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If so, can you describe how you are able to do with, and if you can, what are the characteristics? Sometimes I can't describe it using the proper nomenclature, and have to resort to giving examples of a certain song, sometimes comparing a re-make.
I don't even pay attention to the lyrics when guessing, because it could be a giveaway, or it could be disguised, but the inflections can sometimes give it away, even if the singer is talking about the 1930s dustbowl.
The production alone can help me identify the decade, if not closer. Even a song with just an acoustic and vocal is pretty easy for me. Hell, just listening to a vocal helps me identify around the year it was made. The drums is usually an easy giveaway, especially once the 80s came around. I notice they keep getting louder, and the vocals seem to get more quiet on average. The snare drum definitely got louder in the 80s, adding reverb. I notice less piano, and more (usually cheesy sounding) keyboards. Lots of "jangly" strat guitar sounds. I've recorded my own music digitally, but I never want that sanitized sound. I'm guessing most of it is direct recording, instead of using microphones (close and distant). I think the styles of the instruments give it away, too, but especially the vocals.
I remember listening to a Marvin Gaye song that had 1984 as the date, but after listening to just a few seconds of it, I knew it had to be a mistake, and I found out it was a posthumous release.
I will say there is a LOT more difference between a record from 1965 compared to 1970 as opposed to 2000-present, where it sounds the same, even those who try to disguise it. Again, it's the production.
Also, maybe we could have a game where someone posts a song that is trying to sound timeless, and having others guess?
P.S. - I was just telling my brother when we were kids how I'd guess the date of a movie he'd be watching. I would leave the living room, to how him I only needed a few seconds of viewing time and give him the year and wait for him to verify, and I was usually within 2-3 years.
I don't even pay attention to the lyrics when guessing, because it could be a giveaway, or it could be disguised, but the inflections can sometimes give it away, even if the singer is talking about the 1930s dustbowl.
The production alone can help me identify the decade, if not closer. Even a song with just an acoustic and vocal is pretty easy for me. Hell, just listening to a vocal helps me identify around the year it was made. The drums is usually an easy giveaway, especially once the 80s came around. I notice they keep getting louder, and the vocals seem to get more quiet on average. The snare drum definitely got louder in the 80s, adding reverb. I notice less piano, and more (usually cheesy sounding) keyboards. Lots of "jangly" strat guitar sounds. I've recorded my own music digitally, but I never want that sanitized sound. I'm guessing most of it is direct recording, instead of using microphones (close and distant). I think the styles of the instruments give it away, too, but especially the vocals.
I remember listening to a Marvin Gaye song that had 1984 as the date, but after listening to just a few seconds of it, I knew it had to be a mistake, and I found out it was a posthumous release.
I will say there is a LOT more difference between a record from 1965 compared to 1970 as opposed to 2000-present, where it sounds the same, even those who try to disguise it. Again, it's the production.
Also, maybe we could have a game where someone posts a song that is trying to sound timeless, and having others guess?
P.S. - I was just telling my brother when we were kids how I'd guess the date of a movie he'd be watching. I would leave the living room, to how him I only needed a few seconds of viewing time and give him the year and wait for him to verify, and I was usually within 2-3 years.