Aerosmith, Recording of "Rocks"

[T Boog]

 

[mettelus]

Nice testament of what can be done with things when you get creative and keep things organic. Younger people have gotten used to DAWs and sound isolation (nothing but the instrument... we will add the space later); but back in the day the recording space, stuffing mics into pillows, throwing jackets over amps lying on their backs, and being creative with the tone chasing was where the fun was (and still is IMO).

[Stupid side note, but this made me laugh so much I had to share it]

OMG, I was literally laughing when I read Slash's quote about Rocks from Wikipedia!

"I was in seventh grade and just going through the whole 1978 music thing that was happening for kids – which was like Cheap Trick and the Cars. Anyway, there was this chick that I was going after that was considerably older than me ... I'd been trying to be cool enough to take her out and have my way with her ... Finally, I sort of weaseled my way into her apartment. So we're hanging out and she put Rocks by Aerosmith on, and I was mesmerized by it. It was like the be-all-and-end-all, best-attitude, *****in' hard rock record ... I'd grown up with music, but this was like my record. I must have listened to it about half a dozen times, completely ignored her, and then got on my bike and rode. I was totally in there. I was at least gonna get a decent French kiss out of it, and I completely dropped the ball for Aerosmith, and that was that. It's probably one of the records that sums up my taste in hard rock bands to this day. Meanwhile, she's out there somewhere and I missed it. But it was worth it"

Totally blew her off to listen to Rocks, then "got on his bike and rode"... he was in 7th grade!!!

[T Boog]

22 hours ago, mettelus said:

Younger people have gotten used to DAWs and sound isolation

 Yeah, IMO too many people are a little too an@l about sound isolation. I was stressing over it too when I first started out. After all, it's the "right way" to record. But now, I usually record my vocals without using headphones at all. With headphones, even on just one ear, I tend to sing slightly flat.(I've learned this is due to not hearing the skull & jaw bone resonate). So I've developed a vocal recording workflow where I turn the music on my monitors down low and I don't monitor the mic at all. And I'm very happy with the results and the speed of the process.

I even use a condenser mic (& compression). However, I put an eyeball isolation filter on it to help block some of the monitor bleed from the back & sides. I can usually even apply melodyne on the clips if I need to and it still sounds great in the mix. In my experience, it's not a HUGE diff from headphone bleed.

To each his own though. And I know some music & situations require more strict isolation. I just think a lot of people make too big a deal out of it. They end up sacrificing some vibe and workflow for perfectionism. I'm personally more concerned with the overall product & feel. And having a better workflow is just a bonus.  So I usually go with the Van Halen approach...  "If it sounds good, it IS good". 👍

 

 (As long as no one ever isolates my sloppy-as§ tracks, I think I'll get away with it  🤣)

 

 

Edited 12 hours ago by T Boog

[Cookie Jarvis]

Rocks is my favorite Aerosmith album, especially Nobody's Fault! As far as music goes the big labels killed rock years ago with their social experiment so it went underground but is still very present in the scandanavian countries. There's a reason why bands like Aerosmith, Queen, the Eagles, Judas Priest can keep going and making big bucks....today's music sucks

[Rain]

I believe I became aware of Aerosmith because of their collaboration with Run DMC in the mid 80's. Not that I was a hip hop fan at the time mind you. I wasn't much of a fan of the stuff they put out afterwards either, although it would have been hard to deny its qualities. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

And for years I kind of ignored them mostly, despite acknowledging their remarkable talent.

But then I heard Rocks - and man, I was instantly hooked. It's actually the first Aerosmith record I bought.