A follow up to the 'Mic Bleed' thread - what is 'vibe', and how do we spot it?

There were some great points made in the ‘Mic Bleed’ thread posted by MakeShift, but I think it then raises the question, “So when and why would I record ‘live’ and embrace any leakage which might result?”
 
Probably the most common reason cited, is to capture ‘vibe’ – engineers love to use this word, but what does it mean? Some here have rightly observed the apparent sloppiness on the individual tracks of some of the ‘golden oldies’ when soloed, and yet how everything comes together to form a wonderful listening experience when played as a full mix. Is this sloppiness ‘vibe’? How do we know when to re-track and when to let mistakes go, passing them off as an acceptable, even helpful, part of the performance?
 
The reason I’m bringing this up for discussion is because I think this vague term (vibe) that gets banded around the music and audio communities is misunderstood and misused by many. I’ve had bands record with me who insisted on recording everything live to capture the ‘vibe’ of their performance, and a lot of the time, the only ‘vibe’ we’re left with is one of terrible intonation, a pointlessly wondering pulse, abrupt, nonsensical dynamics and a disjointed mess. Sorry guys, that’s not vibe, that’s just a complete dog’s breakfast!
 
Nowadays, whenever a band asks me to record ‘live’ I always have a very good listen to them at rehearsals and make an informed decision from there about whether or not it will work for them. If a band is good enough, and does indeed have ‘vibe’, then recording live is absolutely the most fun way to record, and the sonic results can be very pleasing, and are enhanced by using the leakage to our advantage.
 
So, what do we mean by ‘vibe’ and how do we recognize it?
 
I certainly don’t claim to have all of the answers, but I’ll kick off the discussion with my thoughts and observations:
 
I think of ‘vibe’ as ‘musicality’ which I admit is just as vague as the term I’m trying to define! When I think of musicality, I think of artistry – the ability to push and pull time in a pleasing way, the ebb and flow in dynamics, the believability in the performance and the tones generated by the player.
 
I’ll start with musical time – I used to tell my guitar students (used to because I don’t teach anymore) that when playing rubato, the listener should always be able to predict, or anticipate, when the next note will be placed. So changes in tempo should be smooth and controlled, not abrupt, and they should only occur as a result of a conscious musical decision made by the player. A performance should never sound ‘out of time’ even when the player is altering the tempo drastically. I used to think that everyone found this easy until I started teaching – I quickly discovered that not everyone has an ‘internal musical clock’ and I’ve had several students who could never perform a convincing ritardando.
 
I’ve read articles where the author has painstakingly plotted all tempo changes of some classic tracks that were recorded ‘live’ without a metronome. Of course the tempo varies – quite a lot in some cases – but it never sounds ‘out of time’ because those tempo variations can be classified as ‘musical’.
 
So I guess this is my first point in response to the questions, “what is ‘vibe’ and when should I record a band live and allow leakage?” – ask yourself, “can they play in time?” And of course by that, I don’t mean, “are they metronomic?” but, “do they have an inner musical pulse?”
 
Is it possible to achieve subtle timing variations when playing to a metronome, and therefore, ‘vibe’? Yes, I think it is, but it’s harder! When playing to a metronome, I personally rely more on other techniques to achieve most of my ‘vibe’ (if I have any!).
 
Another defining characteristic of ‘vibe’ is the ebb and flow of dynamics during a performance. I say ebb and flow because it should be just that – flowing and smooth, not abrupt (usually). There is a big difference between a true artist who is playing dynamically to some hack who just can’t play evenly! Again, going back to my teaching days, I was very surprised to learn that not everyone can play a convincing crescendo or decrescendo.  I think this is one of the ways in which we can identify a ‘student performance’ if I may call it that – it’s as if someone (their teacher) has said to them, “get louder here, put a sforzando on that note, go quiet here, big decrescendo here…”. Their performance certainly has dynamics, but it is entirely unconvincing, and, well, ‘studenty’.
 
So I would put this down as another characteristic of ‘vibe’ – the musical ebb and flow in dynamics.
 
So when considering whether or not to record a band live and allow leakage, listen to them play beforehand, and ask yourself, “do they have a natural feel for dynamics? Are their dynamic decisions based on musical reason and emotion? Am I convinced? Do these dynamics result in a more engaging performance or are they a distraction?”
 
My next point is more ‘wishy-washy’ – believability of a performance. I’m not sure it’s possible to define this one, but then, there probably isn’t much point in trying – you either believe it or you don’t! But I would certainly put believability down as a characteristic of ‘vibe’.
 
I think the tone of a player also has a bit to do with the presence or absence of vibe – we are all aware that a great player can still make wonderful music on an inferior instrument, and as soon as someone starts playing, no matter how simple their part is, you know if they’ve got that ‘mojo’ about them. You can have a drummer who is technically playing correctly, but it just doesn’t sound good. Get a great player in on that exact same kit and he’ll bring the same beat to life. Same with guitarists – even if the part is just a straight eighths pattern on a C chord, some people will make it sound like amateur hour, even though they are playing in time etc. A great player will make that same progression sound like magic.
 
If a player or group possesses the above qualities, I think it’s fairly safe to say that they are ‘musical’ and have the kind of ‘vibe’ we are looking for. This is when recording old school is the way to go I think – when you have really good players, who require no corrective editing in post-production. Stick em’ in a room, carefully position your mics, embrace the leakage, and enjoy a day of actual music making!
 
My final comment is that, in a lot of books on recording techniques, the person being interviewed or writing the article will most likely be coming from a completely different place than us. Whereas we can learn a great deal from many of the techniques they discuss, I fear much of their advice is largely irrelevant to people like us. For instance, I cited Al Schmitt in the other thread as a great example of an engineer who uses leakage to his advantage – which he is. But I don’t record almost exclusively at Capitol Studios, I don’t have access to his mic locker, I don’t have his experience, and I don’t record the best orchestras in the world - do you?! In fact, the only similarity between my work and his, is probably the fact that they both end up on a CD! So what would happen if I copied everything he did when working in my little studio? A complete disaster most likely!
 
So to summarize – don’t even think about recording ‘live’ with leakage if the band isn’t musical enough to pull it off, and if they are not very well rehearsed (which, by the way, a very small number of them are! People are so lazy these days – it seems no one is prepared to put in the work it takes to become a great band! But that’s for another thread…). If they are musical enough, rehearsed enough, and do have a certain ‘vibe’ that you want to capture, then you’ve got to go about it sensibly, and be mindful of the limitations imposed on you by your studio space, your equipment and your expertise. Use your brain, use your ears, and always think and plan ahead!
 
I’m sorry that this reads a little bit like a sermon – as I said, I in no way claim to be the maestro with this stuff, and I’m only 27, so am relatively inexperienced too. Hopefully this thread will spark a good discussion though!
 
 

I wouldn't say I have anything I'd add to that. I agree with the lot of it! Some great comments there. Couple of quotes I liked particularly:

For instance, I cited Al Schmitt in the other thread as a great example of an engineer who uses leakage to his advantage – which he is. But I don’t record almost exclusively at Capitol Studios, I don’t have access to his mic locker, I don’t have his experience, and I don’t record the best orchestras in the world - do you?! In fact, the only similarity between my work and his, is probably the fact that they both end up on a CD! So what would happen if I copied everything he did when working in my little studio? A complete disaster most likely! 


I think of ‘vibe’ as ‘musicality’ which I admit is just as vague as the term I’m trying to define! When I think of musicality, I think of artistry – the ability to push and pull time in a pleasing way, the ebb and flow in dynamics, the believability in the performance and the tones generated by the player. 

And I'm only 25 so we're on the same boat!

SongCraft


Band Situation:
When a band first gets together earlier on it may be hard to get the vibe right away although at times (fleeting moments) that magic can happen and that generally is a positive sign. 

As time goes by band members can become like brothers/sisters as the band sound becomes so cohesive it really is quite awesome. 

Importantly; each band member puts their heart into their performances as a team effort and on tour they are often sharing rooms or simply sleeping on the bus. A band is somewhat like a marriage, it's a commitment and I hope they get along well together (personalities) or else that road to success is going to get a lot tougher. 

When you lose a band member (death) it's takes time to get over it and the band may not fully recover. You can't always easily replace someone because each person is unique. 

Believe me I have experienced the above a few times in different bands and with a singer/actress. Circumstances out of my control happens; it can be devastating to lose a friend and in another incident; a love one. 

Did I forget to mention; The 'vibe', the 'feel', that 'magical cohesion' is 'Human Timing' as apposed to coldly performing to a score or metronome without putting one's heart into it. This can apply to a band or... 

