BEACH BOYS "Pet Sounds" stereo vs. mono and warm vs. clear

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by kamedin, Feb 22, 2011.

  1. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    The mono mix is so much more organic on this. I'm a bit surprised by all the love the stereo PS gets around here in comparison.
     
  2. spindly

    spindly Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    dav-here likes this.
  3. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    I'm not. Not everyone loves organic. Especially when it commits the crime of being in mono.
     
    chacha likes this.
  4. The mono mix is perfectly fine, and of historical value, and I'm glad it's readily available. But to me it has a distinctly old-fashioned sound, whereas the stereo remix could almost pass for a recent album by an indie rock band. Like something that Pitchfork would be raving about. It honors the music by showing how great it can sound to modern ears. I honestly see no reason to prefer the mono mix.

    I don't get the comparison. Wouldn't the musical equivalent of colorizing a B&W film be more like overdubbing additional instruments?

    I think I read somewhere that Mark Linnett referred to the mono mix when he was creating the stereo mix (which he did with Brian Wilson's supervision and approval), and I think it shows, as the stereo remix retains most of what's good about the mono mix, except with more clarity and detail. Yes, the instruments are more spread out, but this isn't Joy Division. The "wall of sound" is still very much there.

    Like I said, the mono is just fine -- it was the first version I heard, and it blew me away on first listen. But if I were to play Pet Sounds in 2016 for someone who hadn't heard it, I'd choose the stereo mix.
     
    dav-here and JohnnyQuest like this.
  5. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    Because it sounds more cohesive, natural and lifelike.
     
    teag likes this.
  6. teag

    teag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    Not sure how mono is "old fashioned sound". Stereo has been around since around 1957 - not too recent. Oh, and if only there were an "Indy rock band" that could come close to making this music.

    They both sound great but I reach for the 2016 mono from now on.
     
    chacha likes this.
  7. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paradise
    Mono - Warm, organic, compact, etc.

    Stereo - Clarity, detail, depth, etc.

    Win/Win :edthumbs:
     
    dav-here, mikedifr0923 and teag like this.
  8. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    And I STILL keep coming back for the abuse. Sheesh! :^)
     
  9. Smartin62

    Smartin62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleburne, Tx USA
    Has anyone here listened to and would care to comment on the recent 50th Anniversary version of the Mono mix on CD. According to other posts in other threads it was created or tweaked by Carl for use on the 1970's 2LP set backed with Carl & The Passions "So Tough" (it always gets high-praise around here).

    Does the 50th Anniversary CD version do justice to the 1970's Vinyl version?
     
    AppleCorp3 likes this.
  10. I have the DCC vinyl of Pet Sounds. It's the last copy I need
     
    Cassius and chacha like this.
  11. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    It's really good. As is the new AP mono. Glad to have both.
     
  12. snorker

    snorker Big Daddy

    Yes. Really like the new AP mono. But I also like the 1972 Brother from the Carl & The Passions two-fer.
     
    chacha likes this.
  13. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    Me too. I dig it also. It definitely has its charm.
     
    snorker likes this.
  14. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    I definitely disagree with that.
     
  15. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I've said this before, but while I love and certainly appreciate the mono mix of "Pet Sounds" (especially the DCC Gold CD, mastered by Steve), I can say with all honesty, that the first time that it "knocked me out", was when I heard the promo Capitol CD, in Stereo, that far advanced the "Pet Sounds Sessions" box set. The word "lifelike", that was used a few posts back, is pretty close to how I feel, as that "stereo" mix really did bring it to life, much like the scene in "The Wizard Of Oz", when she walks through that door into a beautiful world of color and it just seems so powerful. Historically, it might not be correct and I'm usually always all in when it comes to the original mono mixes, especially in regards to "45 rpm singles" and with Simon & Garfunkel's classic "Bookends", but when it comes to "Pet Sounds", I say, let the rules be damned!
     
    Timos, goodiesguy, dav-here and 3 others like this.
  16. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    As it was arranged for mono, any stereo mix is revisionist. I'm okay with revisionist, but not at the expense of the original. I feel the same way watching the Star Trek TV show with "modern" special effects.
     
  17. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    In reality, the original Mono mix is the authentic original period perspective. The Stereo is very nice in it's own right. But very modern in it's approach .
     
  18. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    How is the stereo "very modern in it's approach"?
     
  19. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Modern in the sense of "Back then the only Stereo was rechanneled rubbish". I like both mixes. But the Mono is the original approach and how it was intended to be released. I think you need both. Was the Stereo mixed analog? Was it mixed 1967 period correct Capitol Style? That's why I say modernized. And it was done tastefully and well by the way. And it sounds terrific.
     
  20. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    By that definition, any remix would be "modern in it's approach" regardless of how it's created, which I'm not sure is a useful distinction.
     
  21. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    I'm intrigued by your comment, McLover. By modern do you mean simply that it's stereo, or are you referring to attempts to remix it into a very in-your-face, compressed presentation or something else? I produced some local choral/vocal recordings a couple of summers ago, where the engineer told me he was striving to record the group as if it were 1957 (big Lew Layton fan). Your use of the word "modern" triggered me to post. I'm thinking of how Peter Paul and Mary's first album was recorded and mixed versus the later ones, which I think used more microphones.

    I know the Beach Boys recorded at a time when fewer tracks means more pre-mixing, so there had to be limits in how much re-mixing could do. My hope (I don't own the stereo version) is the would try to spread out the instruments more than the voices, but of course that might not have been possible. That's what I would have guessed you meant by modern.

    Am I warm?
     
  22. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Brian Wilson wanted you to hear Pet Sounds in Mono. That is the mix he approved. I want my 1967 recordings to sound like 1967, not like early 1990's DAW. And this was not a super high tech 24 track recording to begin with, it is a product of it's time. That said, I love the Stereo, but the mono needs to remain available to accede to Brian Wilson's wishes.
     
    baconbadge and kevinsinnott like this.
  23. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Early 1990s DAW? UA 610 modules were used for the stereo remix.
     
  24. drbeachboy

    drbeachboy Forum Resident

    Just so we are all clear on this point; Brian Wilson approved and supervised the 1996 stereo mix too. The stereo mix has been around almost 20 years and it has not taken over the mono mix. The mono mix has been around and re-released many times in that same time 20 year period. It will not be going away anytime soon. By now, it has to be one of the most famous Monophonic albums in pop rock.
     
  25. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    And like I also say, you need both. And both sound great. I like the remix, very well done.
     
    dav-here, kevinsinnott and drbeachboy like this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine