Remaster

Remaster (and its derivations, frequently found in the phrases digitally remastered or digital remastering) is a word and concept ushered into the mass consciousness via the digital age, although it had existed before then. Frequently trumpeted with regard to CD and DVD releases, remastering has become a powerful buzzword in multimedia industries, and it generally implies some sort of upgrade to a previous, existing product (frequently designed to encourage people to part with their money for a new version of something they already own). For example, the reissue boom that began in the mid-nineties saw remastered versions of the back-catalogues of The Who, The Byrds and others, while remastered editions of first-generation DVD releases are similarly hot sellers. Despite its status as an industry buzzword, however, remastering actually refers to a fairly distinct process, one which does not inherently include the notion of a positive upgrade.

Criticism

While digitally remastering films or audio does generally improve their visual and/or sound quality, it is not appraised by everyone. Some argue that remastering something from the early 1980s, for instance, is better than a mastering of a recorded medium from the early 1990s. These people may also argue that the remixing of elements of an original recording may hinder the remastered one. Some of the reasons for remastering engineers to remix elements of a recording include a first-time stereo mix of a particular song where previous releases were only in mono and/or fake stereo (a.k.a. "electronic rechanneling" or simply "rechanneling") and the original mixdown tape being damaged and discarded after heavy use. In particular, modern-day heavy use of processes like dynamic range compression and noise reduction may have actually sparked disappointment in the eyes of many fans against many current remasters like The Who's Live at Leeds Deluxe. Those opposed also argue that unless the original recording has been seen, they may also be unaware whether or not there has been considerable update.

Related Topics:
Remixing - Dynamic range compression - Noise reduction - The Who - Live at Leeds

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