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Bob Ludwig
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Topic: Bob Ludwig (Read 2123 times)
Turtle_13
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Bob Ludwig
«
on:
August 07, 2010, 08:43:50 AM »
I've just read AGD's post on the blue board that Bob Ludwig has mastered Brian's new album and I'm gutted to say the least.
I'm not a technophile and don't understand the recording process but I do believe me own ears and there are some CD's I've purchased over the last few years that are unlistenable to me..they literally hurt my ears......
After Brian's last CD came out "TLOS"" , I'd spotted this topic being raised on some message boards including this one and went Bingo......that must be why I don't enjoy it as much, it's been hotwalled or whatever the term is. I like the songs, I flew to England to see it performed live, really enjoyed it.
Look at Dennis's POB re-release, that CD is wonderful, not just the music but you can turn the volume up and your ear drums don't explode.
My real fear is that we'll eventually get a SMiLE release from the archives of some sort and the mastering expert in all his or her wisdom will cook the tapes using this hotwalling process.
That's my little rant of my chest....I'd like to introduce myself, my name is Thomas and I'm from Ireland...long time lurker, first time poster.
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b00ts
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Greldont
Re: Bob Ludwig
«
Reply #1 on:
August 07, 2010, 10:04:17 AM »
Hello Thomas,
Unfortunately it seems as though BWRG is semi-Brickwalled just like TLOS and McCartney's "Memory almost Full" among many many other records. I noticed this when I listened to the samples of "Rhapsody in Blue" - the music player on that blog showed the waveforms of the songs, and they were brickwalled.
In this day and age, and especially if something is being released by a company like Disney or Capitol, they almost need to brickwall it to ensure that it will stand out when played in places like Whole Foods, Starbucks and, yes, the radio.
I am with you when it comes to brickwalled mastering - it 'squashes' dynamics and is generally gross sounding - but we'll have to live with it on the digital version. A good way to get around it is to purchase the vinyl version instead. Vinyl cannot be mastered that way - if it were, the needle would jump - the format literally cannot handle it. The vinyl version of "That Lucky Old Sun" has much sweeter dynamics than the CD issue, and the same will be true of the vinyl version of BWRG.
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- B00ts
Shady
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I had to fix a lot of things this morning
Re: Bob Ludwig
«
Reply #2 on:
August 07, 2010, 10:14:42 AM »
Quote from: Turtle_13 on August 07, 2010, 08:43:50 AM
I've just read AGD's post on the blue board that Bob Ludwig has mastered Brian's new album and I'm gutted to say the least.
I'm not a technophile and don't understand the recording process but I do believe me own ears and there are some CD's I've purchased over the last few years that are unlistenable to me..they literally hurt my ears......
After Brian's last CD came out "TLOS"" , I'd spotted this topic being raised on some message boards including this one and went Bingo......that must be why I don't enjoy it as much, it's been hotwalled or whatever the term is. I like the songs, I flew to England to see it performed live, really enjoyed it.
Look at Dennis's POB re-release, that CD is wonderful, not just the music but you can turn the volume up and your ear drums don't explode.
My real fear is that we'll eventually get a SMiLE release from the archives of some sort and the mastering expert in all his or her wisdom will cook the tapes using this hotwalling process.
That's my little rant of my chest....I'd like to introduce myself, my name is Thomas and I'm from Ireland...long time lurker, first time poster.
Another Irish fan here
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Quote from: Andrew G. Doe on October 24, 2011, 11:14:41 PM
According to someone who would know.
Quote from: AvanTodd on January 17, 2015, 07:48:15 PM
Seriously, there was a Beach Boys Love You condom?! Amazing.
Don_Zabu
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Re: Bob Ludwig
«
Reply #3 on:
August 07, 2010, 10:15:50 AM »
"The Like In I Love You" seemed pretty tasteful in its volume, at any rate.
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Sam_BFC
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Re: Bob Ludwig
«
Reply #4 on:
August 07, 2010, 12:12:06 PM »
It's funny, in any article that I have read in which Bob Ludwig is quoted, he always comes across as a fierce opponent of the hypercompression trend.
