Outstanding Demo CD's etc...

oneinthepipe · « **Reply #80 on:** 30 Mar 2009, 09:44 pm »

Corinne Bailey Rae is excellent. If you like Corinne, you'd probably like Erin Bode's The Little Garden.

Gord_Toronto · « **Reply #81 on:** 31 Mar 2009, 11:37 pm »

Just picked up and been listening to;

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

Can't believe the sound quality. The ST-RT's reproduce the the horns, base and piano incredibly well. Originally recorded in 1959 this particular CD was remastered in 1997 and the blurb states that they corrected a pitch problem that was on the original LP. If recording quality was this good back in '59 what happened after that. Was there a lost art for a couple of decades

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #82 on:** 1 Apr 2009, 12:17 am »

Quote from: Gord_Toronto on 31 Mar 2009, 11:37 pm

Just picked up and been listening to;

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

Can't believe the sound quality. The ST-RT's reproduce the the horns, base and piano incredibly well. Originally recorded in 1959 this particular CD was remastered in 1997 and the blurb states that they corrected a pitch problem that was on the original LP. If recording quality was this good back in '59 what happened after that. Was there a lost art for a couple of decades

Some would say there was - and some would say we still haven't fully found our way back, in terms of engineering practice.

Some of the engineers working in the 50s were really very good. They had to be in part because of what they were required to do as a matter of routine, like mix a complete orchestra's worth of spot mics and main mic on the fly so the result could go straight to a stereo recorder. That's all there was in general use until about 1960 when 3 and 4 tracks became popular. In the late 60s, 16 tracks became common in US studios and we entered the era of "fixing it in the mix" from about 1970 to present, where mixing decisions can be deferred until "later" when it gets mixed.

It is possible to imagine how the work of an inspired and talented engineer in mixing something on the fly, including large scale levels adjustments on the master fader to accommodate gross differences in level through the course of a long symphony or jazz piece would have a certain integrity of sound that is the result of a single inspired performance not only by the musician(s) but the engineer.

I have been blown away by the quality of the studio work for what amounted to popular music in the early 50s, like Santa Baby by Eartha Kit: http://tinyurl.com/cb7cos
from 1953 or so.

Some Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly work is extremely well recorded, I am told, if you can hear an early master before the "echo" (which Presley hated) was added. I have heard some spectacular old Presley - pretty amazing performances from him, too.

Circumstances of the times worked in favor of good finished sound, like the absence of transistors pretty well anywhere in the equipment chain, the absence of exotic signal processing like multi-band parametric EQs and multi-band compression (both done in the digital domain), and the absence of multi track recording, and the limits imposed by analog tape on the number of ovedubs possible, Les Paul aside.

The enforced simplicity helped keep the sound listenable.

adydula · « **Reply #83 on:** 2 Apr 2009, 08:14 pm »

Russell,

When I listened to the Cowboy Junkies Trinty Sessions , I think it was done with one Caltrec Mic and Ambisonic recording (what ever that is) I thought the same thoughts...

Way back when with so little technology and the sound is wonderful...

The acoustics of the church that this session took place in and the way it was done is today still a reference recording...

This is one of the reason I started this thread..looking for those really neat demo level recordings no matter how back in time they were made..

Thanks for you input!!

Alex

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #84 on:** 2 Apr 2009, 09:04 pm »

The Trinity Sessions recordings were done with a two channel "R-DAT" (an early name for what became simply DAT, as "S-DAT" fizzled shortly after conception) Rotary head Digital Audio Tape, versus Stationary head, the very short-lived Philips format intended to compete with Sony MiniDisc and called DCC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Compact_Cassette

Since it was a two track recorder, the signal from the 4-element Calrec Soundfield Mark I microphone used had to pass through the decoder box to emerge as two channel stereo, the pattern being set by the decoder unit. If memory serves, it was Blumlein, or some close variant which was used. I did a quick search but could not come up with the information just now.

If it was Blumlein it would be easy in remastering to come up with a 5.1 surround mix, since the difference between the left and right signals can easily be extracted and can be sent to the rear channels. The "difference signal" consists entirely of ambiance coming into the mic from the left and right quadrants.

