Re: [ARSCLIST] Stereo records.

[phillip holmes <insuranceman@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Bob (others),
On summing to mono in the bass, besides the option of doing so by mastering 
engineers, didn't many labels send tapes that had the bass in mono?  I just 
don't hear many LPs that have true stereo bass.  The few classical records I 
have with huge bass in stereo are easy to identify visually (big old 
grooves).  I'm not trying to contradict you, but I've got very large servo 
stereo subwoofers, and with a lot of major releases, I don't hear swirling 
bass, bass panned hard left or right, and ping-pong bass.
And I understand why singles are cut loud.  Everyone involved wants to 
attract attention to their song (all the musicians, engineers, execs, radio 
stations, etc..).  With all the bad-mouthing of lossy compression, I have 
been exposed to music with more dynamics on streaming radio than on the 
radio.  The radio stations compress everything.  It's not true that all new 
music is excessively compressed.  For some interesting music, try WFMU's 
online broadcast.
Phillip



> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bob Olhsson" <olh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > phillip holmes <insuranceman@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > >Many mastering engineers would sum the low bass to mono.  The good ones
> also
> > >have an oscilloscope to look out for hot out of phase signals.
> >
> > I'd like to correct this because I see it turning into a common
> misconception about how vinyl records were mastered.
> > I have attended numerous mastering sessions with the handful of engineers
> who accounted for 90% of the titles on the Billboard charts between 1970 
> and
> 1990. I can't remember a single instance that this technique was employed.
> Yes, Neumann mastering consoles had a switch that sums the low-end at
> several frequencies however this doesn't mean that people used it very
> often. Also stock Neumann mastering consoles didn't have a very good
> reputation for sound quality so in many cases all of the active circuitry
> had been replaced. Finally, virtually everybody mixing and mastering major
> label releases had a scope running by 1970 and most of us still use one
> every day.
> > The reason we made "hot" 45s in the '60s was exactly the same reason we
> are seeing "hot" CDs today.
> > The biggest challenge to every record company has always been getting
> records into the stores and then getting people into those stores to buy
> them. This almost always entails a series of meetings where the first 15 
> to
> thirty seconds of a large stack of new releases gets played and 
> immediately
> added to the "keepers" or tossed in the wastebasket. Levels that are "too
> low" relative to the competition put your record at a huge disadvantage in
> this process.