Bob Dylan Bootleg Vol. 9 / Mono Box / Best of Mono News

Yeah, it's funny how your very first exposure to an artist as a kid can unduly color your impression of them until you've heard more of their stuff later. I jumped in just prior to then with Dylan with the "Watching the River Flow" single - a pretty big AM hit in 1971, and a total anomaly in his catalog - really just as much a Leon Russell record as Dylan's. Didn't really like it much at the time (the jauntiness of the arrangement and the horseness of Dylan's voice sounded too strange to my young ears), but now I really dig it - especially when heard on the original 45.

 

They sound very different, but some folks here do like them. I don't, but if you're curious about them, I would check one of them out.

 

I am listening to the 2005 Sony Remaster of "Bob Dylan". If it is in stereo it is perceptible to me and I have good equipment. There is virtually no separation and every sound appears to come from both channels. Sounds pretty good too.

 

Why would there be separation though? All of the sound is coming from one horizontal dimension.

 

What I am saying is that there is no difference between right and left channel (or any that I can discern).

 

I'm not sure how you could create a "natural" stereo mix out of something that wasn't recorded with a stereo microphone technique. I could imagine a remix that panned everything to the center but had stereo reverb mixed in, or panned everything very close to the center with slight stereo separation. Has anyone tried inverting the phase on one of the channels and checking to see if it perfectly cancels out the other channel?

I'm pretty psyched about the upcoming Dylan in Mono box, especially since it seems like it will be affordably priced. It would be really cool if they included the various mix and track variations on each album.

 

Right, I just meant that with only one person and no additional sounds, there shouldn't be any difference.

As I understand it, stereo allows for a wide soundstage, but with only one person in the soundstage, there won't be any perceived separation between left and right. It might sound wider than a mono mix would, but still no separation.

 

Yeah, I see your point and there is really no way to tell until (and if) I hear the new mono reissues. There seems to me to be some "image" but how to tell if really mono? Nothing on liner notes.

 

OK, I checked the 2005 remaster of the debut in a software, and it is NOT in mono. The volume varies between channels.

I would have swear it was, but there is a small difference between channels (not the kind you would have when transfering a mono tape on a stereo deck).

So it is indeed stereo.

 

All of my SACDs are in that bright red Columbia label, and all say stereo. The "Bob Dylan" I own is of course not SACD, but it does not say stereo on label. Having said that I am not surprised that it is really stereo.

 

Yes I know! I was surprised to see there weren't any mentions of MONO or STEREO on the packaging.

 

Thank you for your research.

 

A lot of early stereo recordings of music like this would have the guitar in the left channel and the singer in the right. Or vice-versa. Or maybe one of those would be in the center. I especially love it when the guitar starts off in the center, and then shortly before the vocals or harmonica starts you can hear it shift to one side. That's not really a wide soundstage. Just extreme separation of the various microphone signals. It tends to sound awful on headphones, or in a situation when you're expecting a consistent soundstage. You shouldn't think of it in terms of how many "people" are in the recording, but rather how many microphones, or tracks of tape. They probably had one mike aimed at the guitar and another aimed at Dylan's mouth + harmonica (and angled to minimize bleed between the two.)

Thanks, Plan9!

 

The mono set sounds like a good idea and might be wonderful to hear, but somehow I really doubt there will be any extras (like singles or alternate takes). The Sony and Dylan camps just don't seem to do things this way.

Maybe a deluxe edition at twice the price with a bonus disk and a book of, let's say, images of all of Dylan's non-American compilation albums?

Pardon my sarcasm.

 

I just hop they don't NR or compress it.

Twice would be a bargain, but I have a feeling that you meant 5 or 6 times the price.

 

Can't imagine they would make that mistake on a release aimed squarely at the lunatic fringe (us).



I think Freewheelin' willl benefit from this treatment most from the solo recordings. I always found that one screwy in stereo.

 

I am looking forward to Bringing it all Back Home in mono. I compared the two stereo CD releases of this one and I am not really satisfied with either one.

 

Why the ? EMI didn't compress or NR'ed the Beatles mono box. And they're often the worst concerning remasters.

 

I was laughing at the lunatic fringe comment.

 

October 19th will be a big day for me. I am down with the Dylans... and the release of Ladies and Gentlemen The Rolling Stones on DVD too.

 

...and Volume 5(!) of Rod's Great American Songbook (cough cough)

 

They can't all be winners, I guess.

 

Somebody please make it stop!

I mean it's great that Rod is still cashing those checks, but...

 

Got it.