Elvis at the International Hotel Las Vegas 1969 Box Set

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by emjel, Apr 9, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Not a bad way to start your FTD journey. And there are many great releases you can explore in the future.
     
  2. RoyalPineapple

    RoyalPineapple It ain't me in the photo, babe.

    Location:
    England
    Ross-Spang is 32 years old. So he's mixed it from the persective of someone who still knows how to enjoy music.
     
    NumberEight likes this.
  3. AGimS

    AGimS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    Anyone who likes the new boxset?
     
    GillyT and johnny q like this.
  4. RoyalPineapple

    RoyalPineapple It ain't me in the photo, babe.

    Location:
    England

    I imagine most people like it. What you tend to get on this part of the forum is an echo chamber of about 24 passionate fans, woolly boogers, squirrels and funky angels all with very similar views.

    The new mixes: I personally could have done without the added echo, particularly on the spoken sections (and the more we talk about it, the more obvious it becomes - sorry), but overall I think they sound good.

    Yes, there are some idiosyncrasies to the mixes, some inconsistencies. It's been mixed by a human being, not a computer program. There were some idiosyncrasies on the Anesini mixes too. If you go looking for flaws you are going to find them, that's for sure.

    But if we can stop analysing for a second and actually appreciate what has been offered, let the music wash over us and actually have the intended emotional effect, I think there's a lot to enjoy.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2019
    DirkM, Headfone, laf848 and 3 others like this.
  5. CBackley

    CBackley Chairman of the Bored

    I’m liking it so far. I haven’t done a comparison to any of my FTDs, but on its own the box set is very enjoyable.
     
    GillyT, laf848, RSteven and 2 others like this.
  6. RoyalPineapple

    RoyalPineapple It ain't me in the photo, babe.

    Location:
    England
    Listening to other shows from this series of shows, both on FTD and the new box set, there is some variation throughout on which songs feature the keyboards.

    Blue Suede Shoes, most notably, has piano during some of the shows and not at others. All Shook Up is another example.

    The Anesini mix of the 22nd Dinner show is missing the piano for these songs, as is the Ross-Spang mix of the same show. And as mentioned earlier, the same goes for the Ferrante and Ross-Spang mixes of the 24th Dinner show (for Blue Suede Shoes and several others).

    But the 23rd dinner show, in between the other two, does feature piano on Blue Suede Shoes.

    So it's interesting that a big deal is made about Ferrante apparently submerging the keyboards, when they are also entirely missing on some of Vic Anesini's mixes.

    The most likely explanation is that there are limitations and some peculiarities to these 50-year-old raw recordings, which nevertheless sound remarkably excellent.

    Either that, or all three engineers decided to mix out the piano. Or there was some variation from show to show on which songs featured the piano in the first place.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2019
    DirkM, Mr. H, laf848 and 5 others like this.
  7. Sebastian

    Sebastian Senior Member

    Interesting observations.

    Do we know how the 8 tracks were used during recording? I just listened to Can't Help Falling in Love on Hot August Night (FTD) an realized that the strings and horns appeared on different sides of the stereo image. Since only 8 tracks were available, I therefore assume that the strings share a track with, let's say, the piano etc. The same probably applies to the horns. Such circumstances do not make it particularly easy for the mixing engineer. This could be solved by applying model de-mixing technologies (as on the Beatles' recent Hollywood Bowl release), but I guess that's outside the scope of the budget.
     
    DirkM, Mr. H, RSteven and 1 other person like this.
  8. AGimS

    AGimS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    Thanks, I knew I had to have it. Just bought it from my local. They had 25% off of everything in the shop this weekend, so I am happy.:)
     
    RSteven and RoyalPineapple like this.
  9. When In Rome

    When In Rome It's far from being all over...

    Location:
    UK
    Mines waiting for me upstairs, my folks are visiting this afternoon so priorities have to be put into practise.
    I don't think they'll miss me much whilst I rip it... :D
     
  10. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Mine's coming from the UK, so it will be a week or so. Looking forward to it though.
     
  11. The Killer

    The Killer Dung Heap Rooster

    Location:
    The Cotswolds
    I've cancelled my ambiguous status order and bought a couple of 1969 FTD's I didn't have; In Person and Live in Las Vegas. I might reorder in the future but I'm naffed off I didn't get my copy and it seems unavailable in general. Anyway it's all on spotify and we have an account so I'll have a listen to it on that (and grumble...).
     
    Shvartze Shabbos likes this.
  12. RoyalPineapple

    RoyalPineapple It ain't me in the photo, babe.

