Tubular Bells (1 Viewer)

[Chuck Bogie]

Okay - picked this up on regular CD (used to have vinyl, back in the dark ages), and listened to it last night...

1) I _need_ a subwoofer. How low does the thing go? I was listening at a very modest level (-30ish on my Denon 1803) and I was worried that my mains (Inf Entra 2) and surrounds (Inf SM120s) (all "large") wouldn't handle it. Or was it supposed to sound distorted?

2) Sound quality was sorta iffy - But then, it was recorded in the dark ages...

 

[KevinJ]

there's going to be a new recording of tubular bells coming out sometime within the next year btw

 

[John Geelan]

You should check out the SACD of Tubular Bells.

It sounds fantastic in Surround.

 

[David R. Hendrickson]

i can't wait to hear the new recording of TB. but we have to wait until his "chill out" (whatever) album comes out first. i wasn't very impressed with Tr3s Lunas, so we'll see what happens...

 

[andrew markworthy]

The original recording is *superb* on my Arcam system (but there again, it seems to work best on old recordings). Try to get the limited edition anniversary gold disc of TB - it came in a little book-like cover. Failing this, the HDCD remaster is probably the best bet (Chuck, do you have HDCD capability? - it makes quite a difference on this particular recording).

The remake is due out next year. It's supposed to be an exact remake (with the exception of John Cleese doing the master of ceremonies job, since Vivan Stanshal is alas no longer with us), with Mike Oldfield getting all the sound textures etc *exactly* as he wanted them, and not the compromises he had to make do with given his at the time limited budget and 70s technology. It's rumoured that MO may also release a bonus disc of the original demo of TB at the same time.

If you want a really good demonstration-level recording, try Tubular Bells III.

 

[Mike Rivera]

I agree with John - the SACD is the best version. Very clean for such an old album.

Mike

 

[andrew markworthy]

You should check out the SACD of Tubular Bells.

It sounds fantastic in Surround.

Yes, but it wasn't recorded in surround - this is like saying that Citizen Kane would look great in a colorised version.

 

[Rich Malloy]

"Tubular Bells" was released in the 70s in the old quad surround format. While I don't believe the SACD mix is exactly identical to the original quad mix, it's my understanding that it at least maintains the same 4.0 surround channels. Seems like an ideal catalog choice for a multichannel SACD (and of course it also includes the stereo mix, if you prefer).

I actually intended to pick this one up today, but unfortunately not in-stock at the Harvard Sq. Tower Records.

 

[David R. Hendrickson]

on the whole, i'd rather see him re-record Ommadawn and Hergest Ridge. i enjoy those a lot more than TB...

 

[Alan_Horner]

The re-recording of TB will be released in conjunction with this year's 30th Anniversary of the original's first release.

And here's a juicy tidbit from MikeOldfield.org:

Tubular Bells is finished and delivered to Warner Music who are very happy with it, they described the sound as amazing.

We are updating the studio to 5.1 format and I will start the 5.1 mix this week

It will probably be up to the lawyers as to whether the 5.1 mix will be DVD-A or SACD. I don't know if the United States arm of Warner has the release on this side of the Atlantic (if it's released here at all, unlike many of his albums over the past few year). If so, a DVD-A release seems likely; if not, a second Oldfield import SACD might be in the offing.

 

[KeithH]

I have the standard US CD, SACD, and HDCD (Canadian pressing) of Tubular Bells. The SACD layer is easily the best. I have never gotten around to comparing the CD layer on the SACD to the HDCD, though the comparison would be interesting.

The surround-sound SACD layer is in 4.0, and I've always heard that it is the old Quad mix. Is this not true?

 

[andrew markworthy]

The quad mix of TB first appeared in the 'Boxed' box set in the 70s (1977?). It was a quad remix of the original and is slightly different in the balance of instruments. It was released as a separate LP for quite a while, and can be easily identified. First, on the run-off track of side 2 after the Sailor's Hornpipe, you can hear a brief sound of a model plane being flown (MO's big hobby is radio controlled planes) and second, there was a big sticker on at least the early releases saying 'for those of you with four ears'.

The other two big pieces in the box set were Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn, both also in quad. Ommadawn was mixed in quad/stereo right from the start, and there are some bits that obviously had quad in mind (e.g. side one, where the acoustic guitar repeats the main theme several times - it's obviously meant to go through each speaker in turn). Hergest Ridge is rather different and has caused some angst for MO fans. The Boxed version is *radically* different from the original vinyl version. MO stripped away a lot of the instruments and altered the mix of the rest. He preferred the Boxed version, and when CDs came along, it was the Boxed version that was used for all release of Hergest Ridge. Fine, that is MO's decision, but the original version is not without charm, and it's a great shame it has never been released on CD (ditto the orchestral version of Hergest Ridge, that was recorded with Steve Hillage on guitar, and is better IMHO than the orchestral TB - the only place to hear it is in the background of 'The Space Movie' along with a prototype of Incantations).

This tinkering with pieces happens quite a lot. The Carpenters songs have been tweaked over the years, and of course there are radical differences between the Beatle's mono and stereo albums (check out the last few tracks on Sgt Pepper in the two versions).

 

[Chuck Bogie]

So, in the first big bass section, is it supposed to sound distorted?

 

[andrew markworthy]

Chuck - depends how good your system is! It sounds 'fat' rather than distorted on mine.

 

[Chuck Bogie]

Okay - DEFINITELY time for a sub then - Front speaks are Infinity Entra 2s (50 hzish), and the surrounds are some older Infinity Studio Monitor 120s... Tried it with 'em set "large" and started worrying...

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

What I'd like to see is the live broadcast I saw in the 1980s of Tubular Bells. It was in a studio with a bunch of boxes. I've never seen it since.

I have the boxed LP version, but have never had a quad setup. Did these use anything similar to the phase encoding that ProLogic uses? Never did look into that.

While a new Tubular Bells would be interesting, the old one is a classic. I wonder if Mike will be as drunk while recording?

 

[JimChan]

The other two big pieces in the box set were Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn, both also in quad.

I've seen the "Boxed" 3CD set. Are the versions of Hergest Ridge and Ommadawn same as the individaul CD versions, as I'm considering buying the "Boxed" set.

 

[David R. Hendrickson]

yes, they're the same. all abums released since the original release of Boxed us the Boxed mix...

 

[andrew markworthy]

they're the same. all abums released since the original release of Boxed us the Boxed mix...

This is why I said earlier in the thread that the limited gold edition anniversary TB in the book cover is worth getting - it's sourced from the original tapes.

 

[Alan_Horner]

And another update from Mr. Oldfield regarding "Tubular Bells: The Re Recording" (emphasis added):

30 years ago as a young musician of 19, I was given one week of studio time at The Manor House near Oxford. In this week I recorded the entire first half of the Album that was later to become Tubular Bells.

This Album went on to become the most successfull rock instumental Album of all time. To my ears however I was always aware of its imperfections. Notes out of tune, out of time, rushed playing, mistakes in performance, electonic noise etc etc... I always meant to re record it but for one reason or another I never got round to it... Until Now.

The re recording has been a great pleasure and it is so nice to hear my first piece of music realized to its full potential. The 5.1 mix is especially magical. I hope you will enjoy listening to the 30th anniversary re-recording of Tubular Bells as much as I have enjoyed making it.