A 21ST-CENTURY version of one of the most iconic songs of the second World War is hitting the airways, featuring the vocals of a 22-year-old Dame Vera Lynn.
Thanks to groundbreaking technology, We'll Meet Againhas been recorded with the current Fron Male Voice Choir, using Lynn's original vocal, recorded in 1939.
The project was the brainchild of Universal Music, which wanted a young Lynn to sing with the Fron Male Voice Choir on its latest album. However, the original track was recorded in mono and does not have a multi-track version, meaning modern-day sound engineers can’t easily mix the vocals with contemporary recordings.
New technology developed by Audionamix, a music technology firm based in Paris, Los Angeles and New York, made it possible.
Audionamix has been working on technology that allows it to isolate the vocals on tracks, clean them up and remaster them into stereo. Using this, it can take old audio recordings and transform them into fully separated tracks and components.
It can “up-mix” tracks and restore the sound, isolating noises and cleaning them up.
The end result has been described as “spellbinding” by the record company, and has even surprised the “forces’ sweetheart”, now 92.
“I’m amazed this is possible. It’s wonderful,” she said.
Audionamix's signal processing and high-definition audio treatment technology has been used previously on film soundtracks such as The Passionate Life of Edith Piaf.
However, the application of the technology to major record labels’ back catalogues opens up new avenues for both the company and the label.
“Record companies’ back catalogues are a gold mine of classic recordings waiting to be rediscovered by new generations,” said Audionamix’s Olivier Attia. “But, the scarcity of multi-track versions and the poor quality of aging, often monophonic recording have made this difficult, if not impossible to achieve.
“ADX Technology unlocks the commercial potential of historic back catalogues and brings musical heritage like Dame Vera’s iconic recordings to life for today’s consumers in exciting new formats.”
The remastered track is set to be released as a single on December 14th.
