What is GOOD sound?

[avasopht]

And then someone makes a hit record with a crummy $15 casio keyboard (actually happened but I can't remember which track it was).

I don't think any hard rules can be identified, only workable trends. In one instance something may be considered bad quality until it is mixed in a certain way or complimented with the right sound.

It is not too dissimilar to any other artform. What one person calls rags another person would happily pay $15000 for.

But I think that getting lost in the song, either by listening or playing is the true barometer. And as with much of the human experience I think a good sound is highly subjective but you will know it when you see it.


One of my favourite sounds right now is D'Angelo's live recording of Really Love for Spotify. It's such a beautiful arrangement with an incredibly rich yet simple sound, or Palomares by Trio Mocotó.

[Marco Raaphorst]

I really dig the sound this track begins with. It's over saturated and most people find it horrible. Me? I like it very much! But back in the day every time I played that tune most people asked me to turn down the volume or stop plating it.

Sadly... They still do nowadays!

nice one!

[selig]

I really dig the sound this track begins with. It's over saturated and most people find it horrible. Me? I like it very much! But back in the day every time I played that tune most people asked me to turn down the volume or stop plating it.

Sadly... They still do nowadays!

That's a super cool track - I come from a background where all sounds are good, and where each is but a choice on the palette of all sound that exists in the world. I can enjoy "clean" recordings, "dirty" recordings, I appreciate musical instruments and I appreciate found sounds, etc. because I tend to think more about how audio makes me feel rather than whether it "sounds good" or not. That track makes me feel good, and it sparks my imagination and paints an interesting (to me) picture. I can also appreciate there are folks out there that have a more limited range of 'acceptable' sounds.

And to be sure, there ARE things I do not like, but more often it has little if anything to do with the 'sound'.
Vive la difference!

[FATCheese]

nice one!

That's a super cool track - I come from a background where all sounds are good, and where each is but a choice on the palette of all sound that exists in the world. I can enjoy "clean" recordings, "dirty" recordings, I appreciate musical instruments and I appreciate found sounds, etc. because I tend to think more about how audio makes me feel rather than whether it "sounds good" or not. That track makes me feel good, and it sparks my imagination and paints an interesting (to me) picture. I can also appreciate there are folks out there that have a more limited range of 'acceptable' sounds.

And to be sure, there ARE things I do not like, but more often it has little if anything to do with the 'sound'.
Vive la difference!

I KNEW I wasn't the only one! Although sometimes it feels like it is.

Growing up I had this love for little (quirky) sounds. And I still do.

Sound is indeed very subjective.

[Peter]

Rollin' down a residential street at eight o' clock in the morning on a Sunday bumpin' Nicki Minaj with a subwoofer in the trunk.

Subjective.

[Marco Raaphorst]

maybe 2017 should be the year to stop overthinking things too much for me. cool thread

[TritoneAddiction]

A good sound could be so many things, an open bright sound, deep bass, minimalistic, wall of sound, a complete mess, cool noise, something catchy.
Basically anything that enhances the song or makes it good in the first place.

One of my favorite records is Slipknots debut album and has been since it came out 1999. I've listened to a lot of metal over the years. Many bands are faster, more technical, more skilled? But I've never quite heard the same type of raw aggression that their first album has.

Abslutely love they beat the shit out of those drums. Love the extra percussion. Love the pissed off screaming. For a song like this I couldn't care less about the notes they're playing. It's all about the aggression and the energy.

A lot of modern metal production tend to sound more sterile with triggered bassdrums to make everything sound more even and precise. And also most records are recorded with a click track. Not on this album and I love it for all the imperfections it has, makes it more chaotic.

[FlowerSoldier]

One time I lived at a house and the guy across the street from me burned his landlord's house down, arson style.

A couple days later, this Mexican demolition crew showed up to clean up the property. This dude was bumping his trucks stereo system...that Ranchero style I-V over and over.

I don't even like that style of music, but, it sounded like he had a live band across the street. Swear to G.O.D., most amazing sound system I've heard to this day.

That was my introduction to GOOD sound.

[avasopht]

^ This takes me to a nice and sunny place without needing to worry about packing my suitcase at the last minute

[Marco Raaphorst]

^ This takes me to a nice and sunny place without needing to worry about packing my suitcase at the last minute

yes great. love brazilian music. have been playing that stuff a lot myself.

[Catblack]

I really dig the sound this track begins with. It's over saturated and most people find it horrible. Me? I like it very much! But back in the day every time I played that tune most people asked me to turn down the volume or stop plating it.

Sadly... They still do nowadays!

I can't even begin to express how ...familiar this sound is to me. I know I've either heard it lots or used it in a track. I went through my old archives and found that I'd made (and REXed) myself playing guitar with a very similar sound, but it's not quite the same. (I might have had that track on CD, I was really into Mo Wax back in the late 90s.)

[deepndark]

maybe 2017 should be the year to stop overthinking things too much for me. cool thread

It sure should. Music is music even when you think it has a low value.

[selig]

maybe 2017 should be the year to stop overthinking things too much for me. cool thread

It sure should. Music is music even when you think it has a low value.

Not that music is the subject of this thread, but…
Music isn't one thing to all folks, so is it still music to ME when I don't "get" it?

Isn't music more like beauty, that is "in the eye (ear) of the beholder'?

It's like asking "what is art?".

But the bigger point is that the word "GOOD" is subjective. What is good food? What is good weather? What is good? There is no single definition.

As so it is with "value". if music has low value to me, than it has low value to me - period!

Bottom line: It's not anything to "think" about in the first place, let alone over-think - it's purely a feeling thing IMO.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[deepndark]

maybe 2017 should be the year to stop overthinking things too much for me. cool thread

It sure should. Music is music even when you think it has a low value.

Not that music is the subject of this thread, but…
Music isn't one thing to all folks, so is it still music to ME when I don't "get" it?

Isn't music more like beauty, that is "in the eye (ear) of the beholder'?

It's like asking "what is art?".

But the bigger point is that the word "GOOD" is subjective. What is good food? What is good weather? What is good? There is no single definition.

As so it is with "value". if music has low value to me, than it has low value to me - period!

Bottom line: It's not anything to "think" about in the first place, let alone over-think - it's purely a feeling thing IMO.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I think this thread is about music and especially that what music sounds GOOD.
But yes, I'm not feeling music mostly, when I don't like my current mood anyway.