What album or song would you remix if you had the chance?

[Jay Kahrs]

And why would you pick that one? I'll start with Faith No More's "The Real Thing." For as much as I love it there's no low end there. That album could hit much harder and sound bigger. Probably the second thing on my list would be Radioheads "Pablo Honey" for the same reasons.

[Remoteness]

Ditto on all of Prince's stuff.

IMO, he's a great writer, performer, but not a great producer / mixer.

His records need bottom end; a fatter sound in general.

[cram]

Most of Black Flag's stuff.

[dave-G]

Originally posted by cram
Most of Black Flag's stuff.

But not all..

And going back even a little further, I'd like to remix Circle Jerks' "Wild In The Streets" to sound more like "Group Sex"... Whoever conceived of all that reverb on a punk record?! I find it all the more ironic that they sell these 2 as a double album on a single CD now.


-dg

[chrisso]

Originally posted by Remoteness
Ditto on all of Prince's stuff.

IMO, he's a great writer, performer, but not a great producer / mixer.

His records need bottom end; a fatter sound in general.

I once spoke with one of his engineers.
They were given no time to get sounds together.
The studio was full of instruments, you never knew what he was going to pick up next - bass, guitar, drum kit. The first notes he played on anything were expected to be the take. No consideration for recording techniques.

[Farm sounds]

I believe Prince rarely even used a bass guitar. The song "Kiss" actually has no bass guitar on it.

I would like to remix Metallica's" And justice for all"...to this day, I can't imagine why they released such a thin sounding record?? But, they sure made up for it with the Black album.

Farm Sounds

[Rader Ranch]

Originally posted by Farm sounds
I would like to remix Metallica's" And justice for all"...to this day, I can't imagine why they released such a thin sounding record??
Farm Sounds

as you said w/Prince....there's no Bass Guitar on it!!!!!!!!!!!!

and most DK's stuff sounded like they had miked the playback output of some boxy 5" speakers (Chemical Warfare for instance...)

Peter Gabriel's 1st couple of solo albums weren't so hot, and i'd love to get a chance with some Mott The Hoople too....but i can think of wayyy more modern stuff than old that could benefit from remixing and remastering (i don't mean to open up that can of worms again though) ...

[Messiah]

I would like to mix Love's Forever Changes to adjust it in certain areas that, as much as I love it, I've always found flawed. I do love Love though..
I can think of some early Janes Addiction tracks that I'd like to remix.

Dark Side of the Moon, the White Album, Siamese Dream (Smashing Pumpkins), Rain Dogs (Tom Waits) and Clear Spot (Captain Beefheart) are all albums that I would love to have under my mixing fingers, just for the experience and education, I wouldn't alter any of them. Well, maybe I could improve Dark Side.....


Oh, and Inner Circle's "Bad Boys" gets my vote for "one track you can remove from everyone's memory, including your own".

(Good thread, I shall rate it methinks..)

[alphajerk]

in utero and ritual de lo habitual... both albums with great songs but piss poor mixing/tracking/production.

[Steve Smith]

The Last few Steve Earle records.. esp "jerusalem" wow does it suck...

[Ckevperry]

Nat King Cole...and in my fantasy world the whole big band/orchestra is multitracked across 48 tracks. I'd love to be able just to solo his voice and hear all the mojo. Slap a lil' M3000 on it....maybe a trakker on air-optical...

Or any of those old school singers with freakin unbelievable voices who wouldn't have needed a copy of autotune in the same zipcode.

[Jay Kahrs]

Speaking of first few albums, the first few Chilli Peppers albums sound like crap too. Mother's Milk was the first really listenable platter they had. And yeah, if you can think of modern stuff give it a go... I had 'The Real Thing' on while I was posting and was wishing I had the multi-track master up on the console.

[NathanEldred]

Originally posted by Ckevperry
Nat King Cole...and in my fantasy world the whole big band/orchestra is multitracked across 48 tracks. I'd love to be able just to solo his voice and hear all the mojo. Slap a lil' M3000 on it....maybe a trakker on air-optical...

Or any of those old school singers with freakin unbelievable voices who wouldn't have needed a copy of autotune in the same zipcode.

Yes!

[Han]

Most of the albums from Yes!

