For you people who don't read the newsgroup, there are clips to all the songs on Harmony at the Tower Records online store. The direct link is:
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2995383

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com




[This message has been edited by Cathy (edited April 28, 2004).]

For you people who don't read the newsgroup, there are clips to all the songs on Harmony at the Tower Records online store. The direct link is:
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2995383

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com




[This message has been edited by Cathy (edited April 28, 2004).]

Thank you!

I realized while listening to the clips that when he went into the studio to record it was actually just him and his guitar on a single track, DUH. When they layered in the rest they had to work around the single track of vocal plus guitar, in other words there was no way to seperate his guitar from his vocals. I like the sound. Someone once said simple is better. To my ears it has a stronger folk flavor than anything he's done in a long time. I can't wait to hear the whole thing.

quote:Originally posted by Cathy:
For you people who don't read the newsgroup, there are clips to all the songs on Harmony at the Tower Records online store. The direct link is:
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2995383

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com


[This message has been edited by Cathy (edited April 28, 2004).]

Thank you!

I realized while listening to the clips that when he went into the studio to record it was actually just him and his guitar on a single track, DUH. When they layered in the rest they had to work around the single track of vocal plus guitar, in other words there was no way to seperate his guitar from his vocals. I like the sound. Someone once said simple is better. To my ears it has a stronger folk flavor than anything he's done in a long time. I can't wait to hear the whole thing.

quote:Originally posted by Cathy:
For you people who don't read the newsgroup, there are clips to all the songs on Harmony at the Tower Records online store. The direct link is:
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2995383

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com


[This message has been edited by Cathy (edited April 28, 2004).]

Thanks for posting that link Cathy! His voice sounds much better than on APPT. Now I'm really eager to get my hands on the new CD!

Excellent clips! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif I wish there were no echo effect on the recordings though. I prefer totally pure sound but that doesn't take anything away from the fact that this will be his best work yet.
From what little I heard,I'd rank the CD as better than APPT and just as good as WFY. Overall 4 1/2 stars,1/2 off for the echo thing. That's just my opinion,of course. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/wink.gif 13 days and counting!! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

------------------
Borderstone,gonna post some lines tonight!:D

Thank you, Cathy.

Thank you, Cathy.

I wondred where my post went....I cleared my Hispty and cookies etc. and none of my posts showed up!
ack!
I actually had to remember my password and user name again! (With help from the handy dandy password finder of course)
The clips are great...12 days to go....
thanks Cathy for the info!
Char

I wondred where my post went....I cleared my Hispty and cookies etc. and none of my posts showed up!
ack!
I actually had to remember my password and user name again! (With help from the handy dandy password finder of course)
The clips are great...12 days to go....
thanks Cathy for the info!
Char

quote:Originally posted by violet Blue Horse:
Thank you!

I realized while listening to the clips that when he went into the studio to record it was actually just him and his guitar on a single track, DUH. When they layered in the rest they had to work around the single track of vocal plus guitar, in other words there was no way to seperate his guitar from his vocals. I like the sound. Someone once said simple is better. To my ears it has a stronger folk flavor than anything he's done in a long time. I can't wait to hear the whole thing.



I'm not positive about how many tracks they used, but knowing how they do things at Grant, I suspect they at least had a vocal track and a guitar track, so adjusting the sound and volume of Gord's vocals and guitar would have been possible. I just can't imagine them doing it as one single track. It would have made for a very flat sounding recording.

I have a couple of solo pieces on my CD, just me and my guitar. Bob had two stereo mics on my voice on one track, two stereo instrumental mics on my guitar on a second track, and the guitar was also directly plugged into the soundboard on a third track. That makes for a wide array of adjustments to get the sound you want. I'd play a little bit of the song and Bob would stop me and come out and move the mics into a better position. Just the positioning of the mics changes how things sound. It's quite a process.

