Analogplanet.com editor Michael Fremer visited Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood to watch lacquer cutting for the all analog production of "When the Levee Breaks", Vanessa Fernandez's second Groove Note album produced by Ying Tan
A story I heard about 25 years ago with regards to remastering 'The Wall' is that they had to literally 'bake' the original studio tapes from 1979 to get them to play again as apparently, they were stored incorrectly in someone's garage. I can't seem to find any modern mention of this, so take that tidbit with a grain of salt...but I wonder what Bernie had to work off with that album?
@@summersky77 They were almost certainly stored correctly. The Wall was made in an era where the tape stock that was available would become moist over the decades and has to be baked in order to be played without a risk of damaging the tape.
Nothing beats the original master from the original master tapes. I do not understand why you would convert already used (possibly worn) tape to digital. Use digital compressors and reverb and then chuck it onto vinyl. Makes no sense. Obviously some albums need remastered but the Floyd was purely for money only as they were all recorded extremely well.
It's interesting to see @17:06 Bernie's two Scully lathes each being driven by an entire Technics SP10Mk3 turntable whose motor, model SP-02, that's also commonly used in the Neumann lathe. It is no wonder the SP10Mk3 as an audiophile turntable is so highly regarded. He basically built a bearing shaft extending down to the SP10Mk3 in order to drive the Scully platter. Very cool.
I just spun this Record, and I must say it was sweet music to my ears! It's people like you that satisfy our thirst for wonderful Analog music. I sure hope you are teaching your mastering so that it can be passed on to someone! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! Great job!!
The Best of The Best in the world of all Time.... Thanks Michael. This "MAN" - Needs to be filmed every day for archiving his Master Art to the next generations. And you Michael have learned that even tannoy's are good.... :D
Amazing that he knows all the things between the microphone to speaker and everything in between, the ideal man for the job. Plain amazing by itself he knows flat is not always low THD.
Love tape, but so expensive! Vinyl is still my favorite and quite satisfactory on my new 3-way speakers were building. A local high-end audio dealer is going to sell them. He loves them!
Great video thank you for sharing Michael. Of course your RU-vid version played back on your turntable sounds better lol I know because of your limitation of your recorder.
Love you Bernie your such a genuis. When Doug Sax died I was devastated. But your Pink Floyd remasters are a work of art! I unfortunately missed out on A Saucerful of Secrets on mono but I got everything else and I absolutely love it!LOL
Great video. I was wondering if they will at times decide to purposely put a less "complex" song towards the inner groove? Especially on a compilation, where order of songs may not be as important as on say a "conceptual "album" (so to speak).
Fantastic video Michael! As 'nurdie' as it sounds, any chance of someone explaining sometime how the cutting lathe initiates the track markers and run-in/run-off grooves please. Always wanted to see that explained/demonstrated...
Interesting video Mikey, thanks! I couldn't tell from the video, what sort of cutting head was Bernie using? Neumann or Ortofon or some other? Also, how often does he change out the cutting stylus? That A80 was marvelous! Bernie seemed like a VERY nice guy. Congrats in getting to meet and hang out with him.
Wow, I am surprised to read this. I think Vanessa Fernandez does a great job and fits sweetly into this amazing arrangement of Kashmir. I'm not much of a Zeppelin fan, so maybe I'm listening differently.
So they record onto 2 inch tape and then mix it to quarter inch? Im totally ignorant to this stuff but still find it very interesting. I know they have tried to innovate vinyl in the past with CX noise reduction and dbx discs. But its really exciting to see engineers trying to move forward with the cutting process using all the advances of the modern age. Great videos. Very informative stuff
16:50, you also have to be sure the "preview" is not on a "digital delay" , because you'll lose some of the information off of the tape (more or less depending on the sampling rate)! Then you'll end up with a digital record instead of AAA recording! Or maybe I don't know my Ass from a hole in the ground, just an observation!
B. Grundman is a cornucopia of audio information and I like how he presents things in such a straight forward, unbiased manner. He mentioned that he has a studio playback system for vinyl. Can you tell us what table/cartridge/arm he is using? I assume the phono preamp/initial gain stages are homebuilt, correct? Thanks!
What a surprise, just love Vanessa's cover of Kashmir. WoW! The high frequency "hash" on the inner groove isn't usually from the highest in the spectrum, as everything above 10 kHz or so, are of lower amplitude. The groove pitch is sufficiently low at the upper harmonics that distortion does not occur there. The problem exists mostly in the treble range from about 2.5 kHz to 8 kHz, where the energy and amplitude produce the highest groove pitch, ie: vocal sibilants, first harmonics in brass instruments. So.... rolling off the high frequencies does not really improve tracking, but perhaps lowering of the overall level of the track would help immensely. (or not cut too far in, also hotter with better tracking at 45 RPM as Bernie does) Just my two cents worth on this according to my experience in record collecting, and being an audiophile since the early 70's. (it''s the vocals that break up most, not a triangle, hi hat or cymbal) Why does not the mastering engineer wear a Gortex smock, nitrilite gloves and hair net? Food service workers do more to protect the consumer from contamination than our master engineers do.... (clothing shed & skin particles are prolific in open air) Every time I see an engineer on video reach over a clean lacquer I cringe, knowing that shirt sleeve is depositing a lot of lint on the record right from the start. Old habits are difficult to change, perhaps, and "why fix it if it's not broken"? I do find this old saying and old methods sometimes... to be errant thinking to some degree. Just a suggestion, Would this be a fair question to ask a mastering engineer? What about contamination? Is this a problem, or has this been a problem?
