Wonder if this has been done before?
Hi
This is what I am listening to right now: https://soundcloud.com/the-farthingales
It's stuff from my son's band, The Farthingales.
They are a young, unsigned and trying to 'make it big' Indie/Rock band.
From a hifi fan's perspective (you will make your own mind up on the quality of the songs, musicianship, etc.) the Soundcloud recordings are worth listening to because they were recorded 'live' in a studio. There are no overdubs, no fancy production, instruments levels were not reduced, etc, etc. Each song was done in one take with all the musicians playing together. It is not that often that music is recorded this way these days. I was in the unusual position of being able to flit between the studio as the band were playing their songs and the engineer's studio. As a result, I can personally verify that what you hear on Soundcloud is literally what it sounded like with the band in the recording studio. It's as close to the real thing as you can get because the songs are 'production' free. As a result, the sound of the songs is a bit different than you may be used to. The whole process really made me appreciate just how much work is done to many recordings to make them sound far removed from what was actually going on in the studio. Now I am not implying any criticism here and I do not have any views on how a song should be produced. All I am saying is that the 4 songs you hear on Soundcloud via the above link are as they sounded on the day in that studio. I can personally verify that because I kept flitting between the two rooms whilst recording was being done. As a result the rawness of the recording might come as a bit of a shock. The drum cymbals - Zildjan - for instance are pretty prominent. The thing is, that's what happens in reality - cymbals are pretty intense and really grab your attention, especially when my son is pounding them! There is plenty of cymbal fade too.
The whole recording experience was a bit of an eye opener for me. I've got 100's of albums where, for instance, the drummer's cymbals have been pushed right to the back of the mix. It's only my opinion - I don't like that, I want to hear the band as they really sound.
Interestingly the sound file for each song was around 4 GB. For the Soundcloud recording, this was reduced to approximately 40 MB. So, whilst the Soundcloud songs are very realistic in their sound, there is a bit more that could be heard. This is not too much though as much of the original 4 GB file is at frequencies that a human cannot hear. I am going to get the 'full fat' versions of the songs soon and make them in full or part available free of charge to any AoS member who wants a listen.
So, in the meantime, turn the volume up and enjoy a level of recorded realism that is not too easy to come by, especially these days! Hell, you might even like the songs!!
You can also see the lads rehearsing some of their other songs here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0n...3xfvmHi6AHDJYw
Cheers
Steve