Original v Remastered

[Ianc1971]

As some know i'm new to the scene. Was just wondering what everyone thought of the CD/MP3 generation? For me the later as been god send as there is no way, getting this late into the scene, that i could collect the original tracks on vinyl.

1 It would be near impossible

2 It would take a lottery win

Is something lost by remastering originals?

[Thinksmart]

The heart of the scene will always be vinyl but the reissue on CD is brilliant.  It is vital to get properly mastered releases from labels that are MCPS registered, paying the proper royalties.  From there you can make your own MP3s for convenience and efficiency of storage which will sound perfectly good at 320kbs / 44.1khz settings.   Labels such as Kent, Expansion, Outta Sight, Joe Boy, Sequel, Spectrum, BBR, BBE, Charly and many dozens more have all put out great reissue releases (with Kent as the most dedicated).   CDs are for home and on the move listening, vinyl as the original source for playing at events (with crossover for more Modern Soul of course.   There's a lot to collect in CDs, many of which are collectble themselves.  I've been collecting soul on CD since the mid-1980s from the first Charly and Sequel releases such as 'Up All Night' and 'Some Modern Soul' through to now.   There's a huge treasure trove of music that has never made it to CD and lots that in all likelihood never will, but once you start collecting in whatever form it will be with you throughout your life.   Get a good music management software tool such as MediaMonkey and start building your own library.  It's great fun. 

Remastering is a another topic but like reissues it has to be done with care and sympathy for the music.  Bringing out the best in a track and retaining its balance is wonderful but adding bass, compression and other aspects can ruin a track, remove its dynamics and flatten its sound.  In the right hands, it's a useful tool - the way Kent has revealed the magic inside murky sounding originals is great, but the dozens of low bite-rate, poorly copied unlicensed tracks as MP3s in Amazon, iTunes show the damage of shoddy treatment.

Remastering is about bringing out the best of the sound, remixing is changing way is within it and its structure. A genuine master like Tom Moulton can be trusted with this but there are many rubbish 'edits' and 'remixes' out there that will soon be forgotten and source track remembered for its original quality.

Edited December 5, 2016 by ThinkSmart

[Mickey Finn]

That's a great reply and covers most everything. 

I'm a cd collector and love properly remastered good music, crackle free and clear. The OVO policy at gigs I kinda get but still wish that more attention would be paid to the music itself rather than the format it comes from. It seems strange to me that a strictly applied OVO policy would prevent the playing out of fantastic tunes that never made the cut back in the day but which labels like Kent, Soul Junction and Soulmusic.com have brought to us at some financial risk, only to be excluded all over again. Also the album tracks that never made it to single status but which deserve an audience ... But I'll never win this argument so don't bother listening to me - no one else does 

One problem with OVO is that the condition of the vinyl may have suffered from repeated plays, dodgy stylus, mistaken use as ash tray, nail file, frisbee, etc., so you might end up with what started as a beautiful fully orchestrated flawless masterpiece but which is now sounding more like an outtake from Radio Luxembourg c.1968. The owner/listener might not have realised this and as I get older I've noticed that even with deteriorating hearing I can fill in the gaps in tunes I've enjoyed for years even if my ears, the music format or whatever sound system aren't cutting it like before. It might save a lot of OV and more than a few ears if djs would be able to display their vinyl whilst playing pristine remastered versions of the tunes, instead of subjecting the vinyl to yet more wear and tear and dance floors to yet more raspy upper frequencies.

Anyway, good luck with the collecting and as long as you enjoy the music, that's what matters  The scene is really friendly and hearing the music played out with a group of like minded people is one of life's great pleasures.

[Ianc1971]

To be honest i've only got CD/MP3 format of all my NS. Saying that some of them are ripped straight from vinyl and still have the hiss and crackles which is nice but sometimes hard to hear the lyrics. I understand both arguments and feel both are relevent but agree also with Mickey Finn. It would be nice to hear it as clear as it was when i was first recorded.

 

[Soulstu]

A big bugbear with me regarding some re-issued northern tunes on CDs is this: Some superb mono vinyl recordings have had the most brutal stereo effect added from the original tapes. The worst examples are the CD versions of Mitch Ryder's Breakout and You Get You Kicks. Unlistenable, specially on headphones, it's isolated parts of the song that should be part of the whole sound, the drums are all in one speaker.... awful! Same goes for the dreadful stereo versions of Frank Wilson and also You're ready now.... maybe its just me?

[BabyBoyAndMyLass]

11 minutes ago, SoulStu said:

A big bugbear with me regarding some re-issued northern tunes on CDs is this: Some superb mono vinyl recordings have had the most brutal stereo effect added from the original tapes. The worst examples are the CD versions of Mitch Ryder's Breakout and You Get You Kicks. Unlistenable, specially on headphones, it's isolated parts of the song that should be part of the whole sound, the drums are all in one speaker.... awful! Same goes for the dreadful stereo versions of Frank Wilson and also You're ready now.... maybe its just me?

No Stu it isn't just you.

[Soulstu]

34 minutes ago, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

No Stu it isn't just you.

Thank God!

[Thinksmart]

It is often worth hunting down the original mono mixes of their own single artist CDs of not on a compilation.  I collect each variant, which runs to a few edits and mixes sometimes.  Mixes for a single were generally mono, album versions stereo.