Re-mastering options are irrelevant now that a new recording has been done at the same venue.

Anyway, the point of this is that though the Calrec was capable of Ambisonic recording if recorded on 4 tracks, it was used here essentially as a stereo mic, but its use did permit the use of the word Ambisonic in the promotional copy and sounded usefully exotic and audiophile-worthy.

In fact the quality about this recording that people like is attributable to coherent one point micing in a great sounding space and minimal signal manipulation, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the Ambisonic potential of the mic. There were better sounding mics around at the time, too. This is a textbook example of the value of keeping it simple.

Gord_Toronto · « **Reply #85 on:** 2 Apr 2009, 11:11 pm »

Its not just about keeping it simple. However, keeping it simple forces you to have an exceptional quality person overseeing and engineering the recording. Its the exceptional person that makes it happen in any profession.

Its refreshing when you run into someone who really knows their stuff and looks after all the attention and detail. I find that the majority of people really just try to do the minimum to get by at their jobs or alternatively are working at the top of their game. Recording Engineers are just like all other people only a few will actually make it happen. The 80 - 20 rule I'm sure would apply here.

Great info and background Russell

Gord

adydula · « **Reply #86 on:** 3 Apr 2009, 10:38 pm »

I guess it goes down to doing it right the first time, with all the technology if its not done right, it comes out less than it could have been....now and then...Gord you hit the nail right on the head.

I was listening to a complilation of Robeta Flacks greratest hits, and heard all that old analog hiss from the obviously old analog tapes but more so what I noticed was that some of the recordings on this "best of disc" were great in soound, balance, and micing, others were absolutley terrible,,great material but absolutely gargbage in the recording, mixing stage...its so sad...

Yes like Nuance I love the music for what it is, but when you 'murder' the artist and or their material with crappy techinques etc ...its really bad....

This is why we again started this thread and look for the best of the best..and thank goodness there is a good amount of well recorded, mixed, and produced material of a wide variety for us to enjoy on our Salk's and yes even other speaker brands!!

All the best..
I have the new Diana Krall CD to listen to tonight!!

Give you a review of it later!!

Alex

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #87 on:** 3 Apr 2009, 10:48 pm »

Quote from: adydula on 3 Apr 2009, 10:38 pm

... for us to enjoy on our Salk's and yes even other speaker brands!!
Alex

There are other speaker brands??

rahimlee54 · « **Reply #88 on:** 3 Apr 2009, 10:52 pm »

Quote from: Russell Dawkins on 3 Apr 2009, 10:48 pm

Quote from: adydula on 3 Apr 2009, 10:38 pm
... for us to enjoy on our Salk's and yes even other speaker brands!!
Alex
There are other speaker brands??

You could always check out Cerwin Vega like 3 coworkers told me I should have done in the last month. I told them I was getting Salks and they were like what is that? I told them it was Bose +2

.

adydula · « **Reply #89 on:** 3 Apr 2009, 11:05 pm »

oh golly gee i am in trouble now!! aa

Hey Jared, are we getting close now???

What did u decide on an amp??

Ok later going to listen to Quiet Nights by D. Krall....oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!

Alex

adydula · « **Reply #90 on:** 7 Apr 2009, 02:59 pm »

Ok,

Diana Krall...'Quiet Nights".....well I like D. Krall for sure...but this cd for me is a bit of a disapointment.

I kept listening but something was missing...and then after several songs....I said " Where is the piano????"

This disc accentuates her voice more than the ususal wonderful piano playing.....

Its amazing on how used to hearing a particular artist, you start expecting a certain level of 'experience' and when it deviates it
is quite noticeable.

Be curious if any one else out there has played this disc yet?

All the best
Alex

rodge827 · « **Reply #91 on:** 7 Apr 2009, 08:03 pm »

Quote from: adydula on 7 Apr 2009, 02:59 pm

Ok,

Diana Krall...'Quiet Nights".....well I like D. Krall for sure...but this cd for me is a bit of a disapointment.

I kept listening but something was missing...and then after several songs....I said " Where is the piano????"

This disc accentuates her voice more than the ususal wonderful piano playing.....

