[Darkstar Fanzine] Phil Newell Interview mentions Oldfield Quad Mixes

Guys,

I subscribe to the magazine darkstar which is a Mike Oldfield fanzine. There was an article in it about Phil Newell who did some of the original Quad mixes. The editor has very kindly given me just that article and allowed me to show it here, kindly hosted by Cai.
Here it is then, words from the original mixer !

Phil Newell Interview

Drop by at www.mkeoldfield.org to see the fanzine if your interested

Great article. Thanks for that.

So a quadraphonic version of "Incantations" does exist. The burning question is, was it ever released? Perhaps unmarked?

fun article. let's see, a mixing board covered in girlie mags; being attacked by the pet lion; trampolines and a go-cart track; and the missing master tapes turn up in a girlfriend's bed... boy, i miss the 70's!

Barry, you're not alone.
Now, let's see if the quad mix of Incantations shows up somewhere...

Great article, but still some questions remain.

1. If the recording of the Tubular Bells at the end of side one were erased from the multitrack, then who re-recorded them for the quad mix?

2. Why is the acoustic guitar heard at the very end of Part 1 a completely different recording to the one in the stereo mix?

3. The article talks about different quad mixes of "Ommadawn." Is there more than one quad mix, or just different encoding formats?

4. Which quad release of "Tubular Bells" has the airplane sound at the end?

5. I believe the quad mix of "Tubular Bells" from "Boxed" is different to the one on the CD-4 and SQ albums. Who mixed that version, and when?

J. D.

jdmack said:

Great article, but still some questions remain.

1. If the recording of the Tubular Bells at the end of side one were erased from the multitrack, then who re-recorded them for the quad mix?

2. Why is the acoustic guitar heard at the very end of Part 1 a completely different recording to the one in the stereo mix?

3. The article talks about different quad mixes of "Ommadawn." Is there more than one quad mix, or just different encoding formats?

4. Which quad release of "Tubular Bells" has the airplane sound at the end?

5. I believe the quad mix of "Tubular Bells" from "Boxed" is different to the one on the CD-4 and SQ albums. Who mixed that version, and when?

J. D.

Click to expand...

I can tell you that the American CD-4 Virgin records (the WEA distrib, not the CBS which was SQ) pressing has the plane flying around, then crashing.
Not sure of any other pressings though.

The CD-4 and the SQs are different, but wouldn't they be anyway due to the format differences?

-Bob

jdmack said:

Great article, but still some questions remain.

1. If the recording of the Tubular Bells at the end of side one were erased from the multitrack, then who re-recorded them for the quad mix?

2. Why is the acoustic guitar heard at the very end of Part 1 a completely different recording to the one in the stereo mix?

3. The article talks about different quad mixes of "Ommadawn." Is there more than one quad mix, or just different encoding formats?

4. Which quad release of "Tubular Bells" has the airplane sound at the end?

5. I believe the quad mix of "Tubular Bells" from "Boxed" is different to the one on the CD-4 and SQ albums. Who mixed that version, and when?

J. D.

Click to expand...

I know that Virgin released "Ommadawn" in both SQ and QS in the UK; I have both versions, and the mix is the same. If a CD-4 version was issued, I would imagine it would have been in Japan.

Can you please tell me if this is the "Quad" version of boxed here on the american amazon site:
http://www.amazon.com/Boxed-Mike-Ol...ef=sr_1_1/002-8183280-6891246?ie=UTF8&s=music

or do I need to buy the british version from amazon UK?
Or can it be had cheaper some where else?

Thanks! I'm trying to catch up on all the Quad stuff.

I used to have the CD-4 american version record, but never was able to set that up, so I've never heard it in Quad.

I don't know about that 3 disc CD version, but when I bought the original vinyl back in the days, it had 4 records on it.
This looks like a reissue, as it has additional material on the 3 discs that are there, and a whole disc called "Collaborations" is missing altogether (The David Bedford material, like "The Rio Grande" and stuff like that.
If this is a "digital remaster", then the SQ matrix will have been broken in the remastering.

