Demastering your music

[billrobbo]

For me personally, there are so many albums and tracks that sound great on a good system that I just avoid the ones that do not, and don't really miss them. If there was a favorite album that needed demastering, I might give it a try.

I guess that's the rub. I enjoy the early Springsteen and Cohen but, because of their age, they don't sound as good as they could. If this process can make them more enjoyable then I'm willing to put the effort in.

 

[tesseract]

I'm super interested in a Tigerlilly comparison... that's one CD that sounds like it want's be be vibrant and full, but ends up sounding rather flat and unexciting.

I have an MFSL 45 rpm album of this and also listen to it on TIDAL and agree, there seems to be a veil over what wants to be a great recording.

 

[tesseract]

Just as an aside on that album (Tigerlily):

...

I'm not a lyrics kind of guy...as they apparently exist, but I read about the story of where the track "Beloved Wife" came from: Merchant's grandfather apparently died a couple of days after his wife died in the 1980s, and the experience of watching his grief end his life, too apparently caused his granddaughter to write the song.

Chris

Just went through this with my grandparents, my grandfather and namesake passing within months of his wife, my grandmother, of 66 years. I knew the man well, he was always very upbeat and had a little perma-smile on his face at all times. The loss changed him radically and eventually killed him.

It is a difficult song for me to listen to.

 

[AudiocRaver]

One more thought:

The aspect of this that is most fascinating to me is the approach to the music and listening experience and the mindset that would have one demastering a good portion of his music. Please do not take this at all personally, Chris, we never flame here, but we also are not afraid to speak out and say what is on our minds.

For me, having done some composing, recording, mixing, and mastering, mainly of my own works, those steps are all part of the process of delivering a recorded work to the listener. When I hear an album or track I don't care for, I don't think, "The music is good, and the basic recording, but not the mastering," and go about undoing the mastering so I can enjoy the music without it. It is simply a recording I do not care for, for whatever reason, and I will listen to one of the many oodles of albums and tracks that delight my sensibilities as they are.

Now, that is ME. You, Chris, and certainly many others, see that badly mastered album as a potential opportunity, as a mix of sand and gravel that is likely to contain some nuggets of gold, and are willing to pan and sift and screen and - voila! c'est ca! - there is some pretty nice sounding music after all! A perfectly valid undertaking and a perfectly good way to spend a bit of time to uncover that nugget. If you WANT to. If I tried it, knowing the way I approach such things, I would get so caught up in the process that I would be up all night tweaking on one album and when I got done I would still not be happy about some little thing that bugs me and would walk away and never try it again. Again, that's just ME,

For all who are more than likely to

• enjoy the process
• easily keep a lid on the time it takes to process an album or track
• easily and decisively know when they are done
• and are satisfied with the result

the process and outcomes will seem very worthwhile.

Again, no disrespect, and I thank you for a well-thought-out and explained and documented process that many can benefit from.

 

[billrobbo]

Interesting

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

Let me get this straight: you're now demanding that I do more work and expose myself to litigation so that you're going to relegate a total of 30 seconds to considering the technique? Interesting.

It actually sounds like you're not truly interested, but curiously, you're taking the time to comment in this thread. You're rejecting my previous offer--which is much more effective in hearing the differences.

It seems as if I'm playing apologetics on this new forum...something that I find a bit hard to understand given the current situation. I see only "staff" responding here, which to me means that you're attempting to launch the site. I initially felt was a good cause to try to support with a subject that I've found is worthy of a audio enthusiast's time and energy, because of the potential to significantly change the listening experience and connection to the music.

I was afraid that this would turn out to be another chore rather than what it has become for me: catharsis. I've personally spent years of having to listen to the effects of poor mastering on the music that I've acquired, but now I don't have to spend another minute listening to those effects. That's something that I believe has real value. Unfortunately, that notion isn't apparently shared here.

I fear that I've wasted my time in assembling the two tutorials above, providing available examples for those truly willing to try, and answering questions. But questioning the entire concept without any actual listening time or effort in some responses here isn't really something that I relish doing again and again. I suppose the Part 3 of the tutorials isn't really worthy of effort to complete. That's unfortunate. That's where the real meat of the technique is.

Have a good day. Hope things go well for you.

Chris

I am not demanding anything. I said before that I do find it interesting and the value to me is in better understanding what is done to the music, particularly that which may not be prioritized by the intent of the artist(s) but by perceived distribution and sales needs. I might not be interested in remastering my own music, but that does not mean that I don't see value in the work you have done.

As to opening you up to litigation, I think this is a gross over-reaction and a misunderstanding of copyright law. There are clear exceptions for fair use that have been repeatedly upheld and a requirement to show harm to the owner. In this case, such a production and comparison is clearly for the purpose of review, research, commentary, and/or education, and no possible argument could be made for harm. If anything, people would be more likely to purchase the music if they find a way that they can make these fantastic works of art sound better.

No, I don't want to do it myself for the most part, but don't take critique and dissection of what you have produced as complete rejection of your work. That was never intended. Again, I think this has great value, but for me personally it is more academic than practical.

 

[Fugazi97]

Clearly, I understand. I really recommend listening to an already demastered CD in the mean time. I recommend Steely Dan's Gaucho, perhaps Joni Mitchell's Blue or Miles of Aisles, one of Nora Jones' first three CDs, Brian Bromberg's Wood, Natalie Merchant's Tigerlily, John Coltrane's Blue Train...or one of the perhaps 1000 other albums that I've already demastered (and an album that you already own) to hear the difference.

Shoot me a "conversation" (PM) and I can access you to any albums you are interested in.

Chris

I am VERY interested in trying out what you suggest! can you send me something from Steely Dan or Natalie merchant so I could hear the effect you are getting?