Pink Floyd/The Division Bell - Ask Andy Jackson about the Mastering and the Mix

[César]

Hi Andy. Did Nick end up playing drums on any songs in the new Gilmour album?

He does not appear in the credits, drums are mainly shared by Steve Di Stanislao and Andy Newmark. I was hoping to read Nick somewhere after what David said, strange

 

[César]

Hello Andy. First of all congrats for Rattle That Lock 5.1 mix, one of the best mixes of the year in my humble opinion. Stereo mixes of the Barn Jams are amazing as well, for a moment I had to check the sound setup in my Oppo as I felt the guitar was coming from the right rear!
One question about the Jams, if I may: In #4 you're there with Phil Manzanera and I got the feeling that you were actually recording something with a purpose, not simple jams. The fact that Phil was there intrigues me too, and also that David was asking Rick for more takes.

Thanks

César

 

[Andy Jackson]

Barn Jams were pretty much just that, jams. Sometimes there was a pre-existing idea that was jammed over (such as Island jam). Some of the more 'structured' ones got the odd overdub, for instance no. 4 in this set has the slide guitar as an overdub. Phil was there cataloging everything, as is his wont!

I did actually mix the Barn Jams in surround, albeit that it'd not be that spectacular, just a 'stretch out' (horseshoe shaped stereo if you like). Not enough room to fit the extra audio data on the DVD version though, and the powers that be weren't willing to have the BD & the DVD different. You haven't missed much TBH

Ron: as you can see, no Nick. Basically it was all Stevie except for some later bits, where Andy did it, as flying Stevie over for one day is a bit excessive! We ended up with "Dancing right in front of me" being a montage of the two of them, you can work it out if you think about it, the pitch on the snare drum is really different. The exception is "Girl in a yellow dress" which is Martin France, this was actually recorded 10 years ago during the On an Island sessions.

 

[rontoon]

Thanks, Andy. The album is wonderful and the mix up to your usual standards. I want to listen to it a few more times before posting my thoughts in more detail. My girlfriend hears shades of Leonard Cohen in Faces of Stone.

 

[Scott M4]

Appreciate the insights Andy.

 

[César]

Thank you very much Andy!

 

[rtbluray]

Andy, let me be among the first on here to officially say congratulations for Rattle That Lock's debut at #1 in the UK charts!
http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/

(I also understand it's hit the top 5 album charts in several other countries as well, so once again, nice going!)

 

[DuncanS]

Andy, a really nice surround mix on "Rattle That Lock" fits the music nicely. Apart from a (Tawny Owl?) hooting in the background on the Right Rear at the end of "And Then...", I know I'm being way too nerdy :yikes, but, is the crackling at the end a burning fire outside (sounds like it) or a sound effect?

 

[Andy Jackson]

Andy, a really nice surround mix on "Rattle That Lock" fits the music nicely. Apart from a (Tawny Owl?) hooting in the background on the Right Rear at the end of "And Then...", I know I'm being way too nerdy :yikes, but, is the crackling at the end a burning fire outside (sounds like it) or a sound effect?

Yes the fire is a real fire that DG recorded, he went to great lengths to get just the right amount of dry wood & wet wood to get it crackling. Doesn't really work too well on the vinyl TBH!

 

[DuncanS]

Yes the fire is a real fire that DG recorded, he went to great lengths to get just the right amount of dry wood & wet wood to get it crackling. Doesn't really work too well on the vinyl TBH!

Works well in surround though! ..............I'll go and put on my nerd anorak now.....................

 

[Andy Jackson]

Had to get creative to get it up to surround. IIRC I used a comb filter, usually a mono > fake stereo thing but in this case stereo > fake quad

 

[grill]

FYI
The English wikipedia of The Rattle That Lock doesn't mention Andy Jackson as the mixing engineer of this album. Could anyone from here modify that wiki page so?

 

[DuncanS]

Had to get creative to get it up to surround. IIRC I used a comb filter, usually a mono > fake stereo thing but in this case stereo > fake quad

It worked!

The owl hoot in the right rear really got me, I get Tawny owls in my garden, and it was the middle of a sunny day when I listened to the album, I heard the owl, got up and looked out of the window wondering where it was then I had that moment and replayed "And Then...."

 

[colsky]

Brilliant, and I'm a big fan of Panic Room (Anne Marie Helder) & VDGG, looks like 2016 is shaping up already

Off topic, but did you see about the rock/prog festival at the O2 next June, Sunday's lineup includes Steve Hackett, Marillion, and Rick Wakeman!

http://stonefreefestival.com/

 

[DuncanS]

Off topic, but did you see about the rock/prog festival at the O2 next June, Sunday's lineup includes Steve Hackett, Marillion, and Rick Wakeman!

http://stonefreefestival.com/

No I hadn't, but have you seen http://www.anewdayfestival.com/#lineup, The Blockheads, Heavy Metal Kids, Wilko Johnson, Caravan :sun, Karnataka, Stray, Focus, Ian Anderson, Curved Air, The Enid

 

[JonUrban]

Why doesn't someone start a new thread for Andy's upcoming release 73 Days At Sea so it doesn't get lost in the Division Bell discussion. Let's draw some attention to it!

Brilliant idea, Clint!

NOTE: I moved all posts about Andy Jackson's upcoming album "73 Days at Sea" to the thread started by "Clint Eastwood" located here

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...s-At-Sea-quot-in-5-1-released-29-January-2016

Let's give Andy his due and keep all discussions on the new album in that thread until the poll is posted after the album is released!

Thanks

 

[César]

Hello Andy,

If I may ask in the middle of this thread: Is it true you have mastered a vinyl called Pink Floyd 65? Apparently it's being sold in the UK only as part of RSD: http://www.discogs.com/Pink-Floyd-1965-Their-First-Recordings/release/7780256
If this is real, my jaws are still dropping!
One of the PF holy grails!

Thanks as always

César

 

[César]

By the way, one copy is already on ebay... 83£ and up...

 

[Andy Jackson]

Yes that's right (although not entirely my doing, I just supervised the vinyl cut). It's been released because of the 50 year rule, anything un-released after 50 years becomes public domain. You haven't missed much!!

 

[César]

Yes that's right (although not entirely my doing, I just supervised the vinyl cut). It's been released because of the 50 year rule, anything un-released after 50 years becomes public domain. You haven't missed much!!

One more question: How's the quality of the recording?

Thanks a lot Andy!!