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drewmaster
To tie in with my question in this thread, are we to expect digital recording yet again for their new album, or will they go analog and bring back the glorious sound of albums like ER and TY?

Drew

I guess that question can only be answered by people who were actually present at the recording sessions. However, considering that this is 2023 (OK, 2021 and 2022 for some of the recording), i'd be surprised if there hadn't been any digital component in the prosess. Just think of Bill recording his bass part in London. I don't think they sent over a multitrack tape for him to record his part on, more likely they sent a file.,



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-07-18 04:08 by doitywoik.

Of course it will be digital...

...but even an old analogue Luddite like me will acknowledge that Digital recording can these days be very good .

The problem today is not the technology itself...it's the skills of the engineers and the decisions taken in the course of the recording, mixing and mastering processes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-07-18 10:34 by Spud.

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Hairball

Whatever the case, good to see Keith so happy and healthy!

Isn't that the main thing, just seeing Keith?

I like to see Keith!

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Spud
Of course it will be digital...

...but even an old analogue Luddite like me will acknowledge that Digital recording can these days be very good .

The problem today is not the technology itself...it's the skills of the engineers and the decisions taken in the course of the recording, mixing and mastering processes.

Well in that case, let us hope and pray that it will not be the same engineers and the same decisions that were responsible for the sound of ABB.

Drew

ABB would have sounded OK if not compressed to hell.

The version in the Abbey Road boxed set offers some improvement in that respect.

I'll take the sound of ABB over B&L every day of the week!!!

Well, if Mick wants a modern-sounding recording, there's a good chance it will be brickwalled-to-hell. - Yet another brick wall problem ... - Although, judging from what I read, the trend to compress the hell out of every recording seems to ebb away, so maybe there's a chance to get a decent-sounding album. We'll find out soon enough (whenever that will be).

While we debate/discuss/dismiss/dream about the 'new' album, let us pause for a moment to recognise the significance of today. Today fellow Stones fans is the day on which good ol' Hot Rocks celebrates its 8th birthday in the Billboard 200. Of course the album has been around for much longer. This is its CHART birthday.

It is a decent, if unremarkable, achievement. Several performers have spent well over ten years in the Billboard 200. With some soaring past 15 years, and Pink Floyd creeping towards 20. And while being delighted for The Stones I must also express, once again, my surprise, that of all The Stones compilations (and there are MANY to choose from) it is Hot Rocks that seems to have cornered the market. Yes it is perfectly decent, but falls way short of Rolled Gold as a summary of The Stones recordings on London/Decca. Not to mention Forty Licks, and Grrr, both of which span their entire career.

Anyway, happy birthday Hot Rocks. Now, shoot for the full ten years!

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drewmaster
To tie in with my question in this thread, are we to expect digital recording yet again for their new album, or will they go analog and bring back the glorious sound of albums like ER and TY?

Drew

No reason to expect analog. It probably would've been mentioned by now. Pro Tools it is.

Wasn't BLUE AND LONESOME recorded on analog? Wasn't that the point of using a retro-engineered board at British Grove?

Regarding A BIGGER BANG's brick-walled sound, isn't that mastering and not mixing that is the problem?

Krishna Sharma likely engineered some of the new album, up until the switch from Don Was to Andrew Watt.

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GasLightStreet

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drewmaster
To tie in with my question in this thread, are we to expect digital recording yet again for their new album, or will they go analog and bring back the glorious sound of albums like ER and TY?

Drew

No reason to expect analog. It probably would've been mentioned by now. Pro Tools it is.

Bummer. So does the new album have *any* chance of sounding as good as their stuff from the days of analog??

Drew

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frankotero
I like to see Keith!

