I was in the room Tom with Larry Harlow for a few days and it was quite small (Variety). That problem was solved in Puerto Rico where everyone cut at Ochoa which was a former TV studio and HUGE.

AA

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 24, 2013, at 8:46 AM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hi Matt:
>
> See what you think of the sound samples here:
> http://www.fania.com/content/ricanstruction
>
> Given the relatively low price of a WAV download, it might be worth a try.
>
> It's hard to make any definitive judgements from lossy-stream sound excerpts, but the percussion sounds sharp and there's nice clarity for a 1979 small-studio album.
>
> To my ears, Fania often had the problem of using small studios with loud sound sources. Even with typical 1970s sound-deadening materials and dead-room recording techniques, putting a couple of trumpets and Latin percussion in a small space doesn't lead to ideal results. Bottom line, this music is played LOUD, and the recording setup needs to deal with SPLs accordingly. Some of the live recordings sound much better, just because the sound waves had room to move beyond the microphones and dissipate in the big open spaces.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Snyder" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 7:21 AM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Some classic Fania Records titles reborn
>
>
>> I too am pleased to hear of these remasterings. Ray Barreto's
>> mind-blowing Rican/Struction not only sounds muffled on the cd issue,
>> but the very beginning of the first track is cut off. I can't believe
>> a professional was involved in that mastering.
>>
>> --
>> Matt Snyder
>> Archivist
>> Manuscripts & Archives Division
>> New York Public Library
>> [log in to unmask]
>> Tel: 917-229-9582
>>