What makes a great record?
As someone who ‘makes’ records, this has always fascinated me. Why do you love the music that you love? Is it rhythm, melody, harmony, lyrics, atmosphere, production? Are you draw to a certain instrument (maybe because you play too), or a certain sound/genre? Maybe the music is tied up with memories and therefore elicits certain emotions in you? When I hear the first A Perfect Circle album ‘Mer De Noms’, I can see Soul Reaver (computer game)! For many of us; I think it’s a combination; and different combinations for different records.
Do you listen to music or hear it?
You may have noticed that I keep using the word ‘record’. This because I grew up in a time when, once I’d save up the money to buy an album, I’d catch a train to a town/city, walk to the record shop and audition various albums before parting with any cash. Those records meant everything to me! I would sit and listen (exclusively) to them for hours on end. I would get lost in them. These days, as we know, things are very different. In my experience, the easier things become, the less significance they tend to have.
For many people, music is something that they have on in the background while they do something else. People talk about ‘soundtracks to their life’ (as if they are an actor in a blockbuster film!). It’s an important part of how they are experiencing that period of time.
When you hear one of your favourite records, which elements are you actually hearing? Are you aware of how the kick drum and bass are locking in? Are you moved by the lyrical content? Do you hear the spring reverb on the rhythm guitar track? Is it the backing vocal arrangement? I’m always keen to know what people are actually hearing. There is a theory that your average person only really hears three elements at a time. As a mixing engineer, it’s important that your mixes translate to different people and different playback systems.
It’s all good!
One of the wonderful things about music is that it’s subjective. Every perspective is valid. Sometimes it’s really hard to see why someone likes something that you find abhorrent. Sometimes we even appear to contradict ourselves…. I love Aja by Steely Dan because every element is intensely considered and executed by people at the top of their game, but I also love Out of Step by Minor Threat, which it would be fair to say, isn’t.
Apparently, music is the fastest way to change someone’s emotional state. This is why it can be such a great therapeutic tool.
I’m off to listen to Minor Threat now, but please leave a comment in the comments section below. Tell me about your relationship with music, why you love certain records and let me know what you’re hearing.