Les Baxter - spectral stereo upmixed tracks? - Tiki Music

S StolenIdols Tiki Centralite Joined: Apr 06, 2014 Posts: 28	S StolenIdols Posted posted on Sat, Jul 25, 2026 11:07 AM in reply to TexBaxter "...They HAD to have been running a mono machine and a stereo machine (3-track) at the same time..." Precisely. Circa 1955-58, Capitol's mono recordings used up to 7 discrete channels, mixed to mono on the fly, with close miking. The stereo recordings were done on 3-track machines, using at least 2 overhead mics. For records with a soloist, like a Sinatra album, the vocal mic was patched into both the mono and stereo mixing consoles. The differences can be striking. "African Jazz" to my ears sounds much better in mono. "Ports of Pleasure" sound great in both mono and stereo, albeit different.

"...They HAD to have been running a mono machine and a stereo machine (3-track) at the same time..."

Precisely. Circa 1955-58, Capitol's mono recordings used up to 7 discrete channels, mixed to mono on the fly, with close miking. The stereo recordings were done on 3-track machines, using at least 2 overhead mics. For records with a soloist, like a Sinatra album, the vocal mic was patched into both the mono and stereo mixing consoles. The differences can be striking. "African Jazz" to my ears sounds much better in mono. "Ports of Pleasure" sound great in both mono and stereo, albeit different.

Post #818645 by StolenIdols on Sat, Jul 25, 2026 11:07 AM