Virgin Records Announces First Super Audio CD Title

Original Recording Of Mike Oldfieldís ""Tubular Bells"" Remastered For Multichannel SACD

13-Dec-00

Virgin Records announced the release of a remastered version of the classic 1970s Mike Oldfield album ""Tubular Bells"" on Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD). The SACD, scheduled for release in February next year, will not only be the first SACD to be released by Virgin but will be the first multichannel SACD produced by a major record label from an original multitrack master.""Tubular Bells,"" Virginís first-ever vinyl release, is in many ways the perfect choice for the companyís first SACD. Originally released in 1973, the success of the album was critical in putting the fledgling record label on the road to becoming one of the worldís leading music companies. Since its release, ""Tubular Bells"" has sold over ten million copies, and has become a cult classic among music enthusiasts.The idea to produce an SACD of ""Tubular Bells"" was first suggested by Simon Heyworth (engineer and co-producer of ""Tubular Bells"" with Tom Newman) who knew a pristine four-track master of ""Tubular Bells"" still existed, and had never been released. Impressed with the fidelity of the SACD format, he suggested remastering the original version for the exciting new format.Jointly developed by Sony and Philips, and SACD format uses Direct Stream Digital (DSD) recording technology to provide the highest quality stereo and multichannel content, while maintaining compatibility with the existing CD format.Simon Heyworth, now Senior Mastering Engineer at Sanctuary Mastering London, brought the four-track master tape to Airshow Mastering in Boulder, Colorado, where it was carefully transferred to a DSD recorder. ""Although SACD supports 5.1 audio, we wanted to be as faithful as possible to the original four-track mix. So we only made some slight adjustments in the position of the rear channels, but kept it four channels,"" recounted Heyworth.Simon Heyworth and Virgin executives gathered recently at Abbey Road Studios in London to hear the first test pressings of ""Tubular Bells"" on SACD.According to Heyworth, ""The four-channel version on SACD adds a dimension to the album that we could never achieve in any of the stereo mixes for remasters that were done over the years. Each instrument now has its own space, even though it was Mike playing them all. Thanks to SACD and its superb fidelity, I think Mikeís fans will finally be able to hear the album as he intended it to be.""For further details, contact Paul Bromby at Virgin Records, in the U.K., 44 (0)208 964 6278.