What are Micro Dynamics in music? Beatles Tony Sheridan Polydor era vs. Parlophone..

you are talking through your hat ,dear boy
did you ever hear 1960's Shadows material for Abbey Road big sounds?
As for Dave Dexter he was a tamperer , hacker and a pompous disgrace to Capitol
Recording at that time was conservative
but there were some very clever exponents at EMI including a young GM.

 

Here you go...

Track 1
Peak level 82.5 %

Track 2
Peak level 78.7 %

Track 3
Peak level 82.1 %

Track 4
Peak level 89.4 %

Track 5
Peak level 74.2 %

Track 6
Peak level 79.7 %

Track 7
Peak level 73.4 %

Track 8
Peak level 76.3 %

Track 9
Peak level 87.9 %

Track 10
Peak level 78.5 %

Track 11
Peak level 72.7 %

Track 12
Peak level 82.9 %

Track 13
Peak level 92.4 %

Track 14
Peak level 95.6 %

 

It sounds like if you wanted to you could easily program a filter and take the new Beatles reissue CDs and add micro dynamics to them.


The OP did say that micro-dynamics are small fluctuations in the volume, correct?

 

I can't say for sure, but what I seem to hear is that on the Tony Sheridan recordings there is less overall compression and possibly more compression on individual tracks. For example when the bass compressor ducks it doesn't seem to bring down other tracks as opposed to what happens on much of the early Beatle Parlaphone recordings.

 

Thank you. I see they are different masterings. Curious that the re-release has lower levels, I would have expected the other way round...

 

I think the term "Microdynamics" is misleading.

Dynamics refers to the dynamic range in a recording, i.e. the amount of change between loud and soft passages.

I think what you are all confusing "Microdynamics" with is low level resolution. The better your system and room, the greater it's ability to resolve low level details clearly.

Think of it as the difference between taking pictures with an inexpensive lens that has a lot of contrast and low resolution and taking the same picture with a high quality camera as the dynamics and resolution of the hardware. Using the same film under the same conditions, the Leica camera will capture more detail from the scene than the 10 dollar point and shoot. You can see more shades of light to dark and there is a wider degree of separation in adjacent tones rather than it all blurring together.

Think of the software resolution as taking pictures with that same Leica, but using ISO 100 film and 1600 film. The lower speed film again has a lower noise floor (grain structure) so you can see further into the picture. This is comparable to a record or CD that has been produced from an original master tape as something a few generations removed.

If dynamics means the difference between loud and quiet, "micro dynamics" is somewhat misleading, because you are really talking about the difference between quiet and really quiet.

The less grain your system has, as well as how deep the background noise, S/N ratio and how quiet your room is will all determine how much low level information your system will be able to present.

 

I just picked up a used copy of The Beatles featuring Tony Sheridan, In The Beginning (Circa 1960) on the Polydor label in a NYC record shop. After giving it a good cleaning, it sounds great. I never had these recordings on LP before, only on CD. Years ago, I bought the Bear Family CD release of these recordings

I can see what everyone is talking about in regard to the breath of life with these recordings. There is a nice warm bottom end on this LP. I like it better than the CD of the same material. These recordings even have more life to them than the tube cut Beatles for Sale album.

 

Steve, don't you think the same brilliant recording-detail sensibility pervades
Bert Kaemphert's work as a whole? I have a lot of his records, originals (US)
and reissues and I'm frequently startled at the tonal purity and the precision
applied to the recordings AND the arrangements. The walking bass on
"Swinging Safari" is a shining example of this philosophy: that the recording
should spotlight the performance more than taking whatever performance
you can get and mashing it into a "pop-radio sound".

 

One interesting thing I find in comparing these tapes to "Please Please Me" is that, from an audiophile and pure sonic perspective, the early Tony Sheridan tapes are the clear winners. Yet, not just because of tracklist, I actually prefer listening to the EMI recordings. I actually like the energy and the vibrancy they posses, which is clearly what they were going for. It's a shame that the micro-dynamics had to be sacrificed to achieve this, and in an ideal world good recordings maintain both.

As has been said about Beatles records before, this (PPM) is not an audiophile recording.

