Ali Akbar Khan and Zakir Hussain: live in Stockholm, Sweden on 1980-11-15

This second live recording of Ali Akbar Khan's fall 1980 tour is from an FM broadcast of the concert which took place on 1980-11-15. The venue was not specified in the digital transfer I received.

Ali Akbar Khan: sarod

Zakir Hussain: tabla

Mary Johnson: tanpura

Total Time: 46 minutes, 9 seconds

This was certainly not the entire concert and may or may not have been the entire broadcast. It is not clear whether the date I have is of the concert or the broadcast, or both. Once again an audio cassette was transferred and shared by Jack Warner. Thank you, Jack!

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC file (204 MB)

Ali Akbar Khan and Zakir Hussain: live in San Diego, California on 1980-10-17

This is one of two live recordings of Ali Akbar Khan and Zakir Hussain recorded in the fall of 1980 which I will be uploading in the next few days. 

This one is from venue at SDSU in San Diego, California. The next upload will be from a concert in Stockholm, Sweden on 1980-11-15. 

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Ali Akbar Khan and Zakir Hussain
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA
October 17, 1980

Ali Akbar Khan: sarod
Zakir Hussain: tabla
Mary Johnson: tanpura

Total time: 76 minutes, 32 seconds

This tape was transferred (from an analog cassette recorded at the mixing desk) by legendary audio collector Jack Warner, who graciously shared his transfer. Thank you, Jack!

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC file (234 MB)

Bhajan Saupuri: Santoor Recital [CBS BS001] a cassette recorded and released in India in 1984

Bhajan Saupuri (or Sopori, or Sopuri -- depending on your source) is a santoor performer born in 1948. Not a lot of his recordings are currently available. This one is from a series produced by Swarashree Records and released (reissued?) in India by CBS. The Swarashree recordings document many lesser known but musically interesting performers. Some labels are only interested in recording musicians they consider to be the absolute highest tier artist for each instrument and that is how we wind up with many dozens of LPs, cassettes and CDs by a small and dwindling group of artists. Swarashree recorded both very well-known musicians and other, equally interesting musicians. Despite uneven quality control in recording and manufacturing, it's often worth searching out their releases.

side one: 

Raga Jog: Alap, Jod, Jhalla followed by a composition in teentaal

side two:

Compositions in Ragas Jhinjhoti and Misra Kafi

Kashmiri Dhun

Bhajan Sopori: Santoor

Mahadeo Indorekar: Tabla

Equipment used in this transfer:
Cassette Deck: Teac W890R (azimuth was carefully adjusted for each side)
Preamp: Parasound PHP 850
Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24/96 resolution

Software: Audacity and xAct

24bit, 96kHz FLAC files (1.3 GB)

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC files (373 MB)

320 kbps mp3 files (138 MB)

Kishori Amonkar: Mharo Pranam - Meera Bhajans [STCS 850699] a cassette released in India in 1984

Here is a nice collection of Bhajans (devotional songs) sung by the great Kishori Amonkar. These sorts of collections (this one released almost 35 years ago and featuring Meera Bhajans) can sometimes have less than tasteful musical arrangements, but this one is serious and devotional without being over the top or overly prettified.

Upon listening to the beginning of the second side of the tape, I was very surprised to hear what sounded like Kishori ji underwater, whether singing or drowning I wasn't entirely sure. I picked up a small screwdriver I have in place for such circumstances and hoped I could adjust the azimuth to make the cassette sound as it should. It was close, but after I tightened the screw for the second (playback) head so that it was as far to the left as it could be, suddenly the sounds above 4000Hz sprang to life, and i was no longer worried about the safety of Kishori ji.

Anytime I hear someone complain about how bad a particular cassette sounds, I have to wonder if they have learned about azimuth adjustment and practiced it. I know that as for myself I have sold or thrown out several cassette decks in my long life which may have only had to have their azimuth adjusted. I will spare you a long post detailing every cassette deck I have ever owned.

Eventually I am going to do a YouTube video about azimuth adjustment (since YT reaches a much larger audience that this small blog). It might seem like I am always mentioning this, but in terms of cassette transfers the correct tape-head alignment (azimuth) is a much more important factor than the quality of the deck or the audio tape used.

Please note: unavoidable travel and work issues will keep me from posting to any of my blogs for at least a week. Please do not worry about me! I will just be away from home and will come back very much motivated to transfer a stack of vinyl for your listening pleasure. In the meantime, please take the opportunity to deeply listen to my uploads as well as those of my blogging comrades listed at the right. Some of them upload their delightful posts so quickly that I personally don't have the time to appreciate the music they are sharing with me. That is a shame and I will do my best to keep up with my listening. In real life if I purchase a stack of records but don't get around to enjoying them, there is a visual reminder. However, it should be obvious that with digital files there is no stack of cardboard or plastic to remind you to get back to serious listening.

Equipment used in this transfer:
Cassette Deck: Teac W890R (azimuth was carefully adjusted for each side)
Preamp: Parasound PHP 850
Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24/96 resolution

Software: Audacity and xAct

24bit, 96kHz FLAC file (925 MB)

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC file (265 MB)

320kbps mp3 file (101 MB)

N Ramani: Haunting Melodies [Keerthana C-599] a cassette released in India in 1998

As a companion to the last post, we have an N Ramani cassette from Chennai from the late 1990s. Certainly there is quite the contrast in terms of budget for graphic design. One advantage the cassette has is the possibility for greater amounts of music per side, and this tape totals about 60 minutes.

Equipment used in this transfer:
Cassette Deck: Teac W890R (azimuth was carefully adjusted for each side)
Preamp: Parasound PHP 850
Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24/96 resolution

Software: Audacity and xAct

24bit, 96kHz FLAC file (1.2 GB)

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC file (328 MB)

320kbps mp3 file (136 MB)