Double Bass What Are You Listening To?

[rp747]

Hopefully this thread doesn't start getting replies with names of bands people are currently listening to. These are not the droids I'm looking for. The topic on my brain today is what you're listening to when hearing a piece of music.
I'm in the end stages of mixing an album and spent the last two hours concerned about the reverb and delay on a vocal. Listening, obsessing, asking for second opinions, self-doubt, etc. Then after I called it quits listening for the day I sat down and listened again, impartially as possible, and found myself completely disengaged from the vocal fx problem and completely smug with realizing how good my bass sounds. I hadn't noticed that all day, but this experience was very reassuring of how the mix is turning out in general. So I started thinking...

What do people listen to when they listen to music? What do musicians and non-musicians listen to that's different? Do bass players only listen to the bass, singers only to singers, drummers only to drummers, etc.? If someone says they're listening to everything, are they really? Does anybody actually casually listen and take note of the reverb on a track? Does anybody enjoy the sound of subsonic frequencies, or do they enjoy feeling them?

Eventually the topic becomes frayed into lots of little complex things that could be academic studies, like whether people like listening loudly or to bright mixes because of an underlying pain-pleasure relationship. But I'd like to see where this topic goes. Personally, I try not to tap my foot to a song in the same room as a drummer, because I often don't notice what the kick drum is actually doing. Guess that's not what I'm listening to.

EDIT: I'm only talking about listening to tracks, not to live performance. Obviously the more you're listening to on stage the better. Casual listening/reference listening only here.

 

[MikeCanada]

I find myself listening to a lot of things, but it can change depending on what kind of mood I am in, how many times I have listened to that particular recording, the environment I am listening to it in, if I am passively or actively listening etc. I wish I could say that I am listening to absolutely everything all at once, but usually I end up focusing on something particular either because that is what I am interested in during that specific listening session, or because something (good or bad) caught my ear.

Songwriting or Composition. Is the music itself, regardless to that particular interpretation or execution of it any good? It's way late in the game for that in your particular project, but I have heard some crappy sounding gems, and a lot of polished turds. There are very few excuses for poor recordings especially with the tools we have available to us now, but if the content is fantastic it is easier to overlook some technical short comings in the recording. If the recording was as great as the content, it would push that music to an even greater level. On the other hand if the music itself is horrible, I have yet to find myself saying "well at least the vocal reverb is spectacular".

Performance. Are the musicians really nailing it? Technically, are they at the top of their game? Emotionally, are they drawing me in or just going through the motions? Is it perfect? Is that what they were going for? Does it have the right energy? If there are solos and fills and improvised or "improvised" sections, am I convinced by them?

Song selection/order. If I listen to the recording as a whole, does it tell a good story? Are the transitions smooth or jarring? Is that intentional? Is there enough space between tracks, or should there be another second or two to help cleanse the palate? Does it feel like there is a beginning, middle, and end to the entire recording? Did it peak too early? Too late? Is the album unified or connected in a meaningful way, or does it just seem like a collection of unrelated ideas?

Balance. Depending on the genre and what everyone in the band is doing in that particular moment, I can be listening for a lot of different things. Personally, I prefer when balance is achieved by the musicians occupying their own sonic territory and not trampling all over each other, and then the mixing/mastering engineer can emphasize that with EQ. During tutti or full band sections, I really like when everyone is clearly present and no one is buried or over emphasized which I think is as much or more of an orchestration/arrangement issue than a mixing issue. I can't stand it when rhythm guitar, drums, piano accompaniment, orchestral brass, etc. are either unnecessarily forward in the mix, or they're occupying so much of the EQ spectrum that no one else can be heard. Is the "depth of field" too deep or too shallow? When the voice or solo instrument comes in, is everyone else completely buried and ignored? Are harmonies prominent enough?

Engineering/mixing/mastering. Are the choices being made beneficial, or getting in the way? There are things like reverb or delay or EQ or other effects that can really be the extra little bit of seasoning that really makes you think "wow, this flavour is amazing!" or leave you thinking "wow, they really put way too much salt in the soup". Just like food, everyone has different preferences, and what is not enough for some will be way too much for others. It is a tough balance, and it varies depending on the genre. If it is mainly an acoustic or live type of music, it is great when it seems like the recording captured a fantastic live performance even if it was laid down a track at a time. Do the effects seem uniform across the whole band? Does it sound like the bass player is playing in a basement with a low ceiling, the vocalist is in the shower, and the drums are in a stadium, or do they all sound like they were in the same room? Does that "room" sound like the right size? Are you painting a picture of an intimate little jam session in a small living room that happened to be recorded, or something in a big recital hall, church, or large venue where the goal is to fill the space? If it is a more processed type of music for lack of a better term, then there are situations where you definitely want the production to be a larger part of the finished product. In that case, is it still adding to the music, or is it becoming overwhelming? Are you running face first into a wall of sound, or are you driving through a tunnel with music all around you? Is everything limited/compressed to a point where it's a constant bombardment of loudness, or are the peaks and valleys in the sound? If it's house music then sure, maybe you want everything turned up to 11 at all times...

You mentioned taking a break, which I think is a great idea. Sometimes that needs to be an hour, but especially as you get closer and closer to a final mix, you can really benefit from getting away from it for a day, or even a few. Sometimes those big issues aren't really as big as you think they are, sometimes you find a half dozen more of them you hadn't noticed before.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I tend to listen from the outside in, from the global to the specific. If I listen enough times, I'll make it back to the global level, but with a greater appreciation for the sum of the parts.

For me, the global level is like the plot of the story. Does the narrative make sense? Do I like the voice of the person conveying it? Does the story move me in any way, or is it only "interesting" (or not)?

From there, if I get past that point on a positive note, I'll listen to the way the supporting characters in the play support the main thrust of it. Are there interesting bits of counterpoint woven in? What are the subplots that give depth to the two dimensional story?

As far as the mix goes, I like the mix to have space for each instrument to be heard if I listen for it, but not every instrument in a mix can retain its sonic detail in the mix itself beyond a duo or trio setting. At that point it becomes about blending parts to make a greater whole with important bits emerging to make a statement and then absorbing back into the mix. It's incredibly simple and incredibly complicated at the same time. Great artists and works make it seem simple.