From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2014 #305 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Website:http://www.jonimitchell.com Unsubscribe:mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe onlyJMDL Digest Monday, September 15 2014 Volume 2014 : Number 305 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- New Library item: Bob Dylan and the rockers who pain - reviewed [TheStaff] Morning [Jim Mcmeans ] Re: Hejira master tape [Anita G ] Re: Hejira master tape [Dave Blackburn ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 17:10:31 -0600 (MDT) From: TheStaff@JoniMitchell.com Subject: New Library item: Bob Dylan and the rockers who pain - reviewed Title: Bob Dylan and the rockers who pain - reviewed Publication: Guardian Date: 2014.09.08 http://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=2824 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 09:36:36 -0500 From: Jim Mcmeans Subject: Morning "And the sun poured through like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses." These have been my morning lyrics for decades. Puts a smile on my face. So a good Chelsea morning to all my joni brothers and sisters. Boston Jim ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 18:35:51 +0100 From: Anita G Subject: Re: Hejira master tape Wow, Dave. You have given me an amazing insight into how you experience listening. It's extraordinary that you don't get overwhelmed and manage to be coherent when combining your all knowledge of sound, levels, eq, speaker systems and everything else (not least trying to get a feel) on your own mixes. Reading your 'Hejira Master Tape' email makes my anticipation of receiving the Mutts' cd even more exciting. I still can't believe that you performed, arranged and set up the sound for the Carlsbad gig, recorded, mixed and produced it. I am sure your mixing of Robin's voice will present the 'gorgeous poetry' of Joni's work in a the most listenable way! Anita On 14 September 2014 16:40, johnnybgoode@lineone.net < johnnybgoode@lineone.net> wrote: > Thanks Dave, very interesting. > > John > > >----Original Message---- > >From: > beatntrack@att.net > >Date: 14/09/2014 15:05 > >To: "JMDL JMDL" org> > >Subj: Hejira master tape > > > >Listening to the Hejira master tape > last week was, in many ways, revelatory. The detail that is contained > in a source recording played through a no-compromise listening system > is remarkable and hearing a recording that is this familiar allows you > to appreciate and sometimes re-evaluate it. As you know, I do a lot of > recording and mixing myself, so I listen to records often with two sets > of ears going at once; the first set let me take it all in and > appreciate the music while the second set listens critically - hmmm, I > wouldnt have done that or why did they let that take go? > > > >We all have > playback systems from earbuds to laptops to cars to home stereos these > days but were never really sure of whether what were hearing is on the > recording or an artifact introduced by the playback system itself, or > our room. If something sounds tinny or thin, we might assume its > probably cheap headphones or a poor mastering job - should one shell > out big money for a newly mastered version? But there are playback > systems that cannot be blamed for anything. Every thing you hear on > them is neutrally presented with nothing hyped or downplayed. The goal > of an audiophile system is a flat response, total neutrality, not, as > one might expect, enhancement or euphonic smoothing introduced by the > electronics (the exception being the tube (valve) amplifiers). Every > component has been chosen towards this goal. Room shaking bass, > sparkling highs and such will not be heard unless the mix and mastering > engineers put them there. In fact one might be hearing the limitations > or ton! > > al anomalies of the speakers the engineer mixed on if there > is a consistent troublesome timbre throughout the record. > > > >So, how > did Hejira sound? The instruments came off best, I thought, especially > the bass. All three of the bass players were up prominently in the mix, > and Jaco triple or quadruple tracked his bass so his presence was never > understated (!) The guitars were also lovely, quite wet with reverb and > had that phasey swirl that gives the album its liquid texture. There > are also several layers of those. Amelia had, I think, three layers of > Joni plus Larry Carltons four takes of reactive improv" and then the > vibes from Vic Feldman. Its a dense sound but lush and full of stereo > movement because of the looseness of the double-tracking and how the > guitars were panned wide. The drums didnt come across as well recorded > to