TC Electronic

...and preserved his brother’s legacy

It takes a diverse collection of skills to innovate and create the tools for which TC Electronic is famed. So, it’s only a matter of time before you come across a team member whose talents go far beyond the workplace. And nowhere is that more apparent than in TC Electronic’s Christian G. Frandsen.

Christian has been our Product Development Engineer and Specialist for 25 years and helps develop our professional studio equipment. But being an engineer, for Christian, doesn’t stop at TC Electronic. You could even say that it runs in the family.

The Start of a Life-Long Adventure
Back in 1981, a 10-year-old Christian would listen to cassette tapes of a band called TV-2, a Danish pop rock group that was only just starting at that time. His older brother Anders was a Front-of-House engineer for the band and recorded an early performance of theirs in Holbaek all those years ago. This had a huge impact on Christian as it was not just the music of what would become one of the biggest bands in Denmark that resonated with him, but his brother was also part of something big. Something Christian felt was very special. This engendered a passion for sound and music that would shape Christian’s life and lead to a career in TC Electronic which persists to this day.

Tragedy and a Renewed Purpose
Sadly, Anders would pass away suddenly in 2008 leaving behind fond memories and some tapes of early TV-2 recordings, among others which Christian would inherit. Though rough and mixed for live sound, he had in his hands the purest sources of inspiration that set him down the path to where he is now. It deserved a lot more than to just sit in a shelf gathering dust.

In 2016, as he was remastering his own band’s recordings, Christian decided to dust off those old TV-2 tapes from Anders and remix the recordings now with the power of modern technology that just wasn’t available back in the 80s. With a few test optimizations in hand, Christian got in touch with TV-2 who then agreed to try to remaster the concert.

With the band’s blessing, the desire to honor his brother’s legacy and to share the recordings with other eager fans, Christian started on an adventure that would last up to five and a half years.

Renewing a Legacy with Modern Technology
Restoring the recordings wouldn’t be an easy task though. The mixes were recorded directly from the Front-of-House console and were mixed for live audiences not for listening at home. Distortion from the aging cassette tape plus those from the original equipment themselves had to be cleaned up along with several other anomalies that presented themselves.

Some of the original vocals were cut out of the original recordings as they were too distorted and unintelligible. This was done with the help of a company based in Los Angeles that specialized in extracting vocals from recordings. New vocals were recorded and gently mixed in, matching the same energy and feel of the original.

During the remastering process, Christian used several different effects, compressors and metering solutions from TC Electronic

• The 12-band Midas powered EQ PEQ 3000 was used for all EQ tasks in mix and mastering and fixing the identified issues with the original cassette tape like rather severe stereo, left/right and mid/side spectral imbalances
• The very flexible MD4 HD multiband compressor was used for mastering, overall dynamics control while the five bands give high spectral resolution and transparency to the delicate compression
• The high-end true stereo reverb VSS4 HD adds club-like early reflections and stereo width help that are lacking in the original PA console output mix, which was recorded with close mic-ing and reverb tail effects only
• The BRICKWALL HD master true-peak limiter gives an exceptional view and control of peaks and track loudness to align the project with modern streaming standards
• The Midas powered DYN 3000 channel compressor was used in the mastering process adding just a tiny punch and was also used on the new vocal recordings where the dynamics and texture were profiled and reproduced
• The classic delay TC2290 was used for effects on the dubbed sources like parts of the lead vocal. In the original mix there are multiple delay elements and these were profiled and reproduced.
• The vintage reverb DVR250 was used for important 80s reverb sound on the dubbed sources like parts of the lead vocal in order for them to mix perfectly with the original concert.
• Throughout the project the Clarity M meter was a great companion for stand-alone (off screen) metering. It adds continuous views on spectral content, center-location, loudness and phase and by using USB/plugin connection to the unit either master out, busses or channels can easily be monitored.