sound 'enhancement' on Ry Cooder's new al***
Posted by: sligoMark on 22 January 2007
Hmmmmm. Here's something perhaps a little worrying:
http://tinyurl.com/2c7jqeApparently, Ry Cooder passed his new album "My Name Is Buddy" through iTunes during the mastering process - to improve the sound.
After listening to the first master on his car stereo, where "It started to sound processed", Ry discovered that the automatic 'sound enhancer' in iTunes "sweetened" the sound. He liked it so much that he treated the whole album with it.
Crikey! Anyone heard it yet?
Mark
Posted on: 22 January 2007 by ewemon
Haven't heard any of it yet. It is down for a March the 6th release. The best place for samples is usually Barnes and Noble as they normally have them ahead of everyone else but none yet. Has anyone ever found a Ry Cooder website? As I haven't. The only site I have found is a fan site.
Posted on: 23 January 2007 by J.N.
RCs 'Bop Till You Drop' (1979) became infamous as one of the first digitally processed vinyl albums, which sounded bad.
It sounds like he's still deaf!
If this is the start of a trend - Gawdelpus.
John.
Posted on: 23 January 2007 by ewemon
quote:
Originally posted by J.N.:
RCs 'Bop Till You Drop' (1979) became infamous as one of the first digitally processed vinyl albums, which sounded bad.
It sounds like he's still deaf!
If this is the start of a trend - Gawdelpus.
John.
Hope not re the trend. Mind you Bop was one of the worst sounding albums I had heard in a long time. Even some the Jamaican dub albums on Jamaican vinyl were better with scratches built in due to the recycled vinyl they used.
Posted on: 23 January 2007 by sligoMark
I seem to remember Bop Till You Drop being praised for it's sound quality and becoming a favourite hifi test record due to it's crisp clear bouncy sound. Of course, crisp and clear really meant zingy and edgy in a horribly digital way.
Mark
Posted on: 23 January 2007 by JohanR
quote:
RCs 'Bop Till You Drop' (1979) became infamous as one of the first digitally processed vinyl albums, which sounded bad.
It was the first pop/rock record that was digitally RECORDED. I seem to remember that Ry thought afterwards that it wasn't very good sounding. So he also became the first artist that gave up digital recording...
Maybe the new one has been much to compressed/limited in the mastering process (together with 99,99 percent of popular music made today) so that it sounds completely lifeless and that iTunes thing actually makes sound a little better?
JohanR
Posted on: 23 January 2007 by rupert bear
Johan, you're right. He made one more digitally-recorded album, Borderline, then started on a third, The Slide Area. After 3 tracks he realised how bad the early digital recorders sounded compared to analogue, so recorded the rest of the album in analogue. It's not a great album but it's really interesting because, on LP at least, you can clearly hear the total difference between the 2 types, the analogue sounding very creamy and groovy, the digital very straight-laced and processed (though not that bad!).
In fact, Cooder recorded in the early 1990s one of the classics of retro-analogue, the Water Lily CD 'Meeting Across the River' with V M Bhatt, using valve microphones and similar paraphanalia. Maybe he just likes experimenting, as his music suggests. Anyway, sounds like Buddy should be a good album, apparently in the vein of his 1970s work.
I like Bop Till You Drop by the way!
Posted on: 23 January 2007 by Skip
Check out The Border soundtrack. Great music and sound. Also Paradise and Lunch, Into the Purple Valley, and many others. I like BTYD for music. Sounds ok not great.
Posted on: 24 January 2007 by ewemon
Think my favourite Ry album is Boomers Story.
