#frankly - an amateur playing raw is more interesting than an amateur hiding behind computer effects

[thatbanjobusiness]

Many people love the epic washes of sound (my mind unfairly stereotypes this as ‘fantasy-oriented soundtracks’) or highly-digitalized stylization of newer genres. These come with high levels of studio production, an enormous audial manufacturing in which all flaws or points of vulnerability are washed away. Nearly every mainstream vocalist's voices have been pitch corrected. They’ve had many separate recorded takes blended together for the ultimate, flawless sound. The musical instruments are so clean they don’t sound like they’re coming from human hands (and sometimes they’re not).

For me, you just deleted everything that made the music sound human, created an artificial artifact that is so "perfect" it's boring. If I don't hear the actual human's performance of the music, down to the effort and the flaws, then I can't relate to it. I want the musical instruments to sound like something that is being played, not something that has been manufactured for my consumption. I want the singing to be someone's voice, someone with real, hard-earned talent and strong convictions, not someone whose flawlessness only exists from computer interference.

Until recently, with second-half-of-the-Twentieth Century methods of manipulating studio recordings, human music sounded rawer. I crave that authenticity.

Music isn’t a product for me to vibe to passively, thoughtlessly in the background. Music is an innately human cultural action. It’s participatory. I want to feel it in my bones, make me feel like I’m participating in the generations and generations of heartfelt expression our species has passed down. I want to hear the cries of my ancestors 200 years ago. I want to feel like I’m part of something bigger. Something alive. Something grown from the heart. Something that fills myself and, at times, is fuller than myself.

The music that’s been produced to death in the studio? It’s as unappealing and unrealistic to me as blatant Photoshops of women’s poreless, wrinkle-less, magically glowing bodies.