Beatles remastered...finally!

pmckeealaska

Just read an article in MSNBC that Apple Corp is going to be releasing 12 digitally remastered Beatles albums on September 9th! It's about time. The quality of the original CD's was horrible. I for one will be buying all 12 the day they come out. They're also releasing all of the mono albums as well. Good news for Beatles fans! Awesome......

Norm Apter

pmckeealaska wrote: »

Just read an article in MSNBC that Apple Corp is going to be releasing 12 digitally remastered Beatles albums on September 9th! It's about time. The quality of the original CD's was horrible. I for one will be buying all 12 the day they come out. They're also releasing all of the mono albums as well. Good news for Beatles fans! Awesome......

Thanks for letting us know. I've been waiting for this day since the mid 90s when I first got into the band (and I agree the SQ is pretty bad on the 1990 original CD issues)

Lets pray now that they do/did it right! I'll have to check out the article, but I'm wondering how much George Martin and his son Nigel were involved in the process. They put together Love (the 2006 mashup album) and I think they did a first-rate job with that.

Now I'm even more excited about the new CDP I just purchased.

BottomFeeder

I was just coming to post this terrific news as well.

What great news! I'll be snagging these albums as well...unless the remastering is lousy, and I can't imagine that, after waiting all these years, that it will be. I bet/hope they do a bang up job.

Here's an interesting quote: "The albums were remastered by a team of engineers at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London over four years using up-to-date recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment."

Hope they don't make it "hot!"

cnh

Agreed, my CDs just haven't cut it. Definitely READY for a NEW edit. Surprising how disappointing the quality on the CDs have been...A FM radio at best!

cnh

Fongolio

BottomFeeder wrote: »

Hope they don't make it "hot!"

+1 Way too much of that hot crap now. The consumer has something called a volume control. Most know how to use it.

TECHNOKID

pmckeealaska wrote: »

Just read an article in MSNBC that Apple Corp is going to be releasing 12 digitally remastered Beatles albums on September 9th! It's about time. The quality of the original CD's was horrible. I for one will be buying all 12 the day they come out. They're also releasing all of the mono albums as well. Good news for Beatles fans! Awesome......

Great news! I haven't bought any Beatles since vinyls went as I couldn't bare to listen to the Beatles on such crap as CDs. I hope they make it right as I was holding on the the few vinyls I have left but still missing some of their great music. God, let's hope they do it right!

Thanks again for the info :cool:

mhardy6647

Not looking too promising...
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/07/beatles.remastered.catalogue/index.html

"The technology that was available back then was very limited, and with the newer technology they are able to do far more with what they have than they have ever been able to do before," he said. "For people who are plugged into iPods and the whole digital music scene, it's going to be a lot better for them."...

The remastering project was four years in the making. Engineers used de-noising technology and cleaned up glitches like electrical clicks and microphone vocal pops, so long as it didn't affect the original integrity of the songs.

They also slightly boosted the volume levels...

As seen at: http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/music/rock/messages/9/90609.html

Danny Tse

^^^

I don't like the sound of that.

Norm Apter

Thanks for the link. But I followed a few links from there and what I found did seem a bit more optimisitic. The following text, describing the process, is taken from bandweblogs.com. This suggests that they really gave quite a bit of thought to the process and have moved forward cautiously (at least, thats what I'd like to believe).

Again, if these sound as good as Love does, I'll be very happy.

"Re-mastering the Beatles catalogue

The re-mastering process commenced with an extensive period conducting tests before finally copying the analogue master tapes into the digital medium. When this was completed, the transfer was achieved using a Pro Tools workstation operating at 24 bit 192 kHz resolution via a Prism A-D converter. Transferring was a lengthy procedure done a track at a time. Although EMI tape does not suffer the oxide loss associated with some later analogue tapes, there was nevertheless a slight build up of dust, which was removed from the tape machine heads between each title.

