Clips, clips! Get 'em while they're hot!

[joveski]

you can tell that there is a bit of reverb on river of light and it worked wonders for the song.. its taken over the place of wherefore and why and beocme my favorote gord tune so far.. maybe that'll change when i hear the full album!

[Cathy]

quote:Originally posted by searam:
Thanks for the clips, Cathy! I agree it is reverb, not echo, and reverb tends to make the sound quality a bit more "lush" and full. How great to use Gord's chair, mike, cup! That gave me shivers. I just moved from Atlanta to L.A., but have wanted to record in that studio. Are they continually booked? How are they to work with>
Thanks,
Sean



I have no idea how booked up they are. They seem to stay pretty busy, though. You could try calling them. Their website is http://www.grantavestudio.com/
Check out their friends and clients links. Some very big names have recorded there. Also, the Meet Our Staff link has a nice bio on Bob Doidge. And for your amusement, seeing you are a musician, check out their equipment and instrument pages. Unbelievable.

They're great to work with. I think their #1 concern is to make the client feel comfortable. You won't find a better bunch in the recording business.

[This has been a paid advertisement.... blah blah blah}.... ]

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

[Cathy]

quote:Originally posted by Cyaneyes:
The first type of sound "compression" described is encoding to a lossy audio codec, such as MP3 or AAC. When done correctly, and at a high enough bitrate, this can be transparent (indistinguishable from the original sound in blind listening tests.)

The second type is dynamic range compression, which in my opinion is the worst problem facing the music industry today. In the past 10-15 years, the average LOUDNESS level of CDs has gone up a huge amount. This "loudness race", as it's called, is the result of record companies competing to have the loudest CD in the CD changer, the loudest song on the radio, and the most attention grabbing single.

Unfortunately, for anyone who cares about sonic quality, this extreme dynamic range compression is terrible. It makes music sound unnatural, flat, just plain.. unmusical!

Even Gord isn't immune. Listen to the title track of Waiting For You. The huge dramatic drumbeats that come in are a full 10db louder than the music surrounding them. Now that's impact! The relatively low volume level of the CD as a whole is a sign of a mastering engineer who cares about sound quality, not selling records or getting a "hip", hypercompressed, modern sound.

Compare that to APPT. On this CD, EVERY SECOND of EVERY SONG is at maximum volume! Even the quiet parts of the quiet songs are at the same volume level as the loud drum hits on WFY.

And the really bad news? Going by the tracks I downloaded from iTunes.. Harmony is even more compressed than APPT.. just sad..

to learn more visit http://www.loudnessrace.net/

Waiting for you was mastered at Grant. APPT was mastered in Nashville, and compressed to death! Harmony was also mastered at Grant, where they take pride in not overcompressing, so I'm hoping it will have a clean, natural sound.

But in the end, Gord is the one who makes the final decision. I think they probably tried it several ways, and he picked the sound he liked best.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

[This message has been edited by Cathy (edited April 29, 2004).]

[Cathy]

quote:Originally posted by SilverHeels:
Cathy,
thanks for posting this link. Altho only 30secs for each song, it is enough to convince me this album is going to be one his best. His voice sounds rich and warm, far better than on APPT which, when I first heard it, I cried for the Gordon Lightfoot lost to us. But he's back! I cannot wait to receive my copy of the cd.



I had a bit of a reaction to APPT, too. Remember, I had not heard Gord since Wreck. It took several playings to acclimate myself to his new sound, which I grew to love after awhile. He will always be the 1970s DQ GL in my mind, though.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

[Selene]

I think I understand.. sort of. Can we put this in layman's terms? Is it just a matter of dynamics? When I listen to APPT, and then WFY, what am I going to notice most;a lack of range in the various instrumental volumes? Or is it a lack of frequencies so that a voice or a guitar only comes through in, say the middle range, but the higher frequencies and lower ones are squelched? (have you ever listened to a bass with all the lower EQs turned down?)If so, might they have done this to smooth out the rough spots in Gord's vocal ability?

[Martin/12]

I think I understand.. sort of. Can we put this in layman's terms? Is it just a matter of dynamics? When I listen to APPT, and then WFY, what am I going to notice most;a lack of range in the various instrumental volumes? Or is it a lack of frequencies so that a voice or a guitar only comes through in, say the middle range, but the higher frequencies and lower ones are squelched? (have you ever listened to a bass with all the lower EQs turned down?)If so, might they have done this to smooth out the rough spots in Gord's vocal ability?

[Gaby]

Thanks, Cathy. I loved the clips although it was awfully frustrating just hearing thirty seconds of each.
Don’t you all think they sound very wistful? He seems terribly sad. Maybe not. Perhaps it’s just me at the moment and hearing the entire album will pull it all into focus.
However, come May 11th, I shall have a few boxes of Kleenex around the house!!