What Sounds Good To You?

[CaptainHook]

I thought i'd start this off light, just to get a taste of where everyone is at, and where they're trying to go sonically speaking.

For me, Tom Lord-Alge mixes are my all time favourite.
Anything i hear of his i like and there was a time when i could pick a mix by him a mile away, although that's changed in recent times as his mixes seem to have become almost a trend everyone is trying to follow. (We wont start the debate of cookie-cutter mixing etc just yet thanx.   )

What about everyone else?

Who do you like?

What albums/songs? (sonically)

[dragonorchid]

Actually , the first avril Lavigne album sounds mix-wise and sonically good, its not so "square waved/destroyed" in mastering if you know what i mean. i was surprised to find that the first linkin park album was very distorted and the waves destroyed in comparison and you can really hear it. But I suppose that music was meant to be distorted and listened to loud. Makes me wonder though - being an audio freak, what it would have sounded like before that was done to it.

Call me old fashioned, but I really like quite alot of stuff from the 80's and 90's such as Toto, Chicago and even bryan adams earlier stuff. They seem much easier to listen to on my ears.
So it's old John "Mutt" Lange stuff, Elliot Shriener and who ever did the tool eniema album and the Metallica Black album, that get my vote.

The first Hoobastank album (not the current one) sounded good to me and the Godsmack single on the Scorpion King soundtrack and that paparoach album with "Last resort" on it?

Dreamtheatre... Don Henly, the first corrs album... and sting. you can tell I'm an 80's chick aye!

[CaptainHook]

Yeah, i love 80's stuff too. Tom Lord-Alge was huge in the 80's and made his name then. I love Mutt Lange also! (although his engineer and mix engineer is Mike Shipley - awesome) Metallica's Black album was produced by Bob Rock (Aja Rock's Daddy) and his engineer mixed it - Randy Staub. That album was really well done. I really LOVE the sound of Hysteria (Def Leppard - Mutt Lange) - its soo unnatural that it's awesome!

[dragonorchid]

Hysteria was my first ever cd I bought!
No wonder I like Avril's "Let go" album mixes - they were done by Tom Lord-agle too! I also found Tom Lord Agle in the credits, and Randy Staub... the mystery is solved, cool!

I'll have to check out more of Tom Lord-agle - who else's stuff did he do?

[dragonorchid]

hey! i found this really fascinating article about Tom Lord Alge:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr00/articles/tomlord.htm

i was particularly fascinated about the part talking about compression because I have recently started to compress and EQ every instrument track uniquely and by itself (hence there being alot of preprocessing to everything when I'm mixing anything) because it seemed to make it sound gruntier, and it seems that he does this... glad to see I might be on the right track  

I also remember trying to get that album "Back in the Highlife" by Steve Winwood off a friend of mine when I was visiting the US sometime in the last decade - little did I know that it was Tom Lord-alge's first break through album for production and stuff. I must have liked him, but just didnt know who he was!  
I've just noticed that alot of the albums I use as references for mixes are either mixed by Tom Lord-agle or Randy Staub!

Well now i know...

Also - do you see the line between engineer, mixer and producer fairly blurred these days?
I think that in mixing songs and eqing, rearranging, moving panning, adding effects till I'm happy, I end up producing alot of the songs recorded by me because apart from each band member always wanting their instrument just a little bit louder (this is fairly normal aye!)... they are generally happy with what is done unless it is too over the top - but there are exceptions to that rule... some people like "over the top". Mixing is fun, because as a mixing engineer I get to add some creativity to the mixes, and that is really alot of what keeps me going  

[Alex]

ANDY WALLACE!!!!!

Tom and Chris Lord-Alge have done some good stuff...

Rich Costey

Rick Rubin.. sometimes.

Andy Wallace is my favourite though, he's an absolute legend.

[dragonorchid]

I'll have to check him out... what are examples of stuff he has done?

[Dreadmore]

Ok, i dont know bollocks about engineering BUT one album that has stood out to me as sounding real nice is the new Evermore album, Dreams. I was very impressed.

[Alex]

Andy Wallace's most recognized work is probably Jeff Buckley's Grace, which he Produced, Engineered and Mixed. Such an incredible album...

Hes done a LOT of stuff though- favourites are Faith No More's Angel Dust, and King For a Day... Blind melon's second album, Soup, mixing on stuff like Silverchair, System of a Down...

Every single thing hes worked on sounds incredible.

