A look into the Motown tape vault (video-R)
johmbolaya
4,472 Posts
http://gannett.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/r...bject=993006499I know MY upped an article about the 50th anniversary of Motown, not sure if there were any videos involved but I just discovered this so I apologize if this has been upped before.It's a brief video of the Motown section of the Universal tape archives.
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i want to take a field trip everyday to that dudes job
YOU CAN HEAR LEVI AGAINST THE BASSLINE, HOW BOUT THAT
Like i have a 3 disc J5 anthology that came out in 86.
Its pretty much a str8 mix.
The 2 disc anthology from 2000 has crazy highs and subtle changes in the sounds.
Just a minor pet peeve for me.
Ive always wondered if some engineer is given carte blanche to alter certain things when shit goes to "print".
"Kids love Bass these days.."
"Oh man - I just really love the Guitar on this track, im gonna make more prominant".
"Lets make the vocals louder...."
just sayin
agreed, i wish there was a guide somewhere to different releases so i could figure out which versions to download
That is a topic that is brought up on a number of audio boards. The straight mixes from the masters (or masters that were immediately available to them) is what is called a "flat transfer", meaning they use the tape, convert to digital and leave it alone as is, or add a tweak or two that's barely noticable. Keep in mind that record labels were more into releasing new music on CD, not something they could put their entire back catalog on, and when they realized people were willing to pay for old stuff in a new format, that's when you had the mad rush to release a lot of classic stuff. Depending on the condition of the master tapes when the CD's were made, some of those early pressings can be of value.
The "remastering game" became a big business in the late 80's and early 90's, as technology improved and it was possible to do everything digitally. Columbia/Sony in the U.S. was one label that were far behind in quality control, but by the early 90's they were one of the best. Gradually, as the CD became the preferred format, labels started giving themselves liberty to fool around with the masters, which coincided with the NoNoise reduction system, making a lot of old music sound like shit (i.e. removal of hiss, not unlike Dolby, only helped to take away elements of the music that make some of those old records great). Then as hardcore and plug-ins became the norm, mastering engineers went out of their way to tweak things even more, to the point where that J5 anthology you talked about will sound drastically different. Now you have the issue of brickwall limiting, which might make it sound good on earbuds but not at home or even in a club setting. Things have gradually become worse, and unfortunately most listening habits these days are on portable digital players, so quality is sacrificed. Unlike the 60's, 70's, and up until the mid-80's, labels had quality control. By the early 90's, that quality control seemed to have disappeared, so mastering engineers aren't told to give them something that sounds good, but rather "get the job done now".
Exactly, and sometimes the same song released on two different discs within a two year period can sometimes sound drastically different from each other, due to who mastered it.
If someone creates a new mix from the multi-tracks, that's different since you know what you're getting. There's a new audiophile pressing of Zappa's Hot Rats[/b] on Classic Records:
http://www.classicrecords.com/item.cfm?item=RS%206356-200GRAM
I haven't heard this pressing, but it uses the original master that made the records, not the slightly retouched CD Zappa approved of for Rykodisc, so of course Zappa fans are going nuts, with some claiming the new pressing is better than the original Bizarre/Reprise.
I'm hoping some of the same care and criticism is involved when labels reissue soul and funk, because it would be too easy for someone to obtain a master, leave it in the hands of a mastering engineer and say "here, just do it". I like the work Light In The Attic and The Numero Group have done.
Here's one website you can start with:
Keith Hirsch's CD Resource
Im hopin theres some climate control in the storage area.
Plus those tapes should really be archived way more should i say "anally". The og box that the tapes are in should be in a newer box that doesnt emit harmful vapors to effect the OG tape AND the og box.
IMO that shit there is an object in iteself and should be protected the the highest degree possible. This is American History, and should be handled like the muthafuckin Gettsyberg Address and shit.
I wasnt impressed at all by the storage appearence.
Each reel should be on separate rolling trays and shit.
b/w
I wonder if dude records personal mixes for himself.
