"remastered from original MIDI FILES"?

[keiron tva]

HI...

I Noticed that this phrase was used in the promotion for the DNBFMHM 20th remaster.i was wondering what they meant by it? audio can remastered(ie made louder), not MIDI files(MIDI is literally just information turned into audio by a drum machine or synth etc)?

i did wonder if they meant "remixed" but the album doesn't soundl like a new mix...

[woofmute]

Karl said recently that Rick had to build up a similar setup to what they had during Dubnobass, so I'd say some of the remaster could have been done through midi files being passed to the synths, drum machines, and samplers they used?

[keiron tva]

ah right meaning the new version is actually(technically) a new recording?

[markreed]

I'm no expert but I imagine the material in question are in obselete or obscure computer formats, so there had to be (as alluded above) tech build or adapted to allow the files to be recovered, fed into new technology, and then mastered to meet the audio standard.

As an aside, Karl Bartos had to source JAZ and ZIP drives to recover his 1976-91 demos for last years "Off The Record" album which was made of songs he wrote for Kraftwerk that they did not choose to use. Same thing really, finding a way to recover material locked into old and largely unusable technology.

[wooter]

Remixed can be as easy as taking the original recording and feeding it back through the mix, using processors to possibly clear up and change the sound.

Remastered is taking the original recording and master it again.

Remastered from MIDI is a bit weird, indeed. I think what happened is that they had the original MIDI files (which are relatively easy to keep) but MIDI only records timing and MIDI commands to MIDI enabled instruments. So if you lost your old trusty sampler and original samples, you'd need to resample and reprogram your sampler. If you lost your trusty synth and it's presets and modifications you saved, you'd need to find a way to recreate these sounds on a similar or other synth.

[jetpig]

Karl touches on this a little bit in his do androids dance interview. He mentions Rick having to source some older gear they no longer had (tape decks among other things) so I think some sections were in fact re-recorded.