Indeed, in terms of digital effects. And obviously there was experimentation with analog processing earlier than that, John Lennon's use of ADT on his vocals with the Beatles comes to mind and of course other analog effects like reverb go back to the 1940's. But I gave an example going back to the 1930's in my other comment above. The Boswells were one the biggest recording act in the world in the early 1930's and they didn't need any of that stuff.
Of course musicians have been able to splice their parts together since multitrack came into wide usage, eg. the guitar solo in Stairway to Heaven. But I kind of feel like
use of digital correction is a bit overdone right now.
I appreciate I'm stepping into mostly subjective territory here though. It's like if somebody said to Hendrix, "hey Jimi, tune your guitar man". Or told Knopfler to stop playing dead notes, or Slash to stop missing notes altogether while not jumping off a drum riser. They could do those things but then to me it wouldn't feel like them.
I don't think I'm the only person who feels this way, but it's definitely personal & subjective.
Oh I agree. I think it's possible to dislike or even hate all the over-processed and over-produced commercial music that's been coming out for the last 2-3 decades while at the same time accepting that there are others out there who might genuinely like that kind of music.
I definitely understand your point about Hendrix, Knopfler and Slash. There's something beautiful about virtuoso playing that still sounds "raw", you know what I mean? I grew up obsessed with shred guitar, and there was a lot of that in the 80s/90s. There are younger guitar players on youtube these days who are miles ahead in terms of technical proficiency and production/effects but some of that authenticity is lost.
I recently saw a video of Ritchie Blackmore talking about Satriani's playing and how it's almost too technically perfect and loses some of the soul. I tend to agree. I have great respect for both of them though.
I've always felt that way about Satriani and Vai to a lesser degree too. It's funny how specific we can be about what we like and don't like. Here I am extolling the virtues of sloppy or "more natural" singing and playing, but I can't listen to 90% of punk music for more than a few minutes.
I feel the same about Vai also! Now imagine a Bob Dylan with a technically-brilliant voice that's able to sing in tune. Would people feel differently about him? :)