From the onset, considerable thought was given to what audio restorative processes were going to be allowed. It was agreed that electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance and bad edits should be improved where possible, so long as it didn’t impact on the original integrity of the songs.

In addition, de-noising technology, which is often associated with re-mastering, was to be used, but subtly and sparingly. Eventually, less than five of the 525 minutes of Beatles music was subjected to this process. Finally, as is common with today’s music, overall limiting - to increase the volume level of the CD - has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles’ music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings.

When all of the albums had been transferred, each song was then listened to several times to locate any of the agreed imperfections. These were then addressed by Guy Massey, working with Audio Restoration engineer Simon Gibson.

Mastering could now take place, once the earliest vinyl pressings, along with the existing CDs, were loaded into Pro Tools, thus allowing comparisons to be made with the original master tapes during the equalization process. When an album had been completed, it was auditioned the next day in studio three – a room familiar to the engineers, as all of the recent Beatles mixing projects had taken place in there – and any further alteration of EQ could be addressed back in the mastering room. Following the initial satisfaction of Guy and Steve, Allan Rouse and Mike Heatley then checked each new re-master in yet another location and offered any further suggestions. This continued until all 13 albums were completed to the team’s satisfaction."

comfortablycurt

I can't wait to get my hands on these. All of my Beatles Cd's could definitely use a revamp.

If they sound anywhere near as good as Love does, it'll be golden.:)

It sounds like they've been pretty careful to maintain the original sound of the albums...that's promising. I'll definitely be picking these up when they come out.

BlueFox

I have mixed thoughts on this. I liked the Beatles when they started, but quickly became more of a fan of the Stones, Animals, Kinks, Yardbirds, John Mayall, etc. The Beatles earlier albms had more rock, and less pop than the later albums, so I might give those a try, and the White Album, along with Abbey Road. Jeez, maybe I should just get them all.

F1nut

Finally, as is common with today’s music, overall limiting - to increase the volume level of the CD - has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles’ music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings.

Bunch of idiots, used at all is a very, very bad thing.

What I really want to know is after 4 years of farting around, why are they not releasing these on SACD???

Come on, get with the program!

Disgusted,
F1

mhardy6647

Norm Apter wrote: »

Thanks for the link. But I followed a few links from there and what I found did seem a bit more optimisitic....

Well, that's good. Did you add these comments to the AA thread (no, I haven't looked at it again today)?

Finally, as is common with today’s music, overall limiting - to increase the volume level of the CD - has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles’ music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings.

Well, it's good to hear that they didn't muck with the original original mono mixes that Sir George Martin (probably painstakingly) oversaw... but why the fug does anyone want to take a vintage, classic product and modernize it anyway? Do conservators at museums now do this with sculpture and paintings? (Well, in the latter case, definitely... sort of)

I once read that the beautiful Navajo (IIRC) rugs of the Southwest always contain one 'flaw' in their otherwise flawless patterns; to remind the weavers and all people of the fallibility of humans.

Aren't at least some of the 'flaws' that are now being fixed in the Beatles canon actually part of the original art? At the very least, the original dynamics were, I would think in large part, deliberately designed in to the final product. (Admittedly, of course, the product was pop music, and not necessarily crafted for the ages -- but J.S. Bach had to write service music for a church every week and evidence suggests he turned out a pretty good product most weeks!)

Remember Joni Mitchell's comments before The Circle Game on her live album Miles of Aisles? She was talking about the challenge for a musician to recreate her art at every performance. "No one ever said to Van Gogh, 'Paint A Starry Night again, man!'" (or words to that effect)

danger boy

F1nut wrote: »

Bunch of idiots, used at all is a very, very bad thing.

What I really want to know is after 4 years of farting around, why are they not releasing these on SACD???

Come on, get with the program!

Disgusted,
F1

Well I agree.. this release on SACD would be incredible. but, they are trying to appeal to the widest audience.. that still being good old Redbook CD's.

