Ram Narayan: Stil's Sunday Solo [Stil 1804 S 82] an LP released in France in 1984

Here we have another LP by the great sarangi maestro Ram Narayan. This is an LP which was recorded in 1983 and released in 1984 by the French label Stil. 

There is a slightly unusual mix to the album, with the tabla barely audible at times. This may have to do with the compromises required in cutting such long sides. Despite the lack of bass (which was very gently boosted in Audacity) this is a lovely performance.

side 1: Raga Shudh Sarang (26:06)
side 2: Raga Multani (26:12)

tabla: Suresh Talwalker (side 1 only)
tampura: Helene Huguet

I am grateful to Nels for the loan of this LP, as well as several other LPs which are coming to the blog. 

Equipment used in transfer: 

Preparation: Ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes in pure clean water, followed by a quick vacuum drying with a VPI 16.5 cleaning machine

Turntable:  Audio-technica AT-LP-1240

Cartridge: Shure M97x
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.

Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24bit/44.1kHz resolution
Software: Audacity, ClickRepair, and xAct. 

24bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC

(high resolution file ideal for listening on computer)

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC

(standard resolution file ideal for burning a CDR)

320 kbps mp3 file

(compressed file ideal for listening on a portable player)

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan: [EALP 1265] an LP released in India in 1961

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (2 April 1902 – 23 April 1968) was one of the giants of Hindustani classical music. He was a member of the Patiola gharana. His death in 1968 unfortunately did not allow for many high fidelity recordings of him to be made. This is one of the few LPs he recorded during his lifetime.

There is also a series of recordings made by All India Radio which were released in the 1990s by T-series. I imagine most if not all of them are now out of print. 

For a list of the compositions which make up the sides of the LP, please see the photos of the labels.

side 1: Raga Darbari Kanada

side 2: Raga Kaushi-Dhani

Equipment used in transfer: 

Preparation: Ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes in pure clean water, followed by a quick vacuum drying with a VPI 16.5 cleaning machine

Turntable:  Audio-technica AT-LP-1240

Cartridge: Shure M97x
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.

Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24bit/44.1kHz resolution
Software: Audacity, ClickRepair, and xAct. 

24bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC (mono)

(high resolution file ideal for listening on computer))

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC (mono)

(standard resolution file ideal for burning a CDR)

320 kbps mp3 file (mono)

(compressed file ideal for listening on a portable player)

Brij Narayan: Raga Lalit [Stil 2711 S 78] an LP recorded and released in 1979 in France

Here is another delightful album from the French label Stil, who released a very high quality run of eastern and western classical LPs in the 1970s and 80s.

Brij Narayan (born April 25, 1952) is the oldest son of sarangi player Ram Narayan. He was about age 27 when this recording was made. Brij has made an appearance in this blog in the past. Unfortunately, his career seemed to stall out a little in the late 1980s and especially the 1990s -- at least in terms of internationally available CDs. I will ask some of my inside sources about why they think this might be. So we shall see.

Tabla maestro Suresh Talwalkar was born in 1948. He was awarded the Padma Shree and has been part of several very memorable recording sessions.

This LP captures a lively performance of Raga Lalit and was in superb physical condition. Very little in the way of sound restoration was needed -- just a nice 20 minute dip in the ultrasonic cleaner and a few clicks removed using Audacity's "repair" function from the beginning of each side. I did not reproduce the entire back cover because it was completely white except for the hard-to-read section which is pictured below. On anything but a very large screen the back cover would look too much like a white square, if I had not performed the cropping. No information was lost in this cropping.

Equipment used in transfer: 

Preparation: Ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes in pure clean water, followed by a quick vacuum drying with a VPI 16.5 cleaning machine

Turntable:  Audio-technica AT-LP-1240

Cartridge: Shure M97x
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.

Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24bit/44.1kHz resolution
Software: Audacity, ClickRepair, and xAct. 

24bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC

(high resolution file ideal for listening on computer or certain portable players)

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC

(standard resolution file ideal for burning a CDR)

320 kbps mp3 file

(highest possible quality compressed file ideal for listening on a portable player)

T Viswanathan: South Indian Flute [WPS-21451] an LP released on the World Pacific Label in the US in 1969

Tanjore Viswanathan (born in Madras, India, August 13, 1927; died in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, September 10, 2002) was a Carnatic musician specializing in the Carnatic flute and voice. His brother was the mridangam player T. Ranganathan (1925–1987).

This is one of a series of LPs released on the World Pacific label. This label grew out of Pacific Records, which was a jazz label. Although there sometimes was a rare dud in their catalog, in general you can be pretty certain of a high level of musical and production qualities with any World Pacific release.

Side 1:
"Virabhoni" varnam in Raga Bhairavi in Kanda Ata Taal (oddly enough, not the concluding piece) (5:19)
"Garudaghamana" kriti in Raga Nagaswarali in Rupak Taal (14:09)
"Saramaira" song in Raga Behag in Rupak Taal (3:20)

Side2:
"Etijanmamiti" song by Thyragaraja in Raga Varali in Misra Chapu Taal (16:31)
"Paniyinvintuli" hymn in Raga Senjuruti in Kanda Duruvam Taal


T Viswanathan: flute
V Tyagarajan: violin
T Ranganathan: mridangam
V Nagarajan: kanjira
P Srinivasan: Tarboura
H Hiler: Sruti box

Equipment used in transfer: 

Preparation: Ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes in pure clean water, followed by a quick vacuum drying with a VPI 16.5 cleaning machine

Turntable:  Audio-technica AT-LP-1240

Cartridge: Shure M97x
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.

Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24bit/44.1kHz resolution

24 bit 44.1 kHz FLAC file

(a higher resolution file than a CD - cannot be burned as a CDR)

16 bit 44 kHz FLAC

(a standard "CD quality audio file - suitable for burning a CDR)

320 kbps mp3 file

(an mp3 file with highest quality settings possible)

Manik Varma: [EMI ECLP 2313] an LP released in India in 1965

Up next is a solid album from Manik Varma (1926-96) a vocalist from the Kirana gharana which was founded by the great Abdul Karim Khan.

Accompaniment is by violinist VG Jog. The tabla player, as so often was the case in the past, was known only to those in the studio that day.

Side 1:
Raga Jog-Kauns with compositions in slow Ektaal and fast Teentaal

Side 2:
Raga Bhatiyar with compositions in slow Ektaal and fast Teentaal
Thumri in Raga Bhairavi

While transferring this album I noticed that it is in monaural sound -- so the files are half the regular size.

24 bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC file

(high resolution audio file)

16 bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC file

(standard resolution "CD quality" audio file)

320 kbps mp3 file

(highest possible resolution mp3 audio file)