Monday 19 February 2018

Rare - Rais Khan 1969 'Instrumental Sitar'

Here is an awesome early LP by Rais Khan. There are not many releases by this Master on vinyl - I'm not sure why - if anyone knows, please enlighten me! His first LP (before this one) from 1968 is even rarer - working on getting a copy...

I ordered this record originally from India, the cover was in good condition but the vinyl was warped... Fortunately I eventually found another copy online in good condition but had a generic cover - and finally matched the good cover with the good vinyl... Talk about being OCD!

I also found a obscure remastered version of this album on CD. Although the CD version was done pretty well, it's missing the brightness in frequency range that's apparent on the vinyl. This is quite typical for CD mastering to cut out a lot of frequencies in the high and mid-range. I was startled by this difference when comparing my Ravi Shankar LP collection to the CD re-masters on my Yamaha studio monitors (I had assumed most of the CD re-masters would sound better... goes to show...).

Label: His Master's Voice ‎– ECSD 2412

Tracks:
A - Raga Darbari Kanada (Gat Teental, Dhun Dadra)
B - Raga Tilak Kamod (Gat Teental, Dhun Dadra)


Digitised with: Project Essential II Turntable, Ortofon Red Stylus, recorded as WAV in Audacity (sound reduction on surface noise + click removal) and then saved as WAV and 256kbps (variable) MP3. 

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for a rare LP and a nice transfer, and especially for providing a 16/44 wav file.

    Anyone interested in enjoying some delightful Rais Khan videos can check these out (among several longer videos of his on youtube):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0zDPE4URz4

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6HyELGzZJU

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    1. Some really nice footage there with good angles and sound considering the time it was made.. I like Zakir's bits of solo.. he really emanates his father Alla Rakha. Thanks for sharing the links!

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  2. I have the first LP by Rais Khan and will post it this spring on my blog http://oriental-traditional-music.blogspot.de/

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    1. Great! I myself also just purchased this rare vinyl online. Looking forward to it arriving, hopefully it plays well.

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  3. This LP is very nice. I have a copy but without cover. Wonder full sound on my Dual player with Kenwood 5J sterio. Thanks for all your efforts.

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  4. Thanks for your marvellous blog !
    The quality of your rips is unbeatable (unaltered) !
    Have a great day !

    ReplyDelete