PBBPaul Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 Id like to give a huge and very public thanks to Bill Roberts. They say you cant polish a turd. Well, I no longer believe that to be true. Some of you may recall that I am creating a retrospective CD for my bands 20th anniversary this year. The raw material I have is from a variety of sources including studio outtakes, live cassette recordings and even boom box recordings. It is a bunch of disparate stuff of differing levels, bad EQ and lots of distorted noise. But its all Ive got to work with. After listening to boxes of old tapes, I narrowed the field to a representative number and begged for help. Several fine folks responded but Bill Roberts went way over and above. I have to say he worked pure magic. I now have a CD that is sonically consistent and a pleasure (well, except for a bunch of the material) to listen to. If anyone here is considering having a project mastered or needs some audio restoration, I cant possibly recommend Bill highly enough. So Bill, here's to you Thank you!!! Our new and improved website Today's sample tune: Lonesome One Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Roberts Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Thank you Paul. You are too kind. The performances were a joy to listen to and all I did was to level them for consistancey both in EQ and output. Folks, if you want to hear it "like it sounds in a smokey bar" from yesteryear, do hit Paul up for one of these CD's. They were recorded live..under "band conditions" but the performances speak for themselves. Some real special moments in those archives. Thank you for the mastering compliments Paul! Cheers from Bill... Bill Roberts Precision Mastering -----------Since 1975----------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Cool! "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 I'd love to have a copy. Paul, I'll swap you. I nearly have the labels done. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBBPaul Posted May 9, 2005 Author Share Posted May 9, 2005 Originally posted by 4-Dak Recorder: I'd love to have a copy. Paul, I'll swap you. I nearly have the labels done. You've got it Dak! PM me with your preferred delivery method. Our new and improved website Today's sample tune: Lonesome One Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Must've been interesting, Paul. Pontiac Blues Band... THIS IS YOUR LIFE!!!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'll give you a quarter for it, Paul! It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Roberts Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 The cool think is this spanned over many years. The recordings are quite diverse, just as venues are but this is a time machine baby!! Bill Roberts Precision Mastering -----------Since 1975----------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBBPaul Posted May 10, 2005 Author Share Posted May 10, 2005 Dak, Neil, Check yer PMs. Our new and improved website Today's sample tune: Lonesome One Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 Thanks! It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted May 10, 2005 Share Posted May 10, 2005 Well, I gotta say, Bill Roberts, you blew my attempt out of the water, and I didn't think mine was all that bad. Whew! I'm listening to a burned, out of order, cd now, on my moniors while burning a cd with the correct order I and can't wait to get it into the car, the main stereo and the garage stereo. The daughter won't be riding with me for awhile 'cause I'll be listening to PBB's music again for another long time. Kudos Mr. Roberts, I bow down to you and grovel at your feet...Help me do that. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Roberts Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 No Grovel needed. A very humble thank you! I will be happy anytime to share how I obtain results I do. It is not a punchlist but it is in a way...to make sure t's are crossed and I's are dotted. I do creative mastering but certain things must be done in an order to get satisfactory results. Hit me up anytime! Bill Roberts Precision Mastering -----------Since 1975----------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 Originally posted by Bill Roberts: I do creative mastering but certain things must be done in an order to get satisfactory results. Hit me up anytime! I have a feeling that your remark about things done in order is the key to the differences, as well as experience and ears... I would love to get the line out and order in what you did with Paul's tunes. Though my results are decent, and IMHO quite listenable, there is something about your work that just shines. It's like there is still some noise in mine and I couldn't tell/hear it until I heard your work. It's, I guess, cleaner. I sent a CD to Paul and it will be interesting to get his take on it. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Roberts Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 Everyone Dak has their own "flavor" I did a "shit load" (over a thousand) of live bar recordings in small smokey venues so I have a "hidden reference" in my mind to go by. This really helps to begin with. We ran kick, bass and vocals through the mains 'only'.. for recording when I was da boss. All else live stage, kept it down to balance mains and some vox monitoring on stage. None of my live stage recordings entertained levels above that of the balance around an acoustic kit, played correctly, not cymbal breaking levels. blues..my broddah./. The Cee Dee.... First thing I did was to get a cross section of all of the tunes and grade the sonic integrety of each of them. I made a spreadsheet of what I thought was the best sound and the one that needed some oppurtunities. I then worked my best with the best