[Davey]

Like some others have hinted at, removing distortion after the fact is almost akin to a perpetual motion machine. Hard to differentiate between distortion and music once it's recorded, especially since rock music usually has a lot of intentional distortion. But most of the full featured editors like the Adobe Audition you mention have a clipping repair function these days. I haven't used it myself, but seems like you would first reduce the peak level to make room for the clipped peaks once they were repaired. And most editors also have some type of programmable dynamic range expansion, but it's usually very complex to set up and use effectively. I've tried the one with GoldWave on some songs with mixed results. Hard to get the settings right to avoid "pumping" artifacts in the sound. But there's probably a Cool Edit forum (or Adobe Audition now) that might have some info if you really wanna give it a try.

 

[periurban]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davey Like some others have hinted at, removing distortion after the fact is almost akin to a perpetual motion machine. Hard to differentiate between distortion and music once it's recorded, especially since rock music usually has a lot of intentional distortion. But most of the full featured editors like the Adobe Audition you mention have a clipping repair function these days. I haven't used it myself, but seems like you would first reduce the peak level to make room for the clipped peaks once they were repaired. And most editors also have some type of programmable dynamic range expansion, but it's usually very complex to set up and use effectively. I've tried the one with GoldWave on some songs with mixed results. Hard to get the settings right to avoid "pumping" artifacts in the sound. But there's probably a Cool Edit forum (or Adobe Audition now) that might have some info if you really wanna give it a try.

Audition and the like will not repair seriously clipped audio very well. That's because the clipping desroys the musical information at that point. The software still isn't good enough to look before the clip and after the clip and make up a meaningful replacement. Click and pop restoration is easier, since the unwanted signals are usually added to the wanted signal but are just much, much louder.

Removing harmonic distortion must be theoretically possible, since it is mathematically related to the original signal. I don't know of a plug-in that does this, but maybe there is one somewhere. Can you imagine being able to clean up a Hendrix solo and ending up with an acoustic version? lol

It's easy to add dynamic compression, but impossible (AFAIK) to remove it.

The problem with compression is that you will not know it's working until you hear it, and by the time you hear it there's too much there! The secret is to apply it until you hear it and then roll it back by ten per cent or so until it's no longer obvious. Then it's doing its job! Using meters on the input and output helps enormously too.

Crazy stuff compression.......

 

[moeburn]

As far as I can tell, the digital clipping is only on the voice.

 

[periurban]

I managed to download a couple of tracks, one at 128kbps and one at 64kbps.

Yes, there was a pronounced distortion on the vocal sibilances on one track, which I initially put down to sloppy encoding. But the fact that you mention it makes me think that perhaps the problem lies in three possible locations.

1) The vocals were badly recorded using digital media. Were the vocals done in one or two sessions? Perhaps there was a technical problem that wasn't spotted until the sessions were complete. It isn't a compression or microphone problem.

2) The mix. Perhaps the vocals were left too high in the mix, meaning that the master tapes clipped when vocal peaks happened.

3) Mastering. Perhaps the vocal peaks were high, but unclipped, and the cliping was an artefact of the mastering process. It may only be the production master that has the problem, the studio master may be OK.

I think it's probably a combination of all of the above, with one error compounding the other. It's certainly an unforgivable flaw given the technology that's available now.

How did the album make it through in this state? Have the band made any comment on it?

This link takes me as close as I can get to a description of the recording.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec99/articles/jim.htm

Sounds like at least part of it was in the recording, where everything was to be loud, loud, loud.

 

[gloco]

I have the vinyl and it's no different.

Remember, if the masters are in the digital domain, an analog pressing isn't going to sound any different...in fact, it'll sound worse.

 

[jpr703]

Maybe some day one of the pros will remaster the entire album. Until then I weep....

 

[moeburn]

Many people actually returned the CD to the stores because they thought they got a bad or scratched copy. Didn't affect the sales too much though...

It is reportedly in the mastering stage, range overcompression to make it seem "louder" ruined the vocals and cymbals.

 

[Jasper994]

Whatever happened to great rock recordings... I was just listening to Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Greatest Hits... YUCK!

Pearl Jam's - Vs. was an excellent recording and is still LOUD without being over compressed.

What are the morons these days thinking?!?

 

[thrawn86]

Californication is pretty bad, yeah. I have an uberstandard copy, ick. Probably the worst song on the cd, the others sound okay.

 

[moeburn]

Spectral analysis of the over compression of Red Hot Chili Peppers over the years:

1984 - The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Get up and Jump

1995 - One Hot Minute - Falling into Grace

1999 - Californication - Right On Time

1999 - Californication - Otherside

Ugh. Thats just terrible. Its like they think speaker technology has been getting quieter over time or something.

 

[james__bean]

Some interesting portions of the article that was linked...

Quote:

"Anthony always used an SM57 for his lead vocals. We put it on a stand, but I'm sure he held it in his hand, and leant on it and swallowed it. That's how he gets his sound, but it meant that it was important to compress him, in order to protect the tape. "Moving on to the treatments for vocals and drums, Scott explained that the compressor he used on Kiedis' vocals, which were overly dynamic because of his tendency to eat the mic, was a Urei 1176: "

After reading the article, it sounds to me like they essentially just let Kiedis sing how he wanted to and then tried to level everything out in the editing room to make the record sound loud. I don't know how albums are normally recorded and mastered, but it seems like if your lead vocalist is being too quiet during the verses, and too loud during the chorus, you might want to have him try to sing it differently instead of just trying to level out his voice in the mastering. Thats what I'm getting from this article at least.

 

[james__bean]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moeburn Spectral analysis of the over compression of Red Hot Chili Peppers over the years: Ugh. Thats just terrible. Its like they think speaker technology has been getting quieter over time or something.

Its funny listening to Right on Time. Its like they have no concept of dynamic range at all. With Other Side though, its really sad how you can hear the distortion in the vocals practically through the entire song.

 

[moeburn]

I've tried mixing tracks for a school band once, yeah James you're right. Volume included, don't try and waste your time making it sound better AFTER recording. If they weren't loud enough, or quiet enough, or if the mic wasn't in the right place, or one of the players was going from loud to quiet too fast, don't fix it, record it again.

 

[cosmopragma]

I'm sick and tired of all the crap that's offered currently in the CD stores.
I've just listened to the latest release of the Foo Fighters.
This is music I could really like, but the sound quality is unacceptable, period.
I'm going so far to say that artists which don't value music like I do don't deserve my respect.
And don't tell me it's the damned clueless and deaf music industry manager who enforces overcompression or a bad recording quality.
Maybe a nobody has to take whatever conditions the music industry offers, but RHCP or Foo Fighters and many others would have enough influence if they only wanted.They just don't care as long as the crap sells.
Wasted talent.

 

[moeburn]

For comparison purposes, here's the spectrum of the chorus of one of the heaviest songs I have at hand, Tool - Hooker With a Penis.

Not even close to the crap they did to the RHCP album. You're right Cosmo, you think people would be overanalytical of flaws in their own art.