The Smiley Smile Message Board

This has become the new, great expression for making your own mix out of The Smile Sessions, and they come from Linett himself. Thinking ahead to when we all try this, I'm curious, from those who already have the set, is this in fact truly possible to do with the box set? It seems to me, just from looking at the tracks and from hearing a few little clips, that with the variances in what's available in stereo and mono, and what vocals are available, that it may not be possible to entirely tailor your own Smile. Let this inquiring mind know.

Thanks!

if you have some mono/ some stereo, just fold down the stereo into mono.

Between this and a few, erm, unofficial releases, I'm sure it can be done. Maybe even sans the unofficial releases, not sure yet.

If your mix contains one song in mono and the next song is in stereo, I think we'll all live.

So far I have added the Purple Chick ending to "Surf's Up" and the BWPS ending to "Wind Chimes"

May I ask why? I thought it'd be fitting to, idk, swap in a non fly-ined Look or something that's actually, y'know, radically different...

It's just an "Alt" Smile Sessions playlist I'm putting together to try some things out.

The end of WC and SU aren't to my liking so I've replaced them with, IMO better versions..

You have to admit the end of WC on BWPS rocks like crazy

you're using the BWPS recording? that's so out there!

I love the sound quality, but not the mixes so far...so very much looking forward to my own mix.  I really like the Purple Chick Alternate version of Surf's Up.

The end of WC on the GV Box Set is similar to BWPS. Plus, I love the chopsticks piano play on that version too.

oh, I thought you meant you attached the 2004 recording to the end of the 66/67 track.

how does the version on the box end?

He may have meant exactly that, but I was offering an alternative Beach Boys version. He is right though, that BWPS ending is fantastic and does rock.

oh I didn't even notice that it was two different people I was talking to, haha.

The mixes I made up till now are more 'basic' and somewhat 'historically accurate' mixes than real 'fan' mixes. I really enjoy the new mixes by Mark Linnett and Alan Boyd, there are just some tracks which could do with a more basic approach in my opinion. The mixes I make can only include basic edits and a simple fade out (when using the sessions discs).
Mixes I've already made include:

-I'm In Great Shape - Stereo instrumental track - the last take on the sessions disc, faded out.
-Look - Stereo instrumental track - stereo master take, faded out
-Barnyard - I think they could have included  the full mix with backing vocals, but they didn't, so I tried to reconstruct it as good as possible. - I replaced the verse fly-in vocal part with the instrumental part from the sessions disc, at that point there are no backing vocals so nothing missing up till that point. After that I just cut out the 2nd fly-in vocal part, and applied a fade out at the end. Untill we have the full mix, this might be a good basic barnyard in good quality.
-Cabin Essence - I tried to fix the edit/speed issue in the tag as good as possible.
-A less basic mix: Child Is Father Of The Man (Stereo backing track), assembled like the instrumental mono mix.

I still have to do a Holidays basic stereo mix.

Will folding down tracks using software hamper sound quality? I mean....would the end result sound as good as if Mark Linett provided it?

Erm, why's it necessary to do fold downs?

Well, let's say I want to make a CD for the car and prefer to hear "Look" without those distracting vocals....only alternative to disc 1 is stereo sessions, so....

So listen to it in stereo, d00d.

But what if I want to make a CD for the car and have the sound quality...you know...gel?

I will be making mine all mono.  I like a unified sound.

*facepalmz all around*

The only thing that really seems to be missing is Barnyard with stereo backing vocals and without fly-ins.

Aren't they releasing the album in a digital format? That way they could include in (in lossless of course) a a bonus item or something.

Does anyone know what they did with My Only Sunshine? It seems they took the vocal from a different source than the instrumental intro...the vocal fades in later than in the vocal bootleg mixes.

Just updated my Smile mix with TSS material! It's not meant to replace the Disc 1 "album", more of a companion which reflects more accurately IMO how a finished 1967 Smile would have sounded. It's a "traditional" 12-track Smile, each song has a proper fade and it's as complete as can be (exept for Child verse vocals). It flows perfectly to my ears and sounds amazing, in glorious mono (later I'll compile a stereo version).

