SH Spotlight PART DEUX: Recording and mastering questions asked and (hopefully) answered

Steve, not a mastering question per se, but I just wanted to know how the tapes for the Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James albums sound. Vanguard is absolutely my favorite label ever, and I'd like to think they take excellent care of their masters. I'm mightily looking forward to these two brilliant albums. I plan on paying about $1550 for them. $25 each and $1500 for a turntable/arm/cart.
I'm also assuming you're working with the stereo masters?

 

What was the most unusual master source you have worked from and what challenges did it pose? what was the content? (Recently you spoke about working from glass or metal platters...)

 

When people talk about ear bleeders, does that usually refer to the sharpness in the music, vocals or both? I have heard CDs where the music sounds good, but the vocal sounds too tinny or sharp. Is there a general fix when the vocal is the problem? Thanks Dennis

 

Tell him, then kill him, but don't tell anyone where you buried the body...

Which is why the SACD's sound so nice...and probably why my wife can't stand Fogerty. His vocals were always screechy(not that this ever bothered me), and most reissues made him sound even worse. Haven't managed to talk her into giving your work a go, but hope springs eternal...

 

Steve,
How do you approach remastering an album that was problematic to make in the first place, say "Katy Lied", for example? Was this album harder to master due to the dbx problems?


Dan

 

Steve, when you master something to a digital format, how much of a stickler are you when it comes to digital clipping? Does three or four clipped samples in a given transfer -- whether it's an individual track or the entire album -- bother you to the point where it's an automatic reject/redo, or are you a little more tolerant than that?

And thanks again for your answers to all these questions!

 

Good enough, Steve -- thanks. Actually, I did search the earlier thread, but only for the word "clipping".

 

Hi Steve,

just a quick question which popped into my mind, apologies if this has been dealt with loadsa times before.

When mastering a compilation album to vinyl, clearly the best approach is to always try to use the 1st gen masters for the tracks included in the comp.

When you finally have the best masters, would you:

a)
first make a tape to tape compilation, setting up the tape playback machine for optimum sound quality for each master. Given every master tape would have originally been recorded on a different machine, the optimum settings will likely be different for each one. Then master the vinyl from that 'optimised' tape.

b)
compile all of those separate master tapes onto a single reel for the album, and set up the playback machine for overall optimum sound quality. This would involve some comprimise, but at least you'd be sticking with first gen tapes.

c)
Other

Best Regards, and congrats on getting the RHCP job. (Wonder if Mr Frusciante lurks here too)

JJ

 

Cheers Steve,

you must need an assistant to mop your brow when using the two machine method , especially if you are setting up the next tape and adjusting on one machine, while the other is playing a short track, FEEL the PRESSURE!!

I'm surprised b) is something you've not done, as that is what Classic Records said they did for their My Generation Re-issue. I guess they could get away with it because the tapes are all from the same sessions. Still I guess there would still be some minor differences from one master to the next. Certainly the eq was different on each master, this is very obvious on their release.

Thanks again.

JJ

 

Steve,
Do you have a particular album or CD that you "check" your hearing with? For example, when I DJ at an event, I use your Hotel California as my benchmark. If that sounds OK, then I know my EQ, etc. is set right. Do you "check" your hearing with something familiar before going to work in a particular studio that may not have a sound you are used to due to the speakers, etc. so you know how to compensate?

 

I see, of course My Gen is all mono so it's an example where this can be done. I didn't think about azimuth, I've never had any access to high end tape equipment.

However, I have read that some album masters are compiled from lots separate masters for each track joined together.
Not forgetting of course, that many stereo song masters are made from different edit pieces being spliced in to form the final track.

So I guess in these cases, extreme care is taken to keep everything calibrated the same.

JJ

 

Sorry,

what I meant was that the original engineers working on the track/album when it is being recorded/mixed/editied, have to take extreme care.
So that impossible azimuth adjustments aren't necessary when the track is being played back for vinyl mastering, yes.

JJ