Overproduction is the excessive use of
audio effects, layering, or digital manipulation in
music production
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
.
Uses of the term
It is not always clear what critics mean by "overproduction", but there are a minimum of a few common uses of the term:
*Heavy use of ''audio processing effects'' such as
reverb
Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...
,
delay
Delay (from Latin: dilatio) may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Delay 1968'', a 1981 album by German experimental rock band Can
* '' The Delay'', a 2012 Uruguayan film
People
* B. H. DeLay (1891–1923), American aviator and ac ...
, or
dynamic range compression
Dynamic range compression (DRC) or simply compression is an audio signal processing operation that reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sounds, thus reducing or ''compressing'' an audio signal's dynamic range. Compression is ...
.
*Heavy ''layering'' or
multitracking; in the context of pop and rock music, this may refer to the addition of elements such as
chorused vocals or backing
strings.
*Radio versions of songs pushed to be more "pop" through the use of loud drum beats or other instrumentation changes.
*Heavy use of
pitch correction, time correction, or
quantization.
*A recording overseen by a producer who "imposes" their own distinctive "sound" or techniques on a band or artist; Producers frequently accused of this kind of "overproduction" include
Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...
and
Mutt Lange
A mutt is a mongrel (a dog of unknown ancestry).
Mutt may also refer to:
People
* Mutt, a derogatory term for mixed-race people
Nickname
* Larry Black (sprinter) (1951-2006), American sprinter
* Mutt Carey (1886–1948), New Orleans jazz trump ...
.
All five of these meanings share the idea that a record producer or mastering engineer has made "unnecessary" additions or changes to a record in the production process and, in doing so, has decreased the quality or enjoyability of the music. There is little consensus among music critics or producers about when the use of an effect or production technique becomes excessive. For this reason, some producers consider the term unhelpful, confusing, and subjective.
Current trends
The excessive use of
dynamic range compression
Dynamic range compression (DRC) or simply compression is an audio signal processing operation that reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sounds, thus reducing or ''compressing'' an audio signal's dynamic range. Compression is ...
has been bemoaned by critics as part of the "
loudness war
The loudness war (or loudness race) is a trend of increasing audio levels in recorded music, which reduces audio fidelity and—according to many critics—listener enjoyment. Increasing loudness was first reported as early as the 1940s, with ...
". In August 2006,
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
criticized modern recording techniques, saying that modern records "have sound all over them" and that they sound like "static". Those responding to Dylan's comments seemed to assume that he was referring to the trend of increasingly compressed music.
The use of the
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances.
Auto-T ...
audio processor for pitch correction has become pervasive in
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...
since late 1998, and has elicited
criticism
Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...
.
In spite of the decreasing cost and increasing availability of professional or near-professional recording software and techniques, musicians and producers in some genres consciously set themselves against the idea of "overproduction" and attempt to make music with a rough or
"lo-fi" sound.
See also
*
Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of sessio ...
Notes
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Music journalism
Music production