Is this cheating or good mixing/mastering?

Riaan · 2009-04-20T11:46:37+00:00

Hey guys, something just occurred to me: As you all know it's common practice to record several takes of an instrument, say a guitar solo, and use the best of the takes when mixing - even the best of the pro's do that in the studio as far as I know? With modern recording software it's of course also possible to combine the best parts of each take to create one perfect solo, or even a solo that's not possible to be reproduced live by one guitarist. Or it's even possible to compile the whole thing riff for riff or even note for note... And the best moments can be copied and pasted where it's needed. Are all of these acceptable or does it become "cheating" at some point? Does the end result justify the means?

Neps

From all the big bands that I've seen, there are a few that realy crank it up a notch live.. And then there are those who fail, burn up in flames and blame the FOH engineer, PA system or the crowd that was unresponsive.

Of all the lot I have seen, these bands blew my mind away : U2 (Bono is Bono, but I still hate the new album), Tree63 (can you believe John Ellis can reach all those notes here and in the USA), Delirious? (Saw them in UK, SA and USA)..

But in the Studio it can become a very artificial system where you can go overboard, and just kill the song.. Tom Dumont (I think that's his surname, guitarist for No Doubt), wrote in 1997 that as far as he is concerned a good song should be able to be played just on an acoustic and people should sit up and take notice. Then only should you go into the studo and add a bit of spice to what is the core of the song.

Riaan

That is the crux of the biscuit - can they do it live?

Yes I guess that's the important question...in my case, a reverberating "NO".... :-[

a good song should be able to be played just on an acoustic and people should sit up and take notice. Then only should you go into the studo and add a bit of spice to what is the core of the song.

Good point also, a bit like a watercolour painting...unbelievable in the hands of a master, frustratingly difficult when tried by the rest of us!

*takes a sip of coffee from his Abbey Road mug*

I'm still wondering if Fritz really bought that Abbey Road signpost, or whether Abbey Road now has one less street sign... ? And does Abbey Road studios have a restaurant with their name on the mugs...?

Squonk

@ Neps

I am with you on Tree63, I have seem them twice and they were good both times. In the set they did Pride (U2) and Walking on the moon (Police) and John Ellis did a brilliant Bono and Sting. He has an amazing voice.
Delirious were brilliant as well, Martin Smith actually sounds better live than in the studio.

Both monumentally underrated Bands.

Neps

Squonk wrote Both monumentally underrated Bands.

That you can say again!! Delirious? does have quite a big UK following (o.k, they are British, so that explains it), but Tree.. People actualy love them more in the states than here, which is a sad thing realy. It's quite amazing standing at a concert here and seeing the turnout, then going to a festival in the US and seeing the turnout there and the amount of people who actualy know their music..

And they are actualy better live than in studio.. if that's possible ?

CDee

I saw Delirious? live when they where here a few years back. Absolutely awesome. Great band. Tree63 is alos a fantastic band. Like Neps said better live than in studio.

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