SH Spotlight Steve's Mastering Secrets, Part II

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by salleno, Feb 8, 2008.

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  1. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    BOOTS we got from Nancy, the original Western Lanky stereo mix.

    THE WANDERER as you know was never mixed to stereo until 1986 or so. My friend the late Bob Hyde took a whack at it as did "Little" Walter. Heck, I even took a whack at it. I can't even remember which one I finally chose. The one with the least amount of reverb.

    GROOVIN' came from the original mono master "hit" mix.
     
  2. salleno

    salleno Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    So. Cal.
    How about Bobby Darin's "Beyond The Sea" on The Italians Comp?
     
  3. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey

    Lanky, Steve? Psudenom for wonky? :)

    Did this stuff need much finessing?
     
  4. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Lanky Lindstrot.

    A great deal, yes.
     
  5. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    I didn't realize he was the engineer. It came out really great...

    Did "The Wanderer" and "Groovin'" need much help? Also, "There's a Moon Out Tonight"?
     
  6. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Moon was a flat transfer from the best sounding mono tape.

    Groovin' was a flat transfer. Why mess that beautiful sound?

    Dion needed a lot of reverse EQ help in the top end.
     
  7. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    Thanks Steve!
     


  8. Yes, Steve H. did the vinyl of "Icky Thump".
     
  9. JOHNNY B. GOODE

    JOHNNY B. GOODE Forum Resident

    Interesting thread thanks!
     
  10. Greatest Hits

    Greatest Hits Just Another Compilation

    I'd be interested in hearing about this one as well...

    Also "Walk Like A Man" from the same comp. This is probably the first mastering of the stereo version I've heard that has noticeable bass.
     
  11. Tadpole in a Jar

    Tadpole in a Jar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    Volume issue driving me nuts

    I've been trying to do crude home mastering on my projects. I use "Good Times, Bad Times" from Led Zeppelin I, the Diament version, for A/B comparison.

    Something that's driving me nuts on this one particular track is that for some reason it's so quiet and thin-sounding, yet the wav is actually fatter and has higher peaks than the Zeppelin! Yet when I turn the Zeppelin on for comparison I'm blown out of my chair by the comparative volume as well as well-rounded tone. I've played the two from inside the same software so it's not that one output volume is higher than the other. By the time I get it to match, in my perception, I've limited it into a concrete block, which is not what I want.

    How can something that actually has lower peaks and less compression sound louder?
     
  12. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    Which are you talking about as "The Zeppelin"? The new comp?
     
  13. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    I think Tadpole is talking about using the Zeppelin track as a reference for home mastering of original work :)


    The perceived volume level is all about the average power in the signal, not how high the highest peaks go. So, if most of the peaks in a track are hitting say -5dB then it will sound louder than a track which has some peaks that are higher than -5dB but also a significant number that are below -5dB.

    Look to see if you can find an option to tell you the r.m.s. power of the track - this is the "root mean square" power of the waveform which basically gives you an idea of the volume. You should find that the r.m.s. power of the track you are perceiveing as louder is higher than that of the one you perceive as quieter despite seeing higher peaks in the quieter track.

    :)
     
  14. AaronW

    AaronW Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Steve, how were the tapes for Miles Davis album "The New Miles Davis Quartet" Prestige 7014? Did you have to do any serious tweaking for 45rpm set? I just picked up an early first pressing and it's a different cut and sounds quite different from the second pressing. Thanks in advance!
     
  15. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Hmmmm, one of the first Van Gelder engineered 12" albums. Tapes were nice sounding with the usual drop outs here and there. I believe we put the full track tape on a two track machine and I picked which mono channel (either right or left) that had the least drop out problems.

    Other than that I think I worked on the bass a bit but that's it!
     
  16. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    Speaking of drop outs....when you do run across them, which I imagine is quite often, do you try to fix those digitally...or just let them be? I can't really think of any SH cd's I own where I've actually heard a drop out.
     
  17. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    I never fix digitally if it's humanly possible to do it any other way. Other ways to take care of the problem. I'd tell you what they are but then I'd have to keell uuuuu.
     
  18. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas

    Steve,

    Do you know how the OJC CD would sound in comparison? The DCC is kinda hard to find/expensive.
     
  19. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    No idea but they definitely used the exact same tape I did.
     
  20. Zowie

    Zowie Forum Resident

    Location:
    Left Coast, Canada
    You really don't take this quasi-adoration thing around here that seriously ... I like that.
     
  21. Mike the Fish

    Mike the Fish Señor Member

    Location:
    England
    Back to Donovan quickly. Why do the two Garland comps have tracks in common? Are there stereo mixes of any of the stuff from his first album? How were the tapes for this era of his stuff?
     
  22. spot1019

    spot1019 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berwyn Illinoise

    do I recall hearing dropouts on Red Octopus ? DCC LP at least
     
  23. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    Those were beyond redemption. :)
     
  24. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    You're asking stuff I have no idea about. Also, Donovan "albums" are not really easy to describe. Are you speaking of the Hickory albums, what?

    Tapes are fine. You have the SACD I did, right?
     
  25. Mike the Fish

    Mike the Fish Señor Member

    Location:
    England
    You did an SACD? I'm refering to the DCC Donovan CDs you mastered way back. They were Catch The Wind and Colours. In the UK his first album was: What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid - on PYE.

    1. Josie
    2. Catch The Wind
    3. The Alamo
    4. Cuttin' Out
    5. Car Car
    6. Keep On Truckin'

    7. Goldwatch Blues
    8. To Sing For You
    9. You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond
    10. Tangerine Puppet
    11. Donna Donna
    12. Ramblin' Boy.


    The second was Fairytale - on PYE.

    Containing Colours amongst other things.

    The DCC comps both contained elements of both albums, but had tracks in common. I wondered why this was, and if the What's Bin Did stuff has stereo mixes around anywhere. I was very pleased to hear the album version of Catch The Wind rather than the single version which goes out of sync with the overdubs in places!

    Can someone direct me to the SACD please?
     
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