Your arm must be sore from holding the mic that long. But it sounds a hundred times better than any other videos you've done on here. Much appreciated.
Very interesting! I really wonder if someone with golden ears like Bernie Grundman listens to vinyl at home and if he does, what kind of turntable and stylus he might use...
+Michael Fremer Really? You're kidding, right? But maybe I'm not the only one who is interested in other peoples music listening rituals and habbits, especially if it's pros from the music industrie...
+Michael Fremer That is so cool....................I have to ask what you think when they use a digital master. Not Bernie but others. The difference in quality of the re-issues that are coming out is HUGE. Don't they know................I hope the quality keeps getting better. I just listened to the Red Hot Chili Peppers- Under The Bridge................WOW. Things are looking up in this hobby. Oh, and do you think CD stunted the High End audio business?
Michael, the Gladiator soundtrack LP was mastered by Bernie Grundman as you know. Is that an AAA? Thanks it's an expensive LP and I would consider getting it if it is. Thank you.
No one does it like "The Wizard".....if I see BG in the dead wax; I already know the aound will be tops. Since he is mastering to a Technics SP10.....I WILL PUT ONE ON MY BUCKET LIST !!
+Michael Fremer I have an ortofon 2m blue that seems to do very well in that area but it shows that you do need to have a half way decent cart and set it up yourself to get the best results.
+lizichell2 Yes I also agree with this. I had the ortofon 2m red, set up from the dealer because I didn't have an alignment jig, and, I was new to records. Then I did a combo of three things: upgraded to 2m bronze, upgraded the table, and got an alignment jig. The alignment from the dealer according to the jig was a bit off, so I fine-tuned it myself. I'm telling you with this cartridge, I can't tell whether a song is on an outer or inner groove at all, they all just sound fabulous. However, I was able to tell on the old setup. It's probably a combo of a better cartridge, and, potentially better alignment. When you get it right, inner grooves are no longer a problem.
+lizichell2 I have an AT440ML (not the 'a' or 'b') that runs the inner grooves just about as smooth as the outer ones. Grados that are set up well are good at inner grooves also (I use the green).
Mikey, please tell Bernie to let a few revolutions pass before kicking in the end spiral. The last notes still hanging in the air and the sense of closure at the end of a piece are fucking WRECKED by the low frequency rumbleroar of his cutter's spiral mech. For anyone with usable response down around 30Hz, it really really really sucks. Love and respect him and his work, but that one change would profoundly improve what he does.
Robert Wright I love my records that do this and also especially records that put some kind of sound in the inner (dead...) wax like on Moon Madness or A Foot in Cold Water. Why don’t they all? Wish more would.
The guy interviewing is simply rude. "I'll be the judge if it sounds good", he also just contradicted himself, banging on about, "oh but Bernie we don't ever listen - ", then waxes lyrical re how he listens, er ok.
One of the problems with CDs, it's the same old bunch mastering and remastering. I guess they go back to vinyl, since they fail to please on Audio CD!! Needs greater knowledge of sound there.
Well I hope it sounds good because that art mock up’s not going to sell it! Just looks like a boring computerised piece of nothing? Not trolling this guys I realise who Bernie Grundman is, it’s just that now it’s a general trend and a real shame especially as there are so many talented artists who could really add value! There was an era when album art was very creative. Also it’s an exceptionally poor effort on anything to do with Zepplin, a real slap in the face as they were known for very artistic and adventurous album sleeves. Nice to see Michael back though. His videos have actual content, not just someone opening a box or rehashing a theme over and over in videos not much longer than an ad break ( the here’s your 5 min of my precious time now send money to Paetreon type channels👀)
sandro busetto1 second ago I would like to hear your review of the new Abbey Road Half speed masters I just got a copy of Free fire and water There are a few posts on you tube that would give you the impression that they know what they are talking about and that they have the machines to do a proper job of it I am comparing the Abbey half speed issue whit my old original ILPS9120The new one is flat distorted compressed and lifeless in my opinion the run off on the Abbey is about 3 times as large than on the old so really, they did not put much effort in making a decent job.What really get me going is that they did put loads of effort in marketing see the super duper hi quality Mastering Certificate that is a so nice piece of A4 paper whit nice gold stamp and all. The Hi frequency response they talk so much about is not there furthermore the paper is so good that the only use I can envisage for it in an emergency is not practical, old news paper work much better. So, I understand that is not so easy for you to take up this (challenge?) But I think that you have the power to either making them stop ripping people off or, much better, force them to do a decent job of it