 

It seems to me that micro-dynamics are one type of low-level resolution. Why think we are confusing micro-dynamics with low-level resolution? There are many things we could resolve at a low level. The changes in dynamics are one of them.

It might be that any recording or system that resolves micro-dynamics resolves all other low-level features. I highly doubt that -- but even if it were true, that would not mean that we were confusing the one for the other.

I've found that getting micro-dynamics right is more important to me than tone, macro-dynamics, or anything else -- it seems to be the single most important thing in making a recording sound truly life-like.

Thanks for the analogy, Steve.

 

Steve, am I crazy or have I not understood what micro dynamics were, but I can hear them in some Cliff Richard's late 50's records, which were made at Abbey Road (like Living Doll, even though my LP is fake stereo)? You mastered a Cliff compilation, what do you think?

 

Dave is Ain't She Sweet on the brown cover US CD first release in Stereo on your copy?

 

IMHO, Ringo's was too hard on hihat/cymbals compared to Pete at that time. This is a big challenge for any recording engineer, even in today's hi end studious with 20+ mics all over the drum kit. Later on, Ringo evolved his style by inventing his trade mark tom rolls, or overdubbing basic kick/snare rhythm track. Hitting cymbals hard was however, Ringo's "natural selection" advantage over Pete, which resulted in rocking turbo sound of early Beatles stuff (Star Club recordings). Even John&Paul were crazy about the lo-fi hi energy sound by american recording scarifying the sound fidelity.

Pete's soft style opened more space for the rest of the band especially for rhythm guitars, which compensated for the lack of rocking feel.

Obviously, there was an enormous amount of compression in place during tracking and, more importantly, during summing 2tracks or mastering at Abbey Road. From strictly hi-fi point of view, the sound on PPM/WTB session tapes e.g. One After 909 on Anthology is better than any "original" stereo or mono mixes. Of course, the enormous energy of mono mixes is a different story.

 

ok steve

pleases explain why tony meehan,jet harris ,bruce and hank are so well recorded on early shadows sessions by malcolm addey 1960+ abbey rd.

bert kaempfurt was fastidious about recording, his bass sound was the staple for 'hifi' shops of the era 'swinging safari'
they doubled upright and electric bass to great effect but im not sure german studios ever got rock n roll (again i cite malcolm addeys 'move it' from 58).

roger

 

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=A0u4oWVGUX0C&pg=PA1&lpg=PA113&dq=micro+dynamics+in+music&source=bl&ots=1FncG6Itch&sig=SM0bIXN-yJpSMx7Bes1oPkfCA3Y&hl=en&ei=yONvS5v-KZey0gTy_dHXBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=14&ved=0CCwQ6AEwDQ#v=onepage&q=micro%20dynamics%20in%20music&f=false

If the linky works, you guys may find this a useful insight into mastering and what it actually is and what can go on. It's written by Bob Katz, a highly respected mastering engineer. It's required reading on a lot of audio engineering courses.
a lot is spoken about mastering....have read, you maybe surprised...and more informed.

It might be handy thing Gorts to have as a sticky perhapse

 

No, they didn't. Every try has been utterly ridiculous.

 

I forgot to add....there's a good section on Micro Dynamics

 

so steve, tell us about 'the change'please.
Roger

 

Any thoughts about the relative quality of the DVD version of these recordings that came out a few years ago, also including video interviews with Tony Sheridan and, I believe, a 5.1 track. I think it omitted Cry For a Shadow.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Beatles-with-Tony-Sheridan/dp/B0000CDUI3

 

+1

 

Hence Capitol adding reverb to Beatles recordings? Comparing Living Doll to Love Me Do reveals the abyss in terms of recording quality (call it what you will) that appeared between 1958 and 1962 at Abbey Road...

 

you, dear sir, are talking out of your chapeau

'Me and my Shadows' 1960
Abbey Rd ,Malcolm Addey/Norrie Paramour.
excellent EMI CD, real stereo versions too
not DDjnr revisions

im umble opinion

 

"Ain't She Sweet" can be found in stereo on the Polydor "In The Beginning" CD. It's mono on the "Early Tapes" on Polydor.

JF