Yes, I used the same chair Gord uses. I sang in the same mics Gord uses. I drank from the same coffee cup Gord uses.... http://www.corfid.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

quote:Originally posted by closetcanadian:
Thanks for posting that link Cathy! His voice sounds much better than on APPT. Now I'm really eager to get my hands on the new CD!

I think he sounds very relaxed, probably due to the fact that he was just recording demo tracks and wasn't really concerned about everything being perfect. In the end, they turned out great because of it.

Come on May 11th.... hurry up and get here!

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

quote:Originally posted by Borderstone:
Excellent clips! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif I wish there were no echo effect on the recordings though. I prefer totally pure sound but that doesn't take anything away from the fact that this will be his best work yet.
From what little I heard,I'd rank the CD as better than APPT and just as good as WFY. Overall 4 1/2 stars,1/2 off for the echo thing. That's just my opinion,of course. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/wink.gif 13 days and counting!! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/biggrin.gif



You are listening to ram files, B, and the quality is nowhere near what you'll hear on the CD. By echo effects, do you mean reverb? I didn't hear any echoing at all.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

quote:Originally posted by TheWatchman:
Cool. I think his voice is not as full as on APPT. There is no way of getting around this. Refresh your memory and listen to APPT and it is very apparant. Compressing sound files (just like smoking!) also has a negative effect on some peoples vocal quality so I am hoping the actual CD sounds better.

It's hard for me to have an opinion on the songwriting being the sound clips are so short. Still, one of the songs grabbed me and I can't wait to hear the whole thing.

His best work? Not even close.

From what I've heard, I'd have to say the opposite. APPT was recorded at Grant Avenue, but it was mastered in a Nashville studio, where they are known for compressing songs into pancakes. APPT is way too compressed and flat sounding to me.

I think his voice sounds warmer and more natural on everything I've heard so far from the new CD.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

Thanks for the clips, Cathy! I agree it is reverb, not echo, and reverb tends to make the sound quality a bit more "lush" and full. How great to use Gord's chair, mike, cup! That gave me shivers. I just moved from Atlanta to L.A., but have wanted to record in that studio. Are they continually booked? How are they to work with>
Thanks,
Sean

------------------
sean

Thanks for the clips, Cathy! I agree it is reverb, not echo, and reverb tends to make the sound quality a bit more "lush" and full. How great to use Gord's chair, mike, cup! That gave me shivers. I just moved from Atlanta to L.A., but have wanted to record in that studio. Are they continually booked? How are they to work with>
Thanks,
Sean

------------------
sean

By the way, the clips are awesome! As always, I love and admire his writing, and there is always one track that knocks me out - Clouds of Lonliness does it for me. I can't wait to hear them in their entirety!
Thanks, again,
Sean

------------------
sean

By the way, the clips are awesome! As always, I love and admire his writing, and there is always one track that knocks me out - Clouds of Lonliness does it for me. I can't wait to hear them in their entirety!
Thanks, again,
Sean

------------------
sean

For those of us who are not familliar, can someone expain sound comressing? What is it, what does it do and why do they use it?

For those of us who are not familliar, can someone expain sound comressing? What is it, what does it do and why do they use it?

There are basically two kinds of compression. One compresses the file with 100%, accurate sound. The other, which is always an area of contention in the recording world, compresses the sound, deleting the bits that cannot be haerd by human ears. Studio engineers are amazing artisans, and when a great engineer is at the board, compression is just a way of life and the sound is superb. Kind of like the reverb issue, you always "hunt" for a way to make music better.
Hope that made sense - I just got up not too long ago, in Marina Del Rey!
Sean

------------------
sean

There are basically two kinds of compression. One compresses the file with 100%, accurate sound. The other, which is always an area of contention in the recording world, compresses the sound, deleting the bits that cannot be haerd by human ears. Studio engineers are amazing artisans, and when a great engineer is at the board, compression is just a way of life and the sound is superb. Kind of like the reverb issue, you always "hunt" for a way to make music better.
Hope that made sense - I just got up not too long ago, in Marina Del Rey!
Sean

------------------
sean

The first type of sound "compression" described is encoding to a lossy audio codec, such as MP3 or AAC. When done correctly, and at a high enough bitrate, this can be transparent (indistinguishable from the original sound in blind listening tests.)

