[sdiy] Synergy (was Re: OT: Music movies)

[CCartCat at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/26/05 10:18:20 AM, mclilith at charter.net writes:


> By the way, does anyone remember which album from The Eagles had the
> notice, that the album was made *without* using an Aphex Aural Exciter? The
> Aphex was pretty popular at the time, and for some reason, they made a
> point of telling the world that their album didn't use one. I always
> wondered what they had against the Aphex unit, and why it was such a big
> deal to them, that they had to tell the world they didn't use one?
> 
> 
> take care,
> Glen
> 
Really just guessing but:   

--The Eagles have that airy sound in their harmony singing.   

--The Aphex Exciter, if my memory & understanding serve me, uses some kinda 
combo of hipass and distortion to generate upper harmonics (exciting freqs) in 
an otherwise dark or dull sounding recording or sound source.

--The Eagles didn't want fans or other musicians thinking that any of their 
trademark vocal sheen was coming from a machine.   Like John Houseman speaking 
for EF Hutton, they wanted folks to know they got their "air" the 
old-fashioned way--they earrrnned it.   Sure, maybe it was captured & abetted by mic 
choice/placement, studio acoustics, tape formulation, double tracking, Neve EQs or 
whatever in the signal chain, but never synthesized even in part.

Again, totally guessing here.   

But if correct, one might say, very broadly speaking, that it's another 
Luddite slight at processed/synthesized sound.   In the context of tape recording 
and other attendant recent technologies used by the Eagles and others pop 
artists a-plenty, it's another arbitrary and confounding distinction (maybe the 
anti-exciter fashion theory posted is indeed more on the mark here).   And if 
from the Eagles heyday, yet another from the 1970s.   

Whatever the reasons, I wonder if such a non-usage announcement would seem as 
important to them nowadays.   And whether they'd stand by that notice or 
think it needless & silly in retrospect.

Having seen synths from both sides now, back to lurking,
K. Seward
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