[toledo3]

Cream- Disraeli Gears

Blues Image-self titled

[Jax]

David Bowie - Hunky Dory

The acoustic guitars are painful to listen to. Especially on "Andy Warhol". The smack-smack percussion sound in that tune is also painful. Most of the album is grating at @ 2.2-3.6 khz. Awesome record, though. Here's the tracks:

1. Changes
2. Oh! You Pretty Things
3. Eight Line Poem
4. Life on Mars?
5. Kooks
6. Quicksand
7. Fill Your Heart
8. Andy Warhol
9. Song for Bob Dylan
10. Queen Bitch
11. Bewlay Brothers
12. Bombers[*]
13. Supermen [Alternate Version][*]
14. Quicksand[*][Demo Version]
15. Bewlay Brothers [Alternate Mix][*]

[Jax]

Hey dave-G, did you catch the Circle Jerks and GBH show at the Fillmore last week?

Originally posted by dave-G
But not all..

And going back even a little further, I'd like to remix Circle Jerks' "Wild In The Streets" to sound more like "Group Sex"... Whoever conceived of all that reverb on a punk record?! I find it all the more ironic that they sell these 2 as a double album on a single CD now.


-dg

[dave-G]

Originally posted by Jax
Hey dave-G, did you catch the Circle Jerks and GBH show at the Fillmore last week?

No, I was working sessions in Minneapolis last week.. How was it? Something about the concept of the Circle Jerks and GBH 20-some years later seems like it could be very bad. What are they doing? It's not the same music anymore, those guys are older than me, and their bloodstreams are probably too clean. I feel a Gap commercial coming on.... Say it ain't so!

Although "I Just Want Some Skank" could work very nicely in a Beer commercial. ... hmmm ...

-dave

[Messiah]

Originally posted by Jax
David Bowie - Hunky Dory

The acoustic guitars are painful to listen to. Especially on "Andy Warhol". The smack-smack percussion sound in that tune is also painful. Most of the album is grating at @ 2.2-3.6 khz. Awesome record, though. Here's the tracks:

1. Changes
2. Oh! You Pretty Things
(snip)

Sorry Jackson, but I'm afraid I'd have to pull out my Russian security council veto and not let you invade anything of Bowie's. It would be a crime akin to placing your hand in our lovely Queen's panties.

[Drumsound]

I'd love to get my hands on the masters of any Zeppelin, Stones form Beggars Banquet through Sticky Fingers, or early Queen. I could not make any of them better, but I'd love to learn from them. There are many others as well. I can't think of things that bug me sonically right now. I'll post when I think of some.

[Jay Kahrs]

If your into the Stones you might want to assist Fletcher at some point. He's got the Sticky Fingers era sound down cold. If you haven't heard it you should grab the 'Black #9' disc from the Mercenary site.

Personally I'd love to sit in on almost any early Floyd session but Dark Side and Meddle are at the top of the list. Great stuff. I've heard parts of the Zep II masters... I almost quit and opened the laundromat. When you hear the drums to 'Whole Lotta Love' and 'Ramble On' soloed it's kinda sickening to hear how far the art of recording hasn't come in the last 30 years. Also, I realized how much I suck.
grudge

[3rdpath]

aimee mann's latest...

oh, how i love her...

and oh, how her latest cd sounds like crap.

[mdbeh]

Originally posted by Messiah
Sorry Jackson, but I'm afraid I'd have to pull out my Russian security council veto and not let you invade anything of Bowie's. It would be a crime akin to placing your hand in our lovely Queen's panties.

I agree. Hunky Dory is really bright, but in a way that sounds totally appropriate to me. I wouldn't change a thing.

Well, maybe I'd get rid of the slapback on the drums on "Life on Mars." It makes it sound like the drummer's hitting ghost notes on the kick by accident.

But that's a small thing. Brilliant production overall, I'd say.

[seriousfun]

Originally posted by Ckevperry
Nat King Cole...and in my fantasy world the whole big band/orchestra is multitracked across 48 tracks. I'd love to be able just to solo his voice and hear all the mojo. Slap a lil' M3000 on it....maybe a trakker on air-optical...

Or any of those old school singers with freakin unbelievable voices who wouldn't have needed a copy of autotune in the same zipcode.

I've had a chance, briefly, to hear some original NKC recordings from Capitol.

They are stunning recordings. 3 Track: Stereo music, Nat's voice center. Soloing Nat's voice will just about make you cry, it's so good.

Some other artists in the same batch...let's just say that they needed a little more work.

