So, after posting the 1986 concert, I got to thinking about listening to another concert by them from an earlier year. The problem was, I'd investigated that previously and decided that the sound quality for all known concert in 1985 or before were a little bit lacking. But then it occurred to me that with the advances in audio editing technology in recent years, maybe something could be done about that.
I picked the best sounding of the early concerts, which is this one. It's the best because it was professionally recorded and broadcast live on the radio. However, there still were issues. The biggest one was that there was a lot of crowd noise, even during the songs. But that's something that can be fixed these days. So I used the audio editing program MVSEP and removed the cheering and hollering during the songs, while keeping it between the songs. But I also lowered in some during the banter, because it was quite high there too. Next, I boosted the volume of the vocals relative to the instruments using the UVR5 audio editing program. So all the songs got adjusted twice.
The end result makes this sound significantly better than ever before, on part with the two 1986 Bangles concerts I've posted. The songs are dominated by songs from the band's 1984 album "All Over the Place," which is my favorite from them (although their 1986 album "Different Light" is a close second). But there are a few cover versions added that didn't make any of their albums at the time: "Where Were You When I Needed You," "I'm Not Talkin'," "Going Home," and "7 and 7 Is." Those especially show how rocking the band could get.
This album is 56 minutes long.
01 talk (Bangles)
02 Silent Treatment (Bangles)
03 The Real World (Bangles)
04 talk (Bangles)
05 Restless (Bangles)
06 Mary Street (Bangles)
07 talk (Bangles)
08 Live (Bangles)
09 talk (Bangles)
10 All about You (Bangles)
11 James (Bangles)
12 talk (Bangles)
13 Where Were You When I Needed You (Bangles)
14 talk (Bangles)
15 I'm in Line (Bangles)
16 He's Got a Secret (Bangles)
17 talk (Bangles)
18 Going Down to Liverpool (Bangles)
19 talk (Bangles)
20 Tell Me (Bangles)
21 talk (Bangles)
22 I Want You (Bangles)
23 Hero Takes the Fall (Bangles)
24 I'm Not Talkin' (Bangles)
25 talk (Bangles)
26 Going Home (Bangles)
27 7 and 7 Is (Bangles)
28 Dover Beach (Bangles)
https://www.upload.ee/files/16509110/TBANGLS1984RtzThtrNwYrkCty__9-28-1984_atse.zip.html
The cover photo is from a Bangles concert at Les Bains Douches, in Paris, France, on February 19, 1985.
Thanks for this. I have a buddy who has told me the same thing, that the Bangles were better early on (more raw and punky). I'm also very interested in the MVSEP software that you're using. I record most of the concerts that I attend, on my little Tascam, and quality is hit and miss due to the audience around me (people can be very rude and talk through concerts!) That may help improve my recordings. Is it difficult to use? Thanks so much, G.
ReplyDeleteThe program is a free one you use through the Internet. It's very easy. Here's the link:
Deletehttps://mvsep.com/en/home
The one snag is that you have to do the songs one at time and your jobs gets put in a long line. If you sign up for a free account, the line gets much, much shorter. I signed up, and there were no strings attached, not even spam emails.
Oh, and after it processes the file (using the crowd noise separation type), you'll end up with two files, one for crowd noise and one for everything else. Then it's good to edit them or you'll have no crowd noise, not even at the ends of songs. I use Audacity (a free program) for that. Just drag both files into Audacity at once.
DeleteThanks Paul. I thought it was probably a 1 song at a time deal. So good to know how you manage the process and I agree that taking all of the crowd noise out at the ends of songs is not ideal. I have a free version of Audacity, but have never spliced 2 tracks as yet. I'll check that out as well. Thanks so much again!
DeleteSaw the Bangles twice in Amsterdam, 1985 and 1986 I think, great live band.
ReplyDeleteGreat band, Thanks!
ReplyDelete