I noticed in the tracklist for the upcoming 1999 Super Deluxe edition, there are several mono mixes. I've seen these throughout the years, and was wondering if there was anything different in comparison to the stereo editions (beyond the obvious). I only ask because in the Beatles case, there are tons of differences between the mono and stereo versions.

Thanks

Chas

Chas said:

I noticed in the tracklist for the upcoming 1999 Super Deluxe edition, there are several mono mixes. I've seen these throughout the years, and was wondering if there was anything different in comparison to the stereo editions (beyond the obvious). I only ask because in the Beatles case, there are tons of differences between the mono and stereo versions.

Thanks

Chas

Little story:

One of my prized possessions is the Beatles Mono box set from 10 years ago. My birthday was approaching in a few weeks, and from a hospital room my sister asked my mom and girlfriend to all go in on that for my birthday present. My sister passed before my birthday, but my mom and girlfriend (now wife) had gotten the box set while my sister was still alive.

I've purged hundreds of CDs in the decade since (mostly donated to the library, some given away to friends) but I'll never part with that Beatles box.

I remember my girlfriend being really nervous giving the present to me, she kept wondering "did he say Stereo or did he say Mono"? It was a big expense at the time. She got it right.

And yes, you do hear a lot of different sounds on Mono!

I was wondering why anyone would want a mono version of the song.

Is there a Strep mix?

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Is there a Strep mix?

It was the intended B-side to "Hey Hannigan", but I'd recommend searching out (via torrents) the TravelLodgExtended, that Wendy and Lisa did in their hotel room during the 1999 tour on their Fostex 4-track and a dual cassette deck. It's pretty legendary for its time.

TrivialPursuit said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Is there a Strep mix?

It was the intended B-side to "Hey Hannigan", but I'd recommend searching out (via torrents) the TravelLodgExtended, that Wendy and Lisa did in their hotel room during the 1999 tour on their Fostex 4-track and a dual cassette deck. It's pretty legendary for its time.

I think you are thinking of "Swell Tree Lense"

OnlyNDaUsa said:

TrivialPursuit said:

It was the intended B-side to "Hey Hannigan", but I'd recommend searching out (via torrents) the TravelLodgExtended, that Wendy and Lisa did in their hotel room during the 1999 tour on their Fostex 4-track and a dual cassette deck. It's pretty legendary for its time.

I think you are thinking of "Swell Tree Lense"

Swell Tree Lens, thank you very much. I should know, it's an anagram of my name. That's just how fucking popular I was on a.m.p.

TrivialPursuit said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

I think you are thinking of "Swell Tree Lense"

Swell Tree Lens, thank you very much. I should know, it's an anagram of my name. That's just how fucking popular I was on a.m.p.

AMP was so much fun! That and the PML.

Se7en said:

And yes, you do hear a lot of different sounds on Mono!

.

Sigh... Dude, the mono and stereo mixes were different for The Beatles. That's why they sound different. Seriously, how do you not know this?

BartVanHemelen said:

Se7en said:

And yes, you do hear a lot of different sounds on Mono!

.

Sigh... Dude, the mono and stereo mixes were different for The Beatles. That's why they sound different. Seriously, how do you not know this?

Sigh... Dude, perhaps that's exactly what he meant. Granted, he wasn't very specific when he said it sounds different, so he could have meant any number of things. But it's better to ask him what he meant rather than make an assumption. There's a decent change he was refering to the mix, which would mean you're reiterating his point, not correcting it.

lurker316 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Sigh... Dude, the mono and stereo mixes were different for The Beatles. That's why they sound different. Seriously, how do you not know this?

Sigh... Dude, perhaps that's exactly what he meant. Granted, he wasn't very specific when he said it sounds different, so he could have meant any number of things. But it's better to ask him what he meant rather than make an assumption. There's a decent change he was refering to the mix, which would mean you're reiterating his point, not correcting it.

.

NOTHING in his posts even suggests that he knows this. Instead, he ends it with a broad claim that is simply not true.

.

And the only case he mentions invovles a band where the fact that their mono and stero mixes are different (and the stereo mixes weren't considered "official" by the band, hence the recent efforts to redo the stereo mixes so they're closer to the mono mixes) -- which is NOT the case with Prince.

None of the mono versions of Prince's stuff on various promo singles are dedicated mono mixes.

The inclusion of the mono versions on the 1999 box is consequently pointless.

BartVanHemelen said:

lurker316 said:

Sigh... Dude, perhaps that's exactly what he meant. Granted, he wasn't very specific when he said it sounds different, so he could have meant any number of things. But it's better to ask him what he meant rather than make an assumption. There's a decent change he was refering to the mix, which would mean you're reiterating his point, not correcting it.

.

NOTHING in his posts even suggests that he knows this. Instead, he ends it with a broad claim that is simply not true.

.

