recent Ginger production issues!

[Sarc]

maz, wow - that was a thorough reply
and only your second post

took me over three hundred daft comments before I made a thorough post, so well done that man.

[Ean]

...before I made a thorough post...

Must've missed that one.

[Sarc]

...before I made a thorough post...

Must've missed that one.

OOOh 'ark at 'er, 'ere who rattled your cage Eany Beenie Bumpkin Boy?

[RDP]

I know it's not the point of the thread, I agree that some of the production has been different from album to album, for years I've been using equalisers or equaliser applications on a PC to make sounds more to my taste on CDs and MP3s, I am a DJ though so am used to doing this.

Many artists want an album sounding a certain way, but you can use a variety of filters to make it sound more like you want. I think that if an artist wants a tune sounding a certain way, in the context of listening to a whole album it's best left as they wanted it, cos there may be a point in it sounding that way, and it's part of a message that they want to put across.

Sometimes, a filter can make an album more palatable for some. No equaliser will make something like Endless.. sound any more "normal", although I still rate it as the best WH release (in my humble opinion). That kind of sound makes sense with those songs, and the tracks on that album really rocked, as many here seem to already know!

[dds14]

I think most people were referring to the production on Yoni in this thread - I think the production on the white album is fuckin' ace!

I disagree. On the whole I much prefer the production on the solo stuff (particularly the glam rock/choral SG5 and the country Valor) than any WH after Earth vs and Phuq.

The latest one (low vocals are my real pet hate on any album or live act) really put me off a lot of the songs until hearing them live.

[WiredOut]

I only just got the New Flesh and Holiday singles today and have to say it's a familiar story to a fair few previous Ginger/Wildies releases, except seemingly worse. On all four of the tracks I previously hadn't heard (Unbroken/Bonita/Casino Bay/Legends Love) the vocals sound like they're emanating from under several vertical miles of duvet.

It is beyond me why the man writes such spectacular melodies and lyrics and then often buries them low in the mix so that it takes extra listens for the tunes to properly crystallise in your mind. I think these odd production choices often mean that his stuff is less accessible to the casual listener than it might be.

I'm not talking about all or even most of his stuff, but its something that I've often found a little frustrating across the years. I'll still enjoy these new songs to the full, it's just going to take me longer to fully appreciate them than it feels like it should.

And what's with the new sound on Holiday? Why bring that big expansive drum thwack to the fore and mute a lot of the lovely layered jangliness of the other instruments? It's not Now Is The Colour, big yin.

Weird. I mean, sometimes I wonder if he started wearing his earplugs too late and his remaining hearing frequencies are giving him some strange mental experience of music, like he's hearing it all from underneath the bathwater. Well, maybe not but you know what I mean. I think.

[shockingcandy]

I only just got the New Flesh and Holiday singles today and have to say it's a familiar story to a fair few previous Ginger/Wildies releases, except seemingly worse. On all four of the tracks I previously hadn't heard (Unbroken/Bonita/Casino Bay/Legends Love) the vocals sound like they're emanating from under several vertical miles of duvet.

You see I was just listening to Unbroken (what a tune btw) and whilst my initial reaction was the same as yours, that the vocals were a quite low in the mix, I actual think it has made me listen harder and the result is I now think the vocals are a good level in the song. But then I am a guitarist and I like my 6 strings LOUD

[RDP]

People should note that ripping to MP3s (or any other compressed sound file) of less than 192 kbit/s (higher than this is even better!) results in a very tinny sound and looses a lot of the clarity. By default most programs (i.e. media player) use 128 kbit/s, and on a half decent set of speakers this kills music.

[denis]

i've just finished reading a joe strummer biography and apparently when joe was depressed he used to have his vocals purposely mixed lower than usual...perhaps ginger is depressed...

[shockingcandy]

I think you'll find lots of singers are quite self concious about the vocals being too loud. Also, overly-loud vocals are often associated with radio friendly poppy-ness (check out all those emo bands)

[Sarc]

I think you'll find lots of singers are quite self concious about the vocals being too loud. Also, overly-loud vocals are often associated with radio friendly poppy-ness (check out all those emo bands)

Do we have to?

[shockingcandy]

I think you'll find lots of singers are quite self concious about the vocals being too loud. Also, overly-loud vocals are often associated with radio friendly poppy-ness (check out all those emo bands)

Do we have to?

Yes, it's the very latest in torture techniques

[WiredOut]

I only just got the New Flesh and Holiday singles today and have to say it's a familiar story to a fair few previous Ginger/Wildies releases, except seemingly worse. On all four of the tracks I previously hadn't heard (Unbroken/Bonita/Casino Bay/Legends Love) the vocals sound like they're emanating from under several vertical miles of duvet.

You see I was just listening to Unbroken (what a tune btw) and whilst my initial reaction was the same as yours, that the vocals were a quite low in the mix, I actual think it has made me listen harder and the result is I now think the vocals are a good level in the song. But then I am a guitarist and I like my 6 strings LOUD

Yeah, I've grown to love Unbroken over the past day or two and I suppose sometimes such a sound mix can give a song a bit of mystery that it might otherwise lack if everything was crystal-clear. Like Exile On Main Street's famously muddy production, I suppose.