The recordings discussed in this thread were merged. Afterwards I was not happy with my merges.
This is about Blondie’s Sunday Girl, first released in 1978/79 in an English and a French version with a length of 3:01 each. In 1988 a longer French version was released in an official Blondie compilation (3:08 and 3:13 - both lengths verified by disc ID). In the 1990s longer English versions appeared on various compilations. The 2022 remastered editions (album/single) include both versions with a length of ~3:10 (song without silence).
The 2022 remastered versions play a bit slower and add ~0.5 secs to their length when they reach the point where the original version ends. The ending is a repeating pattern and it is both possible that more of it was on tape or that it was subsequently extended.
Merge them all? (of course, English and French separate )
I just started to untangle the versions, but it is difficult and I thought, I better ask this question first (again) - how many seconds longer should constitute a separate recording?
Strictly a speed difference comes under “remastering” and therefore merge.
But the other argument is a speed difference has likely been intentionally done to adjust the BPM for a reason.
This speed difference doesn’t seem to be anything that intentional if it is just in a compilation. Probably a bit of mastering to help it fit with other tracks. If it had been a single with BPM noted on it then I’d have been tempted to keep it separated.
Adding or chopping off 5 seconds of a repeated bit seems to also be a “merge it”.
So in the end I’d vote for just mush them into the same recording. As the changes are just mastering. Though watch out for that 2013 re-recording as that needs to be separated.
(But it goes without saying - agree to obviously keep the French segregated )
I’d still mush them together. That’s less than 5% of the length. When you adjust for speed, if the only difference is a repeated phrase I’d call that the same recording. Extra verse or added solo then I’d separate.
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