Mastering rant # 137

[blue2blue]

Byrds, by the Byrds, 1973. These two tracks are from the same album release.

 

[onelife]

They look like they have been normalized.

 

What do they sound like - comparatively speaking?

 

Where did the digital files come from? I'm sure the Byrds didn't record them that way in '73.

[blue2blue]

Actually, I have the vinyl (but it's in storage) and, yeah, I remember that it's got serious problems.

 

Like the digital version, the mix/mastering is excessively bass-heavy, and, though memory is hazy, I believe I also noticed the level issue back in the day when making a 'party tape' that included a couple tracks from it, but I made a lot of such tapes back then because I often prefer listening to a mix of music.*

 

In answer to how the two tracks sounded back-to-back, the answer is "Cowgirl" felt almost twice as loud coming after "Sweet Mary." FWIW, on the current release "Sweet Mary" is track # 2 and "Cowgirl" is # 7 (as per AllMusic; the album in streaming syndication has the same track order).

 

If one considers 'normalization' to be simply the loudest parts hitting (but hopefully 'stopping' at) 0 dB FS, then, for sure, they both top at 0.

 

I guesstimated 4.5 to 5 dB RMS difference by ear so the ~ 6.4 dB and 3.5 differences (side to side) between the tracks wasn't too much of a surprise.

 

Just now I went through in album order, cutting back and forth and just listening (this time just with realtime SPL meter to keep an eye on levels). It's a real eyebrow-raiser.

 

The first track ("Full Circle") is more or less as loud as "Cowgirl" -- but it drops steeply at "Sweet Mary" and the third track ("Changing Heart") is noticeably louder -- but still nowhere as loud as the first, jumping back and forth. Big jump. The fourth, a full band version of Joni Mitchell's "For Free," is back down to "Cowgirl"! The fifth, "Born to Rock & Roll" is also at the lowest end of the album's radically divergent levels.

 

"Things Will Be Better" (# 6) is similarly low. Then "Cowgirl" in the # 7 slot blasts out, # 8, "Long Live the King" is maybe even a bit louder than "Cowgirl." The next, "Borrowing Time" sounds a little bit louder than the lowest tracks. The next, #10, "Laughing," is back to the quiet end of things, as is the last, "(See the Sky) About to Rain."

 

So... my initial theory that it was two sides of an LP shuffled intermixed for digital release and so, perhaps one side had been mastered loud and the other quiet for reasons known only to the ME.

 

But with four tracks noticeably much louder and seven much quieter, that doesn't make any sense. (It would be helpful to find my original vinyl to explore track layout and how this might have happened, but that's not really practical at this time.)

 

Anyhow, this album is really a freakin' mess, mastering-wise.

 

 

* Even though I had hundreds of records (now over a 1200 LPs, 500 CDs, and a couple hundred singles and 78s) I can get tired of hearing albums. Mixing things up often seemed to renew my interest. Now that I listen via streaming, I'd say 90% of my listening is to shuffle mixes of different albums and artists.

[Anderton]

I think quite a few "professional" mastering engineers suck. But I also think some of the people making demands on professional mastering engineers suck, too. I can't tell you how many clients have wanted super-loud records. I try to talk them out of it and most of the time, I'm able to do so because I usually deal directly with the artist...but a lot of engineers don't have that option because people "above" the artist are calling the shots.

[blue2blue]

Oh, of course! A pocketful of gold may give one the ability to make the rules, but it doesn't make one wise.

 

 

One other conjecture about how the mess described above might have happened: since there were four tracks that were sore-thumbing, it occurred to me that there might have been two singles and despite the all-star cast, they may have just thrown them onto the album without adjustment. I dunno. Really, it's hard to explain how such incompetent sequencing/mastering got on a major label release.

 

I note that David Crosby produced the record. His own first record, which he produced, is absolutely gorgeous. But... that was a solo project. If we know one thing about the talented but difficult singer/musician/songwriter, it's that he doesn't always get along well with some of his oldest pals...

 

 

The AllMusic review (AM reviews are, of course, all over the map) of the album isn't particularly laudatory, to be sure: http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-byrds-mw0000643104