Korgscrew
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Joined: Dec. 1999 |
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Posted: May 22 2009, 14:47 |
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Quote (Ghostmojo @ April 16 2009, 21:38) | I never cared for the stripped down Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn didn't need a remix at all IMHO. I wonder whether O was just done to kind of complete the process at the time - as in, the other two were being done - so why not? |
I might be coming to this a bit late, but maybe I can shed at least a little light here...
There were various constraints to mixing in SQ and although, being a matrix system, it's stereo compatible, the phase shifts and everything else involved in the matrix can lead to things sounding a bit odd when they're not being played through an SQ decoder. So, though it could have been possible to mix Ommadawn in SQ from the outset, it wouldn't necessarily have been technically desirable. It also would have been logistically difficult - The Beacon wasn't equipped for SQ mixing, so it would have meant taking it to The Manor, which would have delayed the already delayed release yet further. As it was, they started on the mix at The Manor fairly soon after the stereo one was released - SQ and QS versions of Ommadawn were released in early 1976, a good 6 months or so before Boxed (the mix on the QS version is the same, contrary to some rumours I've read; the QS matrix is different, though, which can lead to a few differences here and there, perhaps especially when played in stereo, which may have led to the confusion).
There were no doubt also commercial reasons, not least the fact that a quad-only release would have put some buyers off (even if only a few; their concern was so great that they went as far as lying about the CD having been remixed in stereo when it's very definitely still quad! ). The fact that it meant they could release more than one LP of it probably didn't hurt either... We've seen similar happen more recently with Tubular Bells 2003, the surround version being released 8 months or so after the stereo one. Modern discrete formats at least don't have the constraints SQ had, but a dedicated stereo mix is still preferable to letting a decoder do its own fold down, and I suspect there were also time constraints which prevented Mike from having the 5.1 mix ready at the same time as the stereo one.
Virgin was clearly quite excited about trying quad out in the mid 70s, with Mike's music being an important part of that (I don't think all that many other albums were released in both SQ and QS in the same market), but then the fact they were trying releases in different formats also highlights the lack of certainty at the time. Of course the record buyers didn't quite share the excitement; by the time Incantations (conceived from the outset as a quadraphonic album in Mike's new quadraphonic studio at Througham Slad) was finished, quad had all but died out. Incantations really was remixed in stereo, though oddly enough, Exposed was released in SQ quad a year later, which gives a hint at how stunning Incantations in quad could have been.
I think quad's lack of popularity has led to the reasons behind these remixes being mostly forgotten about. Now I see and hear people saying "Mike should remix Ommadawn, I'd love to hear it in surround!" - some of us have been listening to Ommadawn in surround for ages and have been very much enjoying the experience! I do think it would be nice to see the whole set released in a modern surround format, though.
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