Alan Silvestri THE MUMMY RETURNS Intrada 2CD set!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

31 minutes ago, Jay said:

Live is nothing like those other bands and I'm not sure why Disco Stu is connecting them.  Weird.

 

Nothing?  What?  Big crunching guitars with melodramatic annoying wailing “sensitive” dudes who I just want to punch in the face.  Shit bands like Lifehouse are definitely in the same lineage as Live.  The 90s destroyed mainstream rock.  Of course a lot of amazing music got made but what got popular got worse and worse until rock is just a husk now

[SteveMc 2,674]

3 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Nothing?  What?  Big crunching guitars with melodramatic annoying wailing “sensitive” dudes who I just want to punch in the face.  Shit bands like Lifehouse are defyin the same lineage as Live.  The 90s destroyed mainstream rock.  Of course a lot of amazing music got made but what got popular got worse and worse until rock is just a husk now

Preach brother!

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

I listen to real music, thanks.

 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Bottom line is that the Mummy Returns song is pure shit.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

You get used to it.

[mstrox 6,643]

It probably convinced some people in 2001 to spend money on an Alan Silvestri score they wouldn't have purchased otherwise.  And maybe they even listened to it!

[Jay 37,281]

26 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Nothing?  What?  Big crunching guitars with melodramatic annoying wailing “sensitive” dudes who I just want to punch in the face.  Shit bands like Lifehouse are definitely in the same lineage as Live.  The 90s destroyed mainstream rock.  Of course a lot of amazing music got made but what got popular got worse and worse until rock is just a husk now

 

I disagree.  Live doesn't sound like those other bands to me.  

[Disco Stu 15,495]

43 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

I disagree.  Live doesn't sound like those other bands to me.  

 

They're certainly not as bad, and are better musicians for sure.  But one lead to the other in my mind.

[Richard Penna 3,669]

I was half expecting to read that My First Bus Ride (Original) and Dirigible Montage were recorded in L.A.. Both of those have, to my ears, a really muddy mix, with the brass buried somewhere in the strings. The OST versions (and the revised Bus Ride) sound great in comparison.

 

Whether there's an isolated mixing issue or they're different recordings, I don't know, but something's up there.

 

Edit - Sandcastles too.

[rpvee 805]

I’ve always liked “Forever May Not Be Long Enough”, but then again, I’m a sucker for any music with Middle Eastern influence.

[Holko 9,498]

One day I'd love to hear the story of how the hell they forgot mentioning the LA sessions, and why they sound the way they do. Were they recorded badly, kept badly, or they found them later in the album production process and didn't want to push it back and hire a magician to make something of them?

 

The Intrada site data is incomplete, CD2 Tracks 9, 20 and 21 were also recorded in LA.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The Mummy Returns LA recordings were stored in the same place as the ROTJ score and the Botanicus Theme.

[Holko 9,498]

It even varies from track to track, probably based on how orchestrally busy they are or what segments they focus on. Evy's Flashback Swordfight (which is low moods, then solo percussion, then DOMINE-ting choir - sorry) and the Credits (again overpowering choir, percussion and that guitar thing) are pretty well off compared to the rest, which sometimes are just a little bit off, sometimes sound positively muffled and muddy, and some of them occupy a very narrow stereo field. The choir, anvils and more exotic percussion really pop out with their sound, even though the booklet says Silvestri made a big thing out of recording everything together and not striping anything. So it could just be a rushed recording setup - "Eh, the movie has to open in 3 weeks and this won't be on the album anyway, who cares?".

 

OK, the credits isn't perfect either, the brass is a mess, but that only really comes out at the solo at 2:15, and it is much better than in the movie, in which the sound even pops wide into the left channel from muffled during the final fadeout! Is that a fault with the rip I got or with the movie?

