Ali Akbar Khan - Music for Meditation [CS 2063] an LP recorded and released in the United States in 1974

This is not just a re-upload -- I went back to the original raw files and completely remastered the vinyl transfer so that many of the defects of the original recording such as traffic noises and recalcitrant groove crackle were tamed. I think the result deserves its own blog post. The previous post has been removed so as to not confuse anyone. I hope you enjoy this "freshened up" transfer -- no longer housed at Zippyshare!

--------------------------------------------------------------

Here we have an interesting LP -- as sort of a sequel to "The 40 minute Raga" and "The 80 minute Raga" the gentle folk at Connoisseur Records could have entitled this "The 40 Minute Alap" because that is what is featured. The raga is Bilaskhan Todi and interested readers are referred to the back cover of the LP for the notes of the raga. It is considered a morning raga.

On side 1 (but, interestingly, not on side 2) there was quite a bit of very low frequency information that did not seem to be coming from the sarod. At one point it sounds like a door is being slammed off in the very distant background and possibly some traffic noises at times as well.

The record was mastered at Sterling and is in reasonable good shape. It is sought after by audiophiles for its warm analog, tube-amplifier sound.

A big thank you to Nels for the loan of the LP.

Equipment used in transfer: 

Preparation: Ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes in pure clean water

Turntable:  Audio-technica AT-LP-1240

Cartridge: Audio-technica AT-440MLb
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.

Recorder: Edirol R-09HR at 24bit/44.1kHz resolution

Software: Audacity, ClickRepair, and xAct. 

24 bit, 44.1kHz FLAC (412 MB)

(only playable on a computer or other player capable of playing HD files)

16 bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC (211 MB)

(after decoding, suitable for burning to CD)

320 kbps mp3 (102 MB)

(highest possible quality mp3 file; 

suitable for listening on a portable player)