Like - "check out it sweetheart - tonight were gonna open a bottle of wine a listen to Psychedelic Shack in Acapella"
FANTASTIC! you type my thoughts perfectly. This stuff should be treated like gold. All of it should be digitized pronto and kept in great condition. I've heard random horror stories of lost masters that nobody even really cares are lost or destroyed. This goes for all companies and all types of music.
p.s. I hate these aren't released lol. I know it will lose them money if they're put out but seeing that guy look at stuff and saying hmm haven't listened to that one yet drives me nuts.
Ive seen the Motwon remastered Diana Ross CDs. I think theres about 4 or 5 that dropped at the past couple of years.
I dont want them to release it all at once. Who can afford to cop 5 albums from 10 different artists at once in some 20 dollar deluxe form.
I wonder if they have it all digitized. And w/ this 50th anniversary, what arethey doin to get the music out there. The NYC subway system has a gang of posters for the Motown.com website.
There is so much stuff in storage. I cant imagine who makes the call on what they release. There's shit for the regular folks and the record nerds that they could bank on.
I know one thing....they have alarms on their offices....
well i was really talking about multitracks.. i can't wait till the day technology allows the song to be put out and taken apart again on your cpu somehow. Really i'm just a greedy music fan. but......................
with ITUNES and all that why not put out what you have? There's no money involved to realease it on there and it's not like they're breaking new artists. Marvin Gaye isn't touring to promote any new release (bad joke) ..and anyone that searches the names will see the stuff and buy it. They'll still own all the rights to it if they want to release projects or use the songs in movies etc.
Maybe their problem would be with paying royalties to the artists. Or they want to liscence it out to others to distribute. I'm not even gonna pretend i know the ins and outs of the business but hopefully when the cd dies out they'll just throw in everything and kitchen sink and sit back and collect their money.
Harry Weinger, you mean? He has done extensive work over the years, dealing with tape libraries, liner notes, and research with PolyGram, now Universal. His name will usually pop up on various compilations, box sets, and Deluxe Editions that he had a hand in at Universal. Executive producer, project supervisor, A&R, he not only maintains the Motown archives but also had a hand in countless James Brown comps in the last 20 years, going back to the James Brown's Funky People[/b] albums. In fact, I didn't think he had a Discogs page, but take a look:
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Harry+Weinger
I did a quick search and apparently he was a radio DJ in the late 70's.
To handle it the same way they're handling the Frank Zappa tape library:
I know in Zappa's case, the process of digitizing everything has been a drawn out process, but it did lead to the creation of that "Classic Albums" DVD (where the screenshots are from), the MOFO (Making Of Freak Out) box sets, and I would assume the recent audiophile vinyl pressing of Hot Rats[/b]. Things are 'active', but not in the way fans would like to see, apparently.
All of it should be digitized pronto and kept in great condition. I've heard random horror stories of lost masters that nobody even really cares are lost or destroyed. This goes for all companies and all types of music.
A perfect example of tapes being destroyed is the old story of one of the Atlantic Records tape vaults being gutted by a fire in the late 60's/early 70's, which included not only album and 45 masters, but multi-tracks. Like a lot of labels, most of their work was done in-house, so once they were gone, that's it. By the late 60's, many artists were recording their albums in independent studios more frequently, which meant masters and multi-tracks were stored elsewhere unless they were purchased and stored at Atlantic.
A few friends of mine have dealt with him directly on numerous occasions. By all accounts, he's a really nice guy and, as you'd imagine, a complete music nut.
I know I've mentioned this before in the past on here sometime, but I still remember Harry as the guy who posted regularly on Usenet in rec.music.funky about a decade ago. I remember at first he just seemed really knowledgeable on the music and then later became involved with the James Brown catalog in an official capacity. Harry was always cool because he'd fill the group in on the latest news regarding James Brown releases and reissues. It was cool having a true insider who was more than happy to spread the knowledge to other people who loved the music. It was definitely interesting watching somebody who was just another poster on a newsgroup become kind of a name in the industry. It's definitely good knowing that Harry's in charge of the vault because his passion for the music is unparalleled, that much was always clear.