I recently found myself working on the master tape of a CD that had been released in 1994, Elliott Smith's Roman Candle. My job was to prepare the stereo mix for re-mastering — to make some small sonic adjustments and come up with an approach for the upcoming mastering session. (We went to a pro! I wanted the second set of ears, skills and opinions that another engineer could bring to this project.) As I started listening to the files and making small changes — de- essing, removing unwanted noises, adding subtle volume moves, fixing bad punch-ins and applying tiny bits of noise reduction — I started to wonder if I was straying too far from the original CD. What was the point of the work I was performing? Was something being lost or gained? Sounds like harsh "esses", guitar scrapes and unwanted noises can sometimes distract the listener from the actual music, and as Jim Scott notes in his interview this issue, "Music's not about pushing people away." But such sounds can also add an intimacy — a "you are there" quality.