HW: Yule Ritual

[Michael Blackman]

I have listened to it on several stereo systems and there is definatly no
abundance of bass (frequencies) in the mix on the cd I have.  I think that
is what has been mentioned by two people so far.  Not just that the mix is
unusual but that the bass frequencies are so loud it ruins the sound of the
music.  Am I correct in my deduction here?

Being an audio engineer specialising in recording techniques etc I tend to
have a different perspective on an albums sound.  That is I listen to an
album on several levels.  Not just if I like it :)



----- Original Message -----
From: Dave Law <dplaw at IC24.NET>
To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 12:29 AM
Subject: Re: HW: Yule Ritual


> On Tue, 17 Dec 2002 19:51:52 +1030, Michael Blackman
> <michael_1968 at OZEMAIL.COM.AU> wrote:
>
> >That is really bizarre because my copy is great to listen to.  Has the
mix
> >been messed with since it was first released perhaps?
> >
> >
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: Dr _ Technical <dr_technical at MCMAHON66.FSNET.CO.UK>
> >To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
> >Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 7:41 PM
> >Subject: Re: HW: Yule Ritual
> >
> >
> >> My version of this album is also bass heavy (recently purchased). Even
on
> >> cheap monitors, it nearly blows them up with the volume halfway decent!
> >>
> >> On Fri, 13 Dec 2002 17:10:42 -0500, Doug Pearson
<jasret at MINDSPRING.COM>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> >On Fri, 13 Dec 2002 07:34:52 +0000, Jonathan Norman
<rockypaths at MSN.COM>
> >> >wrote:
> >> >>Hi
> >> >>
> >> >>I need to know if I have a duff copy of this album.  The version I
have
> >> is
> >> >>very bass heavy - so bass heavy that you can't turn up the volume as
my
> >> >>sub-woofer hates it.
> >> >>
> >> >>Has anyone else had this problem?
> >> >
> >> >Yes, it's a typical newbie mastering engineer mistake to overuse a
> >> favorite
> >> >(or newly-obtained) piece of equipment or (if computer-mastered) plug-
> in,
> >> >in this case, something along the lines of an Aphex Aural Exciter/Bass
> >> >Enhancer (a web search on the name of the mastering engineer turns up
a
> >> guy
> >> >who seems to be very experienced at binaural recording, but has no
> >> >mastering credits mentioned ... no idea whether or not it's actually
the
> >> >same person, as those two audio engineering tasks are not at all
> >related).
> >> >So you get a bass sound that sounds "awesome" on cheap equipment (like
a
> >> >boom box or car stereo, and maybe even crap monitors that are all
treble
> >> no
> >> >bass like NS-10's), but utterly nothing like a real bass guitar when
> >> played
> >> >on a system capable of accurately reproducing the sound of a
recording.
> >> >
> >> >I have a bad enough time listening to 'Yule Ritual' through my
speakers
> >> >(Vandersteens - http://www.vandersteen.com/ ), which have much more of
a
> >> >flat, uncolored, studio-monitor-like response than most home audio
> >> >speakers, so I can only imagine that the sound must be utterly
abyssmal
> >> >through a system with a subwoofer.
> >> >
> >> >Which is all too bad, as I like the album quite a bit (although
there's
> >> >major room for improvement in other areas, but I've bitched about it
> >> enough
> >> >for one day).  Great contributions by Ron, Simon, Harvey & Keith
> >Kniveton,
> >> >especially (and presumably Jerry, but like I just said ... ).
> >> >
> >> >There was a web broadcast of part of the show which had a proper
> sounding
> >> >bass guitar, so a decent recording obviously exists somewhere ...
> >> >
> >> >(And on the "other" subject, this underscores the importance of
audience
> >> >taping, since that's the only way to get a copy of the 'Yule Ritual'
> >> >Astoria set that *doesn't* have this mastering screwup.  Sorry to
dwell
> >on
> >> >this, since I've mentioned it before, but words cannot describe how
> >> >appalled I was when I first heard it.)
> >> >
> >> >    -Doug
> >> >     jasret at mindspring.com
>
> this whole discussion about the yule ritual mix is, imho,a bit like when
> you get 2 people watching the same football match. although they may be
> standing next to each other they will still interpret it in their own way,
> according to their viewpoint. same with this album, or any for that
matter,
> if you like the production techniques employed  you'll go for it, if
> however you don't then it won't be to your liking! lets be honest we havw
> had to put up with some "strange" mixes over the years as far as h\w are
> concerned !!!!
> regards
> dave