There are a handful of songs that I will always remember hearing for the first time and this is one of them. I was walking home from grade two and there was a Trans Am parked at the curb outside our corner store, with the T-top open and a dude with a manicured beard and big, fuck-off sunglasses laying with the seat back and Africa was blasting from his stereo. I stopped and milled-about the store window to hear the entire song. That night I used my dad's Sony ghettoblaster the record it from the radio (pirating in 1982!). I listened to the radio all night hoping it would play, and eventually it did. Of course, at 7 years old I wasn't thinking about how nice the production was, only that it had a real sense of mood and atmosphere which, then as now, is always the thing that cuts me deepest with music.

 

Slap it, dude! Real hard... and popping that (b)ass could be mind blowing.

 

cool story bro.. by chance...another instance of how the music chooses you !

 

On a more serious note, in a time where virtuoso instrumentalists were at their heyday, Mike Porcaro used to be a low-key kind of guy (even a bit under the shadow of his monster playing brother) and never got a lot of attention. However, trying to nail the bass solo of 99 can prove that he was no slacker.

 

Last edited: Jun 3, 2017

It's more about the post process that you give to it than the source itself (just have to be analog-oriented not designed to sounds digital). With the right hardware gear (just some good amp/tube/comp/whatever to really electrify your signal) and the right digital hardware gear emulation, you can get real close to simple (but phat and enjoyable) analog sounds. It won't be unstable, varying and all, because it just can't (binary world etc, you know this I assume), but, it will have that "analog feel" and deepness (ie analog tainted 40-100hz in the signal), and that's all you need for yourself and your listeners, if you're a real hardware synth purist then that's another story.

If you really need one example, do a simple signal (simple enough to reproduce 95% identical on the computer) generated by some hardware synth like Moogs or other phat hardsynths, generate the same with something like U-HE DiVA or NI Monark (Reaktor), use post-process that will slightly alter the signal, slightly tame the highs, shape the sound like some outpriced gear would, like Nebula (PRE+TAPE) mojos or Slate VMR, now compare the signals. Not visually, because they will be slightly different (most obvious thing is how every frequency peaks from the Moog are not perfectly shaped, full of littles cuts), but, the source used and the post process applied, will give you the feeling they are the same.
Because it's actually really, really close, only thing that can't be reproduced these days is voltage variation, maybe some mindblowing technology like Acustica will one day. 90-00s computers users wouldn't believe how the sound can be on a computer these days... And how you can get close to the sound of some epic studio with a few well crafted softwares... The "cold, harsh and squashed" definition we gave to computer sound engineering is getting more and more false everyday.

To give credit to this, and because my average english isn't probably enough, I had (not anymore because I moved) access to :

-First quality plugins from my workflow (Acustica, Slate, Softube in mind), some "analog sounding" sources like Diva
-Biggest names of Analog Synths, that my dad owned/owns (he sells/buy a lot)

Thingies like ARP2600, PPG Wave, tons of Moogs from Taurus to Voyager, Junos, weird custom-hybrid Rolands with Moog filters, Prophets, Jupiter, etc etc. Didn't tested them a lot because I'm an awful keyboard player (I'm working on that, but I have tons of samples hue hue), and I had time to spend hours in the room with my dad playing around and recording.

These days, this guy, my dad, who love every kind of hardsynth and got a bit obsessed with analog sound design/grain, is himself taken aback by how a computer can sound. We will always need hardsynths because of the physical feel they give, the varying chemestry and voltage in it, the fact they are true instruments that changes in tone and sound with time and age, and to do ludicrous experimental rooting and sound design, but, softwares are getting so damn close at juste giving you this strong, low and warm feeling that is everything. Plus, the digital world provide his own sets of experiments and rooting, sound design...

So if you combine these, you get something that has even more infinite possibilities... Thats what I aim, that's what many do, and it works. I love what computer engineering brings and what analog engineering brings too. They are not that much opposites to me.

I think some kind of analog gear is really in danger because of this (all these hybrid digital-analog sounding ones) but vintage/100% analog pieces still have works to do!