SACD is now and forever will be just supported by audiophiles.

danger boy

http://www.thebeatles.com/core/home/

The Beatles web site talks about them.

I have read that the mono version could sound really incredible too.

on Rubber Soul the mixing is terrible.. meaning to much left and right panning back and forth.. not sure if George Martin was responsible for that or not.. but it ruined several tracks on that and other albums. therefore, the mono version of some of these treasured albums may sound better than the stereo ones.

BlueFox

danger boy wrote: »

Well I agree.. this release on SACD would be incredible. but, they are trying to appeal to the widest audience.. that still being good old Redbook CD's.

SACD is now and forever will be just supported by audiophiles.

I do not know what the cost differance from a recording, mastering, manufacturing perspective is, but they could release hybrid CD/SACDs. I suspect any cost differance would be minimized, or eliminated, if all CDs were hybrids.

The hybrids I have did not appear to cost much more than regular CDs. I did notice some hybrids had trouble playing on an old DVD player, so there might be some compatability issue with hybrids and older CD players. That is just speculation though.

Norm Apter

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I once read that the beautiful Navajo (IIRC) rugs of the Southwest always contain one 'flaw' in their otherwise flawless patterns; to remind the weavers and all people of the fallibility of humans.

Aren't at least some of the 'flaws' that are now being fixed in the Beatles canon actually part of the original art? At the very least, the original dynamics were, I would think in large part, deliberately designed in to the final product. (Admittedly, of course, the product was pop music, and not necessarily crafted for the ages -- but J.S. Bach had to write service music for a church every week and evidence suggests he turned out a pretty good product most weeks!)

Point well made.

The Navajo example reminds me of Zen-inspired Japanese artistry. Going back to the Muromachi period (ca. 16th century), when Zen art came to the fore, Japanese potters purposely threw some type of lump/ bend into their creations to reflect an emphasis on the imperfections/asymmetry of the natural world. The same assymetical features could be found in flower arrangements and rock garden organization and ink paintings of the period.

But I digress...back to the music. I agree with you that its nice to have some of the imperfections in there. I especially like the organic touches in the recordings found on the Anthology albums (I have volumes II and III; as an aside, I'm not a huge fan of the early Beatles material....for me, Rubber Soul was their watershed album).

Do you have the Anthology recordings (or have you heard them)? Depending on my mood, I often times prefer listening to those recordings over the studio releases. On the 4th track of volume II (disc 1), I believe, there is a false start. Then you hear a glass shatter and Jon, in his nasely sort of monotone speaking voice remarks, "Paul's broken a glass, broken a glass, Paul's broken a glass, a glass he's broken today" and then they launch into an incredible version "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" Thats just a more extreme example, but the entire assembly of songs exudes a very organic and intimate feel that is quite distinct from even live (i.e. concert) material (even though there is some concert material on them), not too mention the more polished original studio releases.

I guess the question becomes whether the elimination of microphone pops and the like on the digital remastered stereo versions will create too much of an airbrushed feel...but I guess we'll have to wait and see (or hear) about that.

If you don't have the Anthology collections, you might want to check them out.

danger boy

BlueFox wrote: »

I do not know what the cost differance from a recording, mastering, manufacturing perspective is, but they could release hybrid CD/SACDs. I suspect any cost differance would be minimized, or eliminated, if all CDs were hybrids.

The hybrids I have did not appear to cost much more than regular CDs. I did notice some hybrids had trouble playing on an old DVD player, so there might be some compatability issue with hybrids and older CD players. That is just speculation though.

remember dual disc from a few years ago? regular CD on one side.. DVD-Audio on the other? the thickness of the disc was giving fits to CD players.. so it never caught on.