The second type is dynamic range compression, which in my opinion is the worst problem facing the music industry today. In the past 10-15 years, the average LOUDNESS level of CDs has gone up a huge amount. This "loudness race", as it's called, is the result of record companies competing to have the loudest CD in the CD changer, the loudest song on the radio, and the most attention grabbing single.

Unfortunately, for anyone who cares about sonic quality, this extreme dynamic range compression is terrible. It makes music sound unnatural, flat, just plain.. unmusical!

Even Gord isn't immune. Listen to the title track of Waiting For You. The huge dramatic drumbeats that come in are a full 10db louder than the music surrounding them. Now that's impact! The relatively low volume level of the CD as a whole is a sign of a mastering engineer who cares about sound quality, not selling records or getting a "hip", hypercompressed, modern sound.

Compare that to APPT. On this CD, EVERY SECOND of EVERY SONG is at maximum volume! Even the quiet parts of the quiet songs are at the same volume level as the loud drum hits on WFY.

And the really bad news? Going by the tracks I downloaded from iTunes.. Harmony is even more compressed than APPT.. just sad..

to learn more visit http://www.loudnessrace.net/

The first type of sound "compression" described is encoding to a lossy audio codec, such as MP3 or AAC. When done correctly, and at a high enough bitrate, this can be transparent (indistinguishable from the original sound in blind listening tests.)

The second type is dynamic range compression, which in my opinion is the worst problem facing the music industry today. In the past 10-15 years, the average LOUDNESS level of CDs has gone up a huge amount. This "loudness race", as it's called, is the result of record companies competing to have the loudest CD in the CD changer, the loudest song on the radio, and the most attention grabbing single.

Unfortunately, for anyone who cares about sonic quality, this extreme dynamic range compression is terrible. It makes music sound unnatural, flat, just plain.. unmusical!

Even Gord isn't immune. Listen to the title track of Waiting For You. The huge dramatic drumbeats that come in are a full 10db louder than the music surrounding them. Now that's impact! The relatively low volume level of the CD as a whole is a sign of a mastering engineer who cares about sound quality, not selling records or getting a "hip", hypercompressed, modern sound.

Compare that to APPT. On this CD, EVERY SECOND of EVERY SONG is at maximum volume! Even the quiet parts of the quiet songs are at the same volume level as the loud drum hits on WFY.

And the really bad news? Going by the tracks I downloaded from iTunes.. Harmony is even more compressed than APPT.. just sad..

to learn more visit http://www.loudnessrace.net/

Cathy,
thanks for posting this link. Altho only 30secs for each song, it is enough to convince me this album is going to be one his best. His voice sounds rich and warm, far better than on APPT which, when I first heard it, I cried for the Gordon Lightfoot lost to us. But he's back! I cannot wait to receive my copy of the cd.

you can tell that there is a bit of reverb on river of light and it worked wonders for the song.. its taken over the place of wherefore and why and beocme my favorote gord tune so far.. maybe that'll change when i hear the full album!

quote:Originally posted by searam:
Thanks for the clips, Cathy! I agree it is reverb, not echo, and reverb tends to make the sound quality a bit more "lush" and full. How great to use Gord's chair, mike, cup! That gave me shivers. I just moved from Atlanta to L.A., but have wanted to record in that studio. Are they continually booked? How are they to work with>
Thanks,
Sean



I have no idea how booked up they are. They seem to stay pretty busy, though. You could try calling them. Their website is http://www.grantavestudio.com/
Check out their friends and clients links. Some very big names have recorded there. Also, the Meet Our Staff link has a nice bio on Bob Doidge. And for your amusement, seeing you are a musician, check out their equipment and instrument pages. Unbelievable.

