Please welcome Bob Vosgien to QQ, the mastering engineer of the CTA Quad DTS Disc!!

[Bob Vosgien]

It does, Jon! And welcome, Bob!

If I had a main question, it's pretty much what I would ask Steve Hoffman at his place when he works on a project, mainly: What was the condition of the master tape? Any special 'things' you had to do to get the best out of it? Anything unusual or interesting about the project? Technical stuff for us duffers, but I've always enjoyed reading about such things, esp. with music that I've enjoyed for so many years.


Also, thanks for the work you did on CTA!

ED

Hi Ed, glad your enjoying the disc!
The 1/2" 4-tracks were in excellent shape although they did need baking. The Quad mixes seemed to have less reverb on them compared to the original stereo mixes, so when I could, I added a little "air" on the top without making the horns harsh or edgy. "Beginnings" and "Questions" were the best mixes and I used those as the benchmark for mastering the rest of the DVD. They were basically cut "flat" with just some level compensation added. "Listen" and "I'm A Man" were very thin mixes for some reason and needed a good bass boost to bring them in line with the rest of the tracks. In general, my mastering technique when dealing with older recordings is to try to get the most out of the original recordings while staying true to the era it was conceived.

Thanks again,
Bob

 

[Bob Vosgien]

Thank you Jon and welcome Bob! The Chicago disc is fun to listen to and I hope to enjoy more in the series. My question would be are we limited to that which was officially quad before or can we dare dream of announced but never released titles: ELP - Trilogy, Todd Rundgren - Initation, Allman Brothers Band - Brothers And Sisters, James Taylor - Sweet Baby James, etc. ?

If the former, here's a few I'd absolutely have to have:

Chicago VII, Chicago X (mixed for DVD-A 5.1 never issued), Alice Cooper - Muscle Of Love, Doobie Brothers - What Were Once Vices Now Habits, Randy Newman - Sail Away, Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze, Carly Simon - Greatest Hits, Paul Simon - There Goes Rymin' Simon,

PS - Since James Taylor and Carole King are doing a 40th Anniversary tour - wouldn't the long rumored Sweet Baby James make a perfect quad release?

Thanks for this opportunity! Tim

Hi Tim,
Apparently there were Quad mixes done for ABB "Filmore","Brothers and Sisters", JT "Sweet Baby James", Alice Cooper "Billion"and "Muscle", YES "Close To The Edge", Jethro Tull "Aqualung"and "War Child" and many others! We're checking the vaults at the moment to see what's actually there. I for one would LOVE to have Close To The Edge in Quad!

Best,

Bob

 

[Bob Romano]

Hi Tim,
Apparently there were Quad mixes done for ABB "Filmore","Brothers and Sisters", JT "Sweet Baby James", Alice Cooper "Billion"and "Muscle", YES "Close To The Edge", Jethro Tull "Aqualung"and "War Child" and many others! We're checking the vaults at the moment to see what's actually there. I for one would LOVE to have Close To The Edge in Quad!

Best,

Bob

Welcome Bob... I am sure will find a great many really friendly people here who all have the same passion - surround music (and quad in particular). If you can say - is Rhino Handmade looking to license titles from other labels as well as the Warner vault. To my knowledge Jethro Tull is controlled by EMI and The Allman brothers titles mentioned would fall under UMG (even though they released through Warner in the 70's). I love the Aqualung and War Child quads so those would be huge for me as well as Close To The Edge. But what the hell... I'll buy em all!!! Really nice job on the CTA by the way. I have listened to it several times now (usually skipping over Free Form Guitar) and it really shines in my opinion.

I hope you find your time here enjoyable.

Thanks
Bob

 

[ress4278]

Wow, man o' man, get outa town!! If there were quality CTTE & ELP Trilogy releases in quad, I'd be all over that. Sweet Baby James in quad! Bob, if these happen, will you accept my hand in marraige?

 

[winopener]

Hello Bob,

"Listen" and "I'm A Man" were very thin mixes for some reason and needed a good bass boost to bring them in line with the rest of the tracks.

I'm still waiting my 2 copies of your work - shipping to italy can be very long - so i can't comment on the mastering you've done (and from the comment i've read it should be excellent); the SQ matrix, which was the original format of CTA, had some quirks with low frequencies (PF DSOTM is a clear example), maybe these two tracks had a problematic mix when encoded to SQ while on discrete media it was ok.

 

[winopener]

Using your "short" list (that i hope it will become longer and longer) a brief note on what's has been released of these:

- ABB "Filmore", released as quad (reel, cd4, q8), as dts-cd by HDS, as SACD.
- "Brothers and Sisters", afaik no multichannel release in any format (Eat a Peach instead was released in the same formats as Fillmore)
- JT "Sweet Baby James", never released (two JT Warner titles that had a quad release were Gorilla and One man dog - reel cd4 q8; no dts-cd or dvda or sacd of these)
- Alice Cooper "Billion"and "Muscle" both released as quad (reel, cd4, q8); Billion remixed for dvd-a release and really released!
- YES "Close To The Edge", never released (dvd-a 5.1 mix of Fragile was released) and it will be really a dream come true
- Jethro Tull "Aqualung"and "War Child" both released as quad (reel, cd4, q8), no dts-cd or sacd or dvda

 

[filper]

Welcome Bob.

Of the 60 titles you mentioned, are there any more you can name to whet our appetites ?

 

[JonUrban]

Bob,

Can you dig out the quad masters to the first two Eagles albums. They were reportedly readied for quad release in the '70s, and like many titles, they never made it out to retail. If you could find Desperado, whoa, that would be SWEET!

