Hey, I'm a rocker, and I always use dynamics as part of my playing technique. I believe that if more musicians would lose the "More Me" syndrome
and, come to the realization that, the vocal IS the Song and the instrumentation merely it's "backdrop" of sorts, that dynamics would flow much more freely in the music of today.

Compression adds it's own flavor. Yes, it has to be applied in just the right proportions but, it is a much more versitile tool than simply a means to make a track loud enough to blow your face off. An 1176 for example can give a guitar tone just the perfect texture, just by having it in the signal path going into the recorder.
Well rehearsed music to me anyway, is and should always be the cornerstone of a great recording. The classic jazz and classical recordings were "pictures" of a complete performance, captured in the sonic space it was born in.
This does translate to how recording is approached today IMO. As Bruce noted in the mix deconstruction segment, it is great when a player gives you natural playing dynamics.
Riding can emphasize these dynamics. What Bruce did with the verb and delay, I've seen guitarists do with the expressionpedals which many employ as a part of their pedal boards today. I found this a brilliant usage of automation myself. And yeah, I loved the single coil hum. Recording is like painting a picture.
While it's true that today most recordings are done one instrument at a time, the engineer/producer's role if the recording is to be a great one, is much like another member of the band itself. They make the music all that it can be.
Riding the amplitude of a specific erformance has been in the art of recording for quite some time. Tom Dowd's awesome DVD shows instances of this technique.
Could some of the classic recordings done by Tom Dowd have even happened without his creative contributions? The power of automation opens many doors to assist in making a recording move and breathe. Complexity for the sake of being complex is, and always has been a bad thing IMO.
But, hearing the small details of a recording and knowing how they can be made into something magical is quite another thing. If it requires complexity, then so be it! It's a fine line.
You can edit the very life out of a song or you can use this powerful tool with creative vision.

The companies are the ones who put the verbage;
"Commercially Acceptable" into all recording contracts. It's also the companies that 9 times out of 10 have the final say about what is commercially acceptable, and what is not.
We have A&R people who get involved in the recording process today, who are not musicians.
They are buisness people trying to keep their jobs. The volume wars force them to compete in this manner.
The blow your face off syndrome largly lies at the doors of the companies.
Compression remains a creative and colorful tool.

Yes compression remains a creative and colorful tool, but is often misused by those who use it only for level control rather than to fill out or smush together sound.

When I started working with Miles I was a temporary engineer (the main guy was on vacation). Although I was tempted to use his horn setup for consistency (strong compression and low level to tape) I went completely flat with no compression and had to do hand-rides of over 20 db (even riding the mic pre). The sound was much fuller than the previously recorded tracks and I replaced the other engineer.

It took much more work, because I had to watch his breathing and try to anticipate what his volume would be, but it was very gratifying. I had to stay "in the moment" for each - note. There was only one time where he played more softly than I anticipated but otherwise the level was -3 to +2 on tape the whole way.

Now, the other engineer was a fine engineer who was being careful by compressing and conservative tape levels. I was being very ballsy in recording Miles strong and pure without a safety net. Although everything was fine there was always the chance I could have lost some music that would never have been duplicated. I suggest you practice riding vocals to tape without compression using a friend rather than trying it on a real session.

quote:

Originally posted by Lz:
We have A&R people who get involved in the recording process today, who are not musicians.
They are buisness people trying to keep their jobs. The volume wars force them to compete in this manner. The blow your face off syndrome largly lies at the doors of the companies.

Does anyone here remember when the first America album came out, and 'Horse With No Name' was the first single? It was so quiet you really had to *listen* to it. I loved the subtlety.

I agree that having to "listen" helps you to get into a song. Getting people to stop what they are doing so they can "listen" is not easy. I sometimes will push the entrance of an instrument (or vocal) to grab people's attention before dropping back and being subtle.