They're great to work with. I think their #1 concern is to make the client feel comfortable. You won't find a better bunch in the recording business.

[This has been a paid advertisement.... blah blah blah}.... ] http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

quote:Originally posted by Cyaneyes:
The first type of sound "compression" described is encoding to a lossy audio codec, such as MP3 or AAC. When done correctly, and at a high enough bitrate, this can be transparent (indistinguishable from the original sound in blind listening tests.)

The second type is dynamic range compression, which in my opinion is the worst problem facing the music industry today. In the past 10-15 years, the average LOUDNESS level of CDs has gone up a huge amount. This "loudness race", as it's called, is the result of record companies competing to have the loudest CD in the CD changer, the loudest song on the radio, and the most attention grabbing single.

Unfortunately, for anyone who cares about sonic quality, this extreme dynamic range compression is terrible. It makes music sound unnatural, flat, just plain.. unmusical!

Even Gord isn't immune. Listen to the title track of Waiting For You. The huge dramatic drumbeats that come in are a full 10db louder than the music surrounding them. Now that's impact! The relatively low volume level of the CD as a whole is a sign of a mastering engineer who cares about sound quality, not selling records or getting a "hip", hypercompressed, modern sound.

Compare that to APPT. On this CD, EVERY SECOND of EVERY SONG is at maximum volume! Even the quiet parts of the quiet songs are at the same volume level as the loud drum hits on WFY.

And the really bad news? Going by the tracks I downloaded from iTunes.. Harmony is even more compressed than APPT.. just sad..

to learn more visit http://www.loudnessrace.net/

Waiting for you was mastered at Grant. APPT was mastered in Nashville, and compressed to death! Harmony was also mastered at Grant, where they take pride in not overcompressing, so I'm hoping it will have a clean, natural sound.

But in the end, Gord is the one who makes the final decision. I think they probably tried it several ways, and he picked the sound he liked best.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

[This message has been edited by Cathy (edited April 29, 2004).]

quote:Originally posted by SilverHeels:
Cathy,
thanks for posting this link. Altho only 30secs for each song, it is enough to convince me this album is going to be one his best. His voice sounds rich and warm, far better than on APPT which, when I first heard it, I cried for the Gordon Lightfoot lost to us. But he's back! I cannot wait to receive my copy of the cd.



I had a bit of a reaction to APPT, too. Remember, I had not heard Gord since Wreck. It took several playings to acclimate myself to his new sound, which I grew to love after awhile. He will always be the 1970s DQ GL in my mind, though.

Cathy http://www.cathycowette.com

I think I understand.. sort of. Can we put this in layman's terms? Is it just a matter of dynamics? When I listen to APPT, and then WFY, what am I going to notice most;a lack of range in the various instrumental volumes? Or is it a lack of frequencies so that a voice or a guitar only comes through in, say the middle range, but the higher frequencies and lower ones are squelched? (have you ever listened to a bass with all the lower EQs turned down?)If so, might they have done this to smooth out the rough spots in Gord's vocal ability?

I think I understand.. sort of. Can we put this in layman's terms? Is it just a matter of dynamics? When I listen to APPT, and then WFY, what am I going to notice most;a lack of range in the various instrumental volumes? Or is it a lack of frequencies so that a voice or a guitar only comes through in, say the middle range, but the higher frequencies and lower ones are squelched? (have you ever listened to a bass with all the lower EQs turned down?)If so, might they have done this to smooth out the rough spots in Gord's vocal ability?

Thanks, Cathy. I loved the clips although it was awfully frustrating just hearing thirty seconds of each.
Don’t you all think they sound very wistful? He seems terribly sad. Maybe not. Perhaps it’s just me at the moment and hearing the entire album will pull it all into focus.
However, come May 11th, I shall have a few boxes of Kleenex around the house!!