I’ve had several audio engineer colleagues be surprised lately when they run into “big noise problems” in their digital recording environments. “What to do?”, I’ve been asked…
Well, maybe nothing, or…. Maybe, turn it up!
I did a remix long ago of the Nirvana track, Smells Like Teen Spirit. We got the 24 track tape and when I put it up, couldn’t believe how it sounded. Total JUNK! GARBAGE…
But that was the sound the band recorded. That was the sound of their hit. You can be sure none of Nirvana’s 16 year old fans wrote in and complained about the noise on the track.
With the onset of digital it has become practically necessary to add noise back in for character, color, and tone. Especially in certain genres. Tons of distortion and noise filling out many hip hop track still today. Others too.
And there’s the return of the electronic tube to the audio recording world. Adding 3rd harmonic distortion back in to get away from the clinical nature of digital. More on this in another post soon.
Happy recording and remember, There are no rules!