    Location:
    England
    It all depends if you have a strong preference for a relaxed, vintage sound or something more amped-up and raucous. Both styles are perfectly good, but some people much prefer one end of the spectrum to the other.

    I personally am a fan of both mixing styles, which is why it is great we have such choice available. But the new mixes definitely lean towards the punchier end of the scale. They require some relaxation of the audiophile muscle, but I think there is plenty to enjoy once that hurdle is cleared.

    I think the added echo is a little odd (I'll put that in a separate post so those who don't want to focus on it can skip my ramblings), but otherwise I think the new mixes are great fun. Those who have a very strong preference for the vintage or more relaxed sound will still be happiest with the FTDs.
     
    laf848, RSteven, AGimS and 1 other person like this.
  13. RoyalPineapple

    RoyalPineapple It ain't me in the photo, babe.

    Location:
    England
    For indoor live recordings, the sound engineer usually adds some spacious reverb to the tapes to help simulate the sense of space of a large hall or arena.

    After all, the audience would have heard plenty of reverb, and the musicians would also be performing with this reverb in their heads, and adjusting their peformance to suit.

    The most unnatural thing of all, then, is a completely dry-sounding recording made in a x-thousand seat arena (I'm looking at you, Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis - Legacy Edition).

    Ross-Spang's preference, however, is to add a "slapback" echo to the vocals. This isn't the long, smooth trail-off that you would hear by shouting into a cathedral or arena, but a very quick and pronounced echo that repeats everything Elvis says a fraction of a second later.

    Some people may love the sound of it, and it's most noticable on the spoken word sections, but I personally am not a huge fan of this added echo: I'd rather he'd stuck to a more faithful sounding reverb, particularly on the spoken sections.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2019
    artfromtex, RSteven, Shawn and 2 others like this.
  14. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Intrigued to hear this. I am not averse to Echo or Reverb, but I am not really a fan of unnecessarily added Echo/reverb. I have always found unless the sound of the venue is really bad, that is the sound you should go for. Unless you are trying to cover something up, or mask it slightly, echoes and reverbs can just be a pain in the butt.
    Thanks for the forewarning.
     
    laf848, RSteven and melstapler like this.
  15. RoyalPineapple

    RoyalPineapple It ain't me in the photo, babe.

    Location:
    England
    I don't want to make it out to be a bigger issue than it is. To my ears, it's mainly the spoken sections that sound a little odd, not the music.

    And I like a spacious, natural sounding reverb, which in general helps to simulate the room sound that is often not captured sufficiently (or at all) by the onstage microphones.

    The reverb is where much of the sound lives in a live recording, even if it often has to be added back in during the mixing stage. But a slapback echo effect can be less authentic sounding, and was a peculiar choice to add to the spoken sections of these shows.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2019
  16. AGimS

    AGimS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    Well so far I like it very much. I have all the FTD´s and all, but I'm not really into comparing and going into the details. I like the punchy sound, as long as it is dynamic.
    And this is dynamic, you can crank it. Sounds good on my system!
     
  17. Hey, Killer, looks to be in stock on amazon U.K.

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PPVVYMQ/
     
  18. The Killer

    The Killer Dung Heap Rooster

    Location:
    The Cotswolds
    It was delivery in September this morning, and that's a fiver more! Thanks for the tip off but I'm gonna hold out for now.
     
    Shvartze Shabbos likes this.
  19. :tiphat:
     
    Jimii70 likes this.
  20. John D.

    John D. Senior Member

    Something is not right here when you have to thank heavens Sony is releasing physical product.
    It seems to me that Sony has hi-jacked the music industry and is proceeding to destroy it.
    Just my opinion, I won't pay to stream or download music.
     
  21. B-Mike

    B-Mike Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Is Live In Vegas the box set or is there a FTD with the same title?
     
  22. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    If they stop releasing stuff, I guess they stop getting my money. Market manipulation at its finest sadly
     
    DirkM, BeatleJWOL, RSteven and 2 others like this.
  23. John D.

    John D. Senior Member

    They aren't getting as much of mine either, ever since that incident of spyware they were putting on cds, I don't like them. :mad:
     
    mark winstanley likes this.
  24. I saw the double LP yesterday but didn’t pick it up. Anyone heard it ?
     
    CBackley likes this.
  25. John D.

    John D. Senior Member

    There was a delay, but mine arrives tomorrow from amazon. Looking forward to spinning it then.
     
    Shvartze Shabbos, RSteven and Mazzy like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine