HW: live material

[Carl Edlund Anderson]

On 11/07/2007 12:17, john-paul wrote:
> surely there are people on this list capable of "cleaning" up recordings 
> on their computers, with the software that is available nowadays. 

Well .... I don't think it's _quite_ as easy as just that.  Sure, any of
us can load up a WAV file and tweak the EQ a bit -- but cleaning up
and/or remixing archival audio *well* still requires (I think) pro-grade
gear and (not to be forgotten) a good and well-trained ear.  Though,
obviously, the cost of the technology keeps coming down and the
capabilities keep going up so the possibilities improve with each
passing minute.  (Ears, however, remain at a premium! ;)

Of course, a rubbish quality source is still a rubbish quality source.
There's only so much that can be done to fix up, say, grimy 2-track
audio that sounds like it was recorded in a toilet.  You might be able
to make it sound like it was recorded in a slightly posher toilet :) but
that's about it.

Still, the likelihood is that Dave's got a few gems squirreled away that
could well be polished off.  IMO, selling digital downloads of any
forthcoming archival material direct from the band's web site or through
an outfit like livedownloads.com or whatever is the way forward.  No CD
production and shipping costs! :)  More percentage for the band, cheaper
music for the fans :)

Cheers,
Carl

ps - I've heard some very good fan-made rescues of archival Grateful
Dead live recordings, though when I say "fan" here, I mean fans who
happen to be pro audio engineers with a studio full of snazzy gear over
which hunched for *aeons* of their spare time, manually ironing out each
click and pop in the source tapes.  Sounded pretty good in the end, but
clearly a _lot_ of work.

-- 
Carl Edlund Anderson
mailto:cea at carlaz.com
http://www.carlaz.com/