Just curious if anybody knows why...

[Q-Eight]

.... the Johnny Cash at San Quentin Q8 is so hacked up?

And by hacked up, I mean they obviously did a LOT of editing, and re-organized the songs on the tape. I have the stereo LP and the track listings are quite different. Why would they do that? Obviously, an LP has two equal length sides, why not just copy the listing from the LP and transfer the same thing to the tape? Seems odd to have so many things out of time.

 

[Larry Geller]

Obviously, an LP has two equal length sides

Obviously, you don't own too many LPs if you actually think this!

 

[mtgc]

I own many LP's and I think his question has merit. It should be easy to do a direct transfer of information from the original masters to the Q8 in exactly the same order as they were put down on the original LP. I know that the LPs are not cut from a single master, but a combination of many masters, but the question still has merit, and I would guess that the reason the Q8 is different from the LP is because there were a different set of sound engineers mixing the masters down for the Q8 as opposed to those engineers who did the mix downs for the original LPs.

Just my two cents worth.

MTGC (Michael)

 

[Larry Geller]

I own many LP's and I think his question has merit. It should be easy to do a direct transfer of information from the original masters to the Q8 in exactly the same order as they were put down on the original LP. I know that the LPs are not cut from a single master, but a combination of many masters, but the question still has merit, and I would guess that the reason the Q8 is different from the LP is because there were a different set of sound engineers mixing the masters down for the Q8 as opposed to those engineers who did the mix downs for the original LPs.

Just my two cents worth.

MTGC (Michael)

This is not true. It was strictly in order to save tape & also to not have a blank space at the end of one track on the tape (or at least to keep the time of the blank to a minimum), or to avoid the fade down & back up if the cut was split between tracks (not as big an issue with Q-8s as it was with stereo 8-tracks, due to 2 programs rather than 4). Remember, most 8-track players (especially in cars) couldn't fast forward or rewind, so this was a real issue.

 

[mtgc]

Yep, this makes sense on some LPs as there is a bit of difference in total running time between sides of the LP. It would be interesting to do a total time count for both sides of the LP in question and see if there is a significant difference in timing.

 

[winopener]

This is not true. It was strictly in order to save tape & also to not have a blank space at the end of one track on the tape (or at least to keep the time of the blank to a minimum), or to avoid the fade down & back up if the cut was split between tracks (not as big an issue with Q-8s as it was with stereo 8-tracks, due to 2 programs rather than 4). Remember, most 8-track players (especially in cars) couldn't fast forward or rewind, so this was a real issue.

Any idea why John Lennon "Imagine" on Q8 had two different song list between USA and UK releases? Songs are swapped *inside* the programs, al songs on Program 1 on USA versions are the same on UK versions but the UK has a different tracklist order (same for program 2).
I just can't find a reason why...

 

[4432bravo]

Any idea why John Lennon "Imagine" on Q8 had two different song list between USA and UK releases? Songs are swapped *inside* the programs, al songs on Program 1 on USA versions are the same on UK versions but the UK has a different tracklist order (same for program 2).
I just can't find a reason why...

Equalizations in the UK are different from the USA and the ranges on the UK are peaks and not 0 dBm or the NAB settings. Therefore, "Imagne", was down mixed for Q8, Q4, and LP's by three different lab set ups. It could have been the same machines reset, but the song lists were selected to fit into the Q8's with the 4 sec blank and about equal programs between the two programs available not to mention the economy of tape useage. While the Q4's were lined up to fit the length of tape being used and it didn't matter the order of the song list. While the LP's needed to be close the same length on both sides a lot like the Q8's.

2 channel 4 track open reel mix downs often had a long silence on track 2 or the reverse track, but with FF it didn't matter much.

Jerry