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Starting this thread in the hope that segregating technical queries on this release will result in not having to wade through fanboy angst whilst looking for solid information from knowledgable technical personnel.
So, to start things off: Mike Matessino, were the multitrack transfers on this release done with the Plangent process? Will the Plangent process, at present, accommodate 2" 24-track tape?
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Having listened to the Maurizio Caschetto podcast, I gather Messrs. Matessino and Bulk transferred the tapes themselves at Warner Sound.
Would the "edit-cut" master tapes, as they came from the original sound editors, even be suitable for the Plangent process?
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Warner Bros. is not a Plangent Process client and Sound Transfer has not purchased Plangent head stacks yet. Nor do I think in early 2018 when these transfers were done was the 24-track head in circulation yet.
In any case, contractually Warner Sound must do our transfers according to their own practices and these tapes played beautifully, with resolved rock solid sync. I was present for some of it and I have no complaints about the quality of the transfers or the elements, especially given their age. They were stored in the UK for 30 years before moving to underground storage in Kansas, but held up very nicely.
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So they were stored in Smallville?? 
Nice! And Mr. Matessino answered the cry of each first gen tape to "save me".
*clap* *clap* *clap*
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That little cadence the cellos/basses of the London Symphony Orchestra play at 2:54-2:55 of the Caschetto podcast are just the kind of mid-range detail that's getting picked up by the contemporary capture hardware that wouldn't have been captured, with stable sonic imaging, in the past.
So, what level of audio/encoding resolution is the project essentially executed within?
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This was done exactly like the first Harry Potter, 192k 24bit, with all the assembly & restoration done on the transferred first generation data and then output straight to CD master files.
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This was done exactly like the first Harry Potter, 192k 24bit, with all the assembly & restoration done on the transferred first generation data and then output straight to CD master files.
Mike, you've been doing absolutely astounding work that gives me hope for the future of preservation of these classics. Thank you for this, and the past efforts. The tease of a future William release excites me.
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I'm wondering if any new info has been discovered regarding the final assemblies of the Prelude and Main Title and The Prison Yard and End Title as presented in the theatrical film (with the sped up and edited End Title music over the majority of the main titles).
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Nothing has come to light about why that took place and no one involved remembers.
This is just my assessment, but when you put the original End Title against picture, the music for Superman flying above the Earth at the end is not as uplifting as it is with the Main Title used there. That might be why that change was made.
For the Main Title, I don't think we'll ever have the answer. Williams' music was designed so perfectly for the animation. It took a lot of effort to make edits, re-dub the track with a speed shift, etc.
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Were there any issues that involved sonically massaging the trumpet/coronet peaks on some cues such as "Superfeats" and "Pushing Boulders"?
I understand from the extant literature on Eric Tomlinson/J. Williams/Anvil Recorders that Williams liked Tomlinson to push the peaks over the red line on the console (aka "Vu-Vu Land".).
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Posted: |
Feb 22, 2019 - 11:06 PM
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By: |
erepel
(Member)
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Nothing has come to light about why that took place and no one involved remembers.
This is just my assessment, but when you put the original End Title against picture, the music for Superman flying above the Earth at the end is not as uplifting as it is with the Main Title used there. That might be why that change was made.
For the Main Title, I don't think we'll ever have the answer. Williams' music was designed so perfectly for the animation. It took a lot of effort to make edits, re-dub the track with a speed shift, etc.
It is all the more remarkable that the two "up and away" phrases from the Prelude, although not composed for the purpose, match Superman flying off from the prison yard and the sun rising as Superman flies ... up and away. Uplifting, indeed.
After reading the analysis at pp. 58-59 of the Blue Box Book, I had wondered when the decision was made to use the original "End Title" to create editorially the "March" for the first track of the LP; whether the different instrumentation and orchestration of the "End Title" (it just sounds bigger, if that is apropos) prompted that specific use; and whether the editorial creation of the "March" using the original "End Title" influenced the flip-flop of the cues. All of that effort to edit and pitch-shift the "End Title" for the film "Main Title" tricked me for decades into thinking Williams designed all of that music for the opening credits (and I naively attributed the pitch-shift and edits to an eleventh-hour change in the credits).
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Are these 2-inch, 24-track reels actually 12 stereo channels? Is that how it works?
I'm at work and can't check my booklets, but I seem to recall STAR TREK TMP's analog safety tape used by LLL was in this format, as was Barry's KING KONG (FSM deluxe edition).
I have to ask, because apparently I don't get all the finesse on my humble speakers, but is the new SUPERMAN essentially the same audiophile quality as these other expansions?
Lukas has said THE SPY WHO LOVED ME is on 2-inch 24-track reels at Abbey Road, and that's a title that would bring me out of retirement, especially if it got the "full score plus album version" treatment using first-generation session masters. But there's no reason to think that's happening.
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Mr. Matessino mentions his admiration of the original 6-track Dolby Stereo mix for the 70mm release of Superman: The Movie. I've always thought that the music presentation in the Gordon McCallum/Pinewood mix sounds exactly like the 2-LP music soundtrack from 1978.
Is the album mix is essentially a port-over of the full music mix from the 6-track? Was the two-channel stereo mix for lesser theaters and home video just a mix-down of the 6-track?
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Personally, I'm absolutely positive this new transfer is stunning. I'd be really interested in buying a high-res download of it. :-)
I know it's not on the table this very moment, but I would not mind buying one in the future. SUPERMAN is a great score in many ways, perhaps my favorite John Williams score.
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