Intro (Our Prayer) - unlisted track as Brian meant it to be, TSS version sounds heavenly.
Hereos and Villains - TSS version - I don't believe that's how a finished vintage version would have sounded, but I was aiming at musical integrity rather than purism and this is my favourite version of the song - if GV was a "pocket symphony" this is a "pocket musical", it has an amazing flow and all kinds of little twists and turns, and it sounds complete. All that was missing is the tag so I added Tag to Part 1, which works very well IMO as a nice, light coda.
Do You Like Worms - TSS version with BWPS verse vocals flown in. Shoot me, but I like them (don't care if it's vintage or not) and they're all that's missing to make it a complete, perfect song. Restored the Bicycle Rider theme fade as per GV box version.
Child is Father of the Man - constructed as the 3 minute mono mix using TSS version. First and final chorus have the "conventional" vocals, second and third chorus have the new high vocal part. Final chorus fades out properly, and this is the only song on my construction which is not quite complete (missing verse vocals). Otherwise a great song with a perfect flow.
My Only Sunshine - TSS version is a rocker with the Barnshine tag, and the first cello note was restored using the session material.
Cabin Essence - again, TSS version. A definitive version of my favourite Smile song - it takes my mind to another world, and the fade is so beautiful I could cry. Tag was slowed down a little bit to the right speed.
Good Vibrations - single version, I'm not a fan of the "hum-de-bum"s. Why mess with perfection? Opens side two as per Smiley.
Wonderful - out of the complexity and majesty of the "pocket symphony" comes this touching, gorgeous ballad. The end is a faded, as no proper tag exists for this version.
Veta-Tables - and here comes the humor side of Smile. I wasn't a big fan of this song, which always sounded clumsy to me, but TSS completely changed my mind. It's as perfect as can be, they've really outdone themselves with this one.
Mrs. Oleary's Cow - forget the other elements, they were probably never fully realized (with maybe the exception of the Water chant, for which no solid proof exists). Just listen to this grand, terrifying arrangement. It's one of Smile's greatest achievement for what it is and the eerie Fall break vocals are the icing on the cake.
Wind Chimes - basically GV box version, using TSS elements to enhance the sound quality. Whlie TSS version ending is groovy and enjoyable, the GV box version's tag is divine.
Surf's Up - for me, the new TSS version is as definitive as it gets. It's the perfect closer to a perfect album.

Are you going to try and mix a Smile out of TSS? Are you just gonna stick with the Disc 1 version?

So far just for an alt playlist I'm messing around with I've added the Purple chick ending to "Surf's up" on the SS "Surf's Up" and demo, and the BWPS ending of "Wind Chimes" to the SS "Wind Chimes", both sounds fantastic

Wow, Paul - Carr I presume? - your stereo Smile (which contains I think mixes by other illustrious fan mixers) remains my definitive 'historical Smile mix' point of reference. I would love to hear what you do with all this new material, keep us posted on your work!

I posted the following to a thread the same name a while ago - might be useful here:

We've had ML positively encourage fan mixes of TSS material, but the set's release will have ramifications for the whole Smile 'back catalogue' of boots and officially remixed materials. The Sessionography at http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,11250.0.html will be an amazing resource for fan mixes of all stripes!

Here's a list of categories of mixes that I think we'll need. What do you lot think? What have I missed or got wrong? What do you want to see emerge from the home and pro studios of our illustrious engineer/producer/musician Smile brethren?

Albums
Stereo Smile TSS version: a stereo and faked stereo recreation of TTS disc 1

Stereo Smile Discrete Tracks: a stereo version of discrete tracks which follow previous and current official versions, but conceptualised as individual tracks

Stereo Smile Re-imagined Discrete tracks: as above, but track mixes varying  according to new information

Historical Smile: Recreations of Smile as it 'might have been' if released in '67

Ahistorical Smile: Fan mixes and re-interpretations of Smile either in album or discrete track format


Sessions and Miscellaneous

Complete Smile Sessions: every track, mix, and session on TSS and off, arranged according to tracking date

Alternate Smile Sessions and Tracks: every track, mix, and session left out of the boxed set, or, 'everything you need to have all available Smile material' (problematic: what happens to overlap, where extra material covered on TSS exists in longer, booted versions?)

Alternate Smile Sessions and Tracks Highlights: every track, mix, and session left off of TSS, but edited for brevity and concision   

Hi UK_Surf, I don't know if you're actually referring to this new mixes (which are both mono and stereo) I made or an older complete stereo mix? Because I did a mix a few years ago, but that was in mono, and not widely posted across all the forums. You might be referring to someone else's Smile mix. Could you PM me with a link to that mix?

Nonetheless, I will tell when I make a new 'basic/historical' mix from TSS.