I don't know if releasing the Beatles remastered catalog on SACD would require more work or not.. if released in 2 ch SACD.. I would think not. it's just how it would be layed on the SACD disc.

lightman1

cnh wrote: »

Agreed, my CDs just haven't cut it. Definitely READY for a NEW edit. Surprising how disappointing the quality on the CDs have been...A FM radio at best!

cnh

...which is how they were recorded.. kinda like the how the recording skags of today are told to set the trims high so it will "download" faster.
Curiuos. Who is doing the final master before going to print on these?

Danny Tse

danger boy wrote: »

remember dual disc from a few years ago? regular CD on one side.. DVD-Audio on the other? the thickness of the disc was giving fits to CD players.. so it never caught on.

I don't know if releasing the Beatles remastered catalog on SACD would require more work or not.. if released in 2 ch SACD.. I would think not. it's just how it would be layed on the SACD disc.

DualDisc aren't in compliant to the CD standard, which is why they don't carry the "Compact Disc" logo....and also why some players have problem playing them.

On the other hand, virtually all CD players can play a hybrid SACD. The Beatles can do what the Rolling Stones did....release its entire catalog on hybrid SACD. If somehow a quad mix is available, the capability for multi-channel is there.

Given the sale potential of a remastered Beatles catalog, I'd think any additional cost of doing a single-inventory hybrid SACD release will be very little. However, if profit is to be maximized....:rolleyes: If acts like the Pixies and Dead Can Dance, heck, even Genesis, can get their catalog on SACD, why not the Beatles?

george daniel

Please sir,, proceed,,I'd like a copy,, at such time they might become available,,I have the cd,, let me know how "good" is the LP compared to it.,,wait,,, just send me the LP when you're thru making cd's.;)

janmike

Keiko wrote: »

...It would be nice to have the Beatles on Super Audio.

Would it ever.

mhardy6647

Norm Apter wrote: »

But I digress...back to the music. I agree with you that its nice to have some of the imperfections in there. I especially like the organic touches in the recordings found on the Anthology albums (I have volumes II and III; as an aside, I'm not a huge fan of the early Beatles material....for me, Rubber Soul was their watershed album).

Do you have the Anthology recordings (or have you heard them)? Depending on my mood, I often times prefer listening to those recordings over the studio releases. On the 4th track of volume II (disc 1), I believe, there is a false start. Then you hear a glass shatter and Jon, in his nasely sort of monotone speaking voice remarks, "Paul's broken a glass, broken a glass, Paul's broken a glass, a glass he's broken today" and then they launch into an incredible version "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" Thats just a more extreme example, but the entire assembly of songs exudes a very organic and intimate feel that is quite distinct from even live (i.e. concert) material (even though there is some concert material on them), not too mention the more polished original studio releases.

I guess the question becomes whether the elimination of microphone pops and the like on the digital remastered stereo versions will create too much of an airbrushed feel...but I guess we'll have to wait and see (or hear) about that.

If you don't have the Anthology collections, you might want to check them out.

Oh, yah... got 'em all. The version of I've Got a Feeling from the Let it Be sessions, which "breaks down" before it's over (I cocked it up, trying to get loud, says John -- or words to that effect) is just terrific IMNSHO.

lightman1 wrote: »

...which is how they were recorded.. kinda like the how the recording skags of today are told to set the trims high so it will "download" faster...

When it gets to the point that the bitstream is all "ones", the compression algorithm can be really simple...

mutelight

I wasn't at liberty to talk about it until the official press release came out today but we are releasing a special Beatles edition Rock Band kit with the remastered songs. :cool:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/the-beatles--rock-band-to-cost--179-00-in-the-uk-and--euro-199-00-in-europe

POIDOG

An interesting sidenote on the Beatles. There is a station found on the net called "The Sound" and it plays old and new. Anyhow, they recently have a contest in which various classic albums were matched head to head, played and voted on by the listeners. And I mean the album selections were awesome. It played out like "March Madness", win a round and move to the next round. The final overall winner by listener vote, "White Album". I guess everybody is still doin' it in the road.