This is a suggestion to the ASSR staff.
Three things I would love to hear,
two of which are not at present available ( as far as I can tell ).
1)
The rough analog mix of the song that was rejected by Alan.
2)
The final mix that was selected by Alan, prior to it being mastered.
3)
The final mix that was selected by Alan, post mastering.
Personally comparing a mix I am working on to a finished commercial release
is a bit like building an engine based on a glossy magazine auto ad.
Yes the goal is the same but there is a key step between the mix and the release.
Trying to mix a track to sound like a mastered release is not doing the
mastering engineer any favors. You over equalize, you over compress and
take away any headroom that the mastering engineer needs.
So it would be extremely helpful to hear a pre-master mix of the session.
I am sure I am not alone in this desire.
Very interesting question and requests, thanks. The relationship between a mix and a mastered track is a fascinating one and something that merits far lengthier exanmination than we have had time for in the series.
Short answer is that we will be posting additional source material on the site in the next few weeks, now that the physical DVD (also subject to 'mastering' of course, though with the added layer of complexity in terms of unavoidable data compression for DVD) is complete.
We will certainly be looking at this subject in greater detail and hope we can supply the versions and variations you mention.
I wouldn't mind hearing the differences as well, would be interesting!
"Who says you need a guitar" - Jack White
