commericial remastering

[dobro]

So I fired Live Dead into the Diskman tonight. First time in ages. What a good good piece of music, and I still can't imagine how they did it. I can't imagine how they pulled it off live, but I sure would like to do similar some day. Like tomorrow.

Anyway.

The mix on the CD sucks. The liner notes say: "Compact disk mastering approved the the Grateful Dead". Yeah, well, if they approved it, they were all either stoned or absent when the approval went in. What's wrong with it, you might ask? Well, Garcia's guitar for a start, and Garcia's voice for a follow-up. They're both harsh as fuck.

The liner notes also say somebody called Joe Gastwirt did the digital remastering of the album, and that he was assisted by Dave Collins.

Well, Joe...Dave... nice try boys. Better luck next time. If you're still in the industry.

What a nasty piece of digital CDery.

The vinyl LP was really nice sounding I recall. None of this harshness. This kind of unfortunate translation to CD has happened to me before - Paul Simon's first solo album for example.

Why don't people just do things right?

 

[dobro]

Hoo!

But on a more positive note, I bet I'm one out of about 15 people who listened to Live Dead today.

What a good good piece of music.

 

[dobro]

Mind you, the problem I mention crops up worst on Dark Star, and calms down by the time the third track, The Eleven rolls around. So, why am I so bitter? Well, Dark Star is the most beautiful song on the album. It oughtta be right.

I'm probably one of about 23 people who are qualified to discuss this here. And yet, I continue to talk to myself...

Me: So, self - what do you think of Live Dead?

Self: Well, you've heard that already, so why don't we get some input for a refreshing change?

Me: Good idea.

 

[camn]

I think he mybe was restoring the recording to its most accurate, you know. I bet the vinyl was covering up the natural crap-sound of Jerry G.

xoxo

 

[BrettB]

You have to be carefull with so called remasters.

I once bought a James Brown Live CD, which was also 'remastered'. I put it on and after 2 seconds I heared I was ripped off. Dreadful sound, too horrible to describe. It sounded like it was bootlegged with one mic and that there were some synth like horns overdubbed. And yes idd, somewere in tiny letters in the booklet, it said: overdubs done in studio blahblah!

I hate it when I get ripped off

 

[Son of Mixerman]

They're both harsh as #&$

The liner notes also say somebody called Joe Gastwirt did the digital remastering of the album, and that he was assisted by Dave Collins.

Well, Joe...Dave... nice try boys. Better luck next time. If you're still in the industry.

What a nasty piece of digital CDery.

The vinyl LP was really nice sounding I recall. None of this harshness. This kind of unfortunate translation to CD has happened to me before - Paul Simon's first solo album for example.

Why don't people just do things right?

Why not email old Dave here dcollins@earthlink.net and let him know what you think.

Or goto http://webbd.nls.net/webboard/wbpx.dll/~mastering and let it fly


SoMm

 

[webstop]

I'm probably one of about 23 people who are qualified to discuss this here. And yet, I continue to talk to myself...

Me: So, self - what do you think of Live Dead?

Self: Well, you've heard that already, so why don't we get some input for a refreshing change?

Me: Good idea.

Hey Dobro, its always nice to talk to a smart person. Right?

 

[dobro]

"Why not email old Dave here dcollins@earthlink.net and let him know what you think.

Or goto http://webbd.nls.net/webboard/wbpx.dll/~mastering and let it fly


SoMm"

Nah, I don't think so. My opinion's as harsh as the sound of Garcia's guitar on Dark Star. Plus, I posted that comment in the middle of two things: my second bottle of wine and Dark Star. By the time the album got to the third track (The Eleven), the mix was much better. So what I'm thinking now is something like this: it was a live recording, and somehow they were stuck with that sound on Garcia's guitar. I still remember my vinyl version as sounding lovely by comparison, though.