(remastered, repaired & pitch corrected)
For a long time I wanted to share this repaired & pitch corrected remaster, but I never was satisfied with the final mix until today.
And at some point it is good to finish a project as to start a new one. So before I change my mind, here it is:
1985-04-18 Worcester MA - Centrum "Ever Peaceful"
INFO UNDER SPOILER TAG
Centrum
Worcester, MA
April 18, 1985
Recorded by unknown (using RossMan transfer)
Remastered by BIGGIRL
LINEAGE: Analog Cassette (2nd Generation)* > CD-R > EAC > .flac
>[remaster]# > Nero WaveEditor ("transpose" -0.25 semi tone) >
iZotope RX05 (De-click + De-hum + Spectral Repair + De-noise) >
PristineSounds (level corrections, equalization, edit & track split)
> Frontend FLAC (7) > .flac
TRACK LISTING:
01-Gloria
02-I Threw A Brick Through A Window
03-A Day Without Me
04-I Fall Down
05-MLK
06-The Unforgettable Fire
07-Two Hearts Beat As One
08-Seconds
09-Sunday Bloody Sunday
10-Cry-The Electric Co.
11-["Ever Peaceful"]
12-A Sort Of Homecoming
13-Bad
14-October/New Year's Day
15-Pride (In The Name Of Love)
[fades]
16-Party Girl
17-I Will Follow
[fades]
18-"40"^
^taken from "Ever Peaceful" bootleg (UAG > CD-R + pitch corr. & eq).
*ORIGINAL notes:
"Source: Analog Cassette (2nd Generation)>CDR>CDR(1)>EAC>FLAC (Level 8)
Flac Transfer: RossMan (imabitter1@yahoo.com) [...]
- Missing "40"."
BigGiRL
Dec. 2017 – Jan. 2018
v.5
I always loved this show. It has the unusual set list with the three October tracks in the first part of the show. The beautiful
"Dear Prudence" snippet in "A Day Without Me" and, of course, the introduction of the young boy named Ever Peaceful ("Ever,
is his name," his father shouts!). In fact the whole show is strong with an exceptional good singing Bono and a very energetic
Larry Mullen Jr. You can hear Edge and Adam working really hard to keep up with them, but I believe it only serves the concert
as a whole.
But in my memory the show sounded much better than when I recently revisited the recordings. There are three known
digital sources for this show. In no particular order there is the cd-r "bootleg" Ever Peaceful, there is the Heath [Street] tape,
and there is the RossMan "2nd Gen."
The latter is the one with the most dynamics left, but it has a very uneven balance, a severe bunch of tape noise and an
electric hum somewhere between the 20-90 Hz, and the 140-210 Hz range. And apart from all those issues, some pretty
loud and intrusive screams combined with near-by clapping makes it a somewhat all too compromised listening experience.
On top of that it occurred to me that the transfer runs a little too fast (something that is a bit hard to check with no
comparison like a taped PA intro, but Adobe Audition is able to show a "Spectral Pitch Display" and it confirmed my suspicion).
I thus corrected the pitch with NeroWaveEditor by -0.25 semi tone as to match distinct tonal frequencies (e.g. A, G, E) – not
sure if I express myself correctly here, but I hope one gets the picture!
With the iZotope RX05, I “de-clapped” the RossMan transfer using the "De-click" with custom settings and removed
and/or softened most, if not all intrusive screams with the "Spectral Repair" tool (all manual approach; at least
30 hours of sweet TLC).
Sharebear aka Hoserama was kind enough to build me a "De-hum" filter to remove the electric hum. It worked like a charm
and it enabled me to bring up the hitherto buried bass with some simple equalizer settings.
I also let iZotope suggest a "De-noise" (by using the "learn" function), but I soon enough found out that what used to be the
A-side of the 2nd gen cassette had a different noise signature than what used to be the B-side. So I treated both sides
separately.
Last but not least I had to take care of the odd balance and level fluctuations during the recording. Some parts were
distinctively louder than other parts. And after trying to several tricks, I decided that the best way was, again, to treat everything
manually with my good old PristineSounds – another dinosaur that still wanders around! It's s a very simple, but still effective
program for editing that I know like the back of my hand after more than 15 years of experience. I guess it has become my
signature program in the lineage, but it is safe to say that I wouldn't be here with this result if it wasn't for the iZotope RX05.
Some final equalization was applied for a smooth and fresh sounding result.
And to make it an all complete package, I have included the missing "40" from the Ever Peaceful CD-R bootleg (also pitch
adjusted and equalized).
A fair criticism would be that all my work had better been applied to a transfer straight from the master tape. And there
is not much to
have the slightest idea if that master ever surfaces. So I took my chances and used whatever was at hand.
Concluding my notes by expressing my gratitude to Sharebear (aka @Hoserama). Not only for kindly supplying a
"de-hum" filter (and showing me the basics of such a thing), but also for introducing me to RX05 some 2 years ago already.
It took me a while to feel comfortable with it, but this program has given me much joy over the past years. I much appreciate
your ongoing support & encouragement along the way.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank @RossMan for transferring this 2nd gen copy. The final result of this project
wouldn't be the same with out this copy in the first place!
And while at it, I must mention the work of the magnificent @JEMS. Their dedication to audience recordings of all sorts
of artists is beyond comparison and a true inspiration for me. JEMS is the measure of all audience recording mastering and
their work is a blessing for live music lovers all over the world. And very I'm glad that U2 is included in their broad field of interest.
Without much further ado, I simply hope this "remastered & repaired" U2 1985-04-18 Worcester MA "Ever Peaceful" show will be
appreciated by the U2 audience recording connoisseurs.
thnx 