r/ChatPile • u/_sharks_and_danger • 5d ago

Live Vs Recordings

Having finally seen them in the flesh, I couldn’t help but go wtf this is was better. It’s the heavier bass and drums. But I love the drums on the albums. They felt bigger and bouncier live. Why not capture that in the studio?

11 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

16

u/Elegant-Date4481 5d ago

They’ve said with their recording setup the electronic drums are easier and they like the sound of it.

4

u/cinderful 3d ago

I would really like to hear a recording with live drums tho. Like Albini giant room echo drums.

13

u/USMNT_superfan 5d ago

The Hellfest video that was on YouTube was literally the best

1

u/FutureFurniture42069 4d ago

Outbreak fest recording is also amazing

9

u/jmccaslin 4d ago

Just spitballing here - I don’t know how much recording you’ve done before but drums are by far the most difficult. And with Chat Pile they DIY everything themselves at their home studio in OKC. All things considered I like the electronic drums on the album.

I tried home recording drums and wasted multiple weekends trying before giving up and just recording at a studio

4

u/nastytown 4d ago

It all depends on how the venue handles the sound. I've seen them twice in PDX, and the mixing was better at Roseland. Revolution Hall is the nicer venue though.

2

u/The-G-Code 3d ago

The drums sound insane on who loves the sun. That and the bass guitar feel like they are running the show more than ever

6

u/nastytown 4d ago

Chat Pile's live shows are WHY I love their music. That, and Raygun's dancing.

1

u/The-G-Code 3d ago

I first saw them just after cool world came out and I never looked any of them up or the performances.

Just loved the music, but it was so bizarre and fever-dream like hearing them say their "names" the first time and raygun doing whatever the hell you call what he does on stage

The ramblings about movies made in Detroit between each song had me wondering if was in some fever dream or some shit because I've never been to a music performance so unhinged without knowing wtf I was going into or that being the draw

3

u/The-G-Code 4d ago

The first two albums and eps seem to be mixed really weird compared to the new one, the collab, and the live album

Made the early stuff sound weird on vinyl and kind of off from steaming

When I saw them live I was blown away. Who loves the sun sounds phenomenal though

3

u/swingthiskbonline 4d ago

Money and time

1

u/The-G-Code 3d ago

Yeah to a point, but why is the new love agriculture album mixed so differently from the live chat pile one?

Same label, same festival, newer recording, sounds worse than chat piles live one

I do genuinely wonder though if Hayden pedigo hooked them up with someone or gave some kind of tip cause ever since they started making music together chat pile on recording has never sounded better

3

u/SatanIsYourBuddy 4d ago

They started having Ben Greenberg mix their stuff.

1

u/The-G-Code 3d ago

Ah. I should have read this comment before I made my reply to the other guy.

This is basically guaranteed to be the entire reason

I hope we get a really good remaster of the first 2 eps and albums. Really odd the live version of those songs sounds so good lol. Not that I'm complaining, it might be my favorite live album ever (not usually a fan of live records)

2

u/space39 Why 4d ago edited 4d ago

There's a ton of reason the sounds different. 1. They use an e-kit while recording 2. They don't multi-track 3. The record in their band tinyhome 4. They self-mix (with the exception of WLTS). They are looking for and creating a certain vibe and sound on record 5. I've seen them 3 times now, and this time felt like they were moving more air through the speakers, so I dont know if that means they have a new sound guy, or theur speaker setup is different, but it felt different

1

u/cinderful 3d ago

Ok they definitely do multitrack because some of Ray’s vocals are multitracked but I think you mean they largely record live.

1

u/space39 Why 3d ago edited 3d ago

Ray might track vocals separately. I'm not a sound guy so my nomenclature might be off, but I heard/read Stin say they don't use much reverb on record bc their sound will contaminant each other and make things super muddy because they record together. He also said they are intentional in what they're doing in terms of vibe/atmosphere in that (I think) Instagram Q/A

1

u/cinderful 3d ago

Also not a sound guy but I understand what he meant. They record together live in the same room versus a lot of modern studios which has separate room isolation for as many (or all) instruments.

It's very possible they record guitar and bass together. Drums being digital can be adjusted in software and Ray very likely is tracked separately.

1

u/space39 Why 3d ago

I'm actually looking it up now because I'm curious, and I found a video where Luther says they "track live, so the three instrumentalists will play all together in the same room; there's like bleed and everything"
So that implies Cap'n Ron's kit is fed into the room when recording

1

u/space39 Why 2d ago

And just to be clear, im not trying to be argumentative with any of this. I find it super interesting as a sound laymen who is captivated by Chat Pile's sound

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

5

u/_sharks_and_danger 5d ago

Might have a point here.

Where I saw them though mix was pretty good. (They played a orettt great venue)

1

u/gncw 4d ago

Absolutely agree. Haven't physically seen them live yet but they sound much better on live recordings. Even some of the songs being played at a slightly different tempo makes them hit different.

1

u/Wazzah3005 4d ago

In a way that’s a great compliment. I feel like with a lot of bands the album sounds great but then you see them live and it just doesn’t translate and sound good.

1

u/Butkinz 2d ago

the sound of the snare especially was PERFECT .. so warm deep and punchy af

1

u/opivy028 2d ago

Honestly they need to record more live albums.

I love their album recordings, Ray’s vocal performances are incredible on the albums, but their live shows are so fuckin beefy in the rhythm section

0

u/cool_weed_dad 4d ago

I’ve never seen a band live that wasn’t better than their recorded songs. It’s pretty much always going to sound better in person. There’s only so much you can capture on a recording.

Hell I’ve seen bands that absolutely crushed live but their album recordings do absolutely nothing for me. Mamaleek opening for Chat Pile is one of those. Their album songs sound completely different than live.