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Tom Petty On Cheap Speakers And George Harrison

Z

zebra03

All Audio - NO BS
Tom Petty - Studios have really good playbacks, good speakers and tuned rooms that are made for accuracy, soundwise. We tend to work most of the time with really inexpensive speakers that are probably worse than most people have.

Interviewer - Really?

TP - Yeah, because if I can get it to sound good there, when I bring it up to the big speakers it's pretty amazing.
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Tom Petty article
 
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On that end of the music, it really is a whole diffdrnt world. I know and have known musicians. I tried to be one but got all the talent of ...

Hmm, can't think of anything.

Moving right along, I was never as fan of Tom Petty. I respecct his talent, but I just don't care for his style. Like Todd Rungren, he has written a ton of music, and I tbink he wrote better stuff for others than himself at times. Don't get me wrong, I got about like four of five Rungren tunes I really do like, but I would not want to be involved in listening to a double album set nonstop. But he is among the best of the best of musicians/writers. Of that there is no doubt. And I don't mean like in compare with Bach, Beetoven and the like. It is a different thing. This is rock not Bach.

There's one song I would have to say is my favorite Rungren song ; "Couldn't I Just Tell You The Way I feel". Whoever is playing lead guitar is beating the living sheepshit out of those stings. Been there done that, I used to always break strings. I break alot less now, but every once in a while... (and I don't play anywhere near as much)

But that Rungren song songs like he is hitting the strings so hard, that they are actually aircraft cable or some ****, or made on Mars or something. Seriously, I have played like that and know what ? If you play on stage like that have a bunch of extra guitars. The fans don't like waiting for you to put strings on. (I mean the audience, not the fans that cool the amps)
 
zebra03 said:
Tom Petty article
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"We tend to work most of the time with really inexpensive speakers that are probably worse than most people have...because if I can get it to sound good there, when I bring it up to the big speakers it's pretty amazing." -- Tom Petty

Brian Wilson used this production approach in the 60s. The Beach Boys group members would listen to the final mix of studio singles through a 4-inch mono speaker. This was to replicate the sound quality of an AM car radio. Back then, sounding good on the radio was key to having hit records.
 
Burt Bacharach said the same 30 years ago in an article I read. He had a crappy 3 in one system he played things back on. I'm sure far worse than what is being used here.
 
No, it makes perfect sense. It's the same basic idea as testing a car in extreme environments. Under promise and over deliver.

The embedded video was really cool also. Thinking about how these musicians, all from a super group background, got together just to play music that they enjoyed. They must have had a really good time together.

That is a beautiful thing.

Thanks for the thread.
 
This is exactly the reason that I backed off from a very high-end/high resolution system to the somewhat more mediocre vintage system that I have now. Some of my favorite music (a lot of what is now considered "classic rock") was recorded in a basement/garage/cabin in the woods and engineered on what we would now consider "less than optimal" equipment. The flaws became so apparent under high resolution that I found myself ignoring music that I once loved. Taking it down a notch or two brought back the joy in listening to the music. I realize that two wrongs don't make a right, but it makes it listenable again--and it's the music that matters.
 
anytune said:
Brian Wilson used this production approach in the 60s. The Beach Boys group members would listen to the final mix of studio singles through a 4-inch mono speaker. This was to replicate the sound quality of an AM car radio. Back then, sounding good on the radio was key to having hit records.
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Makes total sense. In all those AK debates about tone controls and equalizers there's always somebody who invokes the "intent of the artist". Here the "intent of the artist" is to have his songs sound good on typical consumer gear. BTW saw Petty at the Palladium NYC opened by Rick Derringer. During Rick's encore a surprise cameo by Ted Nugent who came out and joined in on the guitar. He looked like just another long-haired burnout but people started to recognize who he was and began cheering. Nice surprise. Saw Ted later when he was supposed to open for Skynyrd at the Felt Forum but Ted did it alone because of the plane crash.
 
Tom Petty - Studios have really good playbacks, good speakers and tuned rooms that are made for accuracy, soundwise. We tend to work most of the time with really inexpensive speakers that are probably worse than most people have.

Interviewer - Really?

