Notes: |
Recorder 2 master tapes
unknown recorder (mono?)
Transfer:
borrowed master cassettes > Nakamichi BX-2 (azimuth adjusted) line out > Radio Shack gold rca plugs to 3.5mm stereo plug > Zoom H2 line in @ 24 bit 96 khz > SDHC memory card > computer HDD
Restoration:
Adobe Audition 3 automatic phase correction tool: to repair most of the phasing caused by master tape azimuth drift. The source recording appears to be from a machine with a mono microphone, but the low quality of the master recording machine caused a certain amount of WOW and flutter to be recorded on the master tapes. Not only did the tape wobble a bit during the show, but it sounds like the tape shifted from side to side as the taper flipped over his recording deck. In other words, the tape that passed over the recording heads of the machine during the concert didn't do it evenly. The tape kind of wiggled and squiggled a little bit, so the track of the recording on the actual tape isn't quite in a perfectly straight line like it should be - it slowly drifts back and forth across the tape, causing some strange audible phasing in the mono recording original master transfer. The playback azimuth was calibrated to a best average for each tape side, but the extremes of tape tension at the start and end of each tape side caused more wobble. The Audition APC tool corrected a lot of this problem, but some audible artifacts of this analog tape "error" remain...
Enhancements:
*Waves Q10 Paragraphic EQ: to tonally balance the frequency spectrum. I set this plug-in up to minimize a low-mid spike, enhance the entire top end, and find the nearly hidden bass! It was only minor cosmetic surgery EQ that I applied with a very light touch...
*SHEPPi Free Spatial Enhancer Open Ambience Project: to enhance the immersive effect of sound that surrounds the listener. My opinion of all those reflected sounds seemed to be a thick wall of low mid mush. The original master kind of sounded a little to me like I was listening to this show in this cavernous stadium through a 50 foot long Christmas wrapping paper tube that was stuck into a hole drilled into the wall of BC Place! haha. All that sound coming through this one tiny pinhole, basically. All those different random delayed reflected sounds bouncing off all the walls and floor and domed roof and seats and stunned faces of the standing spectators, all mixing down together in the air and covering up and masking over the direct sounds from a straight line from the speakers to that single point microphone, all down to that one signal! Yikes! I set this plug-in up to split and move a lot of that lower-mid end reflected natural reverb echo mushiness to the sides a little bit, allowing the upper end clarity to cut through a little bit more and fall into it's proper place in the middle. I believe firmly that it sounds a lot more "like you're there" with SHEPPi properly applied, on headphones especially. I think I hear more stuff in the music, more detail. It feels like I'm now in the building rather than listening to the show through a series of tubes...
*BBE D82 Sonic Maximizer: to strengthen the impact of the sound upon the listener. Adds "focus" to a final mix. Enhances tonality without E.Q., it is used sparingly here to give the kick drum a bit of "oomph" and to clean up the highs...
Editing, mastering and tracking:
Wavelab 5.01b
Processing for RedBook CD Ready 16/44.1 files:
> SoX ReSampler via Foobar2000 for resampling from 96 khz to 44.1 khz (passband 95.2% disabled aliasing 25% phase response very high quality) > iZotope RX for dithering from 24 bit to 16 bit (MBIT+ ultra noise shaping high dither) > Trader’s Little Helper > FLAC8 > FooBar2000 for FLAC tagging with Discogs tagger > mystery file transport mechanisms |