Re: SNR on Sensual World vs Hounds of Love

[nrc@cbema.att.com (Neal R Caldwell, Ii)]

>From article <17983@scorn.sco.COM>, by jondr@sco.COM (Jon Drukman):
> 
> No one yet knows why brownfld@ux1.cso.uiuc.EDU (Kenneth R Brownfield) said:
>>this album."  I listened to the CD with _good_ headphones, and the songs that
>>were engineered by Del seemed to a bit better, if different at all.  Also,
>>Straight Down The Middle, which was engineered _and_ recorded by Del seemed to
>>be among the better sounding, both EQ and S/N wise.

Engineered and recorded are essentially the same thing.  I think you
mean engineered and mixed.   I agree in that I like the mix and EQ 
better but I can't even begin to figure out why you would think that 
S/N was better.  On my system when _Walk Straight Down the Middle_ 
starts it sounds like someone put a record on.

The engineer is responsible for getting the sound on tape as best 
as he can; the right sound with as little garbage as possible.  He 
then has to edit and sync all the bits and pieces together.  It's 90% 
likely that any unwanted noise is going to creep into the tracks during 
this step of the process.  The mixing doesn't come in until later.

When you consider that Del engineered every track on the album I think
you have your number one suspect.  The main variables that get thrown
into the engineering puzzle are the sessions that were done away from 
Kate's studio which were recorded by others.  One case of a noise 
problem that may be associated with a different engineer is the
wretched rumbling noise on _Rocket's Tail_.  This may be associated
with the Trio's vocal track but I really doubt it.

> I briefly entertained the notion that the problem was in the mastering
> stage, but that doesn't account for the incredibly obvious "tearing" and
> hiss that accompany the entrace of practically every vocal part on the
> album.

Gosh, aint' windowing wonderful.  I've just discovered suspect number
two.  If you're fingering the vocals I have to dredge up this little
tidbit.  In the Option interview Kate says...

   "As soon as I've got an idea, it can go on tape because Del's there.
   Now for me to actually try to put that on tape, it's so complicated.  
   On occasion I've tried to do it, and it's a joke." 

Now obviously she's talking about more than the vocals there but you
get the point.  She's not terribly comfortable with the equipment.  Now
in the Newsletter article that Del wrote about the engineering job, Del
says...

   "We spent many late nights at the studio, just the two of us,
   working away on lead vocals (late at night seems to be the best time
   for Kate's voice, and also there is less noise outside to leak
   in). We would use the same method or recording as much as possible
   in one go and then compiling the final voice. This was one job
   which Kate preferred to do alone. Indeed, I think that I would have
   been more of a hindrance than a help, as I thought that any one of
   the takes could have been used on the song as the lead vocal."

So if she worked on the lead vocals alone it's possible the problems
with the vocal tracks are hers.  Actually I think it likely that Del
just leaves everything set up and she has at it which would seem to be
pretty bullet-proof but who knows.   

Of course, this brings me back to another of my pet notions, that 
Kate has gotten too private for the good of her music.  She just 
isn't comfortable singing in front of people anymore.  If the trend 
continued she'd be in her closet at home right now with a cassette 
recorder.  I have high hopes that her Con appearance (London, not 
Cleveland) and talk of going back to some of her old techniques and 
possibly doing shows are signs that she's decided to tackle this 
problem.

> Do you have the US or UK disc?

In spite of the claims when this issue first appeared (way back when)
all the same audio rubbish is on the UK version.  The EQ is perhaps
just a bit less muddy.
 
>>     Whoever recorded or mixed Rocket's Tail and turned the drums into mush
>>should be shot.  It almost sounds compressed.

<>  Reworded:  The drums have about as much whack as the vocals.  Closer?

Del Palmer's your man.  Out the door, line on the left, one cross each.

Pick up archive file 0106 if you can.  There is an article from the
KBC newsletter there in which Del talks about the engineering work
he did.  He talks at length about the techniques he used on the drum 
sounds...

  "[Talk about how he miked the drums] This would give plenty of 
  'click' to the signal, which would allow the drum to penetrate the 
  final mix.  

  Recording this bass drum and snare was relatively straightforward,
  as it involved just the replacement of the existing ones with the
  new, stronger-sounding ones. It's a funny thing but as I recall,
  every time we recorded a bass drum I found myself "rolling out"
  the low mid-frequency EQ at around 1kHz. This always seemed to improve
  the sound and make it more punchy no matter what other frequencies
  I fiddled with."

Nail 'im up!  Nail some sense into 'im!!!

Of course, I have to point out that Kate had to ok all this
punchiness.  Also, I really don't mean to pick on Del.  Obviously he's
a talented fellow.  I just think he got in over his head by going 
straight from engineering primarily the demo tracks to engineering the 
whole thing. 


"Don't drive too slowly."                 Richard Caldwell
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