The Beatles "Help!" and "Rubber Soul" original 1965 stereo mixes?

Is there a possibility that all the albums by The Beatles will be remixed from the multi-tracks again at some point in the future? I'm talking about remixing them exactly the same way as they were originally mixed, without any change in the arrangements. The main advantage being that they would be freshly mixed on 21st Century equipment.

I think the catalogue sounds fine the way it is, but I can't help thinking that remixing them identically the same way as they were originally mixed would make them sound even better. Ideally, remixed either using high end analogue equipment or at 24bit/192kHz high resolution digital.

The 1987 remixes of Help! and Rubber Soul would've been mixed to 16bit/44.1kHz tape. I'm sure I've read that they were mixed to digital.

 

Remixing the whole catalog could be an interesting & debatable project but not having the option to easily own all the beatles albums in their proper original form in 2016 is simply beyond belief. I'd like the original mixes of Rubber Soul & Help! to be made properly available first!

 

Do you know the original stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul are included on the respective 2009 mono cd's?

 

I do. Still, buying a box set of mono mixes that I may or may not be interested in instead of just buying the album as originally released if a very big difference. Not to mention the financial aspect...

 

Well, the mono mixes were also how they were originally released...

 

Don't start that.. It's a different issue altogether.
& in any case the mono albums aren't available separately.
All the other stereo albums are available no reason to exclude these two.

 

But it isn't...not really

Sure they are. On vinyl

Apple obviously doesn't see it that way, though- consider the '65 stereo mixes included in the mono box set as "bonus tracks", nothing more. Otherwise, try and find one of those mistakenly issues Canadian versions of the '87 CDs, or, again, invest in pre-1987 vinyl copies.

 

Giles Martin: Rubber Soul and Help! were remixed by my dad in 1988 or '87 for CD. And when we did "Love", we got to do Yesterday, and I couldn't understand why there were so much echo and reverb on the voice 'cause it was very non-Beatles. And it was only when I came back and I was listening to the remasters I asked "how come this is the case?" and they said "well we are remastering the eighties versions of [Rubber Soul and Help!]" and I said "why aren't we remastering the originals, we should remaster what came out then [in 1965]?"
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And they said "Well, your father wouldn't be very happy with us not remastering the versions he did in the eighties."
So I spoke to my dad and I asked "Do you mind if they remaster the sixties version?" and he went "I don't even remember doing them in the eighties!"

So there you have it! The stereo remasters are the 1987 remixes out of the involved remastering engineers' misguided respect for Sir George!

 

I have all the original vinyls. again - that was not the issue of discussion.

 

A little more info (not a lot but still interesting):

A 1987 Interview with George Martin by Allan Kozinn »

 

I think it would be pretty hard to mix it in an identical fashion. They would get things wrong from time to time and it would freak people out. I could just see the 33 part SHF thread now.

I think if it's going to be remixed, go ahead and really remix it with only a little regard for the original mixes. You'd probably want the effects to be the same, but the panning, levels and EQ could change. A remix that intended to replicate the original mixes wouldn't be much of a selling point. A remix with the goal of sounding more modern, adding clarity and punch would make more sense, certainly from the commercial side (and that's what it's always about). I thought Yellow Submarine was pretty cool in 1999. It wasn't completely true to the originals, but it sounded great to 15 year old me. The great thing is that if you like the original mixes, they're already available on records, tapes and CDs.

 

I didn't necessarily mean 100% identical mixes, but new mixes that are as close as possible to the original mixes. I was going on the basis that mixing them again using state of the art mixing technology would improve the clarity of the recordings. It would also take away the tape hiss that you can currently here on the current mixes. Remixing them again to high resolution digital would get rid of this hiss and the only hiss you'd be able to hear is the hiss from the multi-tracks, instead of hearing both.

 

No, not at all. Why do you ask?

 

Remixing the entire catalog would be a colossal undertaking for probably minimal sound improvement. And, as we well know, half the hardcore fans would hate the new mixes anyway, so why bother? People can't even agree on new masters---you want to throw new mixes into the soup? Especially ones that are attempting to perfectly recreate the existing mixes?

Hard to think of anything that would be more pointless. JMHO.

 

I would like to see the entire catalog remixed - tape hiss and all.

At least improve upon Help and Rubber Soul.

 

Whatever anyone does, whether it be remastering or remixing, there are always going to be people out there who will moan about it. It's impossible to please everyone. If the catalogue was ever remixed, Beatles fans won't be forced to go out and purchase these new remixes. The original mixes will still be available to people who prefer them. What you've just said about the new remasters proves this, although I personally think they sound a lot better than the original CD mastering from 1987.

 

That's another thing. Those two albums were mixed to 16bit/44.1kHz when remixed in 1987. They should be prioritised if any albums by The Beatles were remixed.

 

Was noise reduction used on Yellow Submarine Songtrack and Let It Be Naked?

 

Yes, as you know there wouldn't of been any hiss on the 1986 remixes (apart from the multi-track hiss), which I presume were done to 16bit/44.1kHz digital tape. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't know why you think my idea of remixing the catalogue is a joke (which is what you quoted above). I bet if they ever did do this you'd be the first one wanting a listen to them, out of curiosity.

 

I like the new ones too. And I prefer the "original" stereo mixes of Rubber Soul and Help! just because those are the way I've always know those albums. But the choice to put all the vocals on one side of RS in 1966 was never a good one to begin with. I certainly understand why Martin wanted to change it in '87.

But I just think remixing would be very expensive for very little gain. (It'd be incredibly time consuming. Far more than would remastering.) Few people would care and half of those who do care would claim to hate them. The '09s sound pretty awesome. I doubt there would be that much more to gain by going back to the multis and remixing UNLESS they really wanted to make significant changes. Which would no doubt piss off even MORE people.

 

If not, something else makes those two releases sound strange to me.

 

You're suggesting no-noising them, though, right? How could that be a desirable result?

 

I don't even know how possible that would even be on some of the more complex tracks. And not much of anyone is around who going to be able to remember what choices they made way back then. Many times, quite odd and interesting things are done during the mixdown process that can't easily be replicated.