Having just listened to TSS disk1 on CD. The holy grail I was hoping for has not materialised. I going to stick to my "roll your own" mix with the addition of the second half of Windchimes which is the only thing I was really suprised by :-(

(its a mono historical mix made fro the best of mok and PurpleChick and my own EQ and reverb and full H&V sequence)

Not necassarally SMiLE, but I thought about making a giant Elements suite with a few songs for each. Such as:

Earth:
Vegatables
A Day in the Life of a Tree
Grand Coolee Damn
Til I Die (rock in a land slide)

Wind:
Wind Chimes
Let the Wind Blow
Country Air
Til I Die section (Leaf on a windy day)

Fire:
Mrs Oleary's Cow
Warmth of the Sun (?)
Match Point :)

Water:
Cool Cool Water
Catch a Wave
Rio Grande
Til I Die (Cork on the Ocean)

Not to be condescending, but what were you expecting? We are talking about a record that never was completed.

I said "hoped for" not "expecting"

All the release has confirmed for me is how much stuff we had already and how close to if not significantly better our own mixes are in comparison to the release...

Its still the greatest album of its genre and era imho :-)

Dude, you're listening IN A CAR.  Big deal.

What is the edit/speed issue with the tag?

If you could only use the 12 songs listed on the original cover , what order would you use?

After the Grand Coolie vocals, the Over and over vocal begins, but it starts a bit too late compared too rough mixes / 20/20, and that section runs quite a bit faster than the Grand Coolie and the rest of the track.

No, brains clearly turn to liquid shit if it tries to process audio going from stereo to mono or vice versa.

I can understand your sarcasm. After all, look at all those classic albums that are mono/stereo hybrids. Right?  ::)

This is basically true of a few Beach Boys albums and absolutely true of 20/20. You lose.

Straight-up fold downs rarely sound good and throws a wrench into the idea of "consistent" sound. Applying chorus or something else for the sole sake of something technically being "stereo" is stupid.

Also, show me a fan mix that is considered a "classic album".

I just made some mono mixes of Look and Holidays, both taken from Disc 1. The only thing I did was replacing the Look chorus with fly in vocals with a fold down of the same section on the sessions disc and inserting the missing 12th street rag part before the last chorus. For Holidays, I replaced the tag/fade (whispering wind) with a fold down of the same section from the sessions, and faded out.
I just could have folded the stereo sessions disc down to mono but the actual mono mixes sounded a lot better so I just replaced soe sections and let the rest of the mix intact.

I'm not really one for my own album mixes, being someone that likes things to be historical of nature. Buuut, since I'm used to the Brian Wilson Presents Smile flow, all I did was some minor editing of The Smile Sessions tracks with the BWPS instrumental endings to "Heroes and Villains", "Child Is Father Of Man", "In Blue Hawaii", and the opening to "I'm In Great Shape." I also swapped out some sections of The Smile Sessions tracks for sections from the JMZ mix with the added vocals to get an overall "more finished" effect. All folded to mono and volume adjusted.

I don't have any complaints about the 2 disc set, and I LOVE the "album-simulate" on disc 1, I'm just so used to Purple Chick's sequence coming after Pet Sounds on my Beach Boys' Ipod playlist.

WTF for??????

Hypehat had a brilliant sequence a few weeks back - honestly, I think this is the best 'Historical' line-up I've seen. Here it is:

Side 1
1. Heroes & Villains (Incorporating Prayer at the start, then just Brian's March '67 Single Edit. It's the only edit we have)
2. I'm In Great Shape (Just the 30 seconds - I don't think it was due for more than that. If you were feeling fresh, it could segue into Barnyard like he does on the Humble Harv demo)
3. Do You Like Worms
4. Wind Chimes
5. The Old Master Painter (Why this is on the 12 tracklist, I don't know)
6. Cabinessence.

Side 2.
1. Good Vibrations
2. Vega-tables
3. Fire (Seeing as extensive tape research hasn't turned up a single other piece of music that lies under the banner 'The Elements', this is telling. No-one's been able to solve 'The Elements', from the garbled BW interviews and Frank Holmes' drawing).
4. Wonderful
5. Child Is The Father of The Man (No ideas as to the edit on this - the fact an unbooted acetate is used on the box in lieu of BW's Nov '66 mix is intriguing. It might well be definitive).
6. Surf's Up.

Only because that's how I'm used to hearing it from the Purple Chick Smile mix, which has been on my Beach Boys chronology playlist following Pet Sounds since it first was "released."

Its nothing against the new version (which is stunning!!), just suits my ears for the moment. Who knows, after awhile I may replace it with the disc 1 version? For now, I just wanted a better quality version of the familiar line up.