my taste. They had a boxiness about them, actually a typical 70s dry > studio thud with no room sound or reverb added. On Blue Motel Room, the > bass drum, which should be very subtle in a swing ballad, was mixed > very hot and in your face. I found it distracting from the ! > > mood of > the tune. > > > >And then theres the vocal. I have always found the timbre > of Jonis voice on Court and Spark, Hissing and Hejira to be fairly > unnatural and harsh. It works on a car radio or in the supermarket > aisle when you hear Help Me, and it certainly cuts through so you can > hear the lyrics, but it doesnt sound like Jonis voice really sounds. > The master tape proved that that was how Henry and Joni wanted it, or > that the A&M monitors didnt reveal this. To me it sounded a little like > a voice through a paging system. The low end of her voice was nearly > absent, the mids between 800Hz and 2kHz were strident and on the edge > of distortion in some passages and the treble was heavily squashed with > a de-esser. The net effect was a tone that was harsh and lacking body > but had its sibilance and consonants noticeably crushed down. I would > attribute some of this to the solid state Haeco console preamps in A&M > studios, as Tapestry, which was also recorded in there has it too. > Oddly, too, the level ! > > of Jonis voice in relation to the band > changes radically throughout the album. On Coyote it is buried in the > mix and sounds less than captivating but over the course of the album > it is brought forward. By Refuge of the Roads it is up high in the mix, > a bit too much given the strident tone at times. All mixing was manual > back then as automated recall of fader moves was several years off. > What you hear from records of this era is a live performance by the > engineer trying to balance the shifting sounds and levels in real time. > Once console recall arrived you could get a section right, store it, > and move on to the next section. By Don Juans Reckless Daughter (also > recorded at A&M in the same room) the vocal tone was much improved, > whether it was Henrys EQ choices or modifications done to the console > through the 70s. I dont know. > > > >In conclusion, the master tape > revealed things I had suspected as being in the source recording but > was never sure: it showed off the guitars and bass tracks vividly but > it exhibited enough harshness in the vocals that the gorgeous poetry > was, in my opinion, not presented in the most listenable way. The ear > needs to be invited in, as it were, and a strident tone tends to do the > opposite. Im being critical - its still in my top three albums - but as > a devotee of sound, per se, I found some aspects of Hejira to be rather > dated and aimed at FM radio play, perhaps not wanting to acknowledge > that nothing on Hejira would ever make it to radio given its > complexities and long songs. But hey, it is Hejira, after all! > > > >Dave ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 21:36:55 -0700 From: Dave Blackburn Subject: Re: Hejira master tape Scott, its an attractive concept, but the running order of an album is often not decided until very late in the process (such as the mastering room). It is more likely we would be reading more into this than it warrants. The level of the lead vocal would also be a weird way to build intensity over the course of 45 minutes. Building the level or density of instruments would give more of a sense of increasing intensity I think. On Sep 14, 2014, at 8:26 PM, Scott Price wrote: > On 9/14/2014 8:05 AM, Dave Blackburn wrote: >> Listening to the Hejira master tape last week was, in many ways, revelatory. > > Great stuff Dave, thank you for sharing your (well-qualified) impressions of this master tape of Joni's master album. > > You write of the vocal tracks building up through "Refuge" which of course is the final cut on the album. I have always believed that many of Joni's albums built in intensity and reached a climax with a big finale, songs from their respective albums like "Judgement of the Moon and Stars," "Refuge of the Roads," and "The Silky Veils of Ardor" all being soaring summations that explore her duality themes. > > Is it possible that on Hejira the vocals were mixed in a sort of crescendo, so that by the time that final track (Refuge) is playing, it's like Joni's final emphatic stamp on her craft? > > I'm delighted that one of the faithful had the opportunity to hear this work in such a pure form, and thanks again for posting in such detail about the experience. > > Scott ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2014 #305 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here:mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe