg, I hear what you say, but I think that a lot of this 'coldness' that we hear about digital, is partly due to cheap convertors, cheap outboard units & particularly a lot of plug ins. The right convertors & outboard will give a warm, & top quality sound to digital recording. IMO, a good digital recording system will only record what is put into it & it is here that we have to work hard to get it right. Choosing the right outboard is essential to the quality of the finished article.

Nearly all the top studios are now digital & are producing wonderful work. It is true that most will offer an anologue service, but this is not taken up very often at all.

"Straight On" (live acoustic version) by Heart is one of my favourites. The vocals are a tad screechy but the guitars and bass just jump out and bite you. The bass drum in the intro is also a gas!

Yeah H, that's a good one, alright...I agree about the 'screechy' vocals. Those sisters are wonderfully talented, but the singing does occasionally meander into fingernails-on-chalkboard land. I swear, when 'Crazy On You' first hit the airwaves I was sure it was Donny Osmond on crystal meth...

There are lots of great recordings in my collection (Eddie Offord's stuff with Yes, Tull's stuff from the same time, and on and on), but one I'd like to mention is Genesis' "Selling England...". That album is amazing...the production values are flawless. Their first several albums (even including Foxtrot) were plagued by sound problems...lots of dry scratchy weirdness and a totally unacceptable signal-to-noise ratio, but by SEBTP, they had gotten it absolutely right. Their later (post-Gabriel) albums just don't do it for me, and not just because I find the material weak...the amount of compression laid on every track makes the overall sound the aural equivalent of a vanilla milkshake that's too thick to pull through a straw. Gives me a 'cold' headache just thinking about it...

John Mayalls "The Turning Point" is extremely well recorded. The album is mostly a live acoustic jazz - blues fusion experiment yet it still captures the essence of the blues. The sax parts are unbelievable. The notes rise above the mix in parts and meld into the substrate in others. Very very well done, for it's time. If my memory is correct the album was released in 1969.

DPT....

Your powers of explanation never cease to almost make me cry laughing!

Thanks Bob...that's what I'm here for, I guess...

I totaly agree Bob....nice to see you here Dane.

I also agree about the Genesis thing. One of my favourite bands & I love SEBTP. I have to admit that my very favourite Genesis album is 'Trick of the Tail' though. Squonk & co hit my spot, so to speak.

Talking of Genesis, I have always found the gtr playing really interesting, in that it seems to me to be played as you would a keyboard. I think it is this reason that always surprises me when I realise just how much gtr there is on Genesis albums...loads, but it plays what you wouldn't expect a gtr to do. Probably why they have a totaly unique sound. Great stuff.

My two favs for sound quality and production on a recording are Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and Queen's A Night at the Opera (vinyl versions of course). I love the overall balance of both, and adore Mick Ronson and Brian May guitar tones. Very well produced I thought.

...Dean