Kevin's Watch

dANdeLION wrote: It took me a while to get used to that, too. It's mainly Geddy's bass that they rean through serious distortion, and I think perhaps an octave divider, too. His live sound has been much like that, too. I really, really miss the tone of his old Rickenbacker......

You may be right about the sound effects on Geddy's bass. But I'm talking about the digital distortion created in the mastering process of making this album. It was mastered too "hot," or too loud, causing many of the soundwaves to be "clipped" at the peaks.

I can't get the original technical article, which explained this, to load. Here's what Wikipedia had to say:

The production of Vapor Trails has been highly criticized due to the album's 'loud' sound quality, as compared to other modern recordings, which is very unusual for a major label release. As explained by Rip Rowan on the ProRec website, the damaged production is the result of overly-compressed (clipped) audio levels during mastering, though Rush have admitted that there was digital distortion during recording, which also contributed to the damage. Remastering the album would not correct the damage from digital distortion that was introduced during recording, but it could correct the other, more destructive damage that is the result of overly-compressing the audio during mastering. Fans continue to pan the sound of Vapor Trails and many are outraged that uncertainty remains whether the album will be remastered and reissued.

Also check out: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

Ah, wait a second. I found a cached version of the page here, but no graphics--which were the cool parts of the article. You could visually see the compression, limiting, and clipping.

Here's more: Howie Weinburg is Killing Music

Rowan wrote:I can almost always learn something about engineering from listening to the production of a Rush CD.

Very insightful, quite true!

According to my friend, the new Rush cd will be out May 1, and the tour starts in June (Tampa's their 3rd stop).

Yep, May 1st. I believe the title is 'Snakes and Arrows'.

Yup. Does anybody have a date on when the remaster of "Vapor Trails" comes out?

For all of you who don't know anything about Rush's gear, but wish they did, here's some info:

heheh
love those guys....

dANdeLION wrote:According to my friend, the new Rush cd will be out May 1, and the tour starts in June (Tampa's their 3rd stop).

I sure hope that I have the cash to go.
That is one of the few bands that haven't seen yet, but always wanted to see.
(REO Speedwagon is another one)

Rush is worth every penny.

REO is nothing without Gary Richrath.

Holy crap, get a credit card! This tour will be worth it!!!!

A credit card!???
Then I'll know for sure that I WON'T have the money to go.
(Everything would be maxed-out before hand!)

www.rushisaband.com/display.php?id=791

"New album, tour rumors: single March 13th, tour kickoff June 13th
Posted at 09:49 AM | comments (77)
UPDATE - 2/8@11:08AM: I put these in the comments but I thought they were important enough to stick up here too. Power Windows via his mysterious contact has heard of several more rumored dates. They are as follows:

Jun. 13 - Nashville, TN @ Starwood Amphitheater
Jun. 15 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Sound Advice Amphitheater
Jun. 16 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheater @ Florida State Fairgrounds
Jun. 18 - Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheater
Jun. 19 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Jun. 27 - Mansfield, MA @ Tweeter Center
Jul. 02 - Wantaugh, NY @ Jones Beach Amphitheater
Jul. 04 - Darien Lake, NY @ Six Flags
Jul. 07 - Homdel, NJ @ PNC Arts Center "

For me, the most anticipated album of the year ... just check my sig!

I heard Starwood (the first date) is closing, so not sure about that one. Oh, and there's a tiny snippet of the new Rush single on their official site. It sounds like Jacob's Ladder meets Hemispheres (the very last chord)!


www.rush.com/php/set_flash.php?flash=1

The new single is out. You can hear it at rush.com. I'm not very impressed. This song was a let down. Sounds more like Roll the Bones/Counterparts/Test For Echo than any other Rush period (one of the least creative, generic-rock periods in Rush's long history). What a shame. I would rather have a Vapor Trails Part II than a repeat of the gentle rock of the 90s Rush.

It also sounds a bit like Ged's solo CD, My Favorite Headache--which is surprising because I love that album. I think a couple of Geddy's best melodies are on that recording. But this song is just bland.

Oh well, maybe the rest is better. And we all know the tour will be fantastic, as usual.

I can only find a 45 second snippet of "Far Cry", and I'm not abou tto judge the entire album from that. I do see what you say about Geddy's singing like on his solo cd, though. I have to say I felt his solo was weak, though; Alex's solo cd was tons better. Anyway, I'm stilll glad the cd's coming out and it's not another "Feedback"! Oh, and RTB is a great album; and Rush has never been uncreative or generic since Neal joined the band.


IMHO, of course.

I was gonna say, I think RTB is an excellent album.

RTB is a fine CD, but is definitely one of the least played Rush CDs in my collection. I like the songs ok, but the production is sterile, flat, and kind of wimpy. If the sound of the instruments had been recorded with a meatier edge to them, I might like it better. For instance, some of those songs played live sound a lot better. But then, live Rush almost always sounds better.

I like how RTB is a concept album, and most people don't realize it. Fans complain that Rush isn't doing the "rock opera" concept albums of the past. But the irony is that they are still doing concept albums. You just have to try harder to notice.

What do you think of Vapor Trails, Cail? In my opinion, Rush was in trouble about 1997. Test for Echo was the only Rush CD I ever sold after buying it. It was horrible. The direction they were going was more and more generic and uninspiring. As tragic as the events were in Neil's personal life (the loss of his wife and only child in a 2 year span), I think they actually brought fresh life to their music. For a 5 year period, it wasn't clear that the band would ever get back together and make music again. But then they came back with Vapor Trails, and it was obvious that they had a renewed sense of appreciation--not just for being back together, but for life. "Secret Touch" still can bring a tear to my eye when I think about a man who lost his entire family to cancer and car wrecks. The lyrics describe being completely out of synch with the whole world, suffering so much loss that you don't feel connected with the human race anymore . . . and then finding healing.

Out of touch
With the weather and the wind direction
With the sunrise
And the phases of the moon
Out of touch
With life in the land of the loving
With the living night
And the darkness at high noon

You can never break the chain
There is never love without pain
A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heart

Out of sync
With the rhythm of my own reactions
With the things that last
And the things that come apart
Out of sync
With love in the land of the living
A gentle hand, a secret touch on the heart

A healing hand, a secret touch on the heart

There is never love without pain
Life is a power that remains

Test for Echo blew (in my opinion). I never gave Vapor Trails a chance, guess I should.

Hey, can someone clear something up for me? I got into a rather heated argument with a friend of mine tonight about Rush. I mentioned that it was impressive how well they were able to reproduce their sound in concert with it just being the three of them. He insisted that he'd read in several places that they tour with a cadre of "backstage" musicians to fill out their live sound. WTF? I've never heard that before.

That is absolutely false. Rush plays, sings, or "triggers" every single sound you hear. Ged and Alex have foot pedals that they use to trigger keyboard sounds and effects. Neil does the same thing with various electronic drums. Alex is even triggering Geddy's recorded backing vocals with his own singing! So it's like he's singing with Ged's voice.

This friend of yours has apparently never watched any of their 5 recorded concert DVDs. They do it all.