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I've been listening to Hank Mobley a lot lately, and as much as I enjoy Roll Call, I sometimes have trouble listening to it because of its rather extreme use of stereo--Mobley is stuck completely in the right channel, with Freddie Hubbard assigned to the left. I listen primarily with headphones, so when only one of them is playing, the effect is odd...I end up feeling like I can't hear either one of them as clearly as I'd like.
Of course plenty of other recordings employ variations on this--it's just not usually so exaggerated. If I recall, I think Joe Henderson & Kenny Dorham are each biased toward their own channels on Page One, but they're both a little more centered in the mix than Mobley & Hubbard are here.
For me, the weirdest moment on Roll Call comes toward the end of "The More I See You." Mobley is in the middle of playing the head (alone) and he suddenly jumps from the right channel to the left channel. No idea why this happens...I picture him leaping across the studio to play into a different mic.
Any thoughts on why Roll Call was recorded/mixed this way? Were they just experimenting with super-wide stereo? I can imagine that it doesn't sound quite so strange when you're listening on regular speakers from a good distance.
Of course plenty of other recordings employ variations on this--it's just not usually so exaggerated. If I recall, I think Joe Henderson & Kenny Dorham are each biased toward their own channels on Page One, but they're both a little more centered in the mix than Mobley & Hubbard are here.
For me, the weirdest moment on Roll Call comes toward the end of "The More I See You." Mobley is in the middle of playing the head (alone) and he suddenly jumps from the right channel to the left channel. No idea why this happens...I picture him leaping across the studio to play into a different mic.
Any thoughts on why Roll Call was recorded/mixed this way? Were they just experimenting with super-wide stereo? I can imagine that it doesn't sound quite so strange when you're listening on regular speakers from a good distance.