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Posted: |
Mar 24, 2014 - 5:25 PM
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By: |
bagby
(Member)
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Problem number one is often the tapes handed over for album mastering were dubs, and a generation away from the original.
Due to the wide variety of types and limitations of record players of the day, sound engineers often compressed sound by raising volume of softer passages and lowering volume for louder parts. They also frequently reduced deep frequencies since too much bass or volume could cause the record to skip.
In some cases, reverb was added because of all the compression to add a little punch and depth into the thing, and that was tricky--a number of recordings from the era have way too much reverb added for my taste, but the practice was widely prevalent.
And, remember, this is all happening on a duplicate of the original tape, which in the analog days meant another generation away, which added tape hiss to the original tape hiss. And then it was output to another dub, which was used for actually creating/cutting the master.
Another reason for compressing the frequencies was due to potential radio play; broadcast standards of the day and the radios people were listening to were not exactly 'hi-fi.'
Also, in the 1950s and 1960s, albums were commonly released in both mono and stereo formats. If no stereo mix was available or one hadn't been recorded, it was fairly standard, even industry practice, to create a simulated stereo mix.
This was accomplished by running the mono signal through two channels, boosting bass in one channel, tweaking treble in the other and then running the channels slightly out of sync and in some cases adding more reverb. These ersatz stereo were often called 'duophonic' mixes.
If they had stereo tapes, they'd fold down the two channels into one to make the mono mix.
Really, considering the equipment of the day--ideally, today, assuming the original first generation tapes are in great condition, the sound quality can be quite high. Off of dubs, and the inherent problems of tape--stretching, inconsistent playback speeds, splices, wow, flutter--the surprising thing might be that some of them sound as good as they do.
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