level42

Quick example of de-noising

Hi people

Although I don’t seem to have much time for my own projects right now, I do get a bit here and there. So, I’ve been wondering how to get some of the level 42 stuff sounding less like sandpaper. Although I’ve managed to push the tonal character into something slightly more ear friendly, the sound is still very sharp.

So, having exhausted most other possibilities, I spent half an hour with the headphones on the laptop(not a very friendly work tool with the touch pad mouse, so I never use it much). I then set about trying to remove some of the harmonic distortion created by the tape saturation.

Below are the source, followed by the mastered version, then the de-noised job. When I have some time, I will make a proper job of this for the final thing. I’ve just ordered some HD650 phones for exactly this kind of work. The ones I’m currently using actually hurt my ears. Some kind of 2kish lift that makes even the best material sound quite nasty.

Ignore the intro section. When done properly I’ll automate the noise reduction threshold so it’s unheard at the start.

Love meeting love source

Love meeting love remaster 23-03-2010


Love_meeting_love27-03-2010-temp-denoised.mp3




Hopefully this short post demonstrates the importance of noise removal, and that far from just being about getting rid of the noise, it is quite a musical process.


Thanks for stopping by


Tone

Level 42 “Love meeting love”

Hi people!

Again this is from the live 81 Gillingham tape.

Taken a slightly different approach with this. I found there was a huge difference between left and right eq, either from the recording itself or the transfer to digital. This was creating an empty centre, so I’ve done some work to balance it up(apart from the tape drift, it even seems to hold together in mono).

I’ve also used quite an aggressive compressor model to tame the kick and snare. Take a listen to the source file and check how far in front(louder) they are. It’s difficult because of the mid covering effect, but still audible.

Do take a close listen to the hard nature of the source. I can change the shape of the tone, but not the essence of the sample(which is all digitized sound is).

Love meeting love remaster 23-03-2010

As usual, I may tweak this again at a later date.

Thanks for stopping by

Tone

Level 42, the rare “Morning silence”

Hi people

I worked on this track for a while over christmas, and although it still needs a tweak or 2, I’m quite happy with the improvement. For those who don’t know…..this is one of the rarest Level 42 songs. “Morning silence” Written by Mike Lindup, only featured in a few live shows during the 80’s. Luckily it was captured in this recording, as I don’t think another version exists.

For any new visitors, the technical details are this:

Damaged cassette from 1981.

Large mid range eq lift on aux send to cassette, Forcing large amounts of tape saturation into and around the offending freq area. I’ve had to try, to match the shape of that boost, by using many smaller cuts. As well as using the standard ‘boost the nice bits’ technique.

Source has large Boost around 107hz

Constant eq changes by the engineer

Remember, this is never going to be a perfect finish, just more listenable.

Have a listen

Morning silence source


Morning silence remaster


Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to Check back for updates or new tracks etc. Part 2 of my multiband compression tutorial is imminent.

Tone

Level 42-The pier interviews

Hi people.

I had an interesting email from BBC director Damon Thomas, regarding my Level 42 restoration mastering. I have no idea how he stumbled upon my site, but he was very encouraging about my efforts. On the strength of that, I set about working on some more. To eventually get the whole gig done (one day).

Anyway, it transpires that he directed a series of interviews with the band in the late 90’s. I did some digging on Youtube and found them.

So…for anyone who’s interested, here is that series.

As usual, thanks for stopping by, and please keep doing so.

Tone

Part1

Part2

Part3

“Wings of love” Level 42

Hi

You can probably tell by now, I’m not working these tracks in the right order. Trying my best to avoid the early ones, where the engineer was setting up .

Gone back a couple of songs now for this one. A few minor changes from the “Almost there” settings. The eq moves for every track, so that needed tweaking, plus the release times for all the dynamics tools. You may also notice a difference in both sound and level from “Almost there”. I don’t usually go much on so called vintage compressor models etc, it normally means “buy this, and it will make everything sound fantastic for you”, which they rarely do.

But I did put one in-line just before the final limiter. The last thing this material needs is too much definition, so blurring the edges slightly with the vintage model had the effect I wanted. Listen to how it’s softened the highs of the hi hat and cymbals etc. I’m not pretending its transparent compression, it’s actually pretty obvious, but it works.

The Audio


Wings of love-Cassette source


Wings of love-remaster

Well, thanks for stopping by people, and keep checking back, as I’m going to be doing the whole gig eventually (even the scary earlier tracks). Also, there is a big mastering techniques article on it’s way.

Have a great weekend!

Tone

P.S As usual, I’ll end up tweaking this a little. I just noticed a couple of freq’s creep in.

Level 42 “Almost there” Live in Gillingham 1981

Hi people!

I’ve recently had a couple of messages from level 42 fans, asking if I’ve completed the remaster of the whole gig. Here are some reasons why I haven’t:

1:Been too busy

2:It takes aaaaages. I’m not kidding!. This is a live recording, with loads of eq changes required(on top of the general sound fix)

3:It’s painful!. Even after pushing the tonal balance into something slightly better, the notches required to make it more listenable, start to mess with your ears  after working on it for a while.

Anyway, I have done another track. Actually the final song of the gig “Almost there”, in quite a raw/unfinished form, and with some unique lyrics on the night . If you haven’t read the whole story of how this recording found it’s way to me, read here

Notes:

Damage to the mid/upper mid range, mostly noticeable in the hi hats and cymbals. This is from eq boosts in that area, pushing the signal into the tape and creating massive amounts of saturation. No real fix for this, only to make it less obvious.

Spike from bass amp at 107hz. Cause unknown. This makes for a slightly thin bass sound, even using some tricks.

Keep in mind….despite what people may think…we can’t work miracles, but I damn well tried!

The audio

Thanks for stopping by

Tone

P.S:Re tweaked using slight multiband compression to keep it in place better. I had already used expansion to put some life back into it, but the whole thing stays pretty solid now. I’ll still re tweak some of the eq when my ears have repaired. Really difficult material with all the engineers changes.