Beatles remasters

BumbleB

Lads ,

I know alot of you are pretty hot audio experts and I was wondering if you could give me your opinion .Beatles remaster box set mono or stereo ?.

I know john lennon once said you haven't heard sgt peppers until you heard it in mono but he's not around for me to ask his opinion .

cheers,

madtheory

Fact- no Beatle was ever present for a stereo mix, except for Abbey Road. Yellow Submarine was only ever mixed in stereo, the mono was the stereo mix summed. But generally, mono was king back then. So if you want to hear it as intended, get the mono. Only available as a boxed set, you probably knew that already. Plus, they're sold out, be a few weeks before they're back, EMI didn't expect the demand for them.

Some of the mono mixes are totally different, like phasing on Lennon's voice all the way through Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds; some even have different lyrics!

The stereos sound fabtastic though. For me it was like discovering the Beatles all over again.

PaulBrewer

I bought the Stereo Box Set and on one of the booklets George Martin does say that the idea for the 'stereo' mix was to make the vocal/band mono blend at mastering , which was an anecdote I'd heard for years.

So one could argue that Mono is the 'real' way to listen to the Beatles.

However the Stereo ones still sound great.
A couple of years ago I visited Metropolis Studio in London where they were Mastering a 5.1 mix of 'Come Together'.

Listening on the whopping 5.1 PMC BB5 system was a proper ' Holy Feck' moment !



Here's a pic of me in da very room where all the magic happened ... notice they're micing my belly with a Neumann with an SM7 for ambience.

BumbleB

PaulBrewer wrote: »

I bought the Stereo Box Set and on one of the booklets George Martin does say that the idea for the 'stereo' mix was to make the vocal/band mono blend at mastering , which was an anecdote I'd heard for years.

So one could argue that Mono is the 'real' way to listen to the Beatles.

However the Stereo ones still sound great.
A couple of years ago I visited Metropolis Studio in London where they were Mastering a 5.1 mix of 'Come Together'.

Listening on the whopping 5.1 PMC BB5 system was a proper ' Holy Feck' moment !



Here's a pic of me in da very room where all the magic happened ... notice they're micing my belly with a Neumann with an SM7 for ambience.

Nice one paul you'd want to put a low pass filter on that belly mic to cut the rumble !.

tubedude

BumbleB wrote: »

Nice one paul you'd want to put a low pass filter on that belly mic to cut the rumble !.

LoL!
oooohhh!

PMI

THis months sound on sound was a great insight into how they did it.....

When you releasing that belly album Paul?

Rockshamrover

PaulBrewer wrote: »

I bought the Stereo Box Set and on one of the booklets George Martin does say that the idea for the 'stereo' mix was to make the vocal/band mono blend at mastering , which was an anecdote I'd heard for years.

So one could argue that Mono is the 'real' way to listen to the Beatles.

However the Stereo ones still sound great.
A couple of years ago I visited Metropolis Studio in London where they were Mastering a 5.1 mix of 'Come Together'.

Listening on the whopping 5.1 PMC BB5 system was a proper ' Holy Feck' moment !





Here's a pic of me in da very room where all the magic happened ... notice they're micing my belly with a Neumann with an SM7 for ambience.

What's the story with all the spotlights in the background?

PaulBrewer

Just for a bit of ambience ....

Rockshamrover

Nice.

That's a huge room. I didn't realize it was so big height wise.

You must have the best job in the world Paul.

PaulBrewer

Rockshamrover wrote: »

Nice.

That's a huge room. I didn't realize it was so big height wise.

You must have the best job in the world Paul.

Yes, it was originally a Orchestral/Choral studio built in 1931.
Then they added some adjustable pegboard based acoustics, presumably to dampen down the room a bit when this new fangled Rock music started getting recorded - and it hasn't changed much since.

madtheory

More correctly, Studio 2 was originally designed for "big band" groups and larger chamber ensembles, in 1931. Apparently the size and materials were intended to generally enhance this kind of music, although the book is vague about that. There was some acoustic treatment done in the early sixties- bass traps and quilts...

It's all in "Recording the Beatles" great book!

PaulBrewer

Must get that Book indeed -

I should have known not to listen to that smartarse tape-op ....

The room has a 'strange' character where there's, what appears to be, a short burst of reverb, which quickly dies away.
It's quiet distinctive insofar as one expects a longer tail in a room that size.

No doubt that's part of why it works.

fitz

That building is a tardis.
Way bigger when you go in than it looks from outside....

madtheory

PaulBrewer wrote: »

The room has a 'strange' character where there's, what appears to be, a short burst of reverb, which quickly dies away.
It's quiet distinctive insofar as one expects a longer tail in a room that size.

Would love to hear that. It's 1.2 secs, according to the book. I guess it's like those Lexicon reverbs, where you end up adjusting the density etc. to make it sound smaller. Just turing down the RT doesn't do it, on most of the algorithms. Hey, maybe they Lex is based on Studio 2...

musicmatty

It's funny - I know I should probably be a purist and want to hear the mono mixes...but I kinda like stereo...

musicmatty

And incidentally if anyone likes the Beatles they should defo download this freebie: http://www.singletonmusic.com/freealbum

Very Revolver.

madtheory

musicmatty wrote: »

It's funny - I know I should probably be a purist and want to hear the mono mixes...but I kinda like stereo...

I empathise

BumbleB

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Must get that Book indeed -


The room has a 'strange' character where there's, what appears to be, a short burst of reverb, which quickly dies away.
It's quiet distinctive insofar as one expects a longer tail in a room that size.

No doubt that's part of why it works.

