Not my bad mix, but the BBC!

[rob aylestone]

I have to say I am very disappointed with this mix. It is the BBC Proms. Normally a great event, visually and sonically. This time I hated it. Not the musicianship, but the lack of coordination between what we saw and heard. The BBC have always been very good at matching the audio mix with the visuals. This often meant different mixes for radio and TV, but here we would see a featured instrument and find it totally missing from the mix. Other times we would see and hear something badly wrong. For example, when the guitars start, in one channel we get brass going Pa-paaa. This part is correct but not the critical part. We hear the brass in one part and in the foreground the strings playing like mad, but missing from the mix. The end section in the original, started ppp and built to a climax. Here it’s just loud from the onset. The climax doesn’t happen at all. It’s NOT YouTube the original is wonderful, but it looks like there was a compressor on the output and robbed it of the excitement.

It makes me wonder what the mixer actually thought it should sound like and they missed the point totally.

 

[Papanate]

Maybe they were mixing for Small TV screens? - Certainly is flat sounding.

 

[TalismanRich]

I didn't think it was all that bad, but I'm just listening on my laptop with those massive 0.75" speakers. It was refreshing just to hear Tubular Bells again (it's been ages!)

How many rock videos have we seen where we get to the guitar or organ solo and instead of showing someone really getting into playing their instrument, we get the lead singer dancing around shaking a tambourine?

Who wants to watch Jimmy Page, when you can see that sexy Robert Plant in his tight jeans?

 

[Bulls Hit]

I enjoyed it. Yeah haven't heard it in a while. Thought the reed and pipe organ a bit wimpy and the bells were buried. Agree there wasn't much of a build up or climax. Maybe the mix was just a reflection of the live dynamics without trying to emulate the original

 

[rob aylestone]

I always compare it to ravel’s bolero. Not much happens but it builds and builds. Two slightly distorted bassoons yo7 couldn5 hear and double guitar with only one visible. I listened again and even more things jump out. Spotify has all sorts of versions of the piece all better! I expected better from the BBC

 

[Gtoboy]

Hey Rob, aren't they using some sort of 'AI' mixing software at the broadcast studios these days? It sounds to me as if there is a non-human at the helm when I hear these mismatched AV concerns.

 

[rob aylestone]

Just listened to the court of the crimson queen. Same problems - dynamic range squished to LOUD, and singers and important orchestral parts clearly played, missing. It's MY money that pays for mega sophisticated audio gear they use, but with somebody working it who should not be mixing classical style music. When I assisted classical recordings like this (never was good enough to be in charge) one thing I had to do was follow the score and point out the new lines suddenly coming in, and those about to stop - plus highlighting important performance directions. As in, a load of hairpins going down to ppp, leaving a single oboe exposed. Part of my job was looking ahead so the engineer would not be surprised when something happened. I would also look at the conductor to see when he suddenly looked at the trombones - I'd say trombones, as soon as he looked at them and a finger was ready on the VCA - sometimes it would be for something big and bold but other times, the look was because they were TOO strident and he needed them lower. I got promoted to doing smaller live recordings in churches on my own, so never got a chance to mix a multi-mic big concert. Shame. I do know that I could do a better job than these this.