4/21/2024 0 Comments Retro soundwave background 800x800![]() ![]() Slight variations in the physical construction, plus general wear and tear from use over time, lead to fluctuations and imperfections that give analog equipment its unique color and organic charm. The blessing and the curse of vintage hardware is its unpredictability no two units will sound exactly alike. It just goes to show that progress is not a straight line, and unexpected consequences can lead to new, exciting sounds a failure can be turned into a success if we dare to look at it from a different angle. However, second-hand units were picked up by electronic producers and the unique twangy sound would become a landmark of acid house and techno. Anyone who has heard a 303 will know it sounds nothing like a bass guitar, and the product was a commercial flop when it was released in 1981. The 303 synthesizer was initially designed to emulate a real bass guitar, so musicians could sequence an accompaniment to play along with live. These big, game-changing innovations often came about by pure chance. This gives the percussion a pleasing, crisp quality, which you can imitate by downsampling to get a vintage sound effect. Technological limitations mean these machines run at a lower sample rate than modern equipment. E-mu samplers have gained a similar prestige, favored by hip-hop legends like J Dilla and A Tribe Called Quest. Perhaps the most famous of these are the 808 and 909 drum machines, pivotal in the evolution of dance and hip-hop music. There are many examples of specific gear influencing the development of genres, or even the invention of new genres altogether. While this noise was a mere byproduct at the time, the same thing is nowadays thought of as ‘analog warmth’ and actively sought out by producers trying to work out how to make recordings sound vintage. They used analog circuitry and electrical voltages to make different tones, often with some uncontrollable buzz or hiss in the background as well. Post-disco, new wave, and the fledgling techno and hip-hop scenes relied almost entirely on electronic instruments, machines built with the technology of the day – before computers and software were even a thing. So what actually are vintage sounds? At least in terms of electronic and dance music, we’re looking mainly at the arrival of synths, drum machines, and samplers, and how these brand-new tools dramatically changed the artistic landscape. ![]() Lots of today’s popular genres make use of signature sounds from the ‘80s and ‘90s, as artists and producers pay homage to the trailblazers of the previous era and ‘timeless’ building blocks are handed down, modernized, or revived by the next generation. But the styles do also appear to be suspended in a kind of repeating boom-bust cycle, and this definitely applies to music as well. ![]() Of course, we can plot a linear progression over time, as new technologies and resources emerge that push new, previously unimaginable ideas and innovations. The words also suggest a ‘nostalgia cycle’, which loops round and round over a span of a few decades as certain aesthetics come in and out and back into fashion (think of the clichéd examples like trendy hairstyles or the width of jeans). Consequently, it has taken until now for ‘vintage’ to emerge as a meaningful category in relation to electronic sounds. As we are mainly concerned here with electronic music production, our historical timeline has a cut-off around the early 1970s, as it was only then that synthesizers and other electronic instruments and effects started to be manufactured for the mass market. The word ‘vintage’ implies something from the past of particularly high quality – the cream of the crop – while ‘retro’ refers more specifically to the 20-30 years immediately before the present, and reproducing the sounds and moods characteristic of these times. But what do the words mean in the context of music? Both words bring to mind a rose-tinted nostalgia for our recent history. We often hear ‘vintage’ and ‘retro’ used in relation to design, fashion, and other areas of culture and the creative arts. ![]()
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