Brij Narayan [PolJazz PSJ-89] an LP recorded in India and released in Poland in 1980 (new transfer)

Brij Narayan (born 25 April 1952 in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India) is the oldest son of Ram Narayan and also the nephew of tabla maestro Chatur Lal, under whom he started studies. After the death of Lal he moved to the sarod and continues to perform to this day.

This LP, which was recorded in 1980 at India's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Bombay, does not seem to have shown up anywhere other than in Poland. It seems to have been issued by the Polish Jazz Society. (I should note that Jazz is still very widely admired in Poland and several of my acquaintances who are jazz musicians have found quite a warm and welcoming reception there.)

I had not heard of the album before my friend Nels loaned it to me for digitalization -- thanks, Nels!

Side A: Raga Puriya Kalyan (19:35)
Side B: Raga Jogiva (13:25) and Raga Misra Pilu (6:30)

Tabla by Suresh Talwalker.

Here is a short video of Brij Narayan playing at a house concert

Equipment used in transfer: 
Turntable: Audio-technica AT-LP-1240
Cartridge: Shure M97x
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780
Recorder: Edirol R-09HR at 24/48 resolution

For the new transfer, I kept the original 24bit, 48kHz files and used ClickRepair at a minimal setting to just eliminate some of the more obvious grunge-y sounds. I then used Audacity to down sample to 1644 and xAct to encode to mp3 and to FLAC.

24bit, 48kHz 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)

VG Jog - Violin [EMI EASD 1352] (1970)

Vishnu Govind Jog (Maharashtra 22 February 1922 – 31 January 2004 Calcutta) was a very gifted Hindustani violinist whose reputation has unfortunately seemed to have dimmed in recent years. There is not a terribly large number of records that were released during his lifetime and he does't seem to end up on many of the seemingly endless CD collections being produced these days.

Which is a shame. His work is very much worth seeking out and paying attention to.

The EMI LP was published in India in 1970 and features Affaq Hussain Khan on tabla. This particular copy is in near mint condition, as is the sleeve.

Equipment used in transfer:
Turntable: Audio-technica AT-LP-1240
Cartridge: Shure M97x
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.
Recorder: Edirol R-09HR at 24/48 resolution
Software: Audacity to normalize and carefully remove a few clicks as well as convert to 16/44.1. xAct was used to convert to FLAC and mp3

16bit 44.1 kHz FLAC file (230 MB)

320 kbps mp3 file

video of Violin Jugalbandi - VG Jog & L Subramaniam (Yaman/Yaman Kalyan)

Bismillah Khan - A Shehnai Recital [EMI EASD 1413] (1975)

Bismillah Khan (21 March 1913 – 21 August 2006) was born in Bihar. He learned to play the shehnai (somewhat of an oboe-like instrument) at an early age but was able to do something no other shehnai player had done before: elevate the level of playing past that of a folk instrument most closely associated with wedding parties into a full-fledged classical instrument worthy of shining on the concert stage.

He was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001, becoming the third classical musician after M. S. Subbulakshmi and Ravi Shankar to be accorded this distinction.

This particular album was released sometime after 1967 (likely 1975) because the notes mention a concert tour of the USA in 1967. Indeed, sharp-eyed viewers of the film "The Graduate" (1967) can see in one scene filmed in Berkeley, CA a concert poster for "Bismillah Khan and his 7 musicians."

My copy of this album came from a highly recommended seller with access to EMI new old stock and sports immaculate, highly glossy vinyl and a basically brand new outer sleeve. Two or three wayward clicks were surgically removed using Audacity but otherwise this is a fairly quiet pressing (extremely quiet when one considers typical product from the factory in Dum Dum). Feel free to purchase LPs from this seller, despite the fact that it will break my greedy heart (just kidding! Get them while they last!)

Who is the tabla player? This release originates during a time period when the identity of a given tabla player on an LP was a low priority for everyone except other professional tabla players. One acquaintance of mine, an internationally touring tabla player, has told me that when Zakir Hussein started to become more popular in the mid-1970s, two changes happened: 1) the tabla player was placed at the same level on stage as the "main performer" and 2) it started to be considered unacceptable to not credit the tabla player on LPs. He definitely credits the rise of Zakir-ji as star material for these (to me) basic considerations. That is his perspective, and I certainly believe him.

As a final note, I cannot believe that this LP has not been sampled mercilessly by turntablists such as DJ Shadow. I could see an incredibly psychedelic yet relaxing mix being created by relatively simple sampling, looping, and layering.

Equipment used in transfer:
Turntable: Audio-technica AT-LP-1240
Cartridge: Shure M97x
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.
Recorder: Edirol R-09HR at 24/48 resolution
Software: Audacity to normalize and carefully remove a few clicks as well as convert to 16/44.1. xAct was used to convert to FLAC and mp3

A link to mp3 audio from a concert in India June 1973, with some nice pictures and information contained in the (official Sony) video.

16 bit, 44.1kHz FLAC file

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

320 kpbs mp3 file

(highest resolution possible for mp3 file)

Manually adjusting azimuth when playing and transferring cassette tapes

One difficulty encountered when transferring cassette tapes to a digital medium is the issue of proper azimuth alignment. Essentially, this boils done to differences in the direction the play head in the machine is aligned with when tape is passing over it. The goal is to have the same alignment as the original machine which made the recording. This will not be possible in 99% of cases, unless you are using the same deck. 

Here is one excellent article and a fine video on this subject. Anyone who is very serious about helping to preserve recorded musical culture will hopefully be motivated to take a few minutes to read a couple of other articles as well. 

http://www.thegreatbear.net/audio-transfer/setting-azimuth-convert-cassettes-cd/

YouTube video on how to manually adjust azimuth

Ashish Khan - Young Master of the Sarod [World Pacific WPS-21444] (1967)

Ashish (also spelled "Aashish") Khan is son of Ali Akbar Khan and grandson of the great Allauddin Khan. He was born 5 December 1939 in Maihar, India and currently lives and teaches in both Calcutta and California. In 2006 he was nominated for a Grammy Award, which is a big deal to professional Indian musicians and, as far as I can tell, no one else. Being a disciple of Ali Akbar Khan is a much greater honor than any statue the Grammy people can provide.

This World Pacific LP was released in 1967 and features liner notes signed by George Harrison. This particular copy is visually immaculate but featured some prominent clicks in quiet passages and a subtle "crunchy noise" in the louder passages of side 2. After a thorough and gentle cleaning of the vinyl, the clicks were individually and carefully dealt with in Audacity. Unfortunately noise that is within the spectrum of the music is very difficult to eradicate and I chose to leave it alone rather than mar the essential beauty of the performance.

Tabla is by the great Alla Rakha.



Equipment used in transfer:
Turntable: Audio-technica AT-LP-1240
Cartridge: Shure M97x
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780
Recorder: Edirol R-09HR at 24/48 resolution
Software: Audacity to normalize and carefully remove a few clicks as well as convert to 16/44.1. xAct was used to convert to FLAC and mp3

24bit 44.1kHz FLAC file

(suitable for listening on computer and other devices capable of playing high resolution files)

16bit 44.1kHz FLAC file

(suitable for burning a CDR)

320kbps mp3 file

(highest possible quality compressed file for portable devices such as iPod and smartphones)