I'm really liking Evermore's album too- it was Produced and Recorded by Barrett Jones- who did Nirvana, and a couple of Foo Fighters cds. The excessive vocal reverb on Evermore can get a tad annoying though...

[dragonorchid]

I've always liked those faith no more albums...
Have not had a chance to listen to Evermore anywher but on the radio so far - so will have to remedy that too  

[Mark]

  Albums I've put in my (top production) pile and like to reference against include:
    Sum41: All killer. - no filler . Jerry Finn.  probably my most used ref for my own stuff for sure. wicked mix I reckon.
   Good charlette - the first album - blue one.  filthy sound on that.
.  The young and the hopeless is worse in my opinion.. sound wise.. top songs/composition though.

Incubus - morning glory.
 Lincoln park - hybrid theory -  Have been put off a bit since noticing just how distroyed it is at mastering..  but sounds and mix I've used as reference. nice spearation and general grunt.
 Eve 6 - the blue album .  top production on that.
 I use green day dookie even sometimes.. Jerry Finn again. toms always sound great on green day. I've read some stuff about his mixing. not afraid to EQ heavily.  Think hes my fav sound eng.  '
  metalica black for heavier stiuff. hard to go past that sound.
  oh... hoobastank: .. the first album .. amazing sound on that. cranks something stupid.  
sometimes Limp biscuit even.. huge kick..

 thats about all I can think of for now..
 

[Geetadave]

metallica black album is one of my very favorites, and load and reload have a cool drum sound as well, very chunky in general actually. listen to a song called bad seed on reload, that kick is monstrous!

i love the guitar tone on the and justice for all album, if there was more bass and a slightly meatier drum sound it'd be nicer, but that album is great for what it is and i'd never change it, but just saying..  i like a lot of mids thou, i never scoop them, even when playing live, guitars lose too much body in a recording, and always use a bit less gain than usual!

slayer - diabolous in musica had a wicked as chunky sound and i really dig most of the pantera albums, has great  overall clarity highend sort of sound to it, but still really heavy and chuinky at the same time

[dragonorchid]

okay, neat... who have we got so far:

The brothers... Tom Lord Alge and Chris Lord Alge - lots and lots of albums
Randy Staub - Metallica Black Album and lots more
Mutt Lange/ Mike Shipley - lots and lots of stuff
Andy Wallace - Faith No More
Jerry Finn - Sum41, Greenday
Barrett Jones - Foo fighters?
Elliot Shriener - The most Recent Toto Albums! (yes they still exist)
Rich Costey
Rick Rubin

Does anyone know who mixed Dreamtheatre's "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" album?

I might make a topic for each of these engineers...

[Geetadave]

ya missed out BOB ROCK!  
he produced the metallica black album onwards, randy staub was the engineer

[Alex]

Does anyone know who mixed Dreamtheatre's "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" album?

The album was Produced by Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, mixed by Kevin Shirley and Claudius Mittendorfer, and was engineered by Doug Oberkircher.

Andy Wallace is responsible for many an album. In fact, I think I have a list of all the artists he has worked with...

A Perfect Circle
A3
Afrika Bambaataa
Alice Cooper
Alien Breed
Arthur Baker
At the Drive-In
Atari Teenage Riot
Bad Religion
Bare Jr.
Ben Folds
Bernard Butler
Big Head Todd & the Monsters
Blind Melon
blink-182
Blues Traveler
Bond
Breaking Benjamin
Buddahead
Chevelle
Cinder
Circuit II
Claire Martin
Clarence Clemons
Clockwise
Cola
Courtney Love
Cracker
Descendents
Disturbed
Dope
Dugan Mcneill
Earshot
Everclear
Eve's Plum
Faith Hill
Faith No More
Feeder
Fenix TX
Fishbone
Foo Fighters
Front 242
Fuel
Future Leaders of the World
Green Jelly
Guyana Punch Line
Hamish Stuart
Heather Nova
Helmet
Henry Rollins
Instruction
Jeff Beck
Jeff Buckley
Karen Finley
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Korn
Laj & Quakerman
Lifter
Linkin Park
Living End
Luscious Jackson
Madonna
Material Issue
matt pond PA
Message
Mtume
Mudvayne
Natalie Imbruglia
Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Nerds
New Model Army
Nirvana
Nu Shooz
Oleander
Pacifier
Pat McGee
Paw
Pete Yorn
Phish
Planet Patrol
Poorboys
Prime STH
Puddle of Mudd
Rage Against the Machine
Rancid
Recover
Revis
Rise Against
Robbie Williams
Rocket from the Crypt
Roger Waters
Rooney
Rush
S.T.U.N.
Saliva
Scarlet Fields
Screaming Trees
Seaweed
Sense Field
Sepultura
Sevendust
Shades Apart
Sheryl Crow
Shinedown
Shudder to Think
Silverchair
Sinéad Lohan
Sinéad O'Connor
Skunk Anansie
Slayer
Slipknot
Social Distortion
Sonic Youth
Soul Asylum
Soulfly
Sparta
Staind
Stereophonics
Stir
Stroke
Sum 41
Sunna
System of a Down
Systematic
Taproot
Taxxi
The 360's
The Cult
The Distillers
The Galactic Cowboys
The Godfathers
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Misfits
The New Rising Sons
The Revolution Smile
The Vines
The Wallflowers
Thrice
Tina B.
TKA
Toadies
Tonic
Train
Trapt
Tricky
TRUSTcompany
Unwritten Law
VAST
Velvet Revolver
White Zombie

