Intentional Distortion... intentional destruction?

It's not as distorted as I thought it would be when you mentioned it.. However it's incredibly bland and dark. Sounds like a bad home recording.

This is why nobody's should drink or get high during mix down!
That awesome idea is always anything but awesome the next morning!

We don't even have quality control in the quality control department anymore! Let alone in the recording industry.

This is so typically Moby. Hard to believe there's a talented artist somewhere playing for peanuts whilst this putz makes money.

That Moby sucked, IMO....but, the intentional distortion thing is because distortion is emotional. It's why dirty guitar works. It's why U67s and tube/transformer preamps are still go tos for vocals. I have intentionally distorted snare on nearly every mix I've turned in for years. Want to know why tape killed on snare? That's it. I've also done some lead vocal distortion, as it allows a vocal to be very compressed, thus have no actual dynamic range, yet if the belted parts distort, our ears still hear it as louder. People's ears "understand" what distortion is....so, even if it's not louder, it's perceived as louder.

Sounds like Neil Young circa 1977 with an Elka string machine, a cheesy Roland drum box and a fostex 1/4" 8 track with DBX NR. I heard hundreds of demo's like this in the late 70's. A little different, but pretty dam similar. Wasn't that the golden era of music?

Distortion?

Where???

Sounds like a good dose of some furry, fuzzy 1970's analog warmth to me.....

But.....with some MXL sibilance mixed in for good measure. :-) Sounds like that was a purposeful decision, but maybe Youtube is massively massacring it.  Weird.  Or maybe Moby can only afford a stock MXL.  Someone should tell him about Joly....or U67's.  Or maybe S is his favorite letter?

Anyway, I expected MUCH more distortion.  Honestly, it's minimal, nostalgic and almost (I did say almost) fun compared to the huge amount of distortion that most 2014 mastering and production technique imparts.  If I cared - and I don't, I could easily find a dozen songs on Billboard with more aggravating distortion.  Clipping hurts my ears, saturation brings me back to my youth.



I do understand why the track was used though. And getting used, people hearing it and making a buck while doing our favorite thing on earth is what counts, right?

Or maybe wrong.....



I dunno...  I'm just a guy writing music for cheesy shows like TB.  It's a living though....

Later...

I don't mind the use of saturation at all. But distorting the hell out of something to try and be hip with the hipsters? Bogus, dude!

Ok, Fine! Let's go with that then... I have to learn to leave my audio purist habits in the past where sound quality mattered. Clearly, I am out of touch.

No offense sic, this isn't pushing boundaries, it's devolution, there is no doubt you should be free to do as you want, but by this standard i'd recommend taking a shit on someone who doesn't know any better and call it "art" or "fun"? lol
listening to this tune is the equivalent of being decapitated with paper cuts, it actually physically hurts my ears! lowfi is one thing, pain is another.. The black n white pic analogy is great, but you forgot to add the strategically place lasers aimed squarely at your eyes intended to burn out your fucking retna's lol

Was Gary Calamar - the TB music sup - decapitated? I didn't hear about it, but it's possible.  I'm sure he must have heard that tune a dozen plus times during post production.  He's grammy nominated, but I suppose he should have won the coveted gold guy if he had any real taste. He does have credits though :  Feet Under, House, True Blood, Dexter, Varsity Blues, etc.. The director obviously approved.  Maybe he got fired when the lights when out. The producers should have stopped it though. What's up with them? 50+ y/o's trying to be hipsters? I dunno. I just find the whole HATE thing kind of funny....

If you don't like it (and I don't particularly either), then don't listen.

I remember when I first heard rap music. Hated it.
I remember the first time a producer told me to take ALL the reverb off a mix. Hated it.
I remember the first time I heard the yodeling T-Pain effect. Hated it.
I remember the first time I heard loops. Hated it.
I remember the first time a director told me he liked the sample orchestra better than the real orchestra we recorded. Hated it.


