Would removal of a click/clatter count as a separate recording?

MusicBrainz
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I have been editing the following release: https://musicbrainz.org/release/15f0a86b-ffe9-4310-821e-deba107fb524

This is a hybrid SACD compilation of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

There were a number of duplicate recordings. I have merged the ones that I have listened to and compared and made sure they were exactly the same. (I have all their albums so this was straightforward.)

Nonetheless, there is one that I am not sure I can merge. This is Rosalosis. The sole difference between the original album and the compilation is they cut off a brief clatter/click at the start of the recording, possibly removed a few seconds of silence from the end.

You can listen to the original recording here: Rosasolis (2008 Digital Remaster) - YouTube and the compilation here: Rosasolis (2001 Digital Remaster) - YouTube

As far as I am concerned this is not musical. It is the same as an applause or a click/pop introduced by a tape/LP. It sounds like someone dropped a coin in a drum or something like that.

So, to this extent I would merge the two recordings, but itā€™s unclear to me if this is ā€˜correctā€™. I would be interested in hearing some thoughts on this one.

2 Likes
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I would further add that the acoustIDs actually match for these two recordings:

It is unclear to me if this is a mistake, or the manner in which acoustIDs are computed (with regards to clicks and pops etc).

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An AcoustID is a group of fingerprints. The AcoustID server compares fingerprints and decides if they are ā€œsimilarā€. I am not sure which AcoustID you are referring to, but both hold multiple different fingerprints.

Hereā€™s an egregious example where 2 entirely different recordings share an AcoustID (click ā€œback to fingerprintā€, then ā€œback to trackā€, on each fingerprint):
https://acoustid.org/fingerprint/12635077/compare/14351739

If you change the offset to -50 (negative fifty), you can begin to guess why the AcoustID server came to the conclusion that the fingerprints are ā€œsimilarā€.