Ahhh, after a good night's sleep I can come back and try to point out a couple of things. I have heard the three-channel mixes and could have worked with them before. I chose not to because:
History: In the olden days, stereo record albums were made from three channel recordings because that was the technology of the time. When Elmer Bernstein went in and re-recorded his score album for The Carpetbaggers or Hawaii or whatever, the engineer recorded onto three channels with the balancing designed to be mixed down to the two track stereo listening experience. Three into two. It worked fine.
Fast forward: In the Poltergeist II era, and continuing today, the masters began at the sessions in 24-track formats, or 32-tracks, and today even 48 tracks. Two track stereo mixes were made from these, either "live" using the multi-track board set-ups, or completely re-mixed down into two tracks with the intent of listening in stereo or for producing albums and whatnot. BUT this is where Mr. Kimmel and I disagree. Unless we are re-writing history, the three channel mixes on Poltergeist II were made from the same Sony 3324 format masters (24-tracks) that the two-track stereo mixes were made from but were specifically mixed with the center channel balanced to be sent to the dubbers to integrate into the dialog and sound effects of the Dolby film prints. Folding those three channels down into two was never intended and the results are different than the actual two track mixes made for listening. While you can, of course, get satisfying results making a stereo mix from modern three channel film mixes - and many CDs today come from those 1/2" three channel film mixes because they often are the best elements available - the imaging of the orchestra will not be the same as that created from true stereo mixes. One can make a wonderful case for going back to those 24-track sources and creating an all-new true stereo mix for today's CDs, and it is sometimes really nice when those elements still exist (as they did for us when we issued Rosenman's Lord Of The Rings) but that is not what we are discussing here.
Yes, the violas and woodwinds are in the proper position of the orchestra, of course. But the imaging for the film mixes is different and is designed solely to be balanced with the other sound elements of the Dolby prints. It can not simply be folded down into two-track stereo and yield optimal imaging for stereo. And there is no reason it needs to because the true stereo mixes were specifically made for that purpose. Each mix has a purpose and they are not identical, nor should they be. The fact that the violas are still present in the left-center of the orchestra in both mixes does not mean they will sound identical in both the two channel stereo mixes and the three channel film mixes because they were not engineered for the same purpose.
I suppose one will hear what they hear and where some people may hear the overtones of a set of chimes, another person may not even be able to distinguish between the chimes or the orchestra bells. It makes no difference. We hear what we hear. In this specific case, I guess Mr. Kimmel hears what he needs to hear from the film mixes and I will never convince him otherwise because those mixes are quite valid and satisfying. They just aren't mixed to be folded down further into two because that was never their reason for being.
I think it is fine for us to disagree about creative differences because that is what artists typically disagree on. But if it is just about our ears, I am pretty happy with mine. And if it is about the history of this project, while Goldsmith is sadly not here to discuss it, Bruce Botnick is readily available today. And I was there at Digital Magnetics, too. I did not see you there, however.
So, again, I will enjoy this new presentation because I enjoy new takes on all things Goldsmith and I do support the efforts of everyone involved. --Doug
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