Flat, Black, and Classical: Indian Classical Music on Vinyl and Cassette: November 2017

We recently posted a cassette by Shamim Ahmed. Here is his first LP, released in 1967 in the United States. Interestingly, this is also a 16-year old Zakir Hussain's first recording as well. As befitting an initial endeavor, both artists dedicate the album to their gurus: in Ahmed's case Ravi Shankar and in Zakirji's case his father, the great Alla Rakha Khan.

Side one:

Raga Bageshri - alap, jor, jhala

Raga Bageshri - gat in teentaal

Side two:

Raga Nat-Bhairav - gat in rupak taal

Raga Khamaj - gat in teentaal

Shamim Ahmed: sitar

Zakir Hussain: tabla

[the mysterious but probably lovely] Amanat: tanpura

Equipment used in transfer:

Preparation: Ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes in pure clean water

Turntable: Audio-technica AT-LP-1240

Cartridge: Audio-technica AT440
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.

Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24bit/96kHz resolution
Software: Audacity, ClickRepair, and xAct.

24 bit, 96kHz FLAC file

(the highest resolution I am capable of recording)

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC file

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

320kbps mp3 file

(highest quality compressed audio file)

Here is a delightful LP featuring two side-long alap performances from the sitarist Mahmud Mirza.

I quote from the information provided by the producer of this LP, Paul Keeler, for a YouTube video:

"Ustad Mahmud Mirza was born in Delhi in 1935. At an early age he was taught the sitar by his maternal uncle Ustad Hyder Hussein Khan who initiated him into the Seniya gharana an instrumental tradition founded by the descendants of Miyan Tansen the court musician to Akbar the Moghul emperor.
"He was later initiated into the Kirana gharana by his second teacher the vocalist Pandit Jiwan lall Mattoo; a student of the renowned vocalist Abdul Wahid Khan, with whom he studied the ragas in depth over many years. Mirza first performed in public when he was 11 and at the age of 13 he was the youngest musician ever to be accepted on the staff of All India Radio. "In the late sixties Mirza made his first appearance in London where he now resides. He has performed in many of the famous concert halls of Europe and the US and is known as an outspoken defender of the pure tradition in an age when this art form has suffered due to the trend of commercialization."

side 1:

Raga Kalawati (alap) 20:17

side 2:

Raga Alhaia Bilabial(alap) 19:20