thanks for another one!

For many years, I thought 192 kbps and VBR was the way to go for best sound with smallest file size.  But, over the last year or two, I've discovered that I can tell the difference between 192 and 256, so I've been going with 256 and VBR most recently.  Above 256, I can't tell the difference even when burned to a CD.

As to editing tracks, you can do it if you have software that allows it.  iTunes doesn't do much in this regard, but Winamp has a little more functionality.  Apart from audacity which works really well with WAV files, I imagine there are probably some other freeware options out there.

Everyone's ears are different, so it is best to take one song and rip it using V0, V1 and V2 and listen for differences. With LAME, most claim V5 is transparent, so anything below should be transparent unless you have golden ears, which if you under 25 you might well have.

In my case, it's been 17+ years since I passed that threshold.   

But, I think what made the difference for me was playback equipment.  When that improved, I noticed.  But that's putting it strongly, really.  There's no remarkable difference.  I might actually try the experiment you suggested.

A/C should be great. I'll be interested to see what speed you put It's Over Now at.

I will say this:

1) I have NOT altered any speeds at all.  I know people on the previous page were saying Big Sur was slow, but I A/Bd my mix with three others, and they all were at the same pitch and the speed differed by a mere +/- 0.4 seconds.  That is not indicative of a slow tape speed.  So it's the same case with this:  Do we have a pitch-corrected speed for these to compare the tapes to?  Remember that in creating these I synched my working mix up with a few others to compare EQ settings and to tinker.  In doing that I did not see a pitch problem.  So either they're all slow, or they're all fine. 

But I used the MiC It's Over Now for what it's worth... 

2)  I have not fixed any of the slight tape drops outs.  As we were discussing earlier, I didn't feel it detracted from the enjoyment of the songs.  In the specific case of "Life Is For The Living", I thought to sample another section and "Frankenstein it" would be compromising the intended arrangement with a a capella introduction. 

I appreciate you guys are excited for these, but I fear that the anticipation has been built up for you guys to be let down.  :/  So yeah, I'm not Mark Linett, I'm just me.  I hope you guys like it, but, well, I don't know what I'm trying to say. 

People would be "let down" if Linett or anyone had done it.  Regardless, you are limited not only by the recordings that are available but by the material. 

Keep up the great work.  I've listened to every single album, regardless of artist, that you've done.  You've even turned me onto some new stuff, like Mars Volta.

Has anyone seen Mike and Bruce over the past week?

According to fb they're doing Heroes and Villains, Sail on Sailor, and Forever...not too crazy for them, but I don't think they've been played since the reunion.

Anyone have a full setlist or knowledge of other setlist goodies from them? Maybe competing with Mr. Pet Sounds...

They're doing "forever" because John Stamos is with them.

I don't know. There was talk of doing the Dennis video tribute of the Beach Boys tour. They already used the video of Carl doing GOK.





Thanks for the Mike&Bruce "Heroes&Villains". Been wanting to hear one of their performances for years!
Nice job. Christian sounds cool. He doesn't nail it though as someone mentioned here. It's pretty good but not Carl Wilson level.
This video gave the answer to Mike's question why there had to be so many musicians on the Beach Boys tour; they need to be there.

BTW Cowsill, I like your singing on this better than "Wild honey" fwiw. IMO it fits your voice better.

Ok, let me put this another way since this is the second time that my choice of words has been mentioned.  Christian nails it like a great, professional singer, not like Carl Wilson.  No shock there.

As to Cowsill on Wild Honey, I just saw him do it on 9/27 and he nailed it.  Haha!  Seriously, though, it was one of the strongest moments in that particular show, enough so that my 11-year old daughter was talking about it on the way out.  It's pretty high praise when it comes from an 11-year old, I think.   

I am mostly a lurker around here and will likely continue to be but where some folks here are commenting based on youtube videos, I had the opportunity to see Mike & Bruce on 9/27 and then Brian on 10/6.  Both shows were outstanding and, of course, different from each other.  I am a highly critical person (probably too much so) when it comes to music.  But, in my opinion, both bands are doing stellar work right now and it saddens me to see criticisms leveled at M&B on musical merits.  We hard-core fans are going to know band history and have opinions about individuals, but these are real people pouring themselves into this magical music and spreading "the word."  Good on all of them, I say.

(And, Rocker, I quoted you for context, but none of this is directed in any way towards you.  Good on you too, I say.    )

For many years, I thought 192 kbps and VBR was the way to go for best sound with smallest file size.  But, over the last year or two, I've discovered that I can tell the difference between 192 and 256, so I've been going with 256 and VBR most recently.  Above 256, I can't tell the difference even when burned to a CD.

As to editing tracks, you can do it if you have software that allows it.  iTunes doesn't do much in this regard, but Winamp has a little more functionality.  Apart from audacity which works really well with WAV files, I imagine there are probably some other freeware options out there.

That was really good! I was especially impressed with Christian's take on Carl's part.

Agreed.  Christian nailed it.

Yes, indeed!  And touring at 87 years of age- pretty amazing.  I wonder which of the Boys may still be doing this at 87.

No disrespect to Brian's show, which seems to be going wonderfully, nor to Blondie who is a great performer. But gotta give kudos to Mike's band -and Cowsill- for performing WH in its original key.

I just watched the Tower video by way of a Facebook link and came over to SS to see if it was being discussed.  Video reflects a great performance but I just saw Cowsill do it a few weeks ago and it was unbelievably good, possibly the highlight of the M+B show.

Apparently, "Wild Honey" was done in Boston tonight with Blondie (so it is said on the BW forum).

Brian was had some serious facial twitching going on the entire Sunday night - in the middle of songs, too. Wonder if it was a combination of nerves and the meds he's on. You'd figure in this day and age he could get something to avoid the side effects in a very public setting.

"Til I Die" wasn't a trainwreck - it was quite moving, actually - you'd have to be there to understand - it's just that Brian forgot his first line and that prevented it from being perfect.

Agreed on Sunday's "Til I Die."  It worked well when you were there for it, apart from the missed line. 

As to Brian, I thought he was in better shape and voice than at the C50 at Bethlehem in May 2012.  He sounded really good on some of the toughest material.

Speaking from experience, you can trust the downloads.

Very cool- thanks once again!

Back on topic, what have been the recent M&B setlists? I am curious what they played at the show in my area.

Not sure what show was near you, but this is a pretty good resource.  I'm going to Williamsport, PA tonight and will try to post a setlist tomorrow sometime.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlists/the-beach-boys-3d6c17b.html

Hey folks, here is the upgraded soniclovenoize SMiLE 1967 mix.  The objective is, if you don't know, is to try to make a SMiLE as close as possible to what would have been released in 1967 if SMiLE was finished... 

http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-beach-boys-smile-1967.html

UPDATES include:
- new stereo Our Prayer from MiC
- remixes of my stereo "Good Vibrations" and "Child" that raises the vocal track
- new stereo mixes of "Old master Painter", as foudn on my 2004 BWPS mix posted last week.
- new stereo mic of "Cabin Essence" from the re-essembled mastertapes, as per last week.
- a new stereo mix of "Wonderful", improved from last week's update!  (sorry guys)
- new stereo and mono edit of "Wind Chimes", closer to the BW acetates (something I missed when I first did this).
- some other stuff probably
- literally a six page essay I wrote on making this damned thing, explaining the 'SMiLE Sandwich Theory' I had originally thought of here a year back. 

So there you go.  Enjoy!

My reconstruction of Landlocked will be in one week. 

Awesome.  I've been listening to this one (before your updates) for over a year in my car.  So, I see you are using Stereo mixes above but is the final product in Mono or Stereo?

I provide both mono and stereo. 

Got it- thanks!  Didn't realize both were in one folder.

Hey folks, here is the upgraded soniclovenoize SMiLE 1967 mix.  The objective is, if you don't know, is to try to make a SMiLE as close as possible to what would have been released in 1967 if SMiLE was finished... 

http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-beach-boys-smile-1967.html

UPDATES include:
- new stereo Our Prayer from MiC
- remixes of my stereo "Good Vibrations" and "Child" that raises the vocal track
- new stereo mixes of "Old master Painter", as foudn on my 2004 BWPS mix posted last week.
- new stereo mic of "Cabin Essence" from the re-essembled mastertapes, as per last week.
- a new stereo mix of "Wonderful", improved from last week's update!  (sorry guys)
- new stereo and mono edit of "Wind Chimes", closer to the BW acetates (something I missed when I first did this).
- some other stuff probably
- literally a six page essay I wrote on making this damned thing, explaining the 'SMiLE Sandwich Theory' I had originally thought of here a year back. 

So there you go.  Enjoy!

My reconstruction of Landlocked will be in one week. 

Awesome.  I've been listening to this one (before your updates) for over a year in my car.  So, I see you are using Stereo mixes above but is the final product in Mono or Stereo?

Maybe, maybe not, but some quotes (to name a few) I feel a hyped.

-The Warmth of the Sun marks a resurgence in Beach Boys interest that has again rocked the world. (ehhh...ok?)

