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| From | "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: a record was constantly loud |
| Date | Thu, 23 Dec 2004 19:35:05 -0500 |
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At Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 13:01:50 RS wrote:
>
>Ralph
>
>this is my beef with some of the "remasters". They do not sound like the
>original
>45's or albums. All the modern trickery can not reproduce that sound. Not
>that
>anyone is even trying. It's all redone to suit the i-pod listener.
I just had this argument with someone who hated our Klaatu remasters saying
that we'd compressed the crap out of the first two albums and that the
remastering engineer needed his hearing checked. Well, the BAND participated
in and approved the remastered versions from the original master tapes and
wanted to ensure that the volume levels of the old masters matched current
technology so that the listener wasn't forced to mess with their stereo
levels -- no matter what environment -- should they be flipping back and
forth between contemporary music from their radio, CD player OR MP3 player.
The two albums are now 5 to 7db's LOUDER than originally released......and
now you can actually hear what the act had intended. Previous attempts by
other labels left the play back exceptionally quite causing the listener to
add their own unintentional 'hiss' by virtue of just having to crank up the
volume.
All the subtle nuances from the studio sessions are now present. As the boys
said after finishing the sessions -- this is the closest this material has
sounded since the day we laid down the tracks in the studio.
>And your comment about the missing guitar on the Freddy song. This is all
>too
>common. On the last issue of Odds And Sods, Under My Thumb is missing the
>electric
>guitar, and the solo, all for the sake of making a stereo mix. A lot of
>stuff was
>added at the time of the mix, and doesn't exist on multi track tapes. While
>My
>Generation sounds good, it's not true to the original at all. I think if
>anyone
>wants to mess with stuff, then it should be required they include
>remastered
>original mixes, preferably MONO.
>
>The problem is now producers are checking to see how it might sound on FM
>radio,
>not AM, where it took a lot of punch to make it jump out of your car
>speaker.
>Modern records are made to SCREAM at you. I just can't listen to
>contemporary
>radio, it's too loud and the lyrics are just insipid...
Modern records are living up to the potential of the technology -- for
better or worse. And if lyrics are suddenly NOW insipid, then you've somehow
biased your own generation's musical output....cause I can name hundreds of
insipid releases from the last 5 decades. It's not a unique problem with new
releases....it's ALWAYS been that way.
And sorry to all you AM radio nostalgia listeners, but the format was crap.
AM was broadcast in mono and the faux mono mixes on vinyl are a far cry from
what most artists, producers and labels intended for the songs (Beach Boys
and Phil Spector excepted). The vinyl sounded different because it WAS
different. People really need to get okay with that. The labels created
those hot lacquers for radio to break acts and SELL TONNES OF RECORDS. It
had nothing to do with art or audio quality (well maybe in the beginning)
and everything to do with getting listeners to bombard the station with
requests and catapult the record into the Top10.
I listen to material on AM radio now and it's quite disappointing having
listened to FM in STEREO for the better part of two decades. Maybe it's just
me, but I prefer my music to be in hi fidelity. Something AM radio could
never claim or aspire to. It was cute and exciting when I was 9 years old
and had my little earplug rocking on to the hits of Wolfman Jack. But,
c'mon....it sounded like tinny, bodiless, mono lo-fi.
And that's just my OPINION.
Jaimie Vernon
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