In this case, how should I document this release? I have mirrored the DVD release that was documented on VGMdb as the first step (to create a release group), but since the CD release was also absent on VGMdb, there’s nothing for me to reference. I would like to hear suggestions from the community before proceeding the work on the CD release.
Edit: looks like the DVD version has a combined length that far exceeds capacities of CDs, so I’d assume some tracks were removed in the CD release. However it is very hard for me to confirm every single track due to the missing TOC.
I would add a 1-track release to MB but in the same release group as the fixed release (assuming it was released as such as well) and be sure to have its Disc ID added too. I’d use multiple titles style to list all the track names and the Recording-Recording “compilation” relationship to link the Recordings of the fixed release with the master-errored Recording. Finally, I’d add at least an Annotation on the release, and possibly a disambiguation note too.
I extracted the track and opened it in Audacity, and saw something more interesting:
All 21 songs are there, but every one is truncated
The transition between the tracks are less than 2s required by the CDDA specification
So it might well be intentional that this disc is mastered as a single quasi-gapless track to fit everything. I also confirmed that the DVD and CD releases indeed came together a two disc kit. So I guess I’ll just append the CD as a second media and document what I’ve found in the annotations?
Transition between tracks is called a pregap, or index 0.
Only the track 1 pregap should be of at least 2 seconds
The other pregap can be less, can even be omitted
Pregaps can contain sound
Thanks to 2 and 3, we have concert CD with seamless listening.
Index 1
When you skip/jump to a track (previous, next, digit dial), playback will start at this track’s indeed 1, pregap (index 0) will not be played.
Index 0
When you use fast forward or back scan (I don’t know the correct terms), everything is played, including pregaps.
When you start playing a whole CD, playback will start at track 1 index 1. Because of points 1 and 2, some rare CD do hide audio content in track 1 pregap (index 0). You must use rewind / reverse playback / scan to hear it.
But your CD just has one track, so there is just one (probably 2 second long) pregap:
They could have stored the same amount of audio, without gaps between tracks, with multiple tracks instead of 1 big track.
Can we know that this is a release that was intentionally constructed this way? Could it be simply a defective disc? If a defective disc, I would think it shouldn’t be entered into MB at all.
Since the TOC is technically still present (otherwise the disc would be unreadable), I think it’s due to the mastering, so it would be unlikely that only my copy is affected.
I have also confirmed with at least one other owner of the disc that it is constructed that way. Therefore I am suspecting that at least a whole batch is mastered like that. I’m still waiting for a third owner to confirm that, and he said he’ll get back to me early next week. The former one who have already confirmed the content with seem to have the original press from last October, and my copy and the copy from the owner pending confirmation was from the second press that was made available the past July.
I have tried contacting the producer of Lose via a public Tweet but he has not answered me yet (simply RTed my Tweet, but didn’t comment). I am considering DMing him for confirmation.
Due to how CDs are made, a one-off defective disc with an “apparently valid but actually not correct” TOC should be, for all practical purposes, impossible. So this is absolutely a problem with the master. Other copies will definitely have the exact same issue and this should be entered as-is (in this case, the multiple title guideline is relevant).
If the TOC is “fixed” in a later pressing, it would be appropriate to enter that as a separate release.
Well I’ve confirmed that three copies from two batches (including mine) are all mastered with just a single track. I guess that’s the info we need for now.
Index 1
Index 0