John Paul Jones - bass tone...

[Dingus]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1347196767' post='1797883']
Was it a boot? Which one?

I'm basically a fan of the 70s rhythm-section-and-up mix. Fat and warm, and everything has room to breathe. You can feel the weight behind the bass.

Modern production is generally sparkly and clear, but dense and woefully undynamic. Look at recent Rush stuff, for example.

Someone recently pointed me at a new record by... Porcupine Tree, was it? Not a fan of the music, but the sound was incredible. The guy that produced that also did the new Ian Anderson CD and it's equally involving.

All IMO, of course.
[/quote]

It's funny you mention the recent Rush albums; when I was growing up I was big fan of the band ( like a lot of men who are of a certain age nowadays) but I have found their recent albums quite literally unlistenable because of the dense textures of the recordings. The whole thing just sounds relentless and unintelligable to me . I wouldn't single out Rush in this respect however. I think that they are just trying to stay contemporary by mimicking a stylistic trend common to a whole host of bands in the "alternative rock" genre who want to make their recordings to make an impact by making them sound as aggressive as possible .
Regarding how the sound of production has changed , producers and engineers have a far wider dynamic range and bandwidth of sound to play with nowadays , having escaped the technical constrictions placed on these parameters by vinyl. I agree with you that ,by and large, a lot of music has lost something as a result of this. One of the interesting things about Zeppelin is the different production sound from one album to the next. The first few albums have an analogue lushness to them that is a stark contrast to the far thinner and much more compressed sound of Physical Graffiti and Prescence. And then again , Prescence and In Through The Out Door have a much more expansive bottom end than the other albums. I think one thing about Led Zeppelin that a lot of people miss out on is that Jimmy Page wasn't just a great guitarist and song writer, he was a great record producer too. He produced all the Led Zeppelin albums, for goodness sake ! What greater accolade is there for any record producer than that?

Edited September 9, 2012 by Dingus

[wateroftyne]

Just read that the O2 reunion show is about to come out on DVD. Yahoo!

[Stan_da_man]

I too thought he used a Jazz and flats but there you go...

'Ramble On' is my favourite Zep song - the bass line and tone is to die for.

[PlungerModerno]

[quote name='Stan_da_man' timestamp='1347228155' post='1798367']
I too thought he used a Jazz and flats but there you go...

'Ramble On' is my favourite Zep song - the bass line and tone is to die for.
[/quote]

+1,000 on ramble on. Just in case someone hasn't savoured this : (Utyub) /watch?v=3ANwQW8aspI
[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1347202536' post='1797961']
It's funny you mention the recent Rush albums; when I was growing up I was big fan of the band ( like a lot of men who are of a certain age nowadays) but I have found their recent albums quite literally unlistenable because of the dense textures of the recordings. The whole thing just sounds relentless and unintelligable to me . I wouldn't single out Rush in this respect however. I think that they are just trying to stay contemporary by mimicking a stylistic trend common to a whole host of bands in the "alternative rock" genre who want to make their recordings to make an impact by making them sound as aggressive as possible .
Regarding how the sound of production has changed , producers and engineers have a far wider dynamic range and bandwidth of sound to play with nowadays , having escaped the technical constrictions placed on these parameters by vinyl. I agree with you that ,by and large, a lot of music has lost something as a result of this. One of the interesting things about Zeppelin is the different production sound from one album to the next. The first few albums have an analogue lushness to them that is a stark contrast to the far thinner and much more compressed sound of Physical Graffiti and Prescence. And then again , Prescence and In Through The Out Door have a much more expansive bottom end than the other albums. I think one thing about Led Zeppelin that a lot of people miss out on is that Jimmy Page wasn't just a great guitarist and song writer, he was a great record producer too. He produced all the Led Zeppelin albums, for goodness sake ! What greater accolade is there for any record producer than that?
[/quote]

Page & Jones' session experience were no small part in their amazing recorded sound - as was Pages producing skill. Those records a masterful - even if on they forgot the grease on since I've been loving you

Edited September 10, 2012 by PlungerModerno

[Dingus]

[quote name='PlungerModerno' timestamp='1347250834' post='1798453']
+1,000 on ramble on. Just in case someone hasn't savoured this : (Utyub) /watch?v=3ANwQW8aspI


Page & Jones' session experience were no small part in their amazing recorded sound - as was Pages producing skill. Those records a masterful - even if on they forgot the grease on since I've been loving you
[/quote]

Yes! I remember listening to the remastered cd of Led Zeppelin III and wondering what that squeaking was ( presumably Bonzos' kick drum pedal was the culprit.)

[charic]

When I saw him playing at the mk bowl he was playing a RH450