MARV BORNSTEIN IS A&M's QUAD MIXING EXPERT and he has a simple formula for mixing stereo LPs into 4-channel. He puts elements where he wants them but always tries to keep the "integrity of the original mix."
Bornstein has created quad LPs for the CBS SQ and CD-4 systems, with the label now committed exclusively to the discrete CD-4 concept.
And since none of A&M's artists or producers are expressly arranging music for the quad medium, Bornstein does not try to change in any way the concept of their music by interjecting directional gimmicks or altering the balance of voice with instruments. "A&M doesn't direct its artists or producers on how to go creatively," Bornstein answers. Some artists have discussed planning out a quad LP but so far none has actually taken the initial step.
So that leaves Bornstein to create his own modus operandi, knowing that what he does is as good as anybody else because there are no industry standards for how a 4-channel disk is supposed to sound.
And the fact that A&M product has come out in both matrix and discrete has had no bearing on how Bornstein has mixed the music, because he's primarily extending the stereo mix into four channels.
Bornstein has been mixing A&M's quad LPs for three years as an adjunct to his regular job as quality control director. He says he mixes everything "discrete", even when he was producing product for the SQ matrix mode.
When he mixes a quad LP (usually at night), neither the artist nor producer is at hand, so he refers to the stereo tape for some idea as to where elements have been positioned. The artist and his producer have final approval of the quad mix and Bornstein is cognizant of their potential for nixing his efforts, so he doesn't do anything radical.
He says the reason producers aren't doing the quad mixes is because their schedules don't allow them to come back and work on this aspect of the project.
Bornstein works with independent engineer Bart Chiate (formerly on the A&M staff). A mix averages 30 hours.
Before an LP is transferred to quad the artist must give his permission. Several musicians have mixed their own quad LP, including Quincy Jones, Rick Wakeman and Chuck Mangione. But in the main it's been Bornstein responsible for 4-channel product by Cat Stevens, the Carpenters, Joan Baez and others.
Bornstein says he doesn't use any psychoacoustical principles in mapping out the quad mix. And he doesn't get involved in having "sound run around the room."
"We have managed to mix quad to where you don't have to sit in the middle of the room to hear it." he claims. How so? "We use a lot of criss-cross echoes. We don't have any set formula where to put the rhythm and we don't stick a guitar in the corner just to let the listener say, 'there's a guitar coming out of that corner.' " Bornstein says that's not music; that's a gimmick.
The executive feels that he gives the listener a new experience by enveloping the room in sound. There are several things he's discovered even though he doesn't make an emphasis point out of them.
To wit: he places the guitar with the singer who's using it; the human voice is positioned somewhere in the center; percussion is generally placed in the rear; horns or strings are generally placed in the right or left center.
Having listened to other quad LPs, Bornstein doesn't enjoy "things popping out of corners."
Bornstein says the proper way to mix for matrix is to have the encoder-decoder right in the control room so "you know what the device is doing to your music."
There are certain parameters, Bornstein claims "the SQ people will tell you about, like not to put things in the center."
Both SQ and Sansui's QS have limitations in the amount of separation you can get, Bornstein says. "CD-4 comes closest to what we originally mixed."
When A&M began experimenting with quad, SQ was the best system available, according to Bornstein, but once CD-4 improved its cutting capabilities, that affected A&M's decision to go exclusively discrete.
Bornstein says he found that with SQ, when putting something in the center of the room, it ended up on a diagonal. He recalls placing Karen Carpenter in the middle of the rear but she shifted to one side when going through the decoding process.
A&M's quad catalog as of early July totals seven SQs and three CD-4s. There is no justification for releasing all LPs in quad and it isn't always feasible to release the stereo and quad simultaneously.
The quad version tends to follow a hit stereo LP. Since he is the quality control director, Bornstein is especially hard on quad LPs if the pressings are no good. "Our records are pressed with an antistatic compound worked out between A&M and Kaiser Chemical. JVC does the cutting and Monarch the pressing. But Bornstein says A&M might start pressing with Columbia which presses Warner Bros. CD-4s.
Why isn't there more of an aggressive posture at the company for promoting quad? There isn't a rich market for quad LPs just yet, so the attitude is one of being laid back and moving slowly.
And with no one showing any great concern for actually arranging music for quad, mixing a stereo record into quad means enhancing the artist's creativity and not offering anything shocking to jolt the performer and the home listener.