What does Steve Hoffman think of the new Beatles Sgt. Pepper remix?

This of it this way, back in the 60s, who bought stereo albums? the older generation. The younger generation bought the louder mono records. Rock and Pop records were the last to transition to stereo. 45s and singles were the last to transition to stereo. Basically, what you’re saying isn’t something that’s new. It’s been going on since 60s or earlier. But of course those are generalizations and there exceptions.

 

“So the goal.. well there’s two things. There’s the ‘socks and sandals’ brigade – they own every single note of Sgt. Pepper. There’s probably some people in the audience who would claim to be these people – and they are – they are the people I lean on.”

Giles Martin

The Beatles / Remixed Sgt. Pepper unveiled at Abbey Road Studios | superdeluxeedition

It sounds to me like Giles respects the ‘socks and sandals brigade.’

 

That's quite a generalisation, not one I agree with. I thought this was supposed to be an audiophile forum where the vast majority of posters care about sound quality, irrespective of age. I would argue that age would only come in to it for older listeners who were around when Sgt. Pepper came out because they are so used to how the original mix sounded. By the way, I'm in my mid 30s and don't like compressed sound but my Dad who's in his late 60s couldn't care less. What does that prove?

 

Granted, "kiddies" is mildly derogatory (I would say the same about the "socks and sandal brigade", though it doesn't hurt my feelings too much), but I think the underlying sentiment is correct: Martin intentionally wanted a more modern sound that would make it sound more fresh to a younger audience. Given that many feel that the original stereo mix sounds a bit dated now, this approach is understandable.

 

But it is overtly aimed at a younger generation and not intended for audiophiles.

Given how loud it is, that's a fact, isn't it?

Are you insulted by facts?

As for your second paragraph you've lost the plot, haven't you? You know for a fact that people in the music business have refrained from posting?

Did they tell you?

When did they tell you? Before, or after, you changed your name from Sgt Pepper?.....

PS: Quatermass...member since...today; messages: nine (eight of them in this thread.)

 

"Why, it's Sgt Pepper..."

 

It's proves that there are exceptions to every rule, but it does not automatically mean that the generalization is incorrect. The truth is, the vast majority of listeners, regardless of age, do not particularly care about the questions that we obsess over on this board. But in my experience, older listeners are more likely to be concerned about dynamic range, which would seem to be borne out by the fact that this audiophile message board is generally dominated by an older demographic. One time, I started a thread about dynamic range and "the loudness wars" over on Rate Your Music, which tends to cater to a much younger demographic. Virtually all of the people who responded either had no idea what I was talking about or they just didn't care. They either liked the music or they didn't.

 

But he doesn't appear insecure or defensive, I mean why should he the critics and music press love the remix?

 

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Mr. Halfwit has lost me also, there may be more to that name than meets the eye, or is he one of these people who try's to get members banned because he does not agree with them?

 

!

 

Giles appears to be...well...if I could sum him up...maybe in a phrase...what he boils down to...the crowd he belongs to is the "blank and blank crowd"...

No...I won't do what he did with his dismissive "socks and sandals" comment.

Which told me lots about the dude.

 

Which one?

 

It sort of tells me the guy has a sense of humor.

 

If it's who I think he is, he has also gone by the nom de plumes Mr Kite & Tele1962 on another forum. Hence the unmasking pic. He's a nuisance.

 

Look, 'loudness' and dynamic range compression mean different things in different contexts, and 'compression' is not necessarily evil, it's really just about whether you notice its application and whether that pulls your attention or not. The mono mix has lots of compression, too, but since it's all so densely packed together and entirely coming at you from a single direction, you don't really tend to notice the 'pumping sound' that it sometimes makes (I don't, anyway, on the 2009 mono CD version) and instead it feels like all the instrumentation/vocals hang together as a piece

On the new remix, it's easier to HEAR that compression doing its work, because everything is more spread out into isolation. My ear gets 'pulled away' when I hear a compressor pumping a single instrument or voice over on one side of the stereo field. This is simply a personal dislike for me, and not something that is necessarily down to mastering choices: to the contrary, in this case it was clearly applied during the mixdown process. It happens on just about every track on the new remix, too, which spoils it for me. If you don't notice it or care, that is great!!! But let's not pretend that there's something about youth preferring loud music or portable music or whatever that stops young people from noticing this effect... it's just about whether your ear is trained to do so; the longer you've been listening, the more you will notice

In the rock album idiom, you can point to certain Bob Dylan LPs before Pepper, and certainly Pete had artistic ambitions in the album format with the Mini-Opera circa 1966 on A Quick One, but I won't quibble with you further. To me it just fits with most interpretations of genre that Sgt. Pepper really truly is in the pop category, and not what we currently call classical or art music, even though it is highly artistic. That assertion shouldn't be taken as insulting to people whose minds were blown by the artistic approach of the Beatles in the 1960s. Doesn't matter who got there first, anyway, although there was a notable shift in the greater cultural attitude towards conceptual art in pop music after Pepper arrived. We're talking about what moves people today and how production decisions play a part in that

 

Let me guess. Sgt Pepper (the forum user) was banned from this thread again and Quatermass is his new alt.

 

Next time I put down Giles with a one liner, oh that will be very funny.

"He has a sense of humor and boy did he zing Giles!"

 

Not me I am afraid, which other forum is that?

 

Yes. Even though, of course, I disagree that Sgt. Pepper's is pop music.

And there were plenty of important and ground breaking studio production decisions that went into Sgt. Pepper's.

The original Sgt. Pepper's.

That meet and even surpass any sound production taking place currently.

 

On the other hand...

Drum placement: Centering of the drums may be considered subjective but having the placement changing in midstream sticks out and isnt cohesive within the remix.

Leaving piano parts out, leave drums off center/narrowed then to wide stereo in the middle of a song/kick up the snare to a silly level, doubling the guitar part in Help! And by flying it in, diminished room ambience of the recording, the remix sounds smeared in places..etc etc etc.

Oh and the Good Morning remix is simply horrible.

 

Yeah yeah. Keep it up.

 

As far as the question of is this 50th Pepper is aimed at the younger audience is concerned I remember reading and seeing Giles Martin being interviewed last Summer.
In them all he seemed to me that he very much wanted people to know that his job was to please his "bosses" and asked if he did he would reply something to the effect "I'm still on the job".
I would like to know what if any direction that Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia gave to Giles.
If it was to make a hit record then he did succeed.

 

Aha! Now I understand!

 

Some of Paul's production in recent decades could be questioned.

Even though he's probably my favorite musician.

John Lennon and George Harrison, of course, weren't around to give their input for the remix.