Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Recommended Posts

Posted (edited)
  On 21/03/2025 at 18:56, Velarian said:

Except that’s not a live recording, as evidenced by Jet stood up at the back not putting much effort into the drums. I’m pretty sure that’s the album recording. It’s still awesome though. 

Expand  

Well, it might not be live, but it definitely doesn't sound like the album version either.

 

Edited by Baloney Balderdash
Posted
  On 22/03/2025 at 15:09, Baloney Balderdash said:

Well, it might not be live, but it definitely doesn't sound like the album version either.

 

Expand  

I did a quick A/B comparison between both versions and the phrasing and tone seemed to be the same to me. However, the YouTube version compared to a lossless version totally lacked both range and dynamics. Maybe YouTube’s processing rips the guts out of everything which may account for any perceived difference?

Posted
  On 22/03/2025 at 15:26, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Sounds like typical TOTP, live vocal over the studio recording.

Expand  

Good point. Actually, thinking about it the YouTube version with its own processing on top of the BBC’s own emasculation of broadcast sound and probably a poor video copy to boot has a huge impact. I’ve often thought that the BBC tames rock music down too much. A good example of this is the theme tune to Have I Got News for You; no balls at all. 

Posted

didn't TOTP's make the artist do a recording of the song earlier to mime too? I know the stories about some managers swapped that tape for the actual studio recorded one, maybe the Stranglers didn't

  • Like 1
Posted
  On 22/03/2025 at 15:23, Velarian said:

the YouTube version compared to a lossless version totally lacked both range and dynamics

Expand  

 With you tube being a streaming service, they tend to normalise all audio to a perceived loudness of -14 or -16 LUFS - i.e. it gets multiband audio and digital compression so it'll never sound as good as a lossless version. Though as most folks don't listen back on decent kit they'd never know the difference.

  On 22/03/2025 at 15:34, Velarian said:

the BBC’s own emasculation of broadcast sound

Expand  

 

Not sure what this means! Back in the days of NICAM I used to take mixes home to check for rumble missed by the Rogers LS5/8 monitors they used to use... Nowadays all TV is delivered as part of a AS11 DPP file with the audio component being a 16bit wav at 48kHz, bandwidth 20-20kHz with a max true peak of -1dBTP, and max perceived loudness of -23LUFS so in theory pretty high quality, and they use Harbeth 40s which are far better. 

It was true that in the days of live TOTP'n'all that there was a breed of studio sound mixer (I was post production) who didn't believe in enhancing in any way, it was basically as it came, warts and all, not even reverb on vox - later trainee intakes emphasised creativity over engineering and scientific knowledge, so things have got better! However, with BBC training having disappeared largely all they have to go on is required tech specs.Radio ones here, but they're basically the same as for TV, https://www.readkong.com/page/audio-quality-information-standards-for-4418233

 

  • Thanks 1
Posted
  On 22/03/2025 at 16:05, Leonard Smalls said:

 With you tube being a streaming service, they tend to normalise all audio to a perceived loudness of -14 or -16 LUFS - i.e. it gets multiband audio and digital compression so it'll never sound as good as a lossless version. Though as most folks don't listen back on decent kit they'd never know the difference.

 

Not sure what this means! Back in the days of NICAM I used to take mixes home to check for rumble missed by the Rogers LS5/8 monitors they used to use... Nowadays all TV is delivered as part of a AS11 DPP file with the audio component being a 16bit wav at 48kHz, bandwidth 20-20kHz with a max true peak of -1dBTP, and max perceived loudness of -23LUFS so in theory pretty high quality, and they use Harbeth 40s which are far better. 

It was true that in the days of live TOTP'n'all that there was a breed of studio sound mixer (I was post production) who didn't believe in enhancing in any way, it was basically as it came, warts and all, not even reverb on vox - later trainee intakes emphasised creativity over engineering and scientific knowledge, so things have got better! However, with BBC training having disappeared largely all they have to go on is required tech specs.Radio ones here, but they're basically the same as for TV, https://www.readkong.com/page/audio-quality-information-standards-for-4418233

 

Expand  

Interesting, thanks. I’ll have a proper read later. 
 

This could probably be a subject for its own thread so I won’t derail it any further. 

Posted
  On 22/03/2025 at 15:55, PaulWarning said:

didn't TOTP's make the artist do a recording of the song earlier to mime too? I know the stories about some managers swapped that tape for the actual studio recorded one, maybe the Stranglers didn't

Expand  

Them's were the rules, yes... they weren't strictly followed though 😆

Posted
  14 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:
Expand  
  On 20/09/2022 at 07:08, Beedster said:

And wow I'd forgotten just how bloody amazing they were, and how prog they were (certainly far more prog than the punk label they had in '77/78 would suggest). Elements of Squire bass tone and Emerson keyboards? 

Expand  

 

image.thumb.png.fec0316a2fbe6e5e56779433a10eba4c.png

 

Yep, I'm sincerely hoping that my album band is going to do Rattus Norvegicus, and if so, I'm gonna play a Ric 

 

Only joking, but what I'd really hope to be able to do is to play the album in a way that the prog-esque technical and structural complexity comes through, as opposed to how I've seen Stranglers songs such as No More Heroes, Peaches etc played by many covers bands which more often than not makes them sound like Sham 69.

  • Like 3

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...