Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells 50th - Blu-ray Audio 05.26.23 (Atmos/Quad/5.1/Stereo/Demos)

I think an RSD release is fair for something thats only been available in an expensive and/or out of print set.
I was interested in the LP, as I don't have the box. But in the end I bought nothing on RSD, as I'm just fed up with the inflated prices.

 

I got the shipping notification for my Tubular Bells 50th BluRay Audio today.

 

Someone on facebook won a ticket to hear the album played at the Dolby Laboratories Theatre. Here's what he said:

"So! What did it sound like? The lights went down and in pitch black darkness we listened! F*****g Hell! Let's just say I'm quite close to ditching my umpteen grand vinyl hifi set up in favour of a Dolby Atmos system! Really? Well, actually, no! And herein lies the problem. I was lucky enough to hear this monumental LP, in all its immersive glory on a multi thousand pound Atmos system, in a multi thousand pound purpose built auditorium, acoustically treated to within an inch of its very existence. And it sounded superb! No, it was better than that, it was f*****g superb. Mr Kosten has done an amazing job of introducing space and layers between the instruments that simply were not there in the original, whilst keeping it true to the original. The sounds that we all know and love are clearer, more defined, with none being too loud or subdued overall. It was like listening to 16 Mike Oldfields positioned all around the room, and while, yes, there was a fair bit of stereo panning, it didn't detract from the overall balance of the piece. I'll never hear Tubular Bells that way again. I was lucky, and for that I am thankful"

There was a Q&A and Kosten told the audience he spent a month working on the remix. He also revealed that, of all things, the Bells were missing from the 16 track master. He had to use some "technical wizardry" to re-create them. Neither Kosten, nor someone from Universal named Easlea, believe Mike has heard the Atmos mix yet as he doesn't have an Atmos set up.

 

Me too.

 

is the double LP available on typical retailers? I don't see it on Amazon or importcds.

 

Still have a 7 1/2 ips tape copy of this...the one with the hum on it...

 

Most definitely on amazon. Copy-paste this code on the search bar:

‎B0BYPL5S5Z

Edit: sorry, should have checked. That ASIN works only in the EU

 

thanks, i'll keep an eye on US amazon to avoid shipping from UK

 

It looks like this was done for the 2009 reissue but the message still applies. Someone should have moved the carelessly positioned girl a little further back in between the speakers to experience the full stereo impact. Poor thing.

 

Hmm...At least she's not using tin boxes to play it.

 

Currently available for streaming on Qobuz.

 

There is also a buying option on Qobuz (24 bit / 44.1 kHz). From the track list this seems similar to the stereo part of SDE's limited BDA ... but the sample rate does not match ... and thus no buy for me.

To be honest, i started ordering the BDA for 23 GBP, but when adding shipping costs and toll fees this would easily turn towards 50 EUR and i will not support that kind of pricing any more (i've payed for TB 73/76 quad/98/HDCD/SACD/2009, yet).

Anyway, i'm looking forward to any comment on the current sound quality in whatever format (only listened to Spotify/MP3 today). Thank you!

 

The 2023 Atmos mixes by David Kosten are streaming on Apple Music (three tracks: "Part I," "Part II" and "Intro Edit").

 

Wait a second... how were the bells achieved on the 2009 remix, then? They always sounded a bit off. Were they different bells all this time?

I'm assuming the "technical wizardry" on the 2023 is some sort of digital extraction technology.

 

As a side note, the version of "Mike Oldfield's Single" on the 2023 Spotify version seems to be the original mix, or at least a very similar remix to the original.

If you hated the 2009 version's overdubs, you'll be happy! It also restores the last 30 seconds that were cut from the remix's ending.

Unfortunately, the EQ on this (and the original mix, for that matter) sounds a bit janky, as if it was hit with some sort of hyper-clarity filter. Is anyone else hearing this? I think the 2011 SACD will remain my go-to copy of the original stereo mix.

 

Prostudiomasters has the same download available as Quboz (same sample rate) and has this info:
44.1 kHz / 24-bit PCM – UMC (Universal Music Catalogue) Studio Masters

Tracks 3, 9 – contains material which has been processed by a perceptual audio coding algorithm

The DR numbers are listed as well if you’re into that sort of thing.

 

He apparently took them from the finished album, somehow, because he had replaced them on the master. But don't quote me on that.

 

It was all about an engineer's comment about distortion on the original.

Mike Oldfield, interviewed in 2013: "Although it was distorted, that distortion was part of the whole effect. However, a couple of years later, some engineer who will remain nameless persuaded me to erase that hammer hit and replace it with a clean one which didn't work at all. To this day, the original tubular bell has been lost, due to that purist approach of avoiding all distortion, and I could really throttle that guy for insisting he knew best. The only place you can hear the original bell is on the two-track master; it's not on the multitrack anymore. As a result, what you hear on the 2009 remixed album is the quiet version that appeared about halfway through 'Part One', roughed up by me and blended with a sample of the two-track master, just to get a quarter of a second of that distortion on the edge of the bell. However, although it is harmonically correct, it's still not as good as the original.”

 

I posted most of this elsewhere but it is relevant on this thread, too.

In 1993, Tubular Bells was just 20 years old and in that year a fellow called Richard Newman - a musician and author based in Cambridge - snagged exclusive and extensive interviews with the elusive (if not then reclusive) Mike Oldfield, Tom Newman (producer of TB) and engineer Simon Heyworth, and wrote and published a 100 page book about the making of Tubular Bells called - unsurprisingly - "The Making Of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells." It is a slim 8.5" x 8.5" hardback with plenty of photos of The Manor, the building of the studio, the recording equipment used, the characters involved in the making of the record and so on. Quite a bit of the content was used in the book that accompanied the 2009 Super Deluxe / Ultimate boxed set pictured above, including the fold out facsimile of The Manor marketing pamphlet.

About Richard Newman — Home Page Photograph Of Richard by Fran May

Anyway, in 1993 the local BBC radio station in Cambridge held a charity auction of items donated to the cause by local companies. One of the items, donated by the Cambridge-based publisher of the book, was a copy signed by the author. This is it. I have no idea if it is the only signed copy.











Would I have preferred to have the signature on the title page? Yes. Would I have wet my pants for a week if the producer, engineer and Mike Oldfield had also signed it? You bet. Either way, signed or unsigned, I think it is a worthwhile companion to the album. (There is a later paperback edition, too.)

 

Lovely Jubbly,















Looking forward to the same for Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn, Incantations....

 

Very impressed with the David Kosten remix (Qobuz), instruments very clear, melodies very easy to follow, the whole thing has a very calm, pastoral feel. I reckon I’m going to put my money on the table for this…

 

Thanks for pointing this out! I think it is indeed the original mix, although the mastering is quite odd - very bass shy (on the Spotify stream, at least).

 

This us the first BRA I've had that let's me switch between versions "on the fly" though its a bit clunky. The Kosten stereo mix seems brighter. I get what people are saying about separation, but the "organic" feel of the original is a big part if its charm compared to subsequent remixes and the 2003 re-recording.
I think it'll take me a while to really enjoy this version.
(I don't have a surround set up)
I'm still looking at the vinyl edition, just because!

 

Looks fantastic; thanks for posting the pictures.

Slightly off-topic, but is it now widely acceptable to refer to anything mixed in more than 2 channels as “spatial audio?” I’ve noticed Paul/SDE doing this, but it seems odd for “traditional” 5.1 or vintage quad mixes, as I have been understanding it to refer to Apple’s earbud processing and/or Dolby Atmos.