B'wana She No Home

[Harry]

As I continued listening to the SWEET MEMORY disc set, I came upon this track, "B'wana She No Home", the opener of the PASSAGE album. Listening in the car, it occured to me that the song sounded like it was mixed in mono. This is a very 'busy' track, and I just always figured that it would naturally have great separated stereo.

But, digging out the PASSAGE CD, I now realize that the track IS in fact, mostly mono. By eliminating the center vocals (and virtually everything else), you're left with a few electronic piano parts, and occasional flute, and some backing vocals.

A curious mix.

Harry
...still exploring after all these years, online...

 

[newvillefan]

Hi Harry

Interesting thought...I've always loved this track, but couldn't put my finger on it, it sounds so lifeless and drab, especially compared to some of the earlier 70s tracks that were remixed (piano re-recorded in dolby stereo etc). Even the opening drums sounds quieter and weaker, 'drier' maybe?

I think that's the central problem with it - it's a mono track, so everything sounds locked in as opposed to opened out. I thought buying the remastered 'Passage' album would sort that out, but it's virtually the same.

Shame, because I think aurally it would be a joy if recorded and/or mixed in stereo.

I don't know whether this is also a trait of the album as a whole. If you compare 'I Just Fall In Love Again' with say, 'You're The One', the quality is soo much different - the piano on the Lovelines track is so up front in the mix and the presence and quality of the recording of Karen's voice is so much clearer.

Maybe that's a remix job from the late 80s in preparation for that album, but I do think Passage as a whole deserves the same retouching treatment. It sounds so dry, especially compared with 'Horizon'.

Stephen

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I'm having a hard time understanding how a mono track can be used on a digital stereo formated CD. I'm assuming the Sweet Memory CD's are all mastered in digital stereo format.

Is this even possible?

 

[Jeff]

I've always thought that this tune would've been a good "salsa/jazz" song for radio that plays that format. It is more "adult" in sound and showcases CarpenterS in a more sophisticated way. MAN SMART WOMAN SMARTER was a waste of time in my opinion. TWO SIDES may have faired well. I JUST FALL IN LOVE AGAIN is pretty but it does nothing to move K&R away from their then considered "elevator sound". DON"T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA is nice and K sang it in concert Feb 17, 1978. I think this should've remained a concert tune. CALLING OCCUPANTS is the highlight of the album. Somehow I would think an album titled PASSAGE would encompass a new direction. While A KIND OF HUSH was A KIND OF HUSH...Their 1977 offering could've been the l.p. to jump-start their career at a time when it was waning in popularity. I have heard Richard say something to the effect of PASSAGE AND AKOH were not huge hits due to his production skills faltering as his addiction to Quaaludes became overwhelming. Back in the late seventies Quaaludes were popular here in Portland. Trust me, these little downers were NOT taken for a good night's sleep. I also understand that Karen's disorder was becoming chronic at this point. What was that Space Encounters" thing. Suzanne Somers??? PLease! John Davidson, Who??? Ella and Perry and Andy had class. MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC was exquisite in comparison. That show and recording sessions SHOULD have produced a standards album. This at a time when Ronstadt delivered another set of beautiful tunes also with Nelson Riddle. AS TIME G BY finally gave us some of the performances from those sessions... karen's voice could've wrapped around this format effortlessly and Grammy garnered Grammy's Natalie Cole style. Listen to I CAN DREAM CAN'T I again. Stunning!

Done rambling,

Thank you for indulging me,

Jeff

 

[Harry]

I'm having a hard time understanding how a mono track can be used on a digital stereo formated CD. I'm assuming the Sweet Memory CD's are all mastered in digital stereo format.

Is this even possible?

Stereo, digital or not, is just two channels of information. All relatively modern formats have had at least two channels available for playback.

CDs are just bits of information caused by microscopic pits that are read by lasers. The balance, left or right, are controlled by those bits of information, which originally came from some kind of analog source. (Even if a live recording to digital is done, one can say that the original source audio is analog.)

Tapes used two side-by-side tracks of magnetic information, picked up by tape heads aligned in the same position as the ones that recorded it. (When they're not, one can get the 'phasing' problems.)

Vinyl uses two sides of the same groove. The stylus rests in the moving groove picking up one channel of information from one side of the groove wall, and at the same time, picking up the other side of the stereo with the other side of the tiny stylus.

Any recording that's "mono" will simply have the same information passed onto both channels of information. Whatever's on the left, is exactly what's on the right. As we listen to this over two well matched and identical speakers, our brain perceives the sound to be coming from somewhere in between the two speakers. With headphones, it sounds as if all of the sound is emanating from inside your own head!

So a recording like "B'wana She No Home" has mostly the same information on both the left and right sides of the stereo. The occasional flute in one channel will be less pronounced (or missing entirely) in the other channel.

That's why in most stereo mixes, the vocalist sounds centered in the stereo - because the mixer of the track put that audio equally into both channels, whereas a guitar or piano might be located only left or right.

Early stereo mixes were sometimes wild, with vocals on one side and instruments on the other (early Beatles). As we've progressed, sound engineers have learned that those kind of wild mixes aren't as pleasing, so the tendency is for vocalists or lead instruments to be centered into both channels equally.

Mono mixes on vinyl simply have both sides of the groove wall encoded with the same information, resulting in all sound emanating equally from both channels. Some stereo mixes, when combined to mono, like on those Carpenters promos, result in an emphasizing of the lead vocal, since the vocal was present in both channels anyway. The fold-down mono mix just naturally results in a lower volume for any instrument or sound that was all-left or all-right. It was THAT phenomenon back in the '60s that resulted in many special made-for-mono mixes.

Harry
...going into detail, online...