Hello, I'm refering to info I got from here:
http://members.cox.net/surround/quaddisc/quadcds.htm

- Mike Oldfield - Exposed; Caroline Records - CAROL 1852-2 (double
CD) SQ encoded. (even says "A quadraphonic recording" on the
back of the CD!)

- Mike Oldfield - Boxed; Virgin Records - CDBOX-1 (triple CD) SQ
encoded (Import; England release Dec. '96)

{Tubular Bells was released in the US as a CD-4 record (Virgin QD13-105)
and at the same time in England as a SQ record (Virgin QV-2001). The
version in the "Boxed" British release is a different SQ mix, and
includes his "original" Sailor's Hornpipe ending which was rejected by
Virgin Records! Also, Ommadawn was released in both the US and England
as an SQ quad, and is also in the "Boxed" set. Hergest Ridge was never
released here in Quad, I've never seen it as a Quad single lp...but it
is SQ in the Boxed set as is the Collaborations lp. I just got the CD
re-issue of "Boxed" last weekend, and though it credits the quad re-mix
the CD notes proclaim "this CD is STEREO". HOWEVER.....I A/B'd the CD's
to the original vinyl through the TATE and found ALL the SO encoding is
intact! It decodes perfectly and exactly as the original vinyl!!!!!!!}
Quad Bob

I know what you mean about: (If this is a "digital remaster", then the SQ matrix will have been broken in the remastering.) Pink Floyds Animals first release on CD Columbia CK-34474 sounds very Quadish IMO on my Sansui QRX-6500 in SQ mode - whereas the remaster plays like stereo A/B ing the two. I was just wondering if these are the same CDs Quad Bob was refering to.
Thanks to all for any info.

Hi,
I have both the LP boxed set and the CD boxed version, both are quad encoded and both have the same mix. There are 3 cd's because the tracks from collaborations are spread over the cd's and not on a separate one as the lp versions were. I also have the USA cd-4 Tubular Bells, and the UK SQ version, both have the plane sound at the end, it is only in the boxed set mix where there is no plane.

Malcolm

Old Quad Guy said:

Can you please tell me if this is the "Quad" version of boxed here on the american amazon site:
http://www.amazon.com/Boxed-Mike-Ol...ef=sr_1_1/002-8183280-6891246?ie=UTF8&s=music

or do I need to buy the british version from amazon UK?
Or can it be had cheaper some where else?

Thanks! I'm trying to catch up on all the Quad stuff.

Click to expand...

It's definitely the quad version. Go back to the link you included, and read the first customer review. It's mine. I think it will clarify a lot about this box set. The liner notes say it's only stereo, but I did the comparison. All recordings on this box set are SQ quad. I also have the vinyl, and they're the same mixes. My surround system confirms this. Order it and enjoy.

Thanks for the information! After 30 years finally get to hear it in Quad!

jaybird100 said:

It's definitely the quad version. Go back to the link you included, and read the first customer review. It's mine. I think it will clarify a lot about this box set. The liner notes say it's only stereo, but I did the comparison. All recordings on this box set are SQ quad. I also have the vinyl, and they're the same mixes. My surround system confirms this. Order it and enjoy.

Click to expand...

I seem to remember that the first pressing of "Boxed" on CD used the original stereo mix of TB, and that this was corrected on later pressings.

J. D.

Is the SACD Tubular Bells really SQ ??

ingresman said:

Is the SACD Tubular Bells really SQ ??

Click to expand...

No, on SACD is no SQ encoding necessary It's just the same Quad mix (with the rears a tad softer).
If you mean the CD layer, that's the digital remastered (from 2001, was it?) so I don't think SQ will decode as good as on the old masters.

Hi there, I am also a Dark Star member, but I go back further to Shoes and Strings, View from the Beacon and Airborn fanzines!! As far as I know from David Porter, the quad version of Incantations was produced in studio primely for the idea making of The Space Movie. Demos were pressed on a mege rare red 7" flexi disc which was issued with limited promo copies of Incantations.
Pity it ended up on VHS and DVD !

Really? I wonder if there were any other quad flexi discs? I never knew of one.

J. D.