Its amazing on how used to hearing a particular artist, you start expecting a certain level of 'experience' and when it deviates it
is quite noticeable.

Be curious if any one else out there has played this disc yet?

All the best
Alex

I felt the same way. I've listened to it a number of times through and had to work real hard at staying awake.

All that talent and this is what we get to spend our cash and time on?

It seams as though Verve is trying to sell an "image" and not an artist. Kind of reminded me of the Britney Spears approach to recording. All show and no substance.

Rodge

charmerci · « **Reply #92 on:** 7 Apr 2009, 08:52 pm »

Eh, you can't expect good artists to always put out great albums - they've all made bleah albums.

Anyway, it used to be that the music industry created an image for the artists. Today, they mold the artists to fit an image.

satfrat · « **Reply #93 on:** 7 Apr 2009, 09:11 pm »

Quote from: adydula on 7 Apr 2009, 02:59 pm

Ok,

Diana Krall...'Quiet Nights".....well I like D. Krall for sure...but this cd for me is a bit of a disappointment.

I kept listening but something was missing...and then after several songs....I said " Where is the piano????"

This disc accentuates her voice more than the usual wonderful piano playing.....

Its amazing on how used to hearing a particular artist, you start expecting a certain level of 'experience' and when it deviates it
is quite noticeable.

Be curious if any one else out there has played this disc yet?

All the best
Alex

I've spun this album a few time since downloading it last week and I like this recording. I think this album's main purpose is to highlite vocal ballets from Diana more than simply relying on her piano background. Seeing how I love her voice, I can easily live w/o the piano. I have plenty of her prior albums for that anyways so this is a nice change for her imho. "Quiet Nights" will be seeing plenty of playing time in the foreseeable future.

Cheers,
Robin

mcgsxr · « **Reply #94 on:** 7 Apr 2009, 10:26 pm »

I am a fan of hers, but not overall a large fan of piano music, so it sounds like I might really like this one from her!

bahorn1 · « **Reply #95 on:** 8 Apr 2009, 03:43 am »

Stop it! You guys are costing me money.

I just got a number of CDs from Amazon over the past week because of their mention here.

Jennifer Warnes - Famous Blue Raincoat
Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing
Eva Cassidy - Songbird
Vienna Teng - Waking Hour
Diana Krall - Quiet Nights
Chris Tomlin - Hello Love (This CD wasn't mentioned in this thread but I like him)

My favorite so far is Waking Hour. I've known about Vienna Teng for years but have never really listened to her. Now I'm going to buy her other 3 CDs. Thanks to someone who mentioned Waking Hour on this thread.

Quiet Nights - I like Diana Krall. But it is weird that she isn't playing piano. Nevertheless, I still like this CD.

Of course, they all sound great on my SongTowers.

oneinthepipe · « **Reply #96 on:** 8 Apr 2009, 04:02 am »

I mentioned Vienna Teng. Maybe someone else also mentioned her. She released a new CD yesterday.

satfrat · « **Reply #97 on:** 8 Apr 2009, 05:27 am »

Quote from: oneinthepipe on 8 Apr 2009, 04:02 am

I mentioned Vienna Teng. Maybe someone else also mentioned her. She released a new CD yesterday.

That would be Inland Territory incase anyone's interested.

Cheers,
Robin

bahorn1 · « **Reply #98 on:** 8 Apr 2009, 06:28 am »

Quote from: satfrat on 8 Apr 2009, 05:27 am

Quote from: oneinthepipe on 8 Apr 2009, 04:02 am
I mentioned Vienna Teng. Maybe someone else also mentioned her. She released a new CD yesterday.

That would be Inland Territory incase anyone's interested.

Cheers,
Robin

That's one of her 3 CDs I just ordered from Amazon!

OITP, I hope you were listening to your new speakers while you wrote your last post.

Rocket · « **Reply #99 on:** 8 Apr 2009, 09:07 am »

Hi,

Don't mean to offend but I bought Jennifer Warnes 'Famous Blue Raincoat' and whilst the songs were great it wasn't a great recording. It was the 20th anniversary version.

Regards

Rod