Surroundablog

Abraxas mastering by Frangioni

Editor's note: Much ado has been made of how terrible the transfer is of Santana's "Abraxas" to multi-channel. Who's responsible.....David Frangioni.What's he doing now? Apparently; he's running a string of installation outfits outfitting the stars and super rich with home theaters and home studios. I wonder if he uses his own copy of "Abraxas" to calibrate his installations....lol...?! Taken from www.audio-one.com "Founded by David Frangioni in 1985, Audio One has earned a reputation as the most innovative team of professionals in the audio & video industry. David Frangioni co-produced/engineered the first 5.1 digital surround sound music mixes ever on CD for DTS in 1995. He also co-produced two of the best selling Sample CD's of all-time (Dance/Industrial I & II) released in 1991 & 1994, respectively. David released his 3rd Sample CD, "Steve Smith - Rhythmic Journey" in 1999 and his fourth and latest Sample CD, "More than Styx" in December, 2002. Recipient of over 65 Gold and Platinum albums as technical consultant, engineer, and/or programmer since 1987. Featured many times in over 55 different magazines worldwide since 1988. 17+ years of experience & knowledge. Trust the professionals. Trust Audio One. David Frangioni co-produced/engineered the first 5.1 digital surround sound music mixes ever on CD featuring Boyz-II-Men, Seal, & Shoeless Joe (for DTS) in 1995. From there, he went onto mix over 50 DVD titles into 5.1 surround sound. David has mixed such legendary DVD releases as "Amnesty International: The Paris Concert," "Kiss; The Second Coming," and "MTV Superstars Unplugged." His mixes have received stellar reviews from the audiophile and videophile press. Utilizing the latest in surround sound technology, Audio One studios features the all state-of-the-art equipment for producing impeccable, well-balanced, surround sound mixes. In fact, David Frangioni has patented a unique technique for creating 6 channel surround mixes from 2 channel sources enabling literally ANY stereo soundtrack to be released onto DVD with a 6 channel mix! If you're serious about the sound of your surround sound project, call the experts, call Audio One." Hey Frangioni...how about giving me my money back for that lousy excuse for a "well-balanced impeccable" mix... Others agree...

B.T.O. "Not Fragile" DTS - Poundin' Ground in Surround

Bachman Turner Overdrive was Canada's biggest classic rock export. In one year they peaked with a #1 album on Billboard, a pair of #1 singles and performed in front of millions. In the last 30 years however; BTO has seen diminished sales, deleted titles, departed namesakes and "reunion" shows in front of dozens. These days they're more likely to show up in popular culture as a punch line. In Bruce McDonald's excellent film "Highway 61", one of his flawed character's is the frontman for a BTO cover band that also plays "Meetallica and Gun and Rose". In their heyday, both frontmen were somewhat heavy-duty giving creedence to their nick "Bachman Turner Overweight"... Anyhow...Bachman Turner OverDRIVE formed in 1972 under the auspices of Randy Bachman. He tinkered with the band by adding brothers and firing brothers until settling on the classic line-up of Bachman-Turner-Thornton-Bachman. Thinking that anagram was a little too complicated..Randy settled on BTO with the "Overdrive" reference coming from the bible of 18 wheeler's magazines.

Alan Parsons "On Air" DTS

Aviation history was made yesterday when a privately financed group of engineers managed to put a man into space. With that said, I guess Alan Parsons will have to add an extra track to "On Air"...

Before we get ahead of ourselves, Alan Parsons crafted this concept album detailing man's quest for the heavens. Released in 2002, "On Air", was not his or his Project's greatest of efforts. It does; however, sound quite fetching in DTS 5.1 surround sound. In this album, Alan Parsons tackles subjects ranging from the mythic Icarus and the visionary Da Vinci, into wartime tragedy, free falling, fear of flying and the Challenger disaster. Thought provoking...