S Balachander: The Maestro and the Disciple part 1 [HTC 8143] a cassette recorded in India in 1979 and reissued in 1991

Here is a transfer of a cassette released in 1979 featuring the celebrated veena maestro S Balachander and his disciple Gayathri Narayanan, accompanied by UK Sivaraman on mridangam and TH Vinayakaram on Ghatam. 

Transfer: Nakamichi ZX-9 cassette deck, extensively refurbished and rebuilt to "better than new" state by Willi Hermann

Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.
Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24bit/96kHz resolution
Software: Audacity and xAct.
Monitoring: Digital line out from a MacBook, Focal Spirit One headphones with Schitt Audio Asgard headphone preamp with 4490 DAC

downloads:

24bit, 44.1kHz FLAC files (490 MB)

highest resolution files I am capable of producing

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (276 MB)

after decoding to WAV files, these can be burned to CDR

320 kbps mp3 files (100 MB)

highest quality mp3 files possible 

Click here to read a good explanation of what FLAC files are and why you should be listening to them if you can

MS Gopalakrishnan: Carnatic Violin [HTC 8152] recorded in India in 1973 and issued on cassette in 1993

As a followup to a recent post of a French LP by the Carnatic violinist MS Gopalakrishnan, for this post we have a cassette released in 1993 by HMV. It was recorded in 1973.

Transfer: Nakamichi ZX-9 cassette deck, extensively refurbished and rebuilt to "better than new" state by Willi Hermann

Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.
Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24bit/96kHz resolution
Software: Audacity and xAct.
Monitoring: Digital line out from a MacBook, Focal Spirit One headphones with Schitt Audio Asgard headphone preamp with 4490 DAC

downloads:

24bit, 96kHz FLAC files (940 MB)

highest resolution files I am capable of producing

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (251 MB)

after decoding to WAV files, these can be burned to CDR

320 kbps mp3 files (102 MB)

highest quality mp3 files possible 

Click here to read a good explanation of what FLAC files are and why you should be listening to them if you can

Aruna Sayeeram: radio broadcast performance recorded in 2007 in Paris

Here is a very well-recorded and enjoyable off-air broadcast recording from French radio of a performance by Carnatic vocalist Aruna Sayeeram (also spelled Aruna Sairam). At 42 minutes it's obviously not the entire concert, but what we have preserved by the radio wizards in Paris is really quite beautiful.

Recording information:

Theatre de la Ville, Paris

10 november 2007

broadcast on France-Musiques ("Couleurs du Monde"),  27 november 2007

lineage : FM analogic tuner > aif > flac

Aruna Sayeeram, vocal

Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, violin

Tiruvarur Vaidyanathan, mridangam

S. V. Ramani, ghatam

Bangalore Rajashekar, morsing

1. Padam - Rama rama - Raga Bhairavi - Tala Adi (5:13)

2. Ragam Tanam Kriti - Raga Purvi Kalyani - Tala Adi (30:58)

3. Tillana - Raga Gambira Nattai - Tala Adi (6:06)

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC file (242 MB)

320kbps mp3 file (97 MB)

MS Gopalakrishnan: Le Violin de MS Gopalakrishnan [ESP 155 548] an LP released in France in 1977

Here is a lovely LP by the Carnatic violinist MS Gopalakrishnan which was recorded by the French label Disques Esperance and released in 1977. It is volume 5 of a series of LPs which were extremely well-recorded and produced.

Obituary from "The Hindu" newspaper, January 2013:

M.S. Gopalakrishnan — legendary violinist known for his mastery of both the Carnatic and Hindustani systems of classical music — passed away early on Thursday after a brief illness. He was 82.

Hailing from the celebrated Parur lineage, MSG, as he is fondly referred to in music circles, started performing as a little boy, barely eight, along with his elder brother M.S. Anantharaman, also a veteran violinist. He trained under his father Parur Sundaram Iyer.

MSG was among the most sought-after accompanists of his generation, and had a remarkable career, accompanying stalwarts such as Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Alathur Brothers, G.N. Balasubramaniam, Madurai Mani Iyer, M.S. Subbulakshmi, M.L. Vasanthakumari, M. Balamuralikrishna and Maharajapuram Santhanam. As an accompanist, he embellished a concert by complementing the main artist’s ideas with rare sensitivity. He would swiftly interpret the main artist’s musical expressions, and lend support in an absolutely unobtrusive manner — a quality that continues to inspire many young musicians today.

In his career spanning 75 years, he not only broke new ground as an accompanist, but also rose to become one of the best solo violinists in the country, along with Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and T.N. Krishnan. The three are considered the ‘violin trinity’ of south Indian classical music.

Despite enviable success and accolades that came in the form of national honours such as the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, and innumerable titles, including the ‘Sangita Kalanidhi’ title awarded by The Music Academy, Chennai, MSG remained a very simple, unassuming person. He is survived by his wife Meenakshi, daughters, M. Narmadha (violinist and prime disciple), Latha and violinist-son Suresh.

Equipment used in transfer:

Preparation: Ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes in pure water
Turntable: Audio-technica AT-LP-1240
Cartridge: Shure M97xE
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.
Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24bit/96kHz resolution

Monitoring: Schiit Asgard 3 DAC and preamp, Focal Spirit Pro headphones
Software: Audacity, ClickRepair, kid3, and xAct.

  

downloads:

24bit, 96kHz FLAC files (730 MB)

highest resolution files I am capable of producing

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (326 MB)

after decoding to WAV files, these can be burned to CDR

320 kbps mp3 files (86 MB)

highest quality mp3 files possible 

Click here to read a good explanation of what FLAC files are and why you should be listening to them if you can

Brij Narayan and Kalinath Misra: live performance in Paris, 2000 (FM broadcast)

Here is another live performance, this time a 54-minute recording of Raga Multani from a french FM broadcast and featuring sarodist Brij Narayan. 

The information accompanying the recording (made at home by "Museum64" which was shared in 2004 is:

Pandit Brij Narayan : sarod

Kalinat Misra : tabla

Marie-Therese Schmitt : tanpura

1.intro W/ interview

2.raga multani

3.outro

Brij Narayan is Ram Narayan's son.

Radio France, Salle olivier Messian, Paris, Fr

October 29th 2000

FM > MD > HDD > FLAC

**upped by Museum64**

12/26/2004

This post only includes the music and does not include the very brief introduction and concluding remarks made by the announcer -- about two minutes of speaking has been removed.

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC file (286 MB)

320kbps mp3 file (122 MB)