If you found these two, you could actually create a box set of their first 4 in quad, plus Hotel California in 5.1, and have an instant big seller. The Eagles Band has been surround friendly in the past (Hole in the World, Hell Freezes Over, the quad LPs, etc), maybe this could actually be a possibility. But, alas, I deam on......................

 

[Q-Eight]

Bob,

Can you dig out the quad masters to the first two Eagles albums. They were reportedly readied for quad release in the '70s, and like many titles, they never made it out to retail. If you could find Desperado, whoa, that would be SWEET!

If you found these two, you could actually create a box set of their first 4 in quad, plus Hotel California in 5.1, and have an instant big seller. The Eagles Band has been surround friendly in the past (Hole in the World, Hell Freezes Over, the quad LPs, etc), maybe this could actually be a possibility. But, alas, I deam on......................

I second the notion! The Eagles are surround friendly and popular! They would sell well - if not BETTER than Chicago I would think.

 

[Old Quad Guy]

That is an Excellent idea for a Quad Eagles box set! Wow, if the unreleased Quad Eagles mixes could be found and released along with the one's that were, that would be killer. The Eagles Quad mixes that we're released in the 1970's really give the songs a huge lift! The unreleased one's would be just unbelievable I'm sure when found. Who knows what other Quad mixes that even we in the Quad community were unaware of that might exist in the vaults?

Also, if looking at other vaults from other labels for Quadraphonic tapes, I would bring your attention to Blue Oyster Cult's' "Agents of Fortune" Quadraphonic mix and Dave Mason "Let it Flow" releases on SQ Quad record in extremely very small number's towards the end of the Quad era on the Columbia labels. So small were these releases most people have not even heard of these releases. Perhaps these still might exist either in discrete tape form or on encoded SQ tape form in the vaults.

 

[TVB]

Hi Bob...Many thanks for the CTA Quad....I love it.....great job.. For future quads, I would vote for the Columbia quads that were released on discrete Q8 tapes including Billy Joels, Paul Simon, Garfunkel,Burton Cummings,Loggins/Messina, Pink Floyd and those that never made it to the market because they pulled the plug.The last Billy Joel Q8 on the internet went for over $200.00...Please help.....Thanks for joining the website....

 

[surroundophile]

I'm surprised they wouldn't do a DVD-Audio disc, which always included a compatible DTS or Dolby Digital component also - so it would still be compatible with the "general public". Regardless I love the CTA surround disc and hope for more, although the Captain and Me was already released on DVD-A, so why do that title again. Pick titles which haven't been re-issued a million times on different formats.

.

The Captain & me DVD-A was completly remixed...it's mix was nowhere near as good as the original Quad/CD-4/Q4/Q8 mix, it was more like an expanded stereo version. We DO need the quad version released, along with all the Doobie Brothers quad albums. Also, I would like to see all the Carley Simon quad albums (again, the quad mixes, because the DVD-A Carley album was also remixed with the same result as the Doobie DVD-A), Bette Midler, The Eagles, The Average White Band.

 

[surroundophile]

Hi Bob...Many thanks for the CTA Quad....I love it.....great job.. For future quads, I would vote for the Columbia quads that were released on discrete Q8 tapes including Billy Joels, Paul Simon, Garfunkel,Burton Cummings,Loggins/Messina, Pink Floyd and those that never made it to the market because they pulled the plug.The last Billy Joel Q8 on the internet went for over $200.00...Please help.....Thanks for joining the website....

If we're going to talk licensing from Columbia/Sony ( which I doubt will ever happen), then my additonal votes are for the long rumored Boston quad album, The first three Santana albums, Simon & Garfunkle, and GH Sly & the Family Stone.

 

[Perp]

Hi Ed, glad your enjoying the disc!
The 1/2" 4-tracks were in excellent shape although they did need baking. The Quad mixes seemed to have less reverb on them compared to the original stereo mixes, so when I could, I added a little "air" on the top without making the horns harsh or edgy. "Beginnings" and "Questions" were the best mixes and I used those as the benchmark for mastering the rest of the DVD. They were basically cut "flat" with just some level compensation added. "Listen" and "I'm A Man" were very thin mixes for some reason and needed a good bass boost to bring them in line with the rest of the tracks. In general, my mastering technique when dealing with older recordings is to try to get the most out of the original recordings while staying true to the era it was conceived.

Thanks again,
Bob

Amen, Brother!
Praise the Lord!!

 

[JonUrban]

Here's one that would be a true find if you could get it, Bob. And since it was a Capitol "almost" release, maybe you can. The first RINGO solo LP was set to be released on Q8 back in the '70s. Graphics have surfaced (see below), but the title never came out. If you could get that one, that would be news - plus you'd get all of the Beatles fans interested. Have you ever come across the master tapes to this quad non-release?

Still, I'm not sure Capitol/Apple would want the release on Rhino, so,..........nevermind!

 

[winopener]

It all depends on who's holding the copyright and want to license it. After all, CTA (finally arrived!) were on Columbia in the quad days and now is on Rhino. Never say never...

 

[Bob Romano]

It all depends on who's holding the copyright and want to license it. After all, CTA (finally arrived!) were on Columbia in the quad days and now is on Rhino. Never say never...

Chicago is now signed to Rhino... If I remember correctly Chicago (the band) regained rights to their masters and even released them on their own labels using the original artwork from Columbia but blacking out the Columbia logos.

 

[Perp]

With all the questions you have for Bob, since he's logged on, he's probably busy writing a book.:yikes

I'm waiting (with baited breath) to hear what they (Bob & Company) have found in the vaults.

 

[ress4278]

In simplest terms its "the sales stupid". If you have not purchased the Rhino quad CTA, DO IT! You have NOTHING to lose, and everything to gain. if the titles we have mentioned exist and don't happen because sales of the CTA were not substantial, there is no one to blame but ourselves.

 

[winopener]

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