SH Spotlight Steve's Mastering Secrets, Part II

Steve, being HUGE fan of Fred Darian and his JAF 45s, I was a bit puzzled by the lack of wider separation on "Johnny Willow," which you remastered from the original 3-track tape for its stereo debut on his "American Songbook" CD. What benefit were you seeking from creating a narrow stereo mix? Also, the master used for "North To Durango" was not the original JAF single version. How did that happen? Still puzzled, too, as how "North To Durango" also saw release on United Artists. What do you know? Thanks.

 

Steve... a question about EQ for you.

I feel like I'm pretty good at finding the offending frequencies. I began by examining the "pressure points" that you describe in the interview archives. From there, I've been able to venture out to other frequencies when needed.

But what about the slope? When do you know you have the right width? Do you have any good ways, like the pressure points, to learn the effects of slope?

I've been adjusting the EQ on the original Columbia CD of Sticky Fingers. Sometimes I'll hit a frequency that is needed, but it's easy to go too far with a minimal amount of gain. So I'll adjust the slope so it's thinner... that seems to help. But other than that, it's just trial and error.

Any tips?

 

Thanks Steve... I'm using digital EQ, so I guess I have to figure out the equivalent of a Sontec 6.

 

Steve have you ever been approached to do anything from Sam Cooke? I would die to hear some of the 45 versions redone by you

If too far off topic sorry

 

Very sad, we want to buy it, and it's not offered.

 

I too would like to know what the digital EQ equivalent of a Sontec 6 is...anybody help CardinalFang and I out?

 

Paul,

I did some research last night. I think that a Q of .8 is equal to Sontec 6. I'm using the Waves Renaissance compressor.

 

My apologies for assuming that Fred Darian's tapes were mixed from three-track reels. Maybe I was thinking of the yet-to-be-issued Dobie Gray sessions that he produced on Charger. At any rate, it was great to finally hear Fred's songs in true digital clarity. Nice job, Steve.

 

Hi Steve.

I don't know if this was mentioned or not before, but I heard many years ago (from William [Bill] Whitman)of a Pete Townshend personal mix of Who's Next....and that it was fab.

Any recollection of this, and will we ever hear it?

 

After your response, I know it doesn't really make a difference, but I left out a word in my questioning...

personal MONO mix

 

Whoa!

 

Steve, what did you perform on "The Summit"? I have had a recording of the Villa Venice gig and wished to know what you did to make it sound so much better than what was out there...(besides accessing the masters of course and also being legal!)

 

So you remixed it, or tripped over a tape after hunting for weeks?

 

Gee, my two 'No Dice' cd's sound pretty different than each other.
You must have been a bit luckier than me with that EMI cd (haha).

I agree that the difference between the 2 'Straight Up' cd's is more pronounced.

If you want to hear 'We're For The Dark" all crappy and distorted, get the
'Best Of Badfinger' that Dan Mantovina picked the tunes for
(the 2nd one w/ the color cover). The mastering engineer butchered that one.

 

Steve - I love how you leave studio chatter/other takes on certain tracks (ie, DCC Elvis - Elvis is Back! - Such A Night). Do you make the decision to leave this on or is this beyond your control?

 

Steve,

A question about the Nat King Cole LP you did for S&P, "Just One Of Those Things."

Were the 3 bonus tracks remixed as well or were they the original stereo mixes since they came from a different album?

 

Yep. That's the one.

I like the artwork on that one.