Most people who cheat probably would prefer not to see it as cheating. I say have the balls to put what you can really do out there.

I still say Dave did a great job on the drums in the OP.

I'm not sure it's got much to do with having balls either. That argument takes you back to the "don't use reverb, or compression, or gating, or whatever" position. The balls to put out what you can really do adds up to only ever recording no-overdubs live performances. Anything other than that, is to some extent "cheating".

I'm more interested in people who have the creativity to use whatever they need to use to achieve something that sounds amazing. I don;'t particularly want to see their balls.

I heard several years ago someone suggest that using session musicians was 'cheating'....

I think the whole 'cheating' thing is overwrought. If I was to use a VST of a particular symphony does that constitute 'cheating'? Because I do not have access to a full scale orchestra?   

John T


I'm not sure it's got much to do with having balls either. That argument takes you back to the "don't use reverb, or compression, or gating, or whatever" position. The balls to put out what you can really do adds up to only ever recording no-overdubs live performances. Anything other than that, is to some extent "cheating".

No, again. Reverb is NOT performance, it's sonics. The PERFORMANCE is playing the right notes/beats, at the right time, with the right dynamics and tone. That's the performer's responsibility and that's the performance. If you want to go record it in a canyon for natural reverb, fine. But the performance has to be good either way.
 
Sonic enhancement has been around since recording began, and it doesn't make bad performances good. The whole all or nothing argument really isn't valid.

trimph1


I heard several years ago someone suggest that using session musicians was 'cheating'....

I think the whole 'cheating' thing is overwrought. If I was to use a VST of a particular symphony does that constitute 'cheating'? Because I do not have access to a full scale orchestra?   

If you played the notes yourself, then no. It would be nice if you could afford an orchestra, but that's no different from playing a digital synth on stage. The fact that you aren't making the actual sounds doesn't mean you don't have to perform it correctly. It's PERFORMANCE enhancement that's the issue, not sonic enhancement.
 
If you used session musicians and claimed you didn't, then yes, that would be performance enhancement and you'd look like fool if it was found out.
 

What about sequenced material? Is that all bad?

Regarding performance, what about punch ins and comps? They're cheating, surely?

John T


I'm more interested in people who have the creativity to use whatever they need to use to achieve something that sounds amazing. I don;'t particularly want to see their balls.

To CREATE something amazing, exactly. Not to data process something amazing from something that wasn't amazing. If your particular type of music only involves clicking on a grid, then the point is irrelevant, because you aren't posturing yourself as a singer when you can't really sing very well or a good drummer when you actually aren't. The problem is not how the music is actually made, but misrepresentation of how the music is actually made.