"Tales from Topographic Oceans" Being Remixed by Steve Wilson

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by rstamberg, Nov 24, 2015.

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  1. Tim1954

    Tim1954 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    No such thing exists.

    Some tapes which were EQ'd a certain way were saved for future vinyl cutting, sure. And sometimes those tapes may have been pulled for CD transfers, but this has nothing to do with RIAA EQ.
     
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  2. mannylunch

    mannylunch Active Member

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    USA

    Mea Culpa [My Bad for this generation] for incorrect reference to what you have clarified - I am not an audio professional, though I have spent a good deal of time over the decades reading about audio technology
     
  3. ti-triodes

    ti-triodes Senior Member

    Location:
    Paz Chin-in
    The only way this thread will stop be depressing is if a release date for TFTO is announced.
     
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  4. RickA

    RickA Love you forever Luke, we will be together again

    Location:
    Tampa, FL

    I agree. Every time I see an update I'm saying "Is there a definitive date?" Then none.:cry:

    Rick A.
     
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  5. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    This thread has caused me to listen to all four sides of the vinyl two times the last week.
     
  6. AdrianSoundchaser

    AdrianSoundchaser Forum Resident

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    Sheffield, UK
    And it's caused me to buy the original Atlantic CD from ebay.
     
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  7. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

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    When ever I read sentiments like this, I think: this person should be more patient. Because on The Rememebring at around 10' Yes kicks it into high gear for the next five minutes or so, one of the highlights of the album. Another begins in "The Ancient, at the 6 minute mark.

    I like all the parts before and after too, on both sides, 'ponderous' or 'noodling', because to me they are beautiful , and I can hear how the relate to the album as a whole. But the two sections I point to above are 'rocking' bits that any Fragile/CttE era Yes fan could enjoy.
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2016
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  8. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

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    Actually pitch shifting was done then by manipulating tape speed. Led Zep, 'Houses of the Holy' album is an example.
     
  9. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    We have no evidence that they are...in fact no confirmation that they're even playing any of it. Just cryptic posts from Yes (official) that could just as well refer to 5.1 remixes.
     
  10. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Speaking of which, it's interesting that the HDTracks version of Tales has the LP-length version of 'Revealing Science', not the extended 'ocean' intro version found in the Rhino box.
     
  11. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Yes, absolutely (though not necessarily using Pro Tools). And good thing too.

    Almost no one mixes in analog these days. With digital you have the benefits of no added noise from generational loss, and seamless 'splices'. If this tech had been available to Eddie Offord back in the day, you can bet your bottom dollar he'd have jumped on it. If there is to be a remix, this is the way to do it.
     
  12. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Of course. There was a large amount of tape editing involved in Tales, as with CttE before it. And of course overdubbing as well. Eddie Offord was considered a master of the art of tape editing.
     
  13. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    128? Tales was recorded at Morgan, which had just upgraded to 24-track recording. That was the limit of technology then.
     
  14. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Tales is based just on just a single footnote in that book.
     
  15. riskylogic

    riskylogic Forum Resident

    One of the best uses of this forum is that it helps tremendously in deciding what to play next.
     
  16. Jon also said it was like putting "The Bible" to music. Certainly it drew inspiration from several if not many spiritual concepts or ideologies, as all early YES music did. An inspiration coming from a book like "Autobiography of a Yogi" is a good starting point for an epic piece of music.
     
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  17. There is a huge catalog of historic music that was done ALL ANALOG. It has it's own process and a way of doing things from start to finish. I don't see the modern output creating this kind of catalog.

    I would argue that what most view as the limitations of the analog protocol of tape reels.... engages the brain in a more creative and inspirational way. It also required artists to come to their recording sessions MUCH more prepared than today. There are basically no limits to what can be fixed or created in the digital domain. Huge limits in the analog world. What this did was put much more focus on the performance of the artists.

    Cutting and splicing tape compared to the full spectrum digital workstations used for decades now... is not an apples to apples comparison.
     
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  18. Things were submixed before final mixes. It does add a bit more tape hiss when doing this, but on good machines it's negligible.
     
  19. BillyMacQ

    BillyMacQ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Well then, my fellow Brooklyn-ite, I will give it another shot tonight and report back. You're right - I've never been a patient man. It will be my undoing. Like Bones McCoy's inability to govern his passions. I don't have Tales on vinyl, which is my preferred media these days, but think I've got the remastered set on CD. It will have to do.

    Love,
    Billy
     
  20. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    He was just quoting scoffers who said, what would Yes do next after CttE, put the Bible to music?

    It's right there in the liner notes to Tales. What he took from Yogananda's book, was his new (and rather scanty) knowledge of the Hindu sacred texts. I doubt he delved very deep.

    Howe also contributed lyrics, btw.
     
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  21. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY

    You don't say?

    Yes, it's a good education to do it that way, because there's less ways to 'fix it' if you mess up. But it doesn't mean you can't be creative if you don't do it that way.

    Yet, somehow, interesting music has continued to be made after digital methods were developed.

    Plus, we are talking about a remix. No musicians need to come prepared for this. It would be foolish to do a remix of analog tapes in analog. It was the second most fidelity-impairing step of recording back then....after cutting to plastic discs.
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2016
  22. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Who told you there were '128 tracks'?
     
  23. kevnhuys

    kevnhuys Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY

    I still prefer the HDCD (decoded) version above all...including my original early 1974 US LP pressing.
     
  24. milco

    milco Forum Resident

    In all honesty, I wouldn't get too carried away by TFTO's religious pretensions. Most of the lyrics are fairly standard Anderson fare of the period: songs about movement and light, me and you, running and chasing, shapes and shadows, form and rhythm, sunrises and sunsets -- interspersed with the odd love song. Anderson may have used the idea contained in that famous footnote as the template for a basic structure, but it really doesn't go too much further than that, IMO.

    On a similar theme, this is what slightly irks me about the four minutes of tribal percussion two-thirds of the way through 'Ritual'. There is really very little lyrically on that track (apart from the title) that warms you up for such an uncompromising, ritualistic wig-out. 'Nous sommes du soleil' is basically a love song and is followed by lyrics that have little or nothing to do with tribal incantations...and then we are suddenly plunged into ritualistic tub-thumping and ceremonial shennanigans, which is delivered as a complete non-sequitur. Again, this is an example of standard Yes lyrics not quite matching up to the lofty religious pretensions of the concept.
     
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  25. thuleatan

    thuleatan Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Funny, contrasts such as this one are exactly what make the album interesting to me. And this particular one doesn't seem all that sudden, really - the song modulates a lot between the opening lines 'Open doors we find our way' and the last '...at all, at all', building gradually - it's not all sweetness - then there are more instrumental shifts, and only then the distorted drumming.

    I don't think it's uncommon to be contemplating things like outer space, evolution, geologically ancient time etc, only to spring back to thoughts about your own little life and loves, so insignificant yet so significant. It's great that there's an album like this one which speaks to that same ambiguity.
     
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