TP - Yeah, because if I can get it to sound good there, when I bring it up to the big speakers it's pretty amazing.
Click to expand...

reminds me of Phil Spector's approach of mixing so it sounded good in a car audio system of the day, because that's what most of his listeners would hear it on ...

Its one reason I sold my JBL 4341 4 way speakers and all the biamp gear I ran it with -
it was TOO analytical for a lot of recordings. Made bad mixes sounded EXTRA BAD.

The UREI 2 ways are nice but smoother somehow - not quite so laser on the music.
 
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That's why I hang on to my Auratone 5C "Road Cubes" to this day. Good to have a "lowest common denominator" reference.

Chip
 
I think that is why they use the Yamaha NS-10 studio monitor....if is sounds good on those it will sound good anywhere.
 
I really liked the following exchange. It is nice that an artist cares enough about the opportunity to connect with an audience and takes the attitude that they want the communication to be authentic. I really doubt that a high percentage of established successful artists feel the same way. I moreso get the feeling that some of them are more thinking about their accountants than their audience when they set out to tour.

"How do you gear up and get ready to go out on tour?

That's easy, because just absolute fear takes over. I am in a state of shock.

Is it still thrilling in any way, or does it feel so familiar that that thrill is gone?

No, I get a thrill. My adrenaline gets so high from a concert that after it, I usually just pace until sunrise. I can't come down from it.

Seriously?

Yeah, you kind of spend the whole day gearing up for it, and the night getting over it. You just want to be as wonderful as everyone thinks you are, and you know you're not. So something takes place where you reach down and pull from so deep inside your soul that this music happens, and you all reach the place you wanted to reach together, you and the audience. Getting over that takes all night."
 
As an engineer, I disagree. It's even possible Tom has the story slightly wrong too.
He is after all the songwriter, the artist, he is not the engineer.

When you are mixing and/or mastering you want the best possible coherency possible, you want to be able to put everything in the right place in a mix, you want the perfect balance when it comes to things like vocal reverbs and other effects, you want your imaging to be spot on.
You cannot do this on average speakers.

I would say they mix on the best studio monitors, then when they do their playback, they listen on the average/crappy speakers to reference what it will sound like in that situation, as well as listening on the proper monitors, and the near fields.
Then if they feel some changes can be made, they will do it on the proper studio monitors and then listen back on the average/crappy speakers.

I can tell you from experience, it is not possible to objectively mix on such speakers, it is pretty much like flying blind, you can't really hear what your doing properly, then when you do listen on some decent monitors, oh boy you are in for a wake up call.

It is very common practice to listen back on a few different types of speakers including consumer speakers, even consumer systems for that kind of reference, also listening back in mono to see how the mix sums as well. More common than you may think.
 
savatage1973 said:
This is exactly the reason that I backed off from a very high-end/high resolution system to the somewhat more mediocre vintage system that I have now. Some of my favorite music (a lot of what is now considered "classic rock") was recorded in a basement/garage/cabin in the woods and engineered on what we would now consider "less than optimal" equipment. The flaws became so apparent under high resolution that I found myself ignoring music that I once loved. Taking it down a notch or two brought back the joy in listening to the music. I realize that two wrongs don't make a right, but it makes it listenable again--and it's the music that matters.
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I can get with that. :yes:
 
Man, I don't know. I'm kinda seein' it like kevzep. There is some incredible production going on in some of those Petty albums...and there's a lot of stuff I can only hear on my more resolving systems. I can't imagine that stuff being a happy accident and I doubt very seriously crappy speakers used during mixing could've illuminated some of those production decisions.
 
Great article, thanks.

I'm pretty sure they used 'great speakers' but also made sure it sounded great on cheaper speakers too, and on car speakers.
 
tomlinmgt said:
Man, I don't know. I'm kinda seein' it like kevzep. There is some incredible production going on in some of those Petty albums...and there's a lot of stuff I can only hear on my more resolving systems. I can't imagine that stuff being a happy accident and I doubt very seriously crappy speakers used during mixing could've illuminated some of those production decisions.
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Yes, I definitely agree with your perspective too, I have a Hi res copy of Hypnotic Eye, its a really good album, well written songs, very well produced.
It also is one of the best sounding albums he has released, its raw, fat and full of subtle nuances....
I really enjoyed it, had it cranked up a bit, nice :thmbsp:
 
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