C_Matt's "Queen II (HD Revision)"

Hi everybody! So, I'm with 'Queen II' now. I'm working a lot with this now that I have some time. Started with OB, SSoR and TMoTBQ. But here I bring to you the first almost complete song: TFFMS! (Standalone version!!)

Hell, this was a mess to mix, but really really interesting. LOTS of hidden sounds, and lots of lost bits are now a bit more audible... or at least have more presence. Now, these next thing is just why I don't like too much RTB's style.

The bass is simply awesome in this song! It has a main role in this song, but it's a bit muddy. And other hidden potential that the whole album has is the awesome vocal harmonies and great details. I don't agree with the extreme panning, Roy Thomas Baker's trademark with the Q, QII and 'Jazz'. This left the songs a bit empty, when there's a balance. SSoR is an exception, this song is almost in mono, and a lot of harmonies on SHA are all compacted in mono too.

I always wondered why to put those beautiful and complex harmonies all together in mono in just one channel when they could have been distributed between both of them? I think about the 16 channels limit, but the same thing is repeated again in 'Jazz', with 24 channels. I think is more like a producer's thing.

Also, I don't know why he never gave the drums the needed power, the room was always really low and barely audible. Listen KYA, TMOTBQ or DSMN and you'll understand me, there's only kick and snare.

[i][b]The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke[/b][/i]

[b]General:[/b]
   -No more extreme panning things, no more everything here or everything there. Now it's more balanced.
   -Restored the body which this song needed.
   -Restored too that explosions which never sounded like they were meant to be.

[b]Drums:[/b]
   -Cleaner general sound, more natural feeling, not so cheap.
   -A lot more of presence to the body, it was like empty and sunken.
   -Weightier snare, it was really cheap
   -Weightier toms, and better cleaner sound, better understandable fills.
   -Cleaner toms, less audible snare wire "shhshhsh" when they are played.
   -Weightier kicks.
   -Shine to all those lost room cymbals, they were really hidden.
   -Natural sound to the hi-hat, less cheap or toy-like.

[b]Guitar:[/b]
   -More audible but ambiental guitars, the heroes of this song are the bass and the vocals.
   -Centered a bit the guitar solo.
   -More body to the guitars.
   -More audible sunken details.
   -Balanced and more audible flute-guitars at 1:45 part.

[b]Vocals:[/b]
   -A bit more of body to Freddie's main voice.
   -A bit of stereo reverb and echo to open it a bit.
   -A lot more of body to the backing vocals.
   -No more extreme panning to the backing vocals.
   -Wider distribution to the harmonies.
   -Lots of backing vocals are now more audible.

[b]Piano, Harpsichord and Effects:[/b]
   -More audible piano sound during the whole song.
   -More audible harpsichord during the non choruses parts.
   -No extreme panning, which makes a beautiful harmony between this two instruments.
   -No more abruptly loud sounds or details (ex. 0:41 guitar, 0:52 piano or harpsichord...).

[b]Bass:[/b]
   -Less "GLBUMBMBULM" muddy sound.
   -A lot more of presence and weight, now it sounds like a bass.
   -Restored some parts were it was barely audible (ex. 1:30 to 1:56).

Well, said this, lots of details and backing vocals are now more audible, and you can make an idea about how a better and wider distribution can improve the song's power!

OK, the final EQ is not finished, this is ALMOST complete, but some things left to do.

There are a lot of other things that I can't remember.

Let me know what you think!

.

Keep on doing the great work man!

Matt, I swear I was just about to post a few hours ago, asking how were you doing with QIueen II ... and .. ta-da !! here you are :)

This first preview sounds amazing, as usual; a completely new way to listen to this song. Fresh air to Queen II feels so good !!!

Bravo !! really glad you have time to keep working at good pace ! can´t wait for more !

¡Por eso cuando escuchaba Seven Seas Of Rhye siempre escuchaba la canción distinta, como en mono! ¡En realidad, era en mono! Pobre de mí, creyéndome lo de la remasterización digital estéreo. Qué incrédula mi persona de creer en una multimillonaria empresa con vagos trabajando (excepto en Rainbow, creo, si no cuento el AutoTune, Melodyne, etc.).

Como siempre increíble tu remasterización. Se nota la falta de ecualización pero como dijiste, no es la versión final y no está totalmente ecualizado ni terminado.

Me encantaría un supuesto multitrack "by Matt" de esta canción, además de una pista separada con los coros. Igualmente, si algún día tengo la oportunidad de conocerte y juntarnos y hablar sobre esto, me encantaría que me enseñes tus trucos de magia.

Tengo una pregunta, ¿Cómo vas a hacer con canciones como Seven Seas..., que están casi en mono?

PD: Todos estamos esperando que remasterizes Lover (Live In Surrey, 02.07.1971) [Early Liar Demo]. ;)

Saludos.

Oh, for the master tapes or stems to do that ending properly, Matt! ;) That said, a really good effort, and you've managed to do what I've been trying to do on and off for years, in creating the stand-alone 'ticking' intro.

The rest of it sounds good, although, I agree that it still needs a little bit of EQ'ing. The bass drum is a little too heavy at times, and is really pronounced through a sub woofer. I think the very low frequencies need to be taken down a notch to give it more balance.

With regards the extreme stereo separation of the original, whilst I agree with your opinions on that, I just wonder if you might have narrowed it a little too far? I've yet to give it a listen on headphones, so it may just be a question of it sounding 'different', but I would suggest some further experimentation with that, so that you can get it consistent throughout the album. MotBQ suffers quite badly from extreme separation, and I'm looking forward to hearing your take on that. :)

Just on the subject of stereo separation in general, it was a sign of the times that RTB took it to extremes. Stereo was still fairly new in the early 70s, so there was still a lot of experimentation going on. On some early stereo recordings (not Queen), the vocal was entirely separate to the instrumentation, or perhaps the drums were in one channel and everything else in the other. Sounds awful now, but I guess they thought it pushed boundaries at the time, and, of course, it's given mixers lots to play with 40 years later! ;)

Fantastic!!! Thanks a lot for this magic.

That's exactly why I wanted you to work on this album Matt. THANK YOU for doing so :)

What you've done here sounds amazing (bit more extreme panning back though please!), but whilst this is a lovel;y stand-alone version, may I ask that, unlike some of your other remixes, the album plays back as it should without having anything added to it?

Once you've done the stereo mix, how would you feel about creating a surround sound mix to open it up properly? ;-)

Can I just say that I'm just as excited to hear your mixes when you post them as I am to get my hands on Rainbow 74? I CANNOT wait to give FFMS a listen.

EDIT: Just as I imagined it... awesome! Thanks Matt. Can't wait for the finished mix. Keep up the great work!

[QUOTE] [b]brians wig wrote:[/b]


What you've done here sounds amazing (bit more extreme panning back though please!),[/QUOTE]

^
yeah, almost this !

a balance between the original and your mix would be perfect to my ears, Matt !

BUT ..... this is your baby and your vision. The final result will be amazing anyway :-)

Queen II... amazing album. Take all the time you need to polish it, Matt. I'm excited !

@Matt
fekkin - well - just fekkin'.
jeez - another gem. nice one

for me there are two parts that really bring this into it's own:
the clarity of the first "come and see the masterstroke" and the last few notes before "Oberon"

nice work man

This is incredible. Obviously it depends on each listener, but I think this is perfect as it is.
Can't wait for WQ, OB and TMOTBQ.

Simply amazing

Can't wait for the rest of this! Awesome stuff.

C'mon dear Matt... you have the opportunity to bring the only good news of the weekend.....