Mix on the Sensual World

[scasterg@waltham.columbus.oh.us (Stuart Castergine)]

> scasterg@waltham.columbus.oh.us (Stuart Castergine) writes:
> >I finally got _The_Sensual_World_! I like the album (of course),
> >but I do understand now what people have said about the quality
> >of the engineering/mix. Having listened to it about a dozen times
> >now, I think I'm ready to say, "It wasn't Del's fault." You see,
> >I think the actual recording of the tracks was fine. The problem,
> >to my ears is the mixing balance of the background tracks -- they
> >sometimes overwhelm Kate's voice and are generally too obtrusive.
> 
> it is typical of the novice to express an opinion on something that he or
> she knows little about.  as a certified recording engineer and beautiful
> person (our record was noted as having "exceptionally clean sound on this
> cutting edge release" in US Rave) i am obviously in a position of authority
> to comment.  take it from me, folks.  i know the difference between bad
> engineering, bad recording and bad mixing.  the sensual world is badly
> engineered and recorded.  you can tell quite easily by listening to the
> differences in hiss/distortion levels between the things del recorded at
> chez kate and stuff like the orchestras recorded at abbey road.

I may not be a recording expert, but I know what I hear. The distortion
and hiss you notice didn't bother me, the loudness of the instrumental
acompaniment did, which is a function of the mixing. I'm sure you are
correct about the noise, but I still think it could have been mixed
better.

---
scasterg@waltham.columbus.oh.us -- Stuart M. Castergine        ---
                I  still dream of Orgonon.                      |/
                                                                |\