Technology has always seemed to make music much easier to create, and or produce. But is that always the case?

As an audio engineer, I have worked in many studios have acquired a deep passion for technology over the years. Having spent countless hours using everything from vintage compressors and Microphone pre amps, to digital mixers and Pro tools, most times I’ve found, the best albums have come from littlest processing.

If you listen, you can actually hear the technology in today’s recordings. Perhaps you’ve turned on the radio lately to hear “a computer” singing a whole song to you through Auto-Tune. Or heard a hip hop song that uses the looping chorus of an old seventies tune as its hook. Or maybe your buddy gave you a copy of his CD that he wrote, produced, and mastered all himself.

With the advent of the home studio, the everyday musician now has access to more tools than the average studio had their hands on 30 years ago. Well then I beg the question, how come those old songs still are said to be some of the best songs of all time.

Technology can be a double edged sword. With Technology, Comes options, and perhaps too many options at that. (Reverbs, Room calibrations, Near-field monitors, Comb Phasing, Acoustics, ect..) In the past Musicians and engineers were completely separate. (“right brain v.s. left brain”) You see today’s musician now wears many hats; a recording engineer, a promoter, a song writer, a manager, and oh yeah, a composer. With all those responsibilities it’s no wonder why the quality of a “song” has diminished.

Talking to fellow engineers and song writers, there is a collective understanding amongst the community; the least amount of technology in the recording process, the better. “My eight track, My guitar, My song”.