But every time I've been confronted with something that instinctually rubbed me the wrong way, I've tried to keep an open mind. And almost every time, I learned something new. Grew artistically. Got a new tool in the toolbox - even if it's not my fav and doesn't get used hardly ever.  Growth and new tricks keep you in the game.  Closed boxes are for packing up and checking out.  Mind you, everyone's got a line not to cross, but I think you get my point.

Hate is so......well.....hateful.  It's ugly and unbecoming and really doesn't do a lot to spread good vibes for creativity - with the hatee or the hater. Some people will say or at least think I'm being an A***** for saying that.  But I believe it's the truth.

BTW, I'm not heading over to itunes anytime soon to buy the latest Moby.  But if I get called to do something similar, I can thank Mr. Ward for hipping me to the old school, analog fuzzy 1977 demo sound and vibe.

Just sayin....



Peace and good vibes to all.

bp

Whose reality? Obviously not Moby's. Or True Blood's.  Or Gary Calamar's.  Maybe just the 8 or so guys on this thread??  Like Moby or not, one cannot berate his influence on modern music, his long held popularity, and the fact that it's HIS track on the end credits, not yours or mine - that kind of speaks for itself.  I know for a fact that they have the $$$ to get pretty much whatever they want.  And as far as Moby is concerned, I don't think that track ended up sounding like that by accident.  I think it was a calculated decision - for better or worse.

We live and make music in a free market economy where the listeners decide what's "good" or not good - and it has nothing to do with distortion specs or any other kind of audio purity or junkiness. If you're just in it for the self gratification and fun at home, then it's all good and you can fart into a kazoo for hours if it suits your fancy.

But for those who aspire to make music for the masses or to make a living doing what they love....perhaps it's best to learn a lesson, cause the dam thing is on the end credits of a major TV show.  Believe me, I've learned plenty of lessons like this the hard way in my tenure. Many of the previous posts, yours included smacks of small box, my way or no way hate to me. Maybe we have different definitions of hate, but call it what you like. Here, I'll acquiesce - perhaps "hate" is too strong a word, but dam, there's a couple pretty strong posts unless they've been changed.  It's not a "reality" though.  As much as you want to believe it, there IS no "reality" when it comes to art, opinions, and preference. 

You're right about the grammy though, at least in part, but I'd guess that there's more absolutely talentless people WITHOUT grammy's than with them. And I'd guess that there are many more talentless people with specific musical taste that are NOT a music supervisors on top rated TV shows than talentless music sup's on top shows. The cream tends to rise to the top as they say, and the guys that haven't made it tend to throw stones when it's outside their comfort zone or personal reality.  But hey, whaada I know? I could be wrong.

BTW, this is NOT meant to be breaking the A***** rule.  It's just my opinion.  I've still got that, right?

But yeah, all the awards shows are more about "popularity" contests than pure art. ie: it's a guage of what's selling and what people want. If that doesn't suit you, that's fine too, but it is a reality.  It's rare that I'm ever excited by the grammy's, but they are backed up by numbers.  Unlike the faux reality that the Moby track is horrific beyond all common sense. That's kind of talk is just an informed opinion. I think there's people out there who think it's pure genius. It doesn't get end credits on a top rated TV show without it.

I'm sure there were people who HATED distorted guitars when they first came on the scene.  Engineers who went out and turned the amp down so it wouldn't distort, guitarists who yelled at the engineers to record it that way or get someone who would.  It's all fads and creative opinion.  And that swings in and out like the proverbial pendulum.  Sometimes you're in, sometimes you're out.  Unless you aspire to be versatile enough to swing both ways.  :-)

I think littlesicily nailed it in his comparison to photography. Not all we do is about transparency and perfection. If so, analog would be dead and Dig would be what everyone wanted. But I digress....

Have a WONDERFUL day MrTony!

I'm a producer/singer/musician/engineer/studio psychologist and father of 3 kids. It would take a heckuva lot more than a difference in approach or beliefs to make me mad. I can tolerate heaps of discussion right up to and including BS from those who go way past you! LOL