Stereo Smile Sessions Album

[The Heartical Don]

Mono - pah.

Old stuff sucks.

Weren't people stupid in the old days eh?

WRONG

Mono is an art form, to be appreciated by those of us with ears.

A crisper yet rounded sound. Depth is the key rather than width.

Good call. Pure, punchy mono is a treat; it's different, but not worse than stereo. Just play mono Motown vinyl and you know why it bewitched tens of millions of dancing people on the planet.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

And the mono Pet Sounds over the stereo all the way.

The stereo mix, I played it non stop for about a month, then put it away never to hear again. It was a curio. I never heard anything new in it that I hadn't already heard in the mono, but it was easier to hear details. You have to put the work in with mono when you want to hear details, as everything is working together to create a sound, much more in keeping with the PS ethos. Far more rewarding IMP. Stereo makes your ears lazy.

[The Heartical Don]

And the mono Pet Sounds over the stereo all the way.

The stereo mix, I played it non stop for about a month, then put it away never to hear again. It was a curio. I never heard anything new in it that I hadn't already heard in the mono, but it was easier to hear details. You have to put the work in with mono when you want to hear details, as everything is working together to create a sound, much more in keeping with the PS ethos. Far more rewarding IMP. Stereo makes your ears lazy.

Nice remarks. I am reminded of the fact that initially I was a bit wary of re-releases of old classical recordings on CD. But when mastered right... they're to die for. Stuff from the '20s and '30s? No problem, just listen to Edwin Fischer's 'Well-Tempered Clavier' on the Naxos Historical label. Marvelous.  And 'stereolising' these would constitute a crime.

[Paul2010]

Mono - pah.

Old stuff sucks.

Weren't people stupid in the old days eh?

WRONG

Mono is an art form, to be appreciated by those of us with ears.

A crisper yet rounded sound. Depth is the key rather than width.

When I got the Beatles Mono box I finally got mono. There is something special, focused and more powerful about the sound. Stoked that the disc 1 approximation of Smile is going to be this way.

I totally agree with this. Many stereo mixes are mixed too wide, or too much in the left or right ear. Any song always sounds good in mono.

[The Heartical Don]

Mono - pah.

Old stuff sucks.

Weren't people stupid in the old days eh?

WRONG

Mono is an art form, to be appreciated by those of us with ears.

A crisper yet rounded sound. Depth is the key rather than width.

When I got the Beatles Mono box I finally got mono. There is something special, focused and more powerful about the sound. Stoked that the disc 1 approximation of Smile is going to be this way.

I totally agree with this. Many stereo mixes are mixed too wide, or too much in the left or right ear. Any song always sounds good in mono.

There were so many way too wide stereo mixes in the first years of CD... I often thought: why is the bass player 10 miles to the left, and the keyboard woman 15 to the right of me? IIRC some Michael Jackson stuff was atrocious.

[Andrew G. Doe]

A lot of the early Beatles 'stereo' was crap, and as someone memorably noted of some Stones mixes, "there are holes you could deliver a fridge through".

Strictly speaking, the BB's stereo mixes 1963-64 aren't mixes at all: Chuck balanced and EQ'd the raw 3-track session tapes and Shazam ! stereo !

[Jason]

A lot of the early Beatles 'stereo' was crap, and as someone memorably noted of some Stones mixes, "there are holes you could deliver a fridge through".

Strictly speaking, the BB's stereo mixes 1963-64 aren't mixes at all: Chuck balanced and EQ'd the raw 3-track session tapes and Shazam ! stereo !

Methinks that "Shazam stereo" would be a good way to describe Chuck's "stereo" mixes.

[The Heartical Don]

A lot of the early Beatles 'stereo' was crap, and as someone memorably noted of some Stones mixes, "there are holes you could deliver a fridge through".

Strictly speaking, the BB's stereo mixes 1963-64 aren't mixes at all: Chuck balanced and EQ'd the raw 3-track session tapes and Shazam ! stereo !

Methinks that "Shazam stereo" would be a good way to describe Chuck's "stereo" mixes.

  haha... let's TM this one (or rather, AGD should) before the Hoffmen grab it... and that 'fridge' remark by AGD really made me laugh.

Not before long, Capitol will replace 'Duophonic Stereo' with 'Shazam Stereo'.

[runnersdialzero]

wat

[runnersdialzero]

I totally agree with this. Many stereo mixes are mixed too wide, or too much in the left or right ear. Any song always sounds good in mono.

Can't count how many stereo mixes from the 60s that I've done fold downs of just because of how ridiculous the stereo separation was on it. I was trying to tell my girlfriend how the Beatles mono box set was worth the time just as much as the stereo, how some of the stereo mixes of those albums are ballz, and just got a, "I'd rather it be in stereo and sound like that than it just be in mono." I don't get it :\

Even my own stuff, the only tracks that see much panning are when I've recorded something with multiple mics or, in rare cases, if something has been triple-tracked with one each channel and one that sits in the center. I love stereo and the atmosphere it can bring when done well, but even on modern recordings, I can't stand it when a guitar or keyboard part just suddenly leaps out of the left or right channel due to hard panning >: (

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Ah, see....sometimes I hard pan the bass just because it's such a no no.

Gotta break those rulz Hoffman

[runnersdialzero]

Ah, see....sometimes I hard pan the bass just because it's such a no no.

Gotta break those rulz Hoffman

ur teh real rebel every damn day imo

[Iron Horse-Apples]

It's a cross I bear well.

I'm such a rebel I obey rules that most other people break.

I'm super normal

[ApolloSkye]

i'm sure that you won't need to manually put together a stereo mix, just put together a playlist replacing the mono tracks with available stereo tracks from the other discs

Isnt there only a couple songs in stereo though? Hereoes and villains, vegetables (and thats just for vinyl)... do the sessions disks have full songs on them? i thought that was all gonna be, well, sessions? like just instruments, and only for certain parts at a time

[robertgotshall]

When I got the Beatles Mono box I finally got mono.

Same here. I used to be on the "mono sucks" bandwagon until I finally listened to The Beatles in Mono. The mono mixes just pack so much more of a punch, at least in The Beatles case. Also, I can't stand the old practice of keeping the vocals all on one side of a stereo mix, which is how a lot of The Beatles stereo tracks are.

That said, if a good stereo mix exists, then I'm more likely to choose that over mono.

[runnersdialzero]

i'm sure that you won't need to manually put together a stereo mix, just put together a playlist replacing the mono tracks with available stereo tracks from the other discs

Please tell me your name is an Earthbound reference.

[Austin]

Same here. I used to be on the "mono sucks" bandwagon until I finally listened to The Beatles in Mono. The mono mixes just pack so much more of a punch, at least in The Beatles case. Also, I can't stand the old practice of keeping the vocals all on one side of a stereo mix, which is how a lot of The Beatles stereo tracks are.

That said, if a good stereo mix exists, then I'm more likely to choose that over mono.

In order of importance to me (most to least):

1. Balance
2. Clarity
3. Spatial depth

It's interesting to see how modern-day remixes of both Beach Boys and Beatles material aren't afraid of embracing that center channel. It's not like the 60's, where the goal seemed to be to make everything as wide as possible.

The best remixes -- especially what comes from the Beatles and the Beach Boys -- figure out how to strike for 1 and 2, and when possible, some of 3.

[puni puni]

Please tell me your name is an Earthbound reference.

i'll tell you if you give me a ruler and a skip sandwich