May 19, 2018

Bhajan Saupuri: Santoor Recital [CBS BS001] a cassette recorded and released in India in 1984

Bhajan Saupuri (or Sopori, or Sopuri -- depending on your source) is a santoor performer born in 1948. Not a lot of his recordings are currently available. This one is from a series produced by Swarashree Records and released (reissued?) in India by CBS. The Swarashree recordings document many lesser known but musically interesting performers. Some labels are only interested in recording musicians they consider to be the absolute highest tier artist for each instrument and that is how we wind up with many dozens of LPs, cassettes and CDs by a small and dwindling group of artists. Swarashree recorded both very well-known musicians and other, equally interesting musicians. Despite uneven quality control in recording and manufacturing, it's often worth searching out their releases.






side one: 
Raga Jog: Alap, Jod, Jhalla followed by a composition in teentaal

side two:
Compositions in Ragas Jhinjhoti and Misra Kafi
Kashmiri Dhun

Bhajan Sopori: Santoor
Mahadeo Indorekar: Tabla

Equipment used in this transfer:
Cassette Deck: Teac W890R (azimuth was carefully adjusted for each side)
Preamp: Parasound PHP 850
Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24/96 resolution
Software: Audacity and xAct


24bit, 96kHz FLAC files (1.3 GB)

16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC files (373 MB)

320 kbps mp3 files (138 MB)


Posted by at

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 20, 2018 at 12:21 AM

    Many thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RoryMay 20, 2018 at 1:33 AM

    Thanks a lot Richard!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dan BuxbaumMay 21, 2018 at 10:56 AM

    Thank You Richard for sharing such a fine sounding transfer from a cassette source! Quite good (balanced/loud) sound (for a live recording?)--the tabla is very *present* and full sounding also!

    ReplyDelete
  4. RichardMay 24, 2018 at 12:26 AM

    Hi Dan - I think but am not certain that this was a live recording. I was disappointed that the end of the second side sort of faded out, but realize that there are time constraints of the cassette medium.

    Always love to hear that people enjoy my uploads. It's a great feeling. So many people I know simply don't care very much for music of almost any kind. Others are only interested in their narrow tastes and have no concern for broadening their ears (so to speak). Even some musicians, who I would think should be the most musically adventurous, are stuck in the trap of not wanting to learn about other types of music. Of course there are notable and commendable exceptions.

    So everyone please enjoy my uploads and take advantage of those amazing souls who are spending time on their own blogs, especially those to the right of the screen... These people are my idea of angels.

    ReplyDelete
  5. muffinassApril 18, 2019 at 5:52 PM

    hi Richard,

    came across the A-side on an online radio show (https://www.nts.live/shows/raga-vibrations/episodes/raga-vibrations-25th-june-2018) and was completely transfixed.

    your blog is a discovery, i must say, so a big thank you for existing in the dwindling era of music blogs.

    as i'm a completely in the dark when it comes to indian classical music, i'd appreciate any pointers to similar albums of virtuosic santoor performances.

    thanks again for opening the musical mind.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)