And the only case he mentions invovles a band where the fact that their mono and stero mixes are different (and the stereo mixes weren't considered "official" by the band, hence the recent efforts to redo the stereo mixes so they're closer to the mono mixes) -- which is NOT the case with Prince.

NOTHING in his posts suggest he doesn't know that. Again, you're making an assumption. Of course your assumption may indeed turn out to be correct, but it's an assumption nonetheless.

lurker316 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

NOTHING in his posts even suggests that he knows this. Instead, he ends it with a broad claim that is simply not true.

.

And the only case he mentions invovles a band where the fact that their mono and stero mixes are different (and the stereo mixes weren't considered "official" by the band, hence the recent efforts to redo the stereo mixes so they're closer to the mono mixes) -- which is NOT the case with Prince.

NOTHING in his posts suggest he doesn't know that.

.

The simple fact that he doesn't even mention it and instead says "And yes, you do hear a lot of different sounds on Mono!" supports my interpretation, not yours. Your claim involves imagining a ton of stuff that he didn't wrote, whereas my interpretation simply takes his words at face value.

BartVanHemelen said:

lurker316 said:

NOTHING in his posts suggest he doesn't know that.

.

The simple fact that he doesn't even mention it and instead says "And yes, you do hear a lot of different sounds on Mono!" supports my interpretation, not yours. Your claim involves imagining a ton of stuff that he didn't wrote, whereas my interpretation simply takes his words at face value.

I did know that they're different mixes, at least for most of them. I think only the last 2 albums started from scratch as stereo recordings. All the rest were mono and remixed later for stereo.

My point about hearing different sounds in mono: I'd heard the "stereo" versions of the Beatles catalog my whole life. Pretty much memorized each little sound (about the same as I'd memorize Prince's songs). When the time came to actually make a choice between box sets -- since they were pretty pricey, even for a gift request -- I chose the mono set so I could hear something "new" - yes, a different mix. By all accounts, the mono versoins are as close to their studio intention as possible.

Sorry for the confusion.

Mono versions of the same mix will sound somewhat different... but that is your brain playing tricks on you. We hear a little different with left and right... so yeah you may notice some sounds you did not hear before.

Also: there was a trick you could do with the speaker wires... like using the 'red' wire out for borh inputs...

Also if you listen to something trying to notice a difference you are more likely to notice some.

jjam said:

None of the mono versions of Prince's stuff on various promo singles are dedicated mono mixes.

The inclusion of the mono versions on the 1999 box is consequently pointless.

.

Can you please inform the people of the Estate, Michale Howe and that mixing guy of this fact?

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Is there a Strep mix?

udo said:

jjam said:

None of the mono versions of Prince's stuff on various promo singles are dedicated mono mixes.

The inclusion of the mono versions on the 1999 box is consequently pointless.

.

Can you please inform the people of the Estate, Michale Howe and that mixing guy of this fact?

If they can't even be bothered to get proper tape speeds for cassette transfers I doubt they care about dedicated mono mixes vs. fold-downs.

Se7en said:

Chas said:

I noticed in the tracklist for the upcoming 1999 Super Deluxe edition, there are several mono mixes. I've seen these throughout the years, and was wondering if there was anything different in comparison to the stereo editions (beyond the obvious). I only ask because in the Beatles case, there are tons of differences between the mono and stereo versions.

Thanks

Chas

Little story:

One of my prized possessions is the Beatles Mono box set from 10 years ago. My birthday was approaching in a few weeks, and from a hospital room my sister asked my mom and girlfriend to all go in on that for my birthday present. My sister passed before my birthday, but my mom and girlfriend (now wife) had gotten the box set while my sister was still alive.

I've purged hundreds of CDs in the decade since (mostly donated to the library, some given away to friends) but I'll never part with that Beatles box.

I remember my girlfriend being really nervous giving the present to me, she kept wondering "did he say Stereo or did he say Mono"? It was a big expense at the time. She got it right.

And yes, you do hear a lot of different sounds on Mono!

I remember they were selling them for something like $250. By waiting just a couple of months after it was released, I was able to buy it from Best Buy for $99. I had bought the stereo boxset, and really wanted the mono boxset, but could not afford the $250. So when I found it cheaper, I grabbed it up. It was the complete boxset.

Beatles fans are pretty educated when it comes to mono mixes, that was the one hole in the Bortman logic a couple posts up, even the most tangential fans tend to know the basic tenets of those monos.

I'm just glad they ever got officially released in some digital form, I remember the days of trading needledrops and Dr. Ebbetts, I've been hunting down pre-1968 monos for all music since I first got into music.... I grew up listening to everything on headphones, so when I heard those original Beatles albums in stereo for the first time I'd like snatch off the headphones aghast, make sure all the inputs were correct, try another set or two. I couldn't believe they were right, Ringo allllll the way in one speaker, my word. As soon as I could google, that I googled.

[Edited 9/24/19 18:34pm]