Cool post, like to add mixing is one thing (drums & bass centered thankfully) overall sound quality is another.DobroMojo wrote: ↑Sun Jun 30, 2024 12:32 amFor some (not all) of the undubbed masters from American Sound, mix engineers don't have much to work with in terms of stereo imaging/panning (although I'm sure Matt Ross-Spang has done a great job on the mixes).Mister Mike wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 6:54 pmThe new In The Ghetto mix sounds good but I'm a little disappointed that he chose to put the guitar and organ on the left channel while leaving the right channel empty. Maybe that was the mix that sounded the best, but I still would have liked to have something on both sides.
Although the sessions were recorded on 8 Track tape, for some songs including "In The Ghetto", multiple instruments were recorded onto 1 Track during the original sessions to leave tracks spare for the eventual overdubs.
Without overdubs, In The Ghetto is fundamentally a 4-Track recording which doesn't leave many options for stereo panning when creating a mix (meaning the Organ/Guitar/Piano parts can't be panned separately):
"In The Ghetto" Session Track List:
1 - overdub (High Strings)
2 - overdub (Backing Vocals)
3 - overdub (Brass)
4 - overdub (Low Strings)
5 - Bass
6 - Organ/Guitar/Piano
7 - Vocal (Elvis)
8 - Drums
There are songs from these sessions that don't have this issue (for example Suspicious Minds, Stranger In My Own Hometown, Power Of My Love), so I'm sure a lot of these new mixes are going to sound great!
Tape Legend including "In The Ghetto" Session:
Regardless where you place the individual audio tracks, it seems Matt Ross' audio result is more open & dynamic vs previous releases.
Not sure if it's a result of mastering, tape transferring resolution or added effects but "In the Ghetto" surely sounds much better than the American Sound release.