Any musician has favorite and least favorite sounds, this much we know. I'm fairly certain this crosses over to effects as well. Is there a type of studio effect you absolutely can't stand?
For me, it's flanging. There are some applications where I don't mind it (such as when Andy Summers used it on his guitar in the Police), but for the most part, I just hate it. Am I just a cranky old man, or do you have certain effects you don't like either? (I guess it can be both...)
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Although I never use flange effects, it is nowhere near as bad as the constant misuse and overuse of AutoTune in modern pop that is the effect that really, really, really annoys me.
There aren't any I dislike really, but I dislike the way some people use them. E.g. using bit crusher totally out of context.
Yeah, I'm finding it hard to pick one I don't like as well. I've used a bit of flanger in the past, sometimes it does the job at hand. I'm also in favour of using effects "out of context" too, especially when I'm low on ideas. I think I've never used a vibrato (or a quick flanger) in my life. Rather than a particular effect I get annoyed by an unoriginal use of an effect, like excessive distortion on vocals, but that's just a personal gripe.
Paul.
The 80s chorus guitar thing is not a favourite. I'm also not a fan of applying filter effects across a whole mix, especially slow filter sweeps.
But, my biggest dislike is excessive use of limiters. Can we have some dynamics please?
I'm the absolute opposite of Heskin - autotune is the only thing prevalent in currently fashionable mainstream music that I really like. I'll second the request for less hard limiting of final mixes, though.
Tom, before I even read your response, my mind reached for the flanger, and thew it in the garbage!
It became a joke with one band I was in. "That sounds really good, just needs some flang on the master."
I continue to use that joke. I had a collaborator go home and apply the most tasteful flanger effect I'd ever heard to a beautiful glitchy soundscape. Tickle me stunned. And flanged.
Good question.
I really can't think of an effect I can't stand. In fact , it's one of the things that attracted me strongly to electronic music to begin with - the fact that it often uses so many layers of multiple effects.
I guess I can't stand an absence of effects.
Except maybe...an excessive use of reverb, on vocals especially. (80's bands are excused, for the most part...)
Hate an effect?
Effects are tools.
It's like hating a hammer.
Reversed Reverb/Delay like Phil Collins uses on EVERY SONG he sings... keep behind the drums and away from the effects, please...
wow. tom you are getting old...
flange is the BEST effect! i absolutely adore the swooshiness of it. add that to a phaser and you are in heaven...
very nice on drums and basslines. mmmmmmmm...tasty...
btw...anyone know how to a a flange like in the main synthline to the intro of Standing (motion) by VNV. how do they "stop and start" the flange on the sytnhs like that??? if you know what i mean...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LInrCleMb7c&feature=PlayList&p=23083653B987C1D3&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=42
begins at around 20 secs into it...
Autotune. It's ruined many-a otherwise decent pop tune. I turn off instantly when I hear it. If you want to sound like an android and remove all humanity from your delivery, then just go all the way and use a vocoder. Nothing is worth doing half-way!
80s gated reverb. No contest.
I've got to agree with about half the people here who get that effects are tools and how could you hate them.
Flange, when used tastefully, can be amazing and bring like to otherwise static sounds. Anything overused can be bad.
However, I will say that effects which hinder mixing are bad. The best example being, taking a mono signal and making it "stereo" by inverting the phase on one of the channels. I mixed a track recently where many of the tracks had this. I don't know about you but I always sum my stuff to mono for reference and if I lose a part, like a hi-hat OR A BASS that is not a good effect. I'm all for sample delay to crate stereo image out of mono tracks but sometimes phase problems ensue.
So to sum up. All effects are good unless they create mix problems.
-Tom N
For me, definitely the overuse of autotune, but realistically, I'm not a huge fan of excessive phaser on guitar.
I saw Apoptygma Berzerk live recently and the opening band had phaser at an incredibly fast rate over their guitar at all times, and it was the most obnoxious tone I've ever heard, and you could tell that they were in love with it.
I also feel as if phaser itself provides a certain sound that makes you know "thats a phaser!" and that kind of puts me off from using it. Obviously you can get creative, but it is an effect (much like flange) that has a very distinct sound.
Other than that there isn't much I can say.
For me it's ring modulation...In the immortal words of Spinal Tap, "there's a (very very very) fine line between clever and stupid" when it comes to this effect.
DEATH TO AUTOTUNE
I cannot deal with 95% of the software based reverb. The IR/convolution stuff sounds really good if used properly, but most software units are so distinctively synthetic. It makes me want to snipe bunnies when I hear how plastic the results are.
I do not enjoy hearing glitching (Db presets/Replicant/whatever) that overshadows the rhythmic root of the song.I can just imagine the producer putting the insert in like 'this will really confuse the crap out of them!' which often results in the quality of 'im trying way too hard (or not hard enough) to sound massively different!'.
Don't like a lot of effects that are kind of standard in music nowadays. Compression and reverb should be used sparingly, but people seem to pour that shit on like dressing on old lettuce.
Likewise, flanging has never really been a good effect. I have a friend who uses it on everything, and it just makes his mixes sound like they were done in a cave with a cheap microphone. Thats not the effect he is intending, so its hard to listen to his music without smirking.
Phaser, I really can't stand it. I tolerate it sometimes, when it's low in the mix. But really phasers are always just too much for me. They walk right up to your ear and shout "Hi! I'm a phaser!" you can't not know it's there.
Worst synth sound.
Orchestra hit.
How I hope it never gets featured in a "I Love The 80's" episode. I'd rather pour cement in my ears then throw my head away.
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