It's always nice to see Keith here, it's nice to see Keith anywhere.
And extra nice to see a happy and healthy Keith fiddling around on a guitar.
Even better yet is to see Keith performing on stage with Mick, and hopefully the last time wasn't Waldbuhne, Berlin, 2022.
If it was, always nice to know there might be a new album released some day...or even just a new single...waiting for official release announcement of one or both.
And if there isn't, guess there will always be another greatest hits/best of compilation with maybe a couple of new tunes or live tracks tacked on ala 40 Licks, GRRR, and HONK.
But before we count the chickens before they're hatched, or put the cart before the horse while speculation runs rampant, back to your above post..."I like to see Keith".

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-07-18 21:38 by Hairball.

Hairball

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Rocky Dijon
Wasn't BLUE AND LONESOME recorded on analog? Wasn't that the point of using a retro-engineered board at British Grove?

We'd gone in the studio to start cutting some new songs. Around day three we just hit a wall and Keith suggested that, to cleanse the creative palette, we play Blue and Lonesome, the Little Walter song. Fortunately we ran the tape and it was just awesome. The whole mood of the room changed dramatically in those three-and-a-half minutes. So we said, Let's do another one, and let's do another one. They just called songs off that they knew and loved. It was very spontaneous. And by the end of the day we had six.
- Don Was, September 2016

Not sure. I can't ever recall reading anything here or elsewhere, like whatever magazine site that talks with Chris Kimsey about Start Me Up being from the same session as Miss You, that talked about either.

It seems to me that if they were to bother to record on 2 inch analog, which is insanely expensive now, we'd read about them saying things.

Maybe not quite like Bill Wyman saying they went through 250 reels of tape recording DIRTY WORK (forget if that's the number but it was a lot and his point appeared to be they used a lot of reels to release 9 songs or whatever is on it).

A BIGGER BANG was recorded with Pro Tools.

Would seem to me that if they did record on 2 inch that they'd be way more concerned with the mastering.

They're not.

They don't care.

So I think Don Was saying he was glad they printed it ie recorded it.

To this day I know people that call recording whatever TV show with their DVR etc "taped".

It might be his way of getting a point across, he could be 100% describing that they indeed rolled 2 inch analog 24 track tape.

Then there's Ronnie:

But I said, You just play the song to me once and then start rolling the tape and I'll cut it - my way..


Changing subject:

I've found Keith to be totally unbelievable about A and completely believable about 1. Because he contradicts himself:

It was only at the end, when we’d got 12 tracks and Don Was and I were talking together, and Mick was there and he was saying, This is an album. You can’t chop this up.
- Keith Richards, October 2016


We realized it was good but even when we finished them, we didn't say This is an album. It took us another couple of months of listening and saying, You know you can't break these things up - this is an album.
- Keith Richards, November 2016

So after they recorded 12 tracks or "a couple months" - December to April...

[timeisonourside.com]

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Hairball

Even better yet is to see Keith performing on stage with Mick

Especially if he plays "Happy"!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-07-19 13:04 by Topi.

the BLUE and Lonesome CD is horrible sound wise. The minute you crank up the volume it’s pure distortion. GHS when universal reissued it in 2009 or 2010 was really unlistenable too.

It's a pity that B&L wasn't given the same Miles Showell treatment as the other albums when included in the Abbey Road box.

It's typical of modern releases in being overly loud and compressed.

It's a huge shame because, being recorded largely live in the room with a few later overdubs, it could have sounded wonderful, with some real air and natural dynamics.

It would be great if they recorded the new album in analog, but I just did a lil research on the current Queen of the Charts, and even Taylor is recording digitally. I thought that perhaps her Folklore and Evermore albums might have been done the old school way, given their warm sound, but that is not the case. It is possible to get a warm sound and not have that over-compressed sound to it. How it's done exactly, I wouldn't even begin to know!

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VoodooLounge13
It would be great if they recorded the new album in analog, but I just did a lil research on the current Queen of the Charts, and even Taylor is recording digitally. I thought that perhaps her Folklore and Evermore albums might have been done the old school way, given their warm sound, but that is not the case. It is possible to get a warm sound and not have that over-compressed sound to it. How it's done exactly, I wouldn't even begin to know!

