Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Reader “Terrence T” has asked if the remastered Beatles CD’s are remixed as well. What’s the difference? Good question!
During the process of recording, different sounds are recorded on different tracks of the recording device. Each track can be manipulated, that is its volume can be raised or lowered, its tone quality can be made ‘brighter’ or duller, reverb can be added to give a sound depth, and on and on. The more tracks you have (up to a point) the better, because if only one instrument is on a track, it can be changed in virtually limitless ways. If two instruments are on the same track, or an instrument and a voice, and changes to one also affect the other. So more tracks allow more instruments and voices to have their own track. This is especially useful in balancing the overall volume of each part in a song, as well as instances during a song where an instrument may become louder when it has a solo, and fade back into the mix when the solo finishes.
The Beatles suffered from pretty primitive recording facilities for most of their career. The classic story is that Sgt. Pepper was recorded on a 4-track machine. (Most modern studios have at least 96, as do many home studios!) Even though 8-track recording was common in America by the mid-1960’s, the Beatles were only able to get to use an 8-track machine in the Abbey Road studios in the middle of recording The White Album. (They did have access to 8-track recording at other studios in London that they used a few times before this.)
During mixing the various instruments and voices are balanced in volume, given particular tonal characteristics, placed in the stereo “soundstage”, and treated with effects such as reverb, compression, etc. This was done carefully when the Beatles’ albums were originally recorded (although it should be noticed that the band almost always attended the mono mixes but shunned the stereo ones, right up to the White Album).
So, the newly-remastered CD’s contain the original mixes, but they have been remastered.
During mastering, the mastering engineer(s) makes subtle changes to the original mixes. In this case, the engineers recorded the original analogue master tapes into state-of-the-art 24-bit audio and then worked with those recordings (as well as archiving the originals, no doubt). They were then able to apply EQ to enhance certain frequencies and cut others. This process, in the right hands, can separate instruments and voices, even if they are recorded on the same track. The engineers at Abbey Road did an incredible job on the remasters, where by and large the instruments are clearer and more separated in the sonic space.
The mastering process also maximizes the volume so that each song is more “present” or “forward” in the sound space. Again, they did a masterful job. Too much and the sound becomes “in your face”, which was certainly not the intention of most of the songs.
There are other things that can be done during remastering, but all of them should be unobtrusive. In the case of the Beatles’ remastered CD’s most of the original warmth has been recovered, without and loss of high frequencies. High frequency loss can be a result of noise reduction, but very little noise reduction was use on these albums. (I understand that only 5 minutes of the 525 on these recordings had noise reduction applied.)
So after remastering the songs sound warmer, more defined, and more present. However, the instruments and voices are still in the same places in the stereo image that they were in the earlier CD’s (and LP’s). The only change is an apparent ‘nudge’ to move some instruments into their own space, slightly to the left or right. The bass and drums seem louder but they are still in the same spot as before, and careful use of EQ is what makes most of the difference.
So is this the last time you will have to buy the Beatles albums? Well, while it might seem so, I notice that while they were recorded in 24-bit resolution, they are released on standard CD, which is 16-bit. So I can see down the road an “enhanced remastered” series on audiophile DVD, or some new technology. But let’s hope these remasters last for a few years anyway.
Tags: Beatles, remastered, remasters