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First part with Marr
Johnny and Frank Arkwright on Mastering The Smiths (part 1)
Johnny Marr and Frank Arkwright talk exclusively to johnnymarr.net about "Mastering The Sound Of The Smiths" ! Here's part 1 where Johnny Marr speaks about the release and the way it came about.
Johnny Marr and Frank Arkwright on Mastering The Smiths (part 1)johnnymarr.net : Tell us about "The Sound Of The Smiths", how did it come about ?
JM : Warners approached me with the idea of putting out a pretty comprehensive Best Of collection. I was only really interested if it was going to be done right, otherwise it's just a waste of time, and very frustrating.
johnnymarr.net : You've been very vocal about some of the old re-releases...
JM: Yeah, I didn't like them at all. I thought they were really shabby, I hated the way they sounded, and I didn't like the packaging either. I really didn't like them, or the way they came out...it was bad all round.
johnnymarr.net : So what's changed ?
JM: Well... the label decided they wanted to do it in a way that I'd approve of. I let them put it together to see what they came up with and how they went about it and to be fair this time they were up for doing a good job of it. The people who were there before just didn't have a clue, they were terrible. It went alright this time I think. I had to get involved in it though.
johnnymarr.net : How did you get involved in it ?
JM : I got involved in the sound of it. I went through the choices of songs too, just making a couple of suggestions.
johnnymarr.net : Is it true that you were involved in the Mastering ?
JM : I had to be. It wasn't going to be done right unless I got involved. I asked the Mastering engineer; Frank Arkwright, who I really rate, to come and do it, and I¹d check it all out and make some suggestions and changes if needs be. What happened with the mastering really was that in the past whoever did it added a lot of stuff that actually made the tracks sound quite bad to me. Frank and I actually took a load of crappy EQ off it and tried to get it to sound like it did in the studio, which we've succeeded in doing. I think it sounds really good, that's what I'm happy about; it sounds good. We've also got rid of the compilations that I don't like.
johnnymarr.net : You seem very happy with it
JM: I'm glad we finally got to get it sounding right and up to date. I think it's great that someone who is into great music, and new music say, can get a Smiths album and sit down in their house and check the band out with new ears and see how good it is, because it holds up very well. Getting it to sound right has made all the difference. You can hear little guitar parts properly that you couldn't hear before and little keyboard things and sounds that I did that got squeezed out before. You can really hear how good the band were.
johnnymarr.net : Are there plans to release any more Smiths stuff ?
JM : I don't know, there's a Singles Box coming out...I'd like for all the regular albums to sound right. It's well overdue. I think the Albums are coming out but there's not a whole load of unreleased old material or anything
johnnymarr.net : No hidden gems ?
JM : The versions of the songs that were played just the four of us putting the tracks down are really good, the stripped down versions, some of those things are great. Maybe they'll see the light of day at some point. I don't know though.
And part 2 with Arkwright:
Johnny Marr and Frank Arkwright on Mastering The Smiths (part 2)
Johnny Marr and Frank Arkwright talk exclusively to johnnymarr.net about "Mastering The Sound Of The Smiths" ! Here's part 2 where Frank Arkwright speaks about the release and the way the mastering was done.
Johnny Marr and Frank Arkwright on Mastering The Smiths (part 1)johnnymarrnet : You've recently mastered the Smiths album. How did that come about ?
FA : I have worked with Johnny Marr over the years on several projects of his, and also albums he has produced for other bands. I think they were recommended another mastering engineer and were not happy with the results, so Johnny phoned me and asked whether I would be up for it. He was in America at the time and he came back to London to discuss it and supervise it. So we sourced all the original master tapes and picked out the right mixes from 4 huge flight cases. It was like an Aladdin's cave full of gems and very exciting.
johnnymarrnet : Were you a fan of the band before ?
FA : I love The Smiths. I remember clearly being turned onto them when the first album came out. I was instantly hooked by 'What difference does it make?'. The guitar intro with the drum kit coming in, and lines like 'I would leap in front of a flying bullet for you', and 'The devil will find work for idle hands to do'. It was exciting and it was intelligent. I really like the irony and the humour within it. I love Johnny's guitar playing and his riffs , the production , the Name of the band! , and the quality of the bass playing and drums shouldn't be overlooked either. I really regret having missed seeing them live, they caused such a stir in the music scene. I don't know how many gigs they played in London but it was a big mistake not to see them.
johnnymarrnet : What was it like working on this record ? Were there any technical difficulties ?
FA : It was a pleasure working on it, and something I really enjoyed taking fastidious care with. Every track on every reel had to be independently lined up and azimuth corrected to make the most of the incredibly good Ampex tape machine we were using for playing the tapes back. There were some difficulties with the deterioration of the analogue tapes. Almost all tapes from the 70's and 80's are subject to this now. It is fixable though, and by heating them to a constant temperature, the oxide coating will rebond and allow you several perfect playbacks without damage.
The next thing I wanted to do was to keep the signal path as pure as possible in order to retain all the detail of the master tapes in the best possible way. So there was no mastering desk, straight out of the tape machine, just one parametric equalizer, one digital limiter and a £5000 2 channel a to do converter which I think worked really well.
johnnymarr.net : What were your favourite songs that you worked on ?
FA : "How soon is now" was my number one favourite and it was incredibly exciting to spool it on to the tape machine and hear it in it's full glory, flat, no eq, through the finest system money can buy. It literally sent shivers down my spine, it was outstandingly beautiful. The detail was so perfect that you felt you were transported straight back to that era and were in the recording studio with them. I can really imagine how exciting it must have been for the band to lay down that mix. They must have been buzzing even more than I was playing it back.
Bigmouth strikes again is really good. I like the New York Vocal version of "This Charming Man" and the John Peel version of "What Difference does it make" was great too. Also I had never heard "Money Changes Everything" which is cool.
Then there is the version of "You just haven't earned it yet baby", after we removed the varispeed from the original release which I thought was too fast, it revealed this wicked groove.
johnnymarr.net : What's your personal verdict on the way it turned out ?
FA : I am really pleased with it and we've had some really good feedback. I think it sounds great and the tracks sound better than they did on the original releases,and also they are mastered louder so they will sit better alongside current releases.