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

Maybe Dan Wallin did the LA recordings? >D

[Richard Penna 3,669]

1 hour ago, Holko said:

One day I'd love to hear the story of how the hell they forgot mentioning the LA sessions, and why they sound the way they do. Were they recorded badly, kept badly, or they found them later in the album production process and didn't want to push it back and hire a magician to make something of them?

 

Nah, they sound the same on the boot. My money would be on a rushed last minute recording. Possibly with your suggestion that Silvestri knew they wouldn't make the album so didn't worry about how they sounded.

 

Why the London cues vary in sound so much... who knows. All I can see is that most of it sounds really great, with a handful of cues dotted around sounding like the mix is all wrong.

[Holko 9,498]

Just now, Richard Penna said:

 

Nah, they sound the same on the boot. My money would be on a rushed last minute recording. Possibly with the suggestion below that Silvestri knew they wouldn't make the album so didn't worry about how they sounded.

1 hour ago, Holko said:

So it could just be a rushed recording setup - "Eh, the movie has to open in 3 weeks and this won't be on the album anyway, who cares?".

 

 

[Richard Penna 3,669]

Yeah realised that after I'd submitted

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

The technology simply wasn't advanced enough in 2001 to record music with proper fidelity and clarity that we have today.

[Holko 9,498]

In the insignificant third world country known as Hollywood, at least.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

3 hours ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

The Mummy Returns LA recordings were stored in the same place as the ROTJ score and the Botanicus Theme.

In the empty swimming pool of that one guy that nobody knows.

[Jurassic Shark 12,023]

[Marian Schedenig 8,172]

5 hours ago, Holko said:

even though the booklet says Silvestri made a big thing out of recording everything together and not striping anything.

 

 

I believe I recall Dennis Sands saying that he's not fond of striping and prefers recording the whole orchestra as one.

[Holko 9,498]

So My First Bus Ride, one of the main signature standout tracks of this score, has a pretty noticeable performance flub in the version included in the main presentation at 1:08, while we know from the booklet there are at least 4 takes to choose replacement bars from (unless the takes between 11 and 14 were warmups, or planned inserts before they decided to rerecord the entire thing), or just substitute them with the ones from the original take included on Disc 2, which doesn't have the flub. There are other examples where certain bars from different takes are used. Is this the level of attention to detail that we're dealing with here?

[crumbs 14,296]

Unfortunately once you get used to the Matessino treatment of expansions, with his intricate ear for detail, nothing else comes close.

 

Gave my second listen to The Mummy over the weekend and the brickwalling just kills the listening experience; the brass and percussion is so "hot". Surely the score wasn't mixed/recorded this way?

 

Would love to see a spectrogram comparison with the OST. 

[publicist 4,643]

Forget the brickwalling, the limited stereo field is a much bigger issue here. 

[crocodile 7,982]

Is it possible it might be an issue with the actual source? Maybe it deteriorated badly over the past 17 years?

 

Karol

[crumbs 14,296]

8 minutes ago, publicist said:

Forget the brickwalling, the limited stereo field is a much bigger issue here. 

Care to elaborate? I did notice the score has a real lack of "space". The orchestra doesn't breathe and it doesn't sound much like a normal recording studio. It often sounds very mono. 

[Holko 9,498]

So far I've only noticed very narrow stereo fields in the Returns LA cues, I only have minor preference issues with the mastering of the Goldsmith one like the overpowering brass in Tuareg Attack or the newly surfaced synths in The Sarcophagus.

[publicist 4,643]

1 hour ago, crumbs said:

Care to elaborate? I did notice the score has a real lack of "space". The orchestra doesn't breathe and it doesn't sound much like a normal recording studio. It often sounds very mono. 

 

I already specified in this thread (and partly in the corresponding Mummy thread): regardless of the session involved a lot of cues have a narrow stereo field, sometimes approaching mono quality. If you use headphones and compare the major tracks of the Decca and Intrada, you will notice that even London cues like 'Evy Kidnapped' severely reduce the stereo spread. Even within Intrada's set you'll notice cues that sound wide and open (Legend of the Scorpion King), others (Scorpion Shoes, Canyon Deluge, Evy Kidneapped and so on) have this aforementioned tinny sound.