one as a reference to compare the others to. I could not actually absolutly match the sonics..as they were done with different systems, different times, spread over a decade or so. So I used two or three good reference tracks of the compilation to work around with. Noise reduction was Waves Noise X. Effective tool...but...you have to do an "after" and save, then eq the before to make sure the after is where you want it. I went back to analogue through a Sony PCM 3348 (Which is a 48 track digital multitrack DASH, 1/2" tape of 2920 meters). It has 4 analogue tracks as well. This got me into the console where I could use my outboard eq's (White instruments) to listen. On page 3 of the later Bruce post, I put some pictures of my monitoring system. Formadable, I use 4 mono power amps of 310 watts each, per loudspeaker..however, I only use 2 of the 4 in mastering. It is an ears and vibe game. I monitor for live at around 93db. I was actually moving the mastering studio during this work and had to reaquaint myself with the new room...which is "spot on" for me. I had fun with it...but if I took another 2 weeks, I may be able to get it a shade better..but time is time and this had a due date and I did not want to be too late (although I was behind somewhat..but amicable to PBB) That is a start.. Then...the head and tail edits are last. You have to burn a cd and use a stopwatch and feel where the next song should be. Then they can flow. On final burns, I used the plextor pro and full text is imbedded and even my info if you have id tagging software. I did not write anything cute...just the facts (Although I have been known to tell poems or simply some literary comments on some masters for those in the know of extracting the data) Excuse typos..as I am on a smoke break in session as we speak.. Bill Roberts Precision Mastering -----------Since 1975----------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boggs Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Paul and Bill, I just listened to the PBB 20 Years of Road Rash... Production and remastering is insanely good! Sounds more like a studio recording than live, actually... Production quality is so good and consistent that it is all but impossible to tell that it was taken from different venues... That alone is amazing! Excellent work on this high-energy Blues compilation! Boggs Check out my Rock Beach Guitars page showing guitars I have built and repaired... http://www.rockbeachguitars.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Roberts Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Thank you Boggs! Yes, some knob twisting was of order but in the end, it is all about the vibe and the musicians all delivered! A big thanks to PBB for great selections, a real nice flow to the order and the oppurtunity to hear some fine toe tapping music! We tried to hit the mark! Bill Roberts Precision Mastering -----------Since 1975----------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklava Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Count me in I want one The story of life is quicker then the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 I was very impressed, Bill. (And Paul, but you already know that. ) It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Roberts Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Folks, it is not audiophile quality...but I left as much raw in (and all of the feel) as I possibly could. Shut your eyes, pour a few kamakazis and sit back and be entertained! It is not critical mastering, it is fun mastering..(My Fav.) All kudos go to the players. Without them, we would have digital zero. Bill Roberts Precision Mastering -----------Since 1975----------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBBPaul Posted May 18, 2005 Author Share Posted May 18, 2005 With the exception of a few of the tunes, the source material was old 2nd and 3rd generation cassette tapes that were hiding in the corners of my basement for 10 - 20 years. I chose the songs based more on rescue-ability than anything else. The first six of the tracks were recorded "professionally" in two different studios 5 years apart and the rest were in either small clubs or my basement. If I remember correctly (and that may be a stretch), some of the club gigs were recorded with a cheap boombox and some were done with my old Fostex 4-track cassette. There were at least 8 different recording venues in all. Given all that, it sounds damned good! Bill, you are being too modest. I had the tracks posted in a large zip file over on the Guitar forum but the posting expired on the 16th. If anyone else is interested and if Bill doesn't mind, I can repost them tomorrow. I don't mind sharing. As I've said from the beginning, this is a non-profit project. And if anyone else has some recordings that need complete CPR or an infusion of life, contact Bill. You'll be glad you did! Our new and improved website Today's sample tune: Lonesome One Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Roberts Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Damn....I thought they were not bad at all! Boombox? and I brought that out?...well at least, I think we made some magic here... I am pleased with it at this point anyway. Bill Roberts Precision Mastering -----------Since 1975----------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBBPaul Posted May 19, 2005 Author Share Posted May 19, 2005 Originally posted by Darklava: Count me in I want one I have reposted the file HERE. When testing, it took me about a half hour to download. I also updated the post in the Guitar forum. Let us know what you think! Our new and improved website Today's sample tune: Lonesome One Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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