January 7, 2018

Hafiz Ali Khan: Raga Chandrabhankar [EALP 1398] an LP recorded in 1948 and released in 1973 in India

Here we have a rare recording of Hafiz Ali Khan, who has been described as, "the mountain of the sarod." He was born in 1888 and died in 1972, so he was present and performing for a very large chunk of the 20th century. His son Amjad Ali Khan is somewhat well known for his sarod playing as well. 

This recording is a little rough. By international standards, India's recording industry technology was at least a decade behind the rest of the world throughout the time period 1950-2000. My understanding is that this situation was the result of import rules. Also, All India Radio, from which this recording originates, was known for somewhat dubious recording practices including (at times heavily) editing performances to meet strict air time slots. 

However, this is a very historically important document and anyone who wishes to study the performances of the current generation of musicians as well the immediately previous generation, is going to have to approach the recordings of musicians such as Allauddin "Baba" Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, and others of their generation. The sound quality is barely adequate, but the musical information is present, loud and clear.






Equipment used in transfer: 
Preparation: Ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes in pure clean water
Turntable:  Audio-technica AT-LP-1240
Cartridge: Audio-technica AT440 mlb
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.
Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24bit/96kHz resolution
Software: AudacityClickRepairand xAct


(the highest resolution I am capable of recording)

(after decoding into wav, can be burned to a CD)

(highest quality compressed audio file)







2 comments:

  1. Wonderful share Richard. Many thanks for your generosity. This LP is not cheap on Discogs..... Also, sound quality is decent for an archival recording.

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  2. The vinyl versions are pretty expensive. There was a CD reissue twelve years ago, but I am certain it is considered out of print. In fact the only place I can find that has the CD for sale is here:

    https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/11160760?ev=rb

    ReplyDelete