[crumbs 14,296]

Sounds similar to the issues on the Star Wars remasters. Someone screwed up when downmixing the multi-track channels into stereo.

[publicist 4,643]

Just that in this case you would be afraid to address it, or you risk a dressdown from Doug Fake and his minions.

[Holko 9,498]

He'll unleash his beret on you.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'm glad I decided to skip these.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

It's most unfortunate.

[Jurassic Shark 12,023]

I seeee...

[crumbs 14,296]

2 hours ago, publicist said:

Just that in this case you would be afraid to address it, or you risk a dressdown from Doug Fake and his minions.

 

I don't have any idea what this comment means, nor who Doug Fake is.

 

He sounds like a bit of a phony, though.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

4 hours ago, publicist said:

I already specified in this thread (and partly in the corresponding Mummy thread): regardless of the session involved a lot of cues have a narrow stereo field, sometimes approaching mono quality. If you use headphones and compare the major tracks of the Decca and Intrada, you will notice that even London cues like 'Evy Kidnapped' severely reduce the stereo spread. Even within Intrada's set you'll notice cues that sound wide and open (Legend of the Scorpion King), others (Scorpion Shoes, Canyon Deluge, Evy Kidneapped and so on) have this aforementioned tinny sound.

Are there any other Silvestri or Goldsmith Intrada releases with these issues? I've never had any problem with anything from Intrada (so far?).

[publicist 4,643]

I don't have all but i don't know of any major new-ish release with problems as glaring as TMR.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Intrada initially screwed up the Rambo 2 release.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

6 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

Intrada initially screwed up the Rambo 2 release.

 

They did?

[crumbs 14,296]

They didn't screw it up unless they admit they screwed it up. Just look at Disney Records and the new Star Wars releases.

[Jim Ware 526]

10 hours ago, Holko said:

So My First Bus Ride, one of the main signature standout tracks of this score, has a pretty noticeable performance flub in the version included in the main presentation at 1:08, while we know from the booklet there are at least 4 takes to choose replacement bars from (unless the takes between 11 and 14 were warmups, or planned inserts before they decided to rerecord the entire thing), or just substitute them with the ones from the original take included on Disc 2, which doesn't have the flub. There are other examples where certain bars from different takes are used. Is this the level of attention to detail that we're dealing with here?

 

The performance flub has always been there on the album (which I think is take 14 in it's entirety, despite what the liner notes say).  The film uses take 14 for the most part, with the unflubbed performance of that section edited in from take 11.

[Holko 9,498]

That's what they should have recreated, and it's in the liner notes, too.

[Jay 37,281]

Mike M would have recreated the performance edit used in the film for sure.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

1 hour ago, publicist said:

I don't have all but i don't know of any major new-ish release with problems as glaring as TMR.

So you don't consider TM a release with glaring problems? (I don't have the CD yet and want to know whether it's justified looking forward to it.)

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

Intrada initially screwed up the Rambo 2 release.

It also sounds too bright.

[publicist 4,643]

No. Especially when you have the whole original album to choose from.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Ah okay, nice to know.

[Trent B 337]

The sound issue with The Mummy Returns is the same as the boot.  I think Intrada used the same masters or something similar.  I think it was just how the score was recorded is why it sounds like it does.

[publicist 4,643]

Nah. The issues are on many tracks which sound perfectly fine on the Decca (as i listed above).

[Marian Schedenig 8,172]

There really isn't much wrong with The Mummy. It sounds hotter than the album, but not problematically so. It's more apparent when you compare the new mix with the album cues, obviously. My biggest annoyance may in fact be that Goldsmith's original Sand Volcano is only present in the album mix, which sounds a bit jarring if you put it at the end of the full score instead of the copy paste credits.