Lennon Legend 5.1 mixes

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by JonUrban, Nov 19, 2003.

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  1. JonUrban

    JonUrban SHF Member #497 Thread Starter

    Location:
    Connecticut
    I spent some time listening (and looking) at the DTS mixes on this release. Here's what I found:


    Imagine: Starts with Piano solo in center. Johns vocal in center, echoed in fronts. Rear only piano and full orchestra. No vocals ever in the rears. Nice Mix.

    Instant Karma: John again solid in the center, reverbed in the fronts and rears. Handclaps in the rears. It's cool to hear JLs vocal if you isolate the center channel, as there is no reverb, and you can clearly hear his vocal track - Something I never heard before so clear!

    Mother: Opening bells in the four corners, not in the center. This tune is mostly stereo centric, with the fronts doing almost everything but the reverbs. This is probably a nice choice for this song.

    Jealous Guy: John is back in the center channel. Rears have no vocal, but again the orchestration. It really stands out here, instead of being lost in a stereo mix.

    Power to the People: The intro to this one is cool. All 5 main channels have the chorus of voices singing the 4 "Power to the Peoples", then the center goes to music only, the fronts get heavy and the rears with a solid reverb.

    Cold Turkey: John again in the center, clear as a bell and no reverb, which is sent to the fronts. Lotsa bass on this one.

    Love: John is only in the fronts here, with the center used as a filler with the track and only a slight hint of the vocal. The rears are mostly ambiance.

    Mind Games: The many layers of sound on this tune are spread out across the fronts and the center, with not too much individual definition. The rears are reverb with organ and tambourine.

    Whatever Gets You Through the Night: The vocals by ELton and John are spread across the front soundstage, with the center having them a bit clearer as there is only an acoustic guitar with them, along with a reduced volume underlying track. The two artists vocal tracks are not separated, so you can't just hear Elton or John by themselves. The rears have no vocals, but Eltons piano can be heard very clearly - and there is no mistake that it is Elton. What a treat to hear this piano part, buried all those years! The organ is also in the rears with Elton's piano. This mix BLOWS AWAY the '70s quad mix!

    #9 Dream: Johns strumming acoustic and his soft vocal are found in the center, along with the maracas. The main vocals are naturally in the fronts. There is only the hint of the vocal track in the rear, which highlights the orchestration. Cool effect is Yoko saying "John" back and forth between the rear speakers. (You know the part where John sings "Something called out my name", and Yoko whispers "John".) Again, this mix renders the Q8 a trader.

    Stand By MeI always loved this song done by John, and the 5.1 mix is great. Lots of isolated guitars, in the center, and the left and right front. Piano in the rears open up the recording. John's vocal is mostly in the center, as is the great guitar solo in the middle. The ending is cool, too.

    Just Like Starting Over The first "modern" track. It shows, as the multitracks are obviously in better shape. The center has a "track" vocal that comes in heavier on the chorus and the refrain. The Bass guitar is here. The rears have no vocals, but carry background singers that also appear in the fronts.

    Woman: Johns vocal is in the stereo fronts, the center is only the track. The rears are mostly bass, drums, and guitar with no vocals, background or lead!

    Beautiful Boy The main surround effect on this tune is the altered vocal "echo" of the chorus, which blares from the rears when it comes up. The center track has Johns vocal clear again, and listening to it solo, you can hear things that you cannot make out in the stereo mix, like John saying "Sean, Sean..." as well as a harmony part that I never picked up.

    Watching the Wheels This great tune gets a kind of sudues treatment. The only thing interesting is that in the center channel, you can hear some of John talking and singing along that you never heard in the released mix. OVerall though, it plays as a "full" sound.

    Nobody Told Me: This tune came out after Johns assassination, so there is not too much to expect here. This mix does not offer much in the sense of surround. The piano is fairly clear in the rears, however.

    Borrowed Time: This one has a better surround mix than "Nobody", as there are a few accent guitar parts that move around a bit. The center is without vocal, but spotlights the base.

    Working Class Hero: Here is one tune where you don't want a super surround mix (Heck, it's only John and a Guitar). That's what you get, a stereo recording with a but of ambiance. Good Job, it sounds great.

    Happy Christmas: "Happy Christmas Kyoko", "Happy Christmas Julian" come from the two rear speakers! The rest of the track is pretty standard, the vocals from the Harlem Community Choir are mostly in the front, as is the main vocal form J&Y. The fade is gone, however, as the tune ends abruptly.

    Give Peace a Chance: This was recorded in a hotel room, so there is not too much to be expected from a surround sound perspective. However, if you listen to the center channel, you can hear what appears to be another Lennon vocal, or maybe it is another person at the event. It is hard to tell.

    Overall, this is well worth the $15 or so that it cost. The above observations were made by listening to the DTS track and viewing it in Sound Forge 7.0.
     
    IronWaffle, ceddy10165 and Simon A like this.
  2. Marry a Carrot

    Marry a Carrot Interesting blues gets a convincing reading.

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    That's actually May Pang, not Yoko.

    Thanks for a very interesting post.
     
    Magnus A. likes this.
  3. LtPepper

    LtPepper Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Jon,
    Thanks for posting. I am awaiting my copy by mail and looking forward to it even more now!
     
  4. Joel1963

    Joel1963 Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    "That's actually May Pang, not Yoko."

    True, despite the fact Yoko's mouthing the words in the video.

    Great surround summary!!! Especially nice on the DTS track is the surround effect after the "merry-go-round" lyric on Watching the Wheels. And I still can't get over the new mix of #9 Dream, and the video that accompanies it. Absolutely perfect!
     
  5. ascot

    ascot Senior Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    There's a spoken part on "Just Like Starting Over" right after the pause where Yoko is saying something, but it's heavily processed. Can this be heard any better in the surround mix?
     
  6. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    I just found a $6 copy of this in the bins. Thank you for the review. I hope to play this tonight.
     
  7. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Spooky bump...I bought mine EXACTLY 5 years ago !?!? :hide:
     
  8. markbrow

    markbrow Forum President

    Location:
    Denver
    Hey Jon,

    You missed one. I haven't listened in a while, but if I recall during the chorus of "Watching the Wheels," you can hear John singing the "around, around, around, around" vocals from Dear Prudence faintly in one of the rear speakers. Or maybe I'm crazy. Cool little feature that you can't hear in the stereo version.
     
  9. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    I just finished listening and it was great fun. Any fan of surround sound should have a copy.

    I concur with the OP, the tracks from Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey are the best sounding.

    Cheers, Michael
     
  10. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Be sure to let the menu play, to see the John-drawn animation too !
     
  11. slane

    slane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Merrie England
    Correct. After the post-production overdubs done on the song in Canada, the song was apparently subjected to further overdubs back in London at Trident Studios.
     
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