Quad Cast Albums

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boojidad

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Mar 18, 2005
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I was looking over the list of quad releases of stage shows, from 'Annie' to 'Godspell' to 'The Wiz' to 'My Fair Lady' and so on. For those who have more than a few of these, my question is: does the quad mix ever attempt to recreate the staging of the show in any way? Like do characters who are moving about the stage while they sing also move about the sound stage in the quad mix? Or is everything locked into position and that's it? I wouldn't be surprised if it all stays in one spot, but what an opportunity lost.

And I am referring here only to stage productions, not movie soundtracks.
 
My Fair Lady SQ
There are answers from the rear channels
The Rain in Spain starts right rear (Higgins)
Then the main singing is in the front
A good surround effect
 
The Wiz = Ease On Down The Road circles you. Company places the singers all around you, but one song has movement of voices. A Little Night Music = Perpetual Anticipation circles the 3 singers around you. Annie is mostly static voices. Purlie = has some voice movement on various tracks. Over Here is just screwed up in general.

Candide probably comes closest to original staging concept. The orchestra on Broadway was split into 4 different areas of the theatre. small stages were also mixed in with the audience. it was a surround experience in the theatre.
 
A Chorus Line (first CD release) is an SQ quad mix, I am nearly certain, although it has not been generally noted as such. I decoded it with OD's 'final' script for adobe audition. There is movement, especially in At the Ballet. Many cast albums tried to reproduce the experience of the stage, with some movement back and forth, but most are confined to the stage and are not that heavily into a mix that surrounds you. The Candide revival mentioned was not staged for the proscenium and therefore had more opportunities for surround effects. I have not heard the quad mix of that one, but as I did not care for it, musically, although I saw it and it was fun theatrically, I never looked into getting it in quad.
 
In A CHORUS LINE, in the song I CAN DO THAT, the taps should circle the room. They do on the LP and the Q8. I recall the CD using the stereo LP mix. The quad LP has a very different instrument balance.
 
My Fair Lady SQ
There are answers from the rear channels
The Rain in Spain starts right rear (Higgins)
Then the main singing is in the front
A good surround effect

My Fair Lady SQ ?? Never seen this. Are you sure? What label, which cast?

Funny Girl has a roller skating number where they circle the room. Also, Barbara and Omsar do a call/response number from front to back.
 
My Fair Lady 1976 Original Cast. Columbia PS34197 SQ
The title above was released only in quad, no stereo version known

This is from Mark Anderson's Quad discography for the LP. If there was no stereo issued, it stands to reason that the CD is from the SQ master.
 
Can anyone answer the cd issue? Im curious how a quad only release can have an early cd release that is stereo only.
 
A CHORUS LINE's first release was a stereo LP. Then a half-speed mastered stereo LP. The quad was a later remix. Never quad only.
 
Can anyone answer the cd issue? Im curious how a quad only release can have an early cd release that is stereo only.

Because SQ is a matrix format where 4 channels are matrixed down to 2 channels. The master tape has only 2 channels, but the rear channels are matrixed into the front for stereo compatibility. It is the same as playing an SQ or QS LP. It isn't stereo only.
 
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