Re: Alison Krauss Mixing Question Again

[Frank Stearns]

Curious User > writes:

1 and 2 snipped as I don't have the DVD.

>3. How is the DVD PCM track compared to the CD? The CD seems a bit
>brighter to me.

I'm curious too. To me, at some points the CD seems brittle and "rough"
compared to say the "New Favorite" or "Forget About It" studio projects.

A possible clue...(?) In my room, some of the low-level audience noise
(shouts, whistles, even coughs that are, oh, 30-40 dB down) sound strange.
It's almost as if some sort of sampling artifacts are audible. I have no
idea what this could be, but in general the CD is at times difficult to
listen too.

In some ways I'm surprised this got out the door, given the usually high
sonic quality of other AKUS/Paczosa works, but maybe something went awry
and they were stuck and did the best they could. Be interesting to hear
any possible explanations.

Frank
--

[Mike Rivers]

In article > NoMailPlease writes:

> 1. With the AKUS Live CD, Dan, and even Ron at times, seems at the
> left of Alison while from the picture/DVD, Alison is second from the
> left. Is it just my hearing or was it mixed in this way?

Assuming you have your speakers hooked up correctly and you're
listening with both ears, it's probably the way it was mixed. Pan
position is often used to give instruments better defined space in a
mix. This sort of thing doesn't bother most people unless it's really
obvious, and even then, well, it's all artifical anyway. It's easier
to move things in the audio mix than to move images around (but I'll
bet some day they'll be doing that, too).

> 2. If it is a mixing issue, is the soundstage usually defined at the
> mixing console? Any particular rules?

If it's recorded as individual tracks, it's entirely set at the mixing
console. There are no rules unless someone makes them. If the producer
said "I want the panning to follow the images" then that's what they
do. The audio mixer may or may not adhere to that, depending on what
it sounds like.

Consider that in a typical studio recording, the position of the
players is totally arbitrary (or may be determined by the acoustics of
the recording room), so when mixing, you pan so that it sounds good to
you. There are some conventions which make a good starting point (one
being how the band sets up on stage) but it's really up to whoever's
calling the shots.

> 3. How is the DVD PCM track compared to the CD? The CD seems a bit
> brighter to me.

It certainly could be.

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[Ted Spencer]

>To me, at some points the CD seems brittle and "rough"
>compared to say the "New Favorite" or "Forget About It" studio projects.

Remember it's a live album. Many limitations come into play in almost every
area: what kinds of mics can be used, how critically placed they can be (and
remain), the fact that the performance is also being heavily amplfiied and
pumped into a theater, etc. Live albums almost never sound as well recorded as
studio ones for these kinds of reasons. I think this is actually one of the
better sounding live albums I've heard (I have the CD version).


Ted Spencer, NYC

"No amount of classical training will ever teach you what's so cool about
"Tighten Up" by Archie Bell And The Drells" -author unknown

[Mondoslug1]

>
>>To me, at some points the CD seems brittle and "rough"
>>compared to say the "New Favorite" or "Forget About It" studio projects.
>
>Remember it's a live album. Many limitations come into play in almost every
>area: what kinds of mics can be used,

Some of the guitars & dobro might have been plugged in...not saying they were
but they do this on most live gigs in addition to external mics- although I've
seen some TV stuff they did where it was all external mics but I'm thinking not
on this.



how critically placed they can be (and
>remain), the fact that the performance is also being heavily amplfiied and
>pumped into a theater, etc. Live albums almost never sound as well recorded
>as
>studio ones for these kinds of reasons. I think this is actually one of the
>better sounding live albums I've heard (I have the CD version).
>
>
>Ted Spencer, NYC
>
>"No amount of classical training will ever teach you what's so cool about
>"Tighten Up" by Archie Bell And The Drells" -author unknown
>
>
>
>
>
>





Me at:
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