Such as here:
http://emusician.com/tutorials/emusic_masters_mastering/
Quote from: Bob Ludwig
“To me, it's a fact that highly compressed music is tiring to the ear and doesn't make you want to listen to something over and over again. Could this be one of the reasons for the record industry's demise?
Yet whenever we have a new release from Brian, people always lament Ludwig's participation as the Mastering Engineer.
Does pressure from the record companies force him abandon his principles? Or does he simply have a different idea as to what constitutes overly compressed audio compared to the people of this board?
Sam
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"..be cautious, don't get your hopes up, look over your shoulder because heartbreak and darkness are always ready to pounce"
petsoundsnola
the captain
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Re: Bob Ludwig
«
Reply #5 on:
August 07, 2010, 12:19:14 PM »
People master to the taste of the people paying for the mastering. I look at it as akin to an arms race. While everyone seems to agree in theory that everything is mastered far too hot, nobody wants to be the only one to stop doing it for fear his work will be overlooked while others keep it up.
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Demon-Fighting Genius; Patronizing Twaddler; Argumentative, Sanctimonious Prick; Sensationalist Dullard; and Douche who (occasionally to rarely) puts songs
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No interest in your assorted grudges and nonsense.
Jonas
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I've got the Beach Boys, my friends got the Stones
Re: Bob Ludwig
«
Reply #6 on:
August 07, 2010, 02:58:06 PM »
Like someone mentioned, this seems to be an issue with cd releases...because the vinyl release sounds great. Which is why I prefer listening to Brian's newer records from ripped vinyl.
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We would like to record under an atmosphere of calmness. - Brian Wilson
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1IgXT3xFdU
JaredLekites
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Re: Bob Ludwig
«
Reply #7 on:
August 08, 2010, 10:20:17 AM »
Don't blame the engineer. It's usually the producers and record companies telling them to "make it louder". They're only doing their job.
FWIW, I'm sure the vinyl release will sound better than the CD (that is, if you have a reasonably decent turntable set up).
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?
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Re: Bob Ludwig
«
Reply #8 on:
August 09, 2010, 12:03:41 AM »
The vinyl will almost certainly sound nicer, but this cd is not brickwalled in any way. I hear plenty of dynamics. I'll wait to play it on a proper setup before making a final judgment, but it sure sounds like Bob did a fine job to me.
That said, bring on the the 24th. I want my record!
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Andrew G. Doe
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The triumph of The Hickey Script !
Re: Bob Ludwig
«
Reply #9 on:
August 09, 2010, 12:42:54 AM »
Quote from: AvanTodd on August 09, 2010, 12:03:41 AM
The vinyl will almost certainly sound nicer, but this cd is not brickwalled in any way.
Try putting it through something like Audacity or Sound Forge and see what the signal looks like. Even the intro piece is brickwalled.
Edit: OK, hold up hands time... seems I've been somewhat mislead, but also broke my own golden rule ("question everything"): just put random tracks through Audacity and while the mastering is a touch 'hot', it's not close to the
TLOS
level of brickwalling. I think someone sent me some 'doctored' images.
«
Last Edit: August 09, 2010, 12:59:58 AM by Andrew G. Doe
»
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The four sweetest words in my vocabulary: "This poster is ignored".
Turtle_13
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Re: Bob Ludwig
«
Reply #10 on:
August 09, 2010, 09:24:33 AM »
........great to read from Andrew that my fears about the CD have more or less been unwarranted and put to rest........
Thanks Sam for highlighting that article, very interesting read.
Probably shouldn't have titled this topic with Bob's name as it's this brickwalling process and not him personally that I'm against.
it's funny looking at the other topic on the board about trying to introduce friends, relations and work colleagues to the music of the Beach Boys and the brick wall, to steal a term, that's put up by them whenever the topic is raised................... and also mentioning the warmer sound from LP's or records as opposed to CD's, they look at me as if I've grown another head!!
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