Very interesting. So it IS possible to get the warm sound with digital!

Which means that, in the right hands, we might get a very wonderful-sounding album, even if they use ProTools or whatever. If the engineers have the know-how and the desire, it CAN be done.

Drew

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drewmaster

If the engineers have the know-how and the desire, it CAN be done.

Yes, good sound quality is possible with modern recording tools, if the engineers are interested in. An example for good sound quality would be the 2022 album 'Resist' by Midnight Oil.

Analog or digital, a good song will always be good.
And a bad one, just the same!!!

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GasLightStreet
Not sure. I can't ever recall reading anything here or elsewhere, like whatever magazine site that talks with Chris Kimsey about Start Me Up being from the same session as Miss You, that talked about either.

It seems to me that if they were to bother to record on 2 inch analog, which is insanely expensive now, we'd read about them saying things.

[www.soundonsound.com]

Article on British Grove. Looks like they had the option to record analog on vintage refurbished boards at least.

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Rocky Dijon

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GasLightStreet
Not sure. I can't ever recall reading anything here or elsewhere, like whatever magazine site that talks with Chris Kimsey about Start Me Up being from the same session as Miss You, that talked about either.

It seems to me that if they were to bother to record on 2 inch analog, which is insanely expensive now, we'd read about them saying things.

[www.soundonsound.com]

Article on British Grove. Looks like they had the option to record analog on vintage refurbished boards at least.

They certainly do.

The mastering for B&L makes them recording to 2 inch tape moot. What a shame.

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Rocky Dijon

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GasLightStreet
Not sure. I can't ever recall reading anything here or elsewhere, like whatever magazine site that talks with Chris Kimsey about Start Me Up being from the same session as Miss You, that talked about either.

It seems to me that if they were to bother to record on 2 inch analog, which is insanely expensive now, we'd read about them saying things.

[www.soundonsound.com]

Article on British Grove. Looks like they had the option to record analog on vintage refurbished boards at least.

Nice article. Thanks for posting, Rocky.

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GasLightStreet

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Rocky Dijon

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GasLightStreet
Not sure. I can't ever recall reading anything here or elsewhere, like whatever magazine site that talks with Chris Kimsey about Start Me Up being from the same session as Miss You, that talked about either.

It seems to me that if they were to bother to record on 2 inch analog, which is insanely expensive now, we'd read about them saying things.

[www.soundonsound.com]

Article on British Grove. Looks like they had the option to record analog on vintage refurbished boards at least.

They certainly do.

The mastering for B&L makes them recording to 2 inch tape moot. What a shame.

Chuck Leavell stated that a file was sent to him so he could lay down his part on one of the tunes then the file was sent back.

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Spud
Of course it will be digital...

...but even an old analogue Luddite like me will acknowledge that Digital recording can these days be very good .

The problem today is not the technology itself...it's the skills of the engineers and the decisions taken in the course of the recording, mixing and mastering processes.

That's the point. If they wanted to have a dynamic sounding and organic recording they had all the possibilities even in the digital domain to do so. Even plugin emulations of analog equipment are so good nowadays that a fully analog sounding record couls be recreated, even if the source was digital.

But they want to make a record that can keep up with all the modern productions. And those have a sound that many here don't really like. I can't blame them for going that route honestly, I guess they want to sound modern and since modern recordings are far more compressed and processed than recordings in their prime, that's what we will get.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-07-19 21:57 by StonedRambler.

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More Hot Rocks
Chuck Leavell stated that a file was sent to him so he could lay down his part on one of the tunes then the file was sent back.

That settles it then unless it was cut analogue and mixed digital which is self-defeating. They chose British Grove and considered Third Man and Chess Records for a reason. Maybe the sound in the room matters more than the playback to the band.

Q: What do you think of the new Stones album?
A: I viewed it in Audacity, it looks horrible!