satanika said:
Were the relative levels on v1 correct? I mean, did you go over every track and set a new max. volume or turned up everything the same amount.
Indeed, I set the max volume for each track... That's why it's a nightmare.
It must be difficult to set the relative track volume for a set with so many edits as this...
It's quite difficult, mostly with such a score as is the ESB one. Besides if you listen to the anthology you may find a lot of mistakes in the volumes settings, even in one single track. That's why I separated a lot of segments to reedit the tracks: to fix both the EQ's and volumes when they did not match exactly. Though I can make mistakes too, It has become more accurate in this edit I think. The SE has also very low tracks next to very loud ones if I can remember.
... some tracks probably have/should have much lower volume because they weren't played as loud as others.
You mean when you're tempted to make a track like "Crash Landing on Dagobah" sounds louder because there is "The Asteroid Field" next to it ? It's a trap. ;) Well, it's a bit like drawing, you have to consider the shape, and what is around the shape: emptyness. For that I use to concentrate on what is the more silent: the extreme highs and lows, and mostly the noise or far hiss remaining in the ultra highs or mediums. But I don't say it's easy and can make a lot of mistakes before it fits. That's the way of learning experience.
As much difficult or worse is when you have a track with an uncomparable clarity next to more narrow recordings. ESB score is world champion about that.
Edit: another exemple that comes to my mind is the strong resonance you can meet or not in a track, resonance that is sometimes located in the high freqs (Aboard the Executor, The Battle In the Snow), sometimes in the lows (Luke's First Crash), or in the mediums. This has a strong influence on the volumes settings, and sometime you have to choose to make one sound louder or lower considering the effect it has to give next to the others, then I think there is no so called "exact" volume for these tracks, it's only the whole thing that decides and tend to bring you make the good choice. Yes, this score is a real headache ! :) To notice the resonance I mentionned has been managed - or even displaced - during the remixings for it makes sound the orchestra in the more natural way. Mostly the horns are a very good guide to fix the mediums and highs resonance.
Sure that all that I just said here would have deserved to be stated in post 1. But if you can appreciate the result that's enough for me. ;)
ABC, I'd really like to know a bit about what kind of software/hardware you use for this, editors or plugins or whatever.. Do you work with mastering professionally or are you just insanely talented? ;)
Ah, you ask a lot. :) ... I tend to remain silent about it so cheap are my ways. I'm totally untutored about any kind of technical knowledge about sound enginering. What's funny is that we keep a 15 years old computer here wich looks like an old engine (BULL computer though), and it shows me all in every details when it has what I think to be a "basic" ATI soundcard, next to the actual (recent) one on wich I only edit the tracks and wich even with all effects disabled is unable to show me the subtleties (with the same headphones, let's precise) I put in my work !
What I'm using then for the remixing is an old version of something that looks like a burning colliseum, and gives here again more accurate results -from both what I've heard and experienced- than the latests so called "Express" versions... For the edits I only use Audacity, when for the OT S Salvage I used to edit with the default computer's magnetophone. (LOL !)
... So, looks like it turns the answer to the second option in your question. Then thank you, I'm really glad to see I'm not only dreaming when it looks like it occured a true enhancement in these recordings. :)