Young Winston revises the mix

[@?,*???&?]

Annually.

Each year, a new mix of the same album that never was mastered or legitimately released comes out. Another version of the same batch of songs that were recorded in the year 2---. As Young Winston gains chops, each years mix sounds better and is done for free. He winces at what he released on his own the previous year. The first year could have yielded an amazing version of the record if it were mixed by a professional, but young Winston has no money and lives a revisionist life guiltlessly. Just like the original Winston in Orwell's 1984, young Winston can completely re-write his musical history to fit this years vision. We've read reams about re-mastering and re-releasing product and it was the Beatles "Yellow Submarine" that yielded the first actual remix of Beatles material. Material that the world knew by heart. The weird thing was that the remixes were AMAZING. Can Winston achieve the same greatness? Over time, maybe. Hopefully, each release of the same album will get better. Would anyone care?

Would you coddle this project at your studio?

[JASIII]

W....T....F.....

[mjau]

Dude.
Please, PLEASE, actually read 1984 before you call some character in your little yarn Winston.

[fossiltooth]

I can relate to the young Winston of your story, if only because I've covered similar ground, as I came be a full-time engineer in a fairly "new school" way.

Aspiring engineers of yesteryear never had the opportunity to revisit the near-misses of their past. If they had incredibly sophisticated mixing machines in their bedrooms and immediate, perpetual access to all of the master "tapes" from their old projects, they would have been doing the same thing that many of today's young upstarts are.

There's one album that I completed what seems like ages ago that I have fantasies about remixing in its entirety. It's not that its bad, its just that the music was so good, that I still feel it deserved more than I was able to give at that point. That, and the guy who mastered it did a real hack job.

A while ago, I remixed one of the songs off that LP for my own pleasure. I'm glad I did so. Had I remixed it yesterday, it probably would have been better still. Does that mean continously revisiting the past is always a good thing? Hell no! Screw you, George Lucas! It's on a case by case basis. Who gets to decide which cases are acceptable and which aren't? Someone with agood sense of aesthetic and artistic judgement... i.e., not George Lucas.

[JGriffin]

Does Winston's check clear?

[Gentleman Jim]

Hey, for the record Jeff,

WHAT ON EARTH CONSTITUTES A LEGITIMATE RELEASE?

I've read you throwing that word around like it means something. I've worked for bands who's major label releases sold less than my cruddy hardcore band's LP did in late 1988 and early 1989. They had video budgets, tour support, press kits, spent months flying all over the damn place to record, but nobody seemed to care.

On the other hand, my cruddy band could barely play, some of the songs were written days before the recording session, the sounds were pretty lame, the mix was sub-average, and we're minor (ok, VERY minor) legends. Are we more or less 'Legitimate' than the better band with two major label releases that nobody cares about or remembers? I think that question bears answering, since you seem to have some magic yardstick that nobody else has.


Back to the topic:

I think your Winston might have a cool performance art angle to work if he's making huge changes in the arrangements. If he's just adding a bit of compression here and there, or panning things differently, then it's probably a waste of time and money; those things are subjective enough that few people would appreciate the change.

But hey, if that's what he wants to do, and doing it doesn't hurt anyone, have at it. Mixing can be fun, and it's cheaper than owning a boat. Maybe if you think remixing shouldn't be allowed, you should work in a different recording medium. Perhaps Direct to Disc.

[cgarges]

Can we change Winston's name to George Lucas?

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[mjau]

Can we change Winston's name to George Lucas?

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

How about George Winston?

[RefD]

Can we change Winston's name to George Lucas?

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

How about George Winston?

only if Jeff changes his TOMB handle to Jar Jar.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

this guys name is winston:



for fun, i am right now remixing a record that was recorded at a REAL STUDIO and mixed by a PROFESSIONAL years ago. i'm mixing it ITB in my bedroom studio. i am not one to pat myself on the back but it sounds inarguably a million times better now. f'realz.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

um. oops. sorry for the widthy. but yunno, it's funnier like that so i'm leaving it unless garges beats me down.

[RefD]

d00d, that's a big pig.

[mjau]

for fun, i am right now remixing a record that was recorded at a REAL STUDIO and mixed by a PROFESSIONAL years ago. i'm mixing it ITB in my bedroom studio. i am not one to pat myself on the back but it sounds inarguably a million times better now. f'realz.

But that's simply impossible, I say.

[scott macdonald]

As Young Winston gains chops, each years mix sounds better and is done for free. He winces at what he released on his own the previous year. The first year could have yielded an amazing version of the record if it were mixed by a professional, but young Winston has no money and lives a revisionist life guiltlessly. Just like the original Winston in Orwell's 1984, young Winston can completely re-write his musical history to fit this years vision.

You know, recording and mixing music IS FUN. Writing, performing and recording music is FUN. Someday, if you have some free time, you might want to try having some fun. It's pretty fun.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

But that's simply impossible, I say.

well the thing is i'm only doing it for fun and copies are only going to my former bandmates and some friends. so it's not a LEGITIMATE release and therefore doesn't count as Real Music. so yunno, possible or impossible doesn't really figure into it, as it doesn't really exist at all!