Rush - Ghost Rider (Dynamic Edit)

Описание: This is what I like to call a ‘dynamic edit’ of the original mix of “Ghost Rider” by Rush! The original mix of Vapor Trails faced a TON of clipping throughout its runtime from its mastering, resulting in a fatiguing listen with a ton of hissy artifacts over the mix. My edits here are meant to rectify that, presenting the album as close as I can to what it sounded like before it was clipped!

For those not in the know, the Loudness War is a phenomenon beginning in the mid-90s onward, in which music was mastered louder and louder, with the underlying reasoning being that louder music sells better. As with any medium, however, there is a peak loudness a signal can reach, so dynamic range compression (which makes the louder parts of the signal quieter while keeping the quiet parts quiet; not to confused with data compression, which concerns MP3s and such) and sometimes even clipping (attempting to push a signal beyond its peak) were used to make music as loud as possible.

The issue with this is that overuse of compression and clipping can make music fatiguing to listen to, and sometimes even audibly distorted. Clipping or poor compressors specifically can introduce audible artifacts such hiss or crackle into the mix. In this case, every track of the original mix of Vapor Trails has audible clipping artifacts. Howie Weinberg, the mastering engineer of this album, had previously mastered vinyl releases of the band’s Archives compilation (containing Rush*, *Fly by Night*, and *Caress of Steel*), *Permanent Waves*, *A Farewell to Kings*, and co-mastered a vinyl release of *Moving Pictures with Bob Ludwig. Having enjoyed other albums Weinberg worked on, such as ones by The Clash, Metallica, Nirvana, and Sonic Youth, the band decided to have him master the digital and vinyl releases of *Vapor Trails*. They never worked with him again.

I have attempted to fix up the mastering compression of the album with a program I have called “Perfect Declipper” (creating something I dub a “dynamic edit”). This editing process makes the album more dynamic and can eliminate all that artifacts of crackle and hiss throughout the record! In this case, I was able to turn the dynamic range of the album from 5 into 11!

It’s important to note that the dynamics are not being restored with the "Perfect Declipper" program that I use, but rather, they are being approximated. While one may not be able to "declip" an album as one would be unable to "unbake a cake", I find the results here to be a convincible attempt at doing so. Only in the most extreme examples have I heard the program produce odd artifacts that would appear unintended in the album’s mix. I think it’s also important to note that dynamic range compression is not an inherently bad thing. It can tighten up performances, add grit, and help remove dynamic outliers that would take you out of the mix.