It must be savage to record in a classic room like the motown room with that mad handmade echo chamber , headley grange or abbey road.

PaulBrewer

I was in the Motown room too whilst on tour in the US in the early 90s.
It's now a Motown museum.

In some ways it's similar to Abbey Road i.e. a studio room built on the back of a house, but much smaller.

pinksoir

Apparently that's the way Abbey road is looking like it's going too, ie a museum. Sad if it does happen.

TelePaul

Paul Brewer sir, you are WAY more Irish-looking than I'd imagined. I'm a bit disappointed, was hoping for something a bit more Mutt Lang-esque.

TelePaul

PaulBrewer wrote: »

I was in the Motown room too whilst on tour in the US in the early 90s.
It's now a Motown museum.

Same with Sun Studios and Studio B in Memphis/Nashville. Kinda sucks.

PaulBrewer

pinksoir wrote: »

Apparently that's the way Abbey road is looking like it's going too, ie a museum. Sad if it does happen.

Where did you hear that Pink ?

PaulBrewer

TelePaul wrote: »

Paul Brewer sir, you are WAY more Irish-looking than I'd imagined. I'm a bit disappointed, was hoping for something a bit more Mutt Lang-esque.

With a Mullet, Like ? .......... no it's only my attitude that's exotic

Mr Alan

if his look disappointed ya Telepaul, you'd wanna hear his accent!

TelePaul

Mr Alan wrote: »

if his look disappointed ya Telepaul, you'd wanna hear his accent!

No way! Where' the bould Brewer from?

PaulBrewer

TelePaul wrote: »

No way! Where' the bould Brewer from?

Outer Space ...

Rockshamrover

TelePaul wrote: »

No way! Where' the bould Brewer from?

It's not where he's from, it's where he's been. I reckon he's been everywhere.

BumbleB

Rockshamrover wrote: »

It's not where he's from, it's where he's been. I reckon he's been everywhere.

mr brewer is the real authentic irish journeyman and btw mutt lange is the s**t he was the producer on back on black if i'm correct.

pinksoir

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Where did you hear that Pink ?

I was mastering there earlier this year and yer man said that times were extremely tight and that it didn't really look like there was much hope for the long term. From a business perspective it just doesn't make enough profit.

It's odd because it's obviously fully booked up most of the time, and it's not exactly cheap. I wonder where all the money goes...

PaulBrewer

pinksoir wrote: »

I was mastering there earlier this year and yer man said that times were extremely tight and that it didn't really look like there was much hope for the long term. From a business perspective it just doesn't make enough profit.

It's odd because it's obviously fully booked up most of the time, and it's not exactly cheap. I wonder where all the money goes...

You may well be right.
EMI who also owned Olympic closed it at short notice Dec last year.
I wasn't impressed with the staff or the condition of the console when I was at Abbey Road - however I guess that's part and parcel of an older desk.

madtheory

I don't know the situation at Abbey Road, but the Maltby report makes interesting reading. It's on the EMI website. That's Guy Hands's company, who bought EMI then had to write off half of their investment (many millions, can't remember exactly) after the credit crunch. Financially, things are very tough. But EMI do have a lot of the cool bands, so they might be OK.

PaulBrewer

I'd guess the one thing that EMI are loathe to loose is the Abbey Road Brand.

The 'Live at' and the Plugins etc. are them exploiting that I guess.

They still charge £2k a day for Studio 2 too ....

Rockshamrover

I've never been but I was wondering is there already a shop/museum type thing set up?

You could see somebody bringing in bus loads of tourists at €20 a pop to cash in on the Beatles connection.

Didn't they turn Sun studios into a tourist attraction too?

PaulBrewer

Rockshamrover wrote: »

I've never been but I was wondering is there already a shop/museum type thing set up?

You could see somebody bringing in bus loads of tourists at €20 a pop to cash in on the Beatles connection.

Didn't they turn Sun studios into a tourist attraction too?

Not if they want to run the studio too !

They paint the outside wall every 6/8 weeks as it's graffittiised constantly.

Whilst we were there there was a constant stream of tourists outside but, curiously, none came in!

Security is tight there though, names on list , combination lock doors etc ..

They also have branded products t-shirts etc ...

madtheory

Maybe the current economic climate will have them re evaluating building that souvenir shop.

Rockshamrover

PaulBrewer wrote: »

Not if they want to run the studio too !

They paint the outside wall every 6/8 weeks as it's graffittiised constantly.

Whilst we were there there was a constant stream of tourists outside but, curiously, none came in!

Security is tight there though, names on list , combination lock doors etc ..

They also have branded products t-shirts etc ...

So no way to see the inside of the studio unless you're on official business?

They'd make millions if it was opened up. Not that I think they should, but you can be guaranteed it will happen some day.:(

BumbleB

pinksoir wrote: »

Apparently that's the way Abbey road is looking like it's going too, ie a museum. Sad if it does happen.

I definitely hope not , rebuild the studio down the road , sell the site to a property developer ,build a shopping centre over the old one ,tell you it just looks like it did in 1969 and sell you overpriced burgers .

PaulBrewer

Rockshamrover wrote: »

So no way to see the inside of the studio unless you're on official business?

They'd make millions if it was opened up. Not that I think they should, but you can be guaranteed it will happen some day.:(

No - in fact I couldn't even pull the usual strokes - only ole Rupert had an actual session.

Welease

BumbleB wrote: »

I definitely hope not , rebuild the studio down the road , sell the site to a property developer ,build a shopping centre over the old one ,tell you it just looks like it did in 1969 and sell you overpriced burgers .

Well.. that business model worked for The Cavern