Whenever I listen to the bonus disk from A Day at the Races, I wonder about Brian's "pull back the veil" comment regarding the bonus disk version of Teo Torriate.
I have convinced myself that the veil has been pulled back on this version to make the sound "clearer" to me, and I have convinced myself that this version sounds slightly better.
Has Brian pulled the wool over my eyes? What specifically is different about the tone of this version? ... if anything ...
I've never actually A/B'd these, so this was a treat. There are indeed quite a few differences I picked up on:
The backing vocals in the second chorus are panned to the left and right instead of the middle.
The snare has extra reverb and compression added to make it sound a bit fatter (there's also a slapback echo on it that's especially audible at 3:12).
It's EQ'd in the V shape, bringing out more of the bottom and top end, making it sparkle a bit more (the original mix sounds like pure mid range by comparison).
The plastic piano is slightly higher in the mix (or the EQing just may be bringing it out a bit more).
The backwards gong at 3:26 now pans from side to side a couple times.
At 3:28 there are extra drums not heard on the original version. I suspect they were recorded in or around 2005 for when this HD mix was first released, as you can hear Roger's now signature slightly open hi-hat after each snare hit (this element of his style wasn't quite as developed in 1976).
The guitar note at 3:35 is slightly lower in the mix, and the backing vocals are considerably higher (some of the voices are panned to the left, and some to the right).
There is a second guitar at 3:37 panned to the left, which I actually didn't notice in the mix until now !
However, the loudness war is afoot again, and much is compromised with the peak to average ratio being crushed. The peak the song builds to should be at a much louder volume, but it's a bit of a whimper here because everything else is already this loud. Stick to the 2005 version released in Japan on "Jewels II" - it breathes beautifully.
There's a guitar orchestra that kicks in at 3:42 that's panned off to the left (most audible when they suddenly slide in at 3:46 to 3:52), and again, I never noticed this before - glorious ! I always thought it was just the little sprinkle that comes in at 3:50. Brian's backing vocals starting at 3:43 are panned to the right, making them much more audible. By comparison, this entire section of the song was mixed pretty well mono in 1976, as they were going for the big wide Phil Spector sound at the time, to great effect. But here the details are much more apparent. The rhythm guitar at 3:43 is mixed lower, a worthy sacrifice for everything else that actually is heard. One of the greatest climaxes in the Queen catalog is even greater here.
The drums are much more audible at 4:10.
The tape crackle on the final cymbal hit at 4:35 is fixed.
If you have the Japanese Teo Torriatte CD promo single from 2005, this one doesn't have Brian's Escher painting of guitars at the end, and there's an extra second of the last chord here where you can hear the harmonium's pitch lower slightly as it fades out (as it does when you let go of the expression pedal).
And finally, the tape plays a slight bit faster on the HD mix, as the track is nearly two seconds shorter.
In conclusion, Brian is bang on when he says the veil is pulled back. I'd kill to pull it back a bit more and hear the isolated 24-track of this.
It sounds like as more stuff is panned to the sides on this version you would get an interesting result from using out of phase stereo, especially of the backing vocal. Or even a crude 'karaoke' setting that some mp3 players have....
Another recommendation is listen to C_Matt's HD "revision" of ADATR. He used the HD Mix for Teo Torriate, but with a little more EQ work.
Consider me Bob's accomplice for a possible homicide, 'cos I'd also kill for a multitrack of that song, if only to have my own a capella mix.
The Real Wizard wrote:
It's EQ'd in the V shape, bringing out more of the bottom and top end, making it sparkle a bit more (the original mix sounds like pure mid range by comparison).
In conclusion, Brian is bang on when he says the veil is pulled back. I'd kill to pull it back a bit more and hear the isolated 24-track of this.
...
The "left and right panning" mentioned by Bob several times and particularly the "EQ V shape" is probably what I was unknowingly hearing and liking.
Thanks for the analysis Bob ...