SH Spotlight Why I became a mastering engineer. Here's an example of 2 versions of the same song. MOON MULLICAN

234 West 56th Street, New York

 

Yes! I love the Quebe Sisters too! I've seen them several times here in NYC and was pleased to learn that they are huge fans of Bob Wills and especially the Tiffany Transcriptions.

 

I apologize for the delay in responding, but I wanted to listen to the Dance At Nick At Niteclub comp beforehand. I could be mistaken, but I think the mix of Shotgun on this comp is true stereo. I found it to be a revelation upon the first listen. The all too familiar distortion is GONE allowing the subtle and brilliant detail to be heard. The stereo imaging is different with vocals centered. It's great, but I sensed that the stereo field was a tad too narrow and the bottom a bit anemic. Using Audacity, which is an audio file editor, I widened the stereo field by about 25% and goosed the bottom around 75 Hz by 12 dB. Now it sounds like I'm right in the studio. This is my definitive go to for Shotgun!

 

Yeah, I actually like the reverb version.

There goes my credibility on this forum!

 

Trust me, I do every day.

 

Thanks for getting back on this. Nice to see someone else using Audacity for stereo reverb enhancement. What stereo widening effect plugin did you use on Shotgun?

I hunted down the Nick At Night version of Shotgun on YouTube which does have some very good stereo/reverb spatial stage imaging with this...



But I've found a couple of different stereo/reverb treatments on other versions with some having the vocals channels flipped to the right and some centered. This one has a different stereo imaging sound than the Nick At Night version...

Shotgun (Extended Stereo Mix 2005)

I have to agree that is a very good sounding stereo recording. It sounds good on headphones but I've come to find the wider and in line with my ear instead at my temples or forehead positioning those instruments sound, they are very distant on speakers.

 

I like and use Channel Mixer by Steve Daulton. While it has presets, its settings can be custom adjusted. I got it from the Nyquist effects downloads page. Nyquist Effect Plug-ins - Audacity Wiki

The version of Shotgun in the YouTube video you shared doesn't sound bad, but it's too wide for my tastes and I can't stand the vocals panned hard left. Apart from the stereo imaging lacking a bit of width and being a bit thin on the bottom, the Nick At Niteclub version is great. After some conservative tweaking as described in my previous post, I think I nailed it.

By the way, the Chubby Checker songs on the Nick At Nite CD are re-recordings.

 

Thanks for the Channel Mixer link. I'll give it a try. I'm going to track down your version of Nick At Niteclub CD see if I can snag it. Just want to hear what you're hearing. That makes over three different stereo versions of Shotgun so far.

Thanks a bunch!

 

Exactly., the Stereo is lifeless and Neutered. Mono or go home. For me, "Shotgun" was meant like so much period Motown to be heard in mono. Steve Hoffman is right. "The Sound Of Young America" then was mono.

 

Is this it, Steve?



It still has that open, airy room feel on the L/R perimeter only it's all in the center of my head and the room is severely reduced in size L/R but pretty deep maybe like they're playing in rectangular shaped garage as I listen on headphones. So now another version of Shotgun. That's about 5 so far.

 

Does this work?

 

DOH!

I found a "True Stereo" version that I now see you found before I posted and it has the vocals that sing the title positioned to where I can point to the left bottom side of my neck just below my ear. And the organ is on upper back below my neck. What freakin' software could do that to lead vocals and instruments?

Can't imagine what it would sound like on speakers.

OK now that makes six? seven? versions of Shotgun. I lost count.

 

Can anyone recommend a good easy to find Moon Mullican comp without the reverb?

 

Yes! This thread has piqued my interest in Moon Mullican and I’m absolutely in love with the vibe of the dry version of “Every Which-A-Way.” Surely this recording exists on CD somewhere! Right?

 

In keeping with forum tradition of mentioning the Beatles whenever possible his Wiki page notes he had a song called " I Ain't No Beatle But I Wanna Hold Your Hand". Now back to our regularly scheduled programing.

 

Not at all Steve, and I have and enjoy the mono single version. It's just that I agree with some others that the stereo imaging on the Nick At Nite version is clean and natural sounding. Also, I'm didn't mean to derail the original topic.

 

That mono version is on the 1992 Hitsville box set, if I recall correctly

 

Did others like Gold Star use the Neve mixing console to get their versions or was it just a different approach to low tech recording of a recording in a little room through I'm assuming very high quality accurate speakers and mics?

Neve 8078 - Wikipedia [/QUOTE]

Gold Star didn't use a Neve solid state console. They used a custom built tube console like virtually everyone else did then. And they were lower budget, and for many years behind the state of the art in multi-track excess. During most of the 1960's they were 3 track, and later on 4 track.

 

And it is the real hit version, the one which makes the Stereo mix sound neutered. More bass, more slam, more impact.

 

Love this thread! What do you think about Joe Meek Mr. Hoffman? He was a mad genius IMO, so sad about what happened to him. Is there any way that someone (not yourself, since you're retired, could remaster his recordings?)
Ryan