Doug

[Jax]

Regarding the Stones release on SACD, is it comprised of best hits remastered from the original tapes to SACD, or all from one album? Among those who've heard it, is there anything to be learned from listening to the SACD vs. the old vinyl or previous CD releases? I'm gonna get the disc because it's supposed to sound so much closer to the original tapes, plus it's the Stones, man. For that matter, from a technical and listening standpoint, I wonder what kind of value Dark Side of the Moon will have. I'm getting that just for the music too, though.

On a logistical standpoint, how are the remasters being mixed? Those old boards must be long gone by now. If they're going for a mix that comes as close to the original as it can, what's the approach?

I bet somebody in here knows somebody who has a handle on a cousin who's remastering this stuff ...

[Jax]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Messiah:
Sorry Jackson, but I'm afraid I'd have to pull out my Russian security council veto and not let you invade anything of Bowie's. It would be a crime akin to placing your hand in our lovely Queen's panties.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by mdbeh:

I agree. Hunky Dory is really bright, but in a way that sounds totally appropriate to me. I wouldn't change a thing.

Well, maybe I'd get rid of the slapback on the drums on "Life on Mars." It makes it sound like the drummer's hitting ghost notes on the kick by accident.

But that's a small thing. Brilliant production overall, I'd say.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I love the record enough that out of necessity, I developed a range of explanations for why it's so grating:

- the record, mix, and mastering engineers were unable to hear 2.2khz unless it was 6dB louder than everything else

- (more likely) the record, mix, and mastering engineers were all the same person, I haven't checked

- the speakers used during tracking had shot tweeters and/or the monitoring capability of the day was sorely lacking (but then how did so many great sounding albums precede it?)

I agree that the hard ac. gtr. sound is appropriate for Bowie calling Warhol a glorified little art-mo (I mean that in the nicest way possible), but it's still hard to listen to.

[Jax]

Originally posted by dave-G
No, I was working sessions in Minneapolis last week.. How was it? Something about the concept of the Circle Jerks and GBH 20-some years later seems like it could be very bad. What are they doing? It's not the same music anymore, those guys are older than me, and their bloodstreams are probably too clean. I feel a Gap commercial coming on.... Say it ain't so!

Although "I Just Want Some Skank" could work very nicely in a Beer commercial. ... hmmm ...

-dave

I didn't go either but I was over there that night. It was pretty hilarious seeing all the kids looking punked out. Full on mohican tribes with the dyed hair and the proper punk attire, Docs and all. Just to make sure it was the CJ's and GBH I asked a "punk" chick and got a condescending "Uh... the Circle Jerks and GBH??" That was pretty funny. I was listening to this shit when you were learning to walk, ya whippersnappa.

The bands are doing it 'cos... what else do they know how to do? Why not captilize on something that never quite went away? Besides, witnesses claim they can still lay it down.

[Alécio Costa]

I would remix and remaster the first Album of Lisa Stansfield and some stuff from early Duran Duran

they are great but...

[tonedaddy]

Originally posted by Jax
Regarding the Stones release on SACD, is it comprised of best hits remastered from the original tapes to SACD, or all from one album? Among those who've heard it, is there anything to be learned from listening to the SACD vs. the old vinyl or previous CD releases? I'm gonna get the disc because it's supposed to sound so much closer to the original tapes, plus it's the Stones, man. For that matter, from a technical and listening standpoint, I wonder what kind of value Dark Side of the Moon will have. I'm getting that just for the music too, though.

On a logistical standpoint, how are the remasters being mixed? Those old boards must be long gone by now. If they're going for a mix that comes as close to the original as it can, what's the approach?

I bet somebody in here knows somebody who has a handle on a cousin who's remastering this stuff ...

Check out this article from Mix magazine about the Stones Remasters

[balt4house]

Is it me or is this autotune POS *everywhere* now.

I could swear I heard it on some of my favorite singers who never needed it.

Excuse my ignorance, but is it now part of the basic mix??

(oh and GREAT boards by the way)

-G

Originally posted by posterchild
I'd like to remix any "serious" singer/songwriters who have audible Autotune on their voices...

It wouldn't be polite to name names, but I've traded in several CDs by some excellent singer/songwriters because I could hear the Autotune working and it destroyed the vibe of the album for me... madd dfegad

I just want the non-Autotuned version for my own CD collection... I don't care if they can't always hit the pitches perfectly; I just wanna hear something which sounds like it came from a human being.