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Hiths films were not stereo vecause Paramount did not do stereo sound in the fifties.
But wasn't Bernstein's THE TEN COMMANDMENTS score recorded in stereo?
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Hiths films were not stereo vecause Paramount did not do stereo sound in the fifties.
But wasn't Bernstein's THE TEN COMMANDMENTS score recorded in stereo?
I believe THE TEN COMMANDMENTS was a mono film when first released but, of course, the music for films after about 1953 was increasingly recorded in stereo even if it was to be mixed to mono for the film soundtrack.
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That explains why those gunshots at the beginning of the restored VERTIGO (and its so-called "improved sound") sound really unnatural : they don't fit the more "global sound uniformity" of the rest of the movie.
In the case of Vertigo's 5.1 mix in the 1990s, they decided to use new gunshots... That's why they sound so ridiculous and out of place.
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Just received my copy of "North by Northwest" -- over the weekend I will be listening/savoring the CD -- and comparing it to the Rhino, Johnson, various suites and rerecorded main title tracks including the Herrmann live performance at the Hollywood Bowl, DVD isolated track, and bluray isolated track. (Did I miss anything?)
Thank you again, Intrada.
Edit -- oops -- and the McNeely!
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Posted: |
Aug 10, 2012 - 12:15 PM
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By: |
John Mullin
(Member)
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I attended a wonderful Q&A with Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz (the guys responsible for the VERTIGO restoration, among others). They said that when they were searching for elements, the found the "floor sessions" for VERTIGO, which sounded amazingly better than other elements that they had for the score. The music track they had, though, was tied to many of the foley elements, meaning that if they were to go down the road of greatly improving the quality of the score, much of the sound work would have to be redone too. They chose the latter, and although the new foley stuff sticks out like sore thumb (at least in the early scenes), I think they made the right call. The DVD I had of it years back had both the original mix and the 1995 mix, so I guess you can choose.
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Sounds good to me. Well better than the Rhino.
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Sounds better on every listen!
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I spent this afternoon listening to various versions of “North by Northwest”, including the isolated tracks on the DVD and Bluray editions. Here are some amateur, I emphasize extremely amateur, jottings about performance and sound quality on the various versions in my collection:
Main Title: Music from Hollywood - Sony CD - live recording from the Hollywood Bowl concert: The sound on this live recording throws most of the orchestra behind a veil with only the percussion, especially the timpani, coming to the foreground – sometimes alarmingly so. There are some awful thumps from the timpani. The tempo seems right on this – and the performance seems lively and commited – the sound does make it difficult to judge this version. My notes say, “Violins screeching. Brass recessed. Timpani up front.”
Main Title: Phase 4 Conducted by Herrmann – from the Varese Box Set. Again, tempo seems right – fast, energetic. My notes say, “Swirling, colorful, chromatic, detailed sound. Not too recessed.”
Main Title: Elmer Bernstein Conducting - Milan CD – “Dynamic beginning with low rumblings – orchestrations seem almost feathery – brass somewhat more present – small details heard in percussion not heard on other versions thus far. Tempo similar to two Herrmanns.”
Main Title: Nic Raine conducting – Silva CD - “Sound quality muffled almost like Hollywood Bowl recording. Very slow tempos – almost lugubrious. No forward momentum.”
Main Title: Laurie Johnson conducting - Varese CD - “Somehow this seems like layer upon layer unfolding. Somewhat slower than Herrmann versions. Dynamic range very wide – extremely soft then really loud. Expert playing. Good!”
Main Title, Wild Ride, Mt. Rushmore Sequence: McNeely – Varese CD - “Wonderful, propulsive tempos – full throttle dynamics – great dynamic range. Main title growls and thunders to life! Furious but with detail. Didn’t want tracks to end – repetitions within cues seem addictive – pulling you into the rushing flow of music.”
Main Title, Wild Ride, Mt. Rushmore Sequence: Herrmann - Rhino Soundtrack CD - “Only McNeely has faster tempo. Somewhat recessed sound – but details can be heard. Muffled at times. Expressive. Gleaming at times. Less furious pace than McNeely – but somehow even more of a propulsive, forward thrust.
Main Title, Wild Ride, Mt. Rushmore Sequence: Herrmann - DVD Isolated Tracks “Clean. Right channel favored in mix. Details present. Like sitting in middle of auditorium with orchestra playing.
Main Title, Wild Ride, Mt. Rushmore Sequence: Herrmann - Bluray Isolated Tracks: To my ears virtually identical in sound quality to DVD when volume adjusted for different mastering levels. A middle of the auditorium quality.
Main Title, Wild Ride, Mt. Rushmore Sequence: Herrmann - Intrada Soundtrack CD: “Mastered at a higher volume. Immediately apparent this has more clarity and dynamic range than Rhino and isolated tracks on DVD/Bluray. Some editing audible in Main Title – mix in some of the tracks favors right and left channels with little in center of stereo image on headphones at least. Music has much more presence and drama. Instead of feeling like seated in middle of auditorium, I’m in the room with the musicians! Major and dramatic improvement in colorful dynamics and clarity.”
I will be returning again and again to:
1. Intrada
2. McNeely
3. Herrmann Phase 4
4. Johnson Varese – was surprised how much I still liked this!
with the isolated tracks engaged on the DVD and Bluray when I am in the mood for the image/music experience. Will only return to the Rhino, Hollywood Bowl, Silva, and Bernstein versions on rare occasions.
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I think it's reasonable to say that Intrada has closed the book on N X NW. Supreme.
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Other than the Main Title, which still sounds damaged (curiously, they didn't use the perfectly fine isolated tracks from the DVD/BD, even though it seems like every release these days is from an M&E track), the rest so far sounds pretty good.
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I'll be keeping all my prior NBNW releases, but I'm very eagerly awaiting this one. It still remains an all time favorite score ever since I first saw the picture in 1983 on TV. I hummed those tunes for two years until I found the Starlog-Varese re-recording on CD at Sam the Record Man in downtown Montreal. Now, more than a quarter century later, we are finally getting this near ultimate edition. Kudos to the producers.
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