 -averaging 150 shows a year( often challenged quote)

-Mike Love’s concept album Endless Summer ignited a second generation of Beach Boys fans and stirred a tempest that rocked the music world. (Wow!!!)

-replacing Glenn Campbell, who filled-in for Brian Wilson (a guy who stayed for a matter of months over Carl and Dennis who don't get a mention? All class)

-Love’s role as the band’s front man sometimes overshadows his stature as one of rock’s foremost songwriters. (What ever)

-Love and The Beach Boys’ recent efforts raised over a quarter of a million dollars for the Red Cross to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina and made additional contributions to the disaster relief in Haiti. (recent...their word not mine. Katrina was 2005)

 -who along with Christian Love, Randell Kirsch, Tim Bonhomme, John Cowsill and Scott Totten (so relevant they get listed twice)

I did notice Warmth of Sun and Katrina stuff as well.  Sort of struck me that maybe they had pulled out the language from a 5 year old press release for this write-up.

Brian, Al, Dave, Dennis, Carl? Never heard of them!

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/calendar/performing_arts_and_music/event_fa7f1092-04f9-11e3-adf5-10604b9f7e36.html

Brian, Al and Dave are specifically mentioned as NOT being involved with this line-up.  Otherwise, it reads like a standard press release for a touring band, emphasizing who will be appearing and their contributions.  I see no disrespect to anyone.

Loved your first one and am very much looking forward to hearing this one.

Oh yes. Written by His Royal Bobness. So beautiful. I haven't voted yet, but that's the sort of thing that would tip it for Richard.

Thinkin about Music From Big Pink, it's all about Manuel's tunes for me - The Weight excepted - and it makes me think what kind of band they would have been if Manuel had taken the lead in songwriting. He and Robertson are equal in songwriting credits on that record. We may have been saved the snooze that is Cahoots.

Am I the only guy on the planet who loves the Cahoots album?

I think it is unfairly maligned because it followed three stone cold classics, but most bands would have killed to have "Life is a Carnival," "When I Paint My Masterpiece," "4% Pantomime, " "Smoke Signal," and "The River Hymn" on one album.  And the rest of the album is solid, just not reaching the heights of the three prior albums.  And certainly on the first two albums, you'd be hard pressed to imagine them without any of the songs on them.  There are no duds.

I have to go with Levon.  He just seems like he was such a sweet guy.  And he was a great drummer and singer.  I know Robertson wrote those songs but I think Levon brought them to life.  Just look at the sad sight that was Robertson, Danko, and Hudson performing as The Band at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and you'll see how essential Levon really was to the group.

To be fair, though, The Band in the 80s-90s without Robertson (and without Manuel for the back half of that time) had no magic either (despite some good moments).  It really took all 5 of them to create the transcendent music and be THE BAND.

I'm a late-comer to this revived thread, but I love last.fm.

http://www.last.fm/user/turntostone2

My copy (purchased from Amazon) has the 2-second issue on Disc 3 as described. I noticed it mostly because the very beginning of "Do It Again," when I ripped it for iTunes, begins with the very end of the fade of the previous track. Then I noticed that the songs on the disc all seem to start at the 0:01 or 0:02 mark.

Checked my copy of disc 3.  Same as above.  Most disappointing thing to me is the poor intro to "Do It Again," since this is the only place we can get this particular cut.  I had to crank the volume way up to notice the "Surf's Up" ending but I've got that track multiple times over.

I would think that with a price point of $130+ for 6 discs that they might work properly.

Pre-ordered from Amazon June 11.  Release day tomorrow.  Not yet shipped?!  Anybody else in the same boat?

Which shipping option did you select?  It makes a big difference with Amazon purchases.

I'm an Amazon Prime member so I opted for the free two day shipping.

You've probably done so already, but contact them.  I'm a Prime member and mine shipped on Sunday from Kentucky to arrive tomorrow.  I'm in PA and it's in PA today.  You should have a shipping notice.

Pre-ordered from Amazon June 11.  Release day tomorrow.  Not yet shipped?!  Anybody else in the same boat?

Which shipping option did you select?  It makes a big difference with Amazon purchases.

Mine shipped today from Amazon and will be delivered tomorrow. I guess $20 off list isn't terrible, but I did expect it to drop lower than it did. Hard to believe this box lists for $149.99. That is some major bucks to buy full price.

I bought it from Amazon as well and signed up for Prime so that it would be delivered on release date.  I am surprised that the price didn't drop more as well.  These days $22/CD is very steep, even with nice packaging.  I just bought the Nilsson box at under $6/disc.