August 12, 2017

Shamim Ahmed Khan: A Delectable Treat in Ragas [Magnasound C4HI0068] a cassette recorded and released in India in 1989

Shamim Ahmed Khan (1938-2012) was a disciple of Ravi Shankar. He seemed to be on excellent terms with his teacher and followed him to California when Raviji opened a school there. Khan released relatively few records during his lifetime. This cassette was recorded with Nayan Ghosh on tabla.

side 1:
Raga Puriya Dhanashri (Alap, Jod, Jhala; with fast and slow compositions in teentaal)

side2:
Raga Hamsadwani (alap and slow composition in jhaptaal)
Dhun in dadrataal





Equipment used in this transfer:
Cassette Deck: Teac W890R (azimuth was carefully adjusted for each side)
Preamp: Parasound PHP 850
Recorder: Roland R-05
Software: Audacity and xAct

(after decoding to WAV, suitable for burning to CD)

(highest possible quality mp3 file; 
suitable for listening on a portable player)





August 5, 2017

Alathur Brothers: Carnatic Vocal (All India Radio recording) [HTC 03B 8184] A Cassette recorded in India in 1963 and released in India in 1991

The Alathur Brothers, just like the Ramones, were not actually brothers. They consisted of vocalists Sivasubramaniya Iyer (1916-65) and Srinivasa Iyer (1911-80) who trained under Sivasubramaniya's father Alathur Venkatesa Iyer.

This is a recording of a concert broadcast on All India Radio and recorded on April 8, 1963.






Side one:
1 Vidulaku Mrokkeda (raga: Mayamalavagaula; tala: Adi)
2 Rama Neepi raga: Kedaram; tala: Adi)

Side two:
1 Kanta Tava (raga: Athana; tala: Adi)
2 Cherarvademira (raga: Ritigaula; tala: Desadi)
3 Tillana (raga: Behag; tala: Adi)
4 Visveswar Darsan (raga: Sindubhairavi; tala: Rupakam)

TS Tatachar: violin
MS Ramaiah: mridangam
S Seshagiri Das: kanjira

Equipment used in this transfer:
Cassette Deck: Teac W890R (azimuth was carefully adjusted for each side)
Preamp: Parasound PHP 850
Recorder: Edirol R-09HR
Software: Audacity and xAct



(the highest resolution I am capable of producing; 
suitable for a player capable of playing high resolution files)

(after decoding to WAV, suitable for burning to CD)

(highest possible quality mp3 file; 
suitable for listening on a portable player)



August 3, 2017

Shivkumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia: Yugal Bandi [ECSD 2747] an LP recorded in Sweden in 1973 and released in India in 1975

Here is an interesting example of a recording made in Sweden while these two artists were on tour there. It was subsequently released in India on EMI. Sweden had the wonderful Amigo label which released fewer than a dozen recordings of Indian classical music (but almost all of them were gems) and also apparently the Sonet label, which released primarily jazz and blues music from 1956-91.

The recording is obviously very high quality, and I would love to be able to obtain the original analog tapes and remaster these for a proper reissue. However, until that happens, we can enjoy this vinyl transfer.







Side one:
Raga Jhinjhoti

Side two:
Raga Misra Pilu

Santoor: Shivkumar Sharma
Bansuri: Hariprasad Chaurasia
Tabla: Kashinath Mishra
Tampura: Anuradha Chaurasia


Equipment used in transfer: 
Preparation: Ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes in pure clean water
Turntable:  Audio-technica AT-LP-1240
Cartridge: Shure M97x
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.
Recorder: Edirol R-09HR at 24bit/96kHz resolution
Software: AudacityClickRepairand xAct



(the highest resolution I am capable of producing; 
suitable for playing on a computer or other player 
capable of playing high resolution files)

(after decoding to WAV, suitable for burning to CD)

(highest possible quality mp3 file; 
suitable for listening on a portable player)