Rudy Van Gelder on Vinyl
I was reading about the esteemed recording engineer on Roon and came on this quote.
"I think it has been a tad too quiet around here lately so here it goes:
In a 1995 interview Mr. Van Gelder said, "The biggest distorter is the LP itself. I've made thousands of LP masters. I used to make 17 a day, with two lathes going simultaneously, and I'm glad to see the LP go. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance. It was a constant battle to try to make that music sound the way it should. It was never any good. And if people don't like what they hear in digital, they should blame the engineer who did it. Blame the mastering house. Blame the mixing engineer. That's why some digital recordings sound terrible, and I'm not denying that they do, but don't blame the medium.[16]"
Rudy's work, legendary. The world forever indebted to him for his excellence in preservation of truly great art. His original masters will for decades be remastered. The torch IMHO has been passed on to Bernie Grundman. I can with confidence blindly pick off Rudy and Bernie mastering. Oh, that sound. |
@billstevenson is correct about RVG shortcomings with piano miking. Everything else he seemed to have gotten right. I would add that some bass player miking was also a bit off, distant. Seemed as if the bass players were sometimes down the hall. Contemporary Records is quite good as I've several. Must admit ignorant to Roy DuNann. Thank you Roy. I've several Previn recordings from Contemporary. What a beast he was! |