I got a bit off topic I believe, more briefly: to me, only complex analog sound design can't be reproduced close enough on a computer (same in the other way too, complex digital sound design will be hard to get with analog gear), arps, big polys etc are hard, but basslines, leads, simple & great sounding analog sounds on a computer are a possiblity now. To get farther you gonna have to get both of the worlds (a DAW to do complex digital sound design and to engineer all of this, and some gear to bring complex analog and real "moving" frequencies).

I would post a link but I'm not at my house and don't have acces to all of my bookmarks and all, but here is something I have in mind right now : Movember tracks by Koan Sound and Culprate (and others) https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Koan+Sound+movember

Not the best example (and sounding quite electronic globally) but a good one : all these tracks uses every kind of source : purely digital, hybrid, purely analog, acoustic takes... And the result is incredibly sweet to my ears. Especially Mosaic and If You Hadn't. They just used all kind of lovely pieces from all the worlds (Minimoog, Subphatty, Junos, Serum, Massive, electronic drums + acoustic ones, then world music acoustic takes) and then crafted the sound on Pro Tools and Live, apart from If You Hadn't, the masters are really dynamic for electronic music, and enjoyable at high volume, like some vintage analog electronic. All processed and engineered on a computer. Can't ear frustrating "grid sound" either. I will post more examples later!

About softsynths that sounds analog, to answer you better, here is the ones I think can do that : Diva, Sylenth, Arturia suite (well they are analog algo emulations but that still counts), Monark, Repro 1, Bazille, Serum, Zebra 2, and I'm probably forgetting some.

Sorry for the badly written text with bad syntax!

 

Last edited: Jun 3, 2017

Haven't heard this in ages, damn, thank you kind sir!

 

By "humanization features" I meant anything that effects the timing of the beat, I should have been more clear. With that said, it's still true today: Mechanical, quantized beats are still mechanical and quantized. It's not like the length of a 16th note fluctuates over time or something. Well, the farther the 16th note is played from the center of the Earth, the slower it becomes relative to 16th notes played at sea level, but we're talking solely terrestrial 16th notes here, okay? Okay.

 

Last edited: Jun 3, 2017

It's not a patch on Rosanna though.

I visited my father in Canada in 1982 and we drove along great big freeways in his 5.0 Mustang GT, with 8 speakers......and Rosanna was always on the radio. It sounded amazing. White sunshine, an overcharged V8, big roads and THOSE sounds.

Rooo-saaaaaaaa-nnaaaaa....yeeeeaaaaaah..........duh duh duh!

 

You're definitely right. But, when listening some of these beats in a well produced track, do you feel it? Do you feel its mechanical? Or the groove is catching you anyways?
Okay!

 

Yeah, I know. I just think it's well overused, bizarre and muddy tech from eighty years ago - there's better options if ur ITB. I don't wanna resurrect this dinosaur subject again tho X(

But: be the change u wanna see in the world - words to live by...

I mean, I like the song - it works effectively don't get me wrong, doesn't sound dated! It's moar to do with that flam (ish) technique on the toms. And dat 1st crash ~1:10 (esp) is rly weaksauce. It sounds almost gated =( prolly drummer being told to get hands on, or smthn. Preferred production on Roseanna, even if it's not as good a song.

There's no real excuse! I've seen more well-groomed testicles. That was actually one of the names they rejected for the band, sadly.

It's a bit synth demoesque, but I can't help but smile @ all the throwaway lil keyboard licks etcs.

 

A few months ago it was Hans Zimmer who didnt rock your boat, now its the compressor and mustaches.
I sense some nihilistic frustration in your words , i hope everything is ok in your life.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jun 3, 2017

XD yeah, they're kinda small things that I'm making a big (rhetorical) deal out of. You kinda opened the door, though? But like that Taoist proverb; matters of great concern should be treated lightly, matters of small concern should be treated seriously. Or smthn.

I guess I believe that we're all connected & what I do to u, u do to me. So apologies if it seemed that way.

 

Great band.

 

Its all good, dont take me too seriously either, i like to joke around

 

Still sounds so fresh.