Solo studio music producer or DJ; 
it can be much harder to capture the 'feel' (vibe) and usually either a person is incredibly gifted or it can take many years to achieve greatness. 

An example; Dance Music; the vibe is more about the beat; getting the sounds 'all' working really well together; that magical cohesion, 'The Vibe' 

Solo Composer - Film/Score - Orchestration; 
For starters; achieving realism such as; strings and horns, getting the right articulations and dynamics that not only works so beautifully together but follows the scenes so seamlessly that it all this can actually make people cry with sadness or happiness. Now that's what I call capturing that magical cohesion! 

Good stuff here!!


Thanks for enlightening me on this one. It always seemed to be a puzzle when someone talks about 'vibe'. 

Good Vibrations

Hmmm later on I started to think where and why that word 'Vibe' is often used to describe music and I think it may have started with the Beach Boy's hit song; Good Vibrations. 

For music; I guess it's another way to describe 'Cool' or an addition to 'Cool' 

Often people will say; 'I love the vibe of this song' - so I guess they're saying; it's cool! 

So anyway.... in regards to music; Good Vibrations is about 'feeling emotions' something that really moves you (and I'm not talking about a bowl movement.) 

In other songs those emotions can also be about sadness or a haunting feeling. 

Anyway.... achieving such greatness is what music should be about but it takes a lot of talent along with composing from the 'heart' to accomplish that! 

The song; Good Vibrations started with that idea (song title) and the lyrics written from thereon. Thereby creating a vibe is not only about performances and sounds (although that's valid as Danny pointed out) what I'm saying is; it's also about the lyrics. In regard to a song; it's the whole package!! 

There can also be bad vibes LOL!! <ahem> what some might believe to be cool might be like finger nails on a chalkboard to others... but usually bad vibes is referred to scary situations such as a dark foggy night, OMG a guy shows up wearing a hockey mask and carrying something that looks like a chainsaw... <arghhhhhh> 

....as it turns out it was nothing more than a friend handing over a guitar that he borrowed from you last week. <Phew> 

SongCraft

Danny Danzi


Agree to all of the above stuff that's been mentioned.

"Vibe" to me (trying to be more succinct here...will try harder) is that magic capture recording that may have been off the cuff, no pressure, no stress, you just do it and something magical happens. Like a photo....the best photo's usually are taken when you're not "posing" for them. The same with a musical performance. Sometimes that live vibe brings on performances that you may not get punching in or recording your parts individually.

-Danny

True! Often I like to experiment as I work on ideas on the piano without focusing on technique as my eyes are closed I play and I'm trying to give it 'feeling'.  And sometimes ooops.... I made a mistake, yet it's those mistakes that might actually be that moment of magic. 

Totally agree there. Even worse, did you ever make one of those magical mistakes and then have to cop it again or play it live and it was either impossible or really challenging? Uggh...that drives me crazy!
 
-Danny

 
Im so glad to hear you guys say that.
 
Ive been envolved with music that may have been a bit shy on talent (probably me ; )) but big on passion.
To me its just like most things. Both have possatives & pitfalls.
 
The dynamic passion seems to add to a project speakes volumes to me.
Playing to a click can always make a tight and polished record.
 
But for me have always been to completly different processes.  
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

some rooms sound great.

and some sound like suck-ass.

you've just got to develop your ears enough to know better!

how can you ever know what a 'good room' sounds like, if you never go to a pro studio or 'known' great sounding room and work in one?

i don't think you can.

if you really want to know what a good room sounds like, pay some bucks for a serious session somewhere.
worth it's weight in gold.


then, you will know.

it's easier to suss out, how live band interplay and capture of room ambience works versus overdubbing in isolation.

Mic bleed can be controlled with EQ

Rooms/Air can be controlled with with compression & lift.
Then bleed it back into the 2-buss

The following is my noob-rant:

Extremely interesting thread.  Performance vibe for me is quite different than studio vibe.  Many 'Jam sessions' invariably have that stereotypical 'garage sound' despite the magic going on 'in the air'.
 
While I publicly perform (singing, piano, and guitar) at least 3 times/week ... and do jam sessions to enhance/discover new vibes (per the Op) ... I've only recorded via 'iphone'.  There is great interference-garbage on many levels.
 
So I'm joyfully learning here.

Doubtless, an expensive room-make-over or pro studio would be my thoughts.

Again, please forgive my noob-rant.

rundgren is another perfect example of a one man team pulling of true vibe