[Alex]

Totally forgot.
Nigel Godrich; Radiohead.

And my two favourite albums in terms of production-
Mr Bungle- California
Produced by Mr. Bungle, Engineered by Billy Anderson
Production Strategy and additional engineering: Trey Spruance

Secret Chiefs 3- Book of Horizons
Produced, Engineered, Mixed by Trey Spruance. And it sounds absoluetly beautiful.

I'm not a big fan of Metallica's studio sound- don't like the distortion much. Black Album was good but I just feel it lacks something in that respect. Much better than their earlier albums though (terms of sound). I like the sound of Load and Re-Load a lot more, but then St. Anger was utter sh*t.

[Geetadave]

ya st anger was horrible, whats with the snare sound?  

they were goin for the were a garage band sound, they did a good job.... but really.. i think musics more about progressing and maturing not taking steps backward..

ya i'm not a fan of the hard out scoop the mid sound in the guitars, but i still like those old metallica albums for what they are, they wouldn't be as great if they were overproduced, thats a lot of what separates real metal from nu-metal, production ain't everything, it's about the quality of the music and the best way to make a band sound like what they really are, every metallica album was a step forward, in prodction and there ability as musicians, and later on style, i think it's a cool thing, i throw on kill em all now and then simply cause it's raw and in your face!!!  re-recording that now would turn it to sh*t.

Overproduction kills a bands live show if they can't pull it off the same.

[dragonorchid]

Hey Alex,

Great list!
Over production... well I have to say I prefer drums with some "life" in them, so I like it when they are not samples, but when it comes to production I like clarity in width, depth (panning) and seperation of instruments in what you can hear and also the frequency range, and that's what I "strive" for. Still working on it all the time as I'm not quite happy yet!
I have not heard St Anger yet... almost dreading it now from those comments

The Dream theatre Album - I cousin of mine gave me a couple of songs from that album on tape in Europe a couple of years back when I was visiting and it STILL makes me cry when I listen to it on headphones.

[Malibu]

talking about evermore, they record songs that are good only 3 - 4 times and then you sort of get a little bit sick of them because they are slow and mellow, a lot like yellowcard and those sort of bands.

Silverchair's neon ballroom is wicked though because they balance the songs so well and the same is true with the red hot chilli peppers.

[Alex]

Lol, ok then.

[Alex]

Just for my own curiosity, what are your favourite RHCP albums?

[dragonorchid]

I have to say Californication, for the songs and neat bass playing more than anything else...

[Malibu]

I only ahve one of their albums and that is the greatest hits album though if I had californication that would be a close second, a very close second.

by the way when I say balance the songs I mean the song order like ballad then jumpy then ballad etc.

[dragonorchid]

I know what you mean. When I was a wee little kid i used to make compilations out of the albums I had and it always was... soft, rocky, soft, rocky... I'm still the same when i listen to things now.

[Alex]

Ok then. I think Evermore's album is a very good mix of songs.  They just take a few listens to appreciate, like most good music.

[dragonorchid]

Alex, you have been very informative on music and audio engineers.. are you a budding audio engineer yourself?

[Alex]

Thanks, yeah, I'd love to be an audio engineer. It's hopefully what I'll be studying next year.

[Malibu]

you should come to the u of a.  Its great there, I love it.

So alex, are you only 7th form this year?  for some reason I was under the impression that you were older.

[Alex]

Yeah, seventh form this year.

[Malibu]

What subjects are you doing?

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The Rock Factory Community  Useful Tools For Artists and Bands  Audio Engineering  Topic: What Sounds Good To You?