Saturday, May 31, 2008

78-RPM Tex Beneke - Swing Low


Now before I start getting technical about this and other 78 restorations let me tell you a bit about why I'd even attempt to do this.
Im a big fan of the Big Bands to the point I've spent more than 10 years presenting "Swing Type" Radio shows showcasing top swing bands of the day (and today!) playing arrangements that are SOLID! not the same old same old "In the mood" "Sing Sing Sing" stuff oh no sir, in over 1000+ shows I've not trotted out the old "standards" but played top arrangements that you may have never heard. In doing this I would pull out old LP's and Buy loads of CD's, Now i used to get VERY VERY annoyed when I'd hear a 78 that had A LOT of "Work" on it. to the point that all the "Top End" was gone. OK it takes most of the "scratchyness" away yes i agree, but it also kills the music FULL STOP. Now when i was a lad and played 78's quite a bit, If some mad scientist offered me a device that would take away 10 say 20 percent of the surface noise I'd have paid the earth!!.. so now 20 years later why do people think that if its not "clinical clean" Its not a good job?!?!? Well let me tell you as a Audio engineer AND a Muso that almost 70% of my 1000's of CD's are pretty much Junk to my ears. OK Ok you might think I'm mad at this point but when i hear a Sax section sound like it's underwater you might know what i mean. so i spent a few good years recerching how would be the best way to play and clean these 78's for my radio shows. after reading 40 years (1939-1980) of back issues of "Radio and Hobbies" I had a far idea on the technical aspects of the era that made the discs then i spend a few years perfecting the true Pre-Amp that would play me back ALL the sounds on disc. then i got myself a set of Truncated Elliptical Needles ( yes how quaint I call em Needles) But now i could Transfer the discs fine i needed the software to Master them. Well having a good play with the software over 10 or so years I have used it all. and it's all pretty Dire if you need to clean Properly. so I wrote some software myself, made me a few plug-ins and used a few existing ones and voila the Full Frequency range on the 78's to YOU without the Great treble Cut type of restoration usually heard.
But that's not all.. Ive made 3 Versions of each track

Version One - What I'd consider a good clean up job for my ears without the Noise Reduction effecting any instruments
Version Two - Which I call TMNR which stands for Too Much Noise Reduction, The kind of clean up job that I hate. but I also understand people will only listen to "CLEAN" 78's so its for them
Version 3 - A fake stereo Effect, Listen to this with your Can's on. Ive found a plug-in which can separate Certain frequency's for example in some swing type tracks the Trom section can APPEAR to be in the left hand side etc etc.. Again i don't like this kind of thing but hey, someone might!



Ok and on with the Track. Its Tex beneke's 1946 band with an old standard that the Army Airforce Band would play (and having Jerry Grey's Arrangements under contract with the Miller Estate) Tex would knock out loads of these tracks, as most people had never really heard Millers AAF outfit.
It's never appeared on CD and the disc i transferred this from is standard (sound wise) from 46, Ive got 3 pressing of this and they all have the Distorted sax part an the start!!

and how long does it take me to knock out these 78's Restorations? About 10 seconds of computer work each. The only time it takes is to Play each Disc Down the line!!

Rapidshare

Tex Beneke - Swing Low MP3

Tex Beneke - Swing Low FLAC

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great record. Thanks. Agree with you 100%. I like good sound quality and it's insane to apply today's technological standards to vintage recordings 50+ years old. So having said this a little surface noise is totally ok for me. And by 30's or 40's standards this is a great recording. Thanks for your quality work and the covers also. - mr.jive
Any chance to upload "Three Little Words" in case you have it???

craig said...

could you put up a megaupload link or any link to the flac? its not on rapidshare anymore.

Lauren C said...

Great Record. I love to throw on some old LP's and work out on my elliptical machine. It's great to see that people still appreciate the sound quality of a record!