Dire Straits ‘Brothers In Arms’ album and ‘Local Hero’ soundtrack to be released on 45 RPM double vinyl
Dire Straits 1985 album “Brothers in Arms” will be released on Universal Music along with Mark Knopfler’s 1983 soundtrack to Bill Forsyth’s “Local Hero”. Both the album and the soundtrack have already gone through several editions, but still remained quite rare.
The current releases are seriously different from the previous ones – first of all, in the sound quality. The 45 RPM speed alone produces an improved sound over a conventional 33 1/3 LP. But in the work on the material, Abbey Road mastering engineer Miles Showell also used half-speed die cutting technology.
This technology further improves the overall sound of the record, but “dries up” the range below 60 Hz somewhat. This deficiency will be compensated to a neutral level by frequency correction.
“Brothers In Arms” master tapes were digitally recorded by the Sony 1610. Abbey Road Studios retained several Sony 1630 systems. Additional modern synchronization tools were used to produce material that, in Showell’s words, sounds “as good as possible.” Then the received digital audio was upscaled to a sampling rate of 88.2 kHz.
As for the music for The Local Hero, it was recorded on a U-matic cassette in digital format by JVC. In addition, material from a 32-track recording on 3M tape has been preserved. It was the latest version that was transcribed in Japan for the upcoming release. From now on, the result will be stored in the archives of Universal Music for future re-releases. This release is expected in mid-May.
On Amazon, a double album from Dire Straits’s “Brothers In Arms” concert and the film’s Local Hero soundtrack will retail for $63 on pre-order.