Post by Rabbit on Jan 1, 2015 21:24:45 GMT
Rick Wakeman is one of the keyboard players that I used to listen to a lot when I was younger, along with wonderful Keith Emerson and the great Jon Lord.
Rick Wakement is scraping the barrel and rereleasing some of the old stuff I used to listen to but hearing it on modern equipment reveals the many technical flaws in them tbh. I'm not sure if they're all out yet but I've been listening to a remastered version of the 6 Wives which had a greatt influence on me at one point and indeed, I still play some of it now along with some of Jon's old keyboard studies that he published in a rock magazine in the 70s.
The remastering has seen some changes of heart with some instruments that are actually out of tune in the original. Rick has put them further back in the mix so it's perhaps less obvious but throughout the album, you become very aware on headphones, of the daft stereo imaging being shifted around during sequences. At one point, there are two very distinct sounds I. The far left and right spaces and a mono 'block' of band in the middle. While they are all playing, the engineer suddenly starts to shift the mono block into stereo and pushes them out into the left and right fields while they're in the middle of playing some extended phrases and the effect is really quite strange to modern ears.
Hiss is awful. You are aware of parts coming in and out and the amounts of hiss vary, depending on how many tracks are being used on the original master. You hear a mellotrone buzzing like hell in one channel at one point. There are incorrect levels at some points where distortion is obvious. I think that exists on the master though so can't be fixed.
All kinds of techniCal mayhem is going on during this album. Headphones really reveal its problems in technicolour and interestingly, ,so really poor technique from Rick too. Uneven fingers on some runs and split notes.
In spite of the mayhem, I am still fond of this album and its rare corny content. It brings back really good memories to me and how I learned passages myself by literally copying what I heard Rick doing.
Anyway, if there are Rick Wakeman fans, they may well enjoy the new releases that are about to appear. Re-runs of old stuff, but modern headphones show them in a very different light. Ie ..... Was he as good as I used to think, or have I grown up?
Rick Wakement is scraping the barrel and rereleasing some of the old stuff I used to listen to but hearing it on modern equipment reveals the many technical flaws in them tbh. I'm not sure if they're all out yet but I've been listening to a remastered version of the 6 Wives which had a greatt influence on me at one point and indeed, I still play some of it now along with some of Jon's old keyboard studies that he published in a rock magazine in the 70s.
The remastering has seen some changes of heart with some instruments that are actually out of tune in the original. Rick has put them further back in the mix so it's perhaps less obvious but throughout the album, you become very aware on headphones, of the daft stereo imaging being shifted around during sequences. At one point, there are two very distinct sounds I. The far left and right spaces and a mono 'block' of band in the middle. While they are all playing, the engineer suddenly starts to shift the mono block into stereo and pushes them out into the left and right fields while they're in the middle of playing some extended phrases and the effect is really quite strange to modern ears.
Hiss is awful. You are aware of parts coming in and out and the amounts of hiss vary, depending on how many tracks are being used on the original master. You hear a mellotrone buzzing like hell in one channel at one point. There are incorrect levels at some points where distortion is obvious. I think that exists on the master though so can't be fixed.
All kinds of techniCal mayhem is going on during this album. Headphones really reveal its problems in technicolour and interestingly, ,so really poor technique from Rick too. Uneven fingers on some runs and split notes.
In spite of the mayhem, I am still fond of this album and its rare corny content. It brings back really good memories to me and how I learned passages myself by literally copying what I heard Rick doing.
Anyway, if there are Rick Wakeman fans, they may well enjoy the new releases that are about to appear. Re-runs of old stuff, but modern headphones show them in a very different light. Ie ..... Was he as good as I used to think, or have I grown up?