This vinyl was released in the US in 1964 as a Mono and a Stereo version and re-released in 1972. There was also a CD released of the Stereo version in Europe, which is almost impossible to find. I have a copy - quality isn't much better but it's louder with more bass in the tabla. Some mono versions also exist on some other CD's such as 'The Emperor of Melody'. However, they sound a bit flat. Here is the 1964 Stereo digitised version that I acquired in January 2018. There was also an Indian pressing from earlier than 1964 with Ali Akbar Khan sitting on the floor.
Label: Prestige – PRST 1079
Tracks:
A - Raga Lajwanti 13:47
B - Raga Todi 13:45
Digitised with: Project Essential II Turntable, Ortofon Red Stylus, recorded as WAV 16/48 in Audacity and saved unaltered (apart from track separation/info tags) as FLAC, and then separately edited with: Clickrepair (low settings) then slight reduction on surface noise + normalised to -1.5db in Audacity and exported as FLAC and MP3 320kbps.
Kirrin - Thank you so much for making this wonderful album "your first." Is there any way you could post the original WAV file? Your blog is a treasure!
ReplyDeleteHi, sure. I am re-transferring all the January posts where I didn't initially offer lossless files. It will be a FLAC though! I'll do this LP very soon.
DeleteHi Kirrin,
ReplyDeleteIt's really a great rip. I liked it. Hats off to you for sharing these golden collections one after another! Long back in 1995, as a Grad student, I became interested in Vinyls. While traveling from New Delhi to my home city, Nagpur, I met a guy who had a huge collection of vinyls similar to you. Unfortunately, I missed his address and ........ However, I am not repenting anymore since you are pouring in your great collection incessantly. Thanks to you again!!
Pl. keep it up!! I really appreciate your motto and enthusiasm.
Regards,
Prasad
Thanks Prasad. I'm planning to do more Ravi Shankar ones next. Most of his LP's have been remastered and released on CD. However, I have compared a few of them to the vinyl, and in some cases the vinyl actually sounds better. There are also a couple I have which weren't released on CD I think so I'll do these as well.
DeleteHi Kirrin,
DeleteI really appreciate your passion for Indian music. Also, as an Indian, it is very pleasurable to see the love of an American towards the classical music of India. Here, there is a certain class of people who is genuinely interested in Indian classical music. Also, CDs have spoiled to certain extent. Those engineers have subdued the crispy vinyl touch. Vinyl quality is incomparable with 16 bit CDs. My love for 32 bit vinyl put me in trouble too. Ha ha ha... Sometimes, the ripper does not like me demanding 32 bit music. Off course, I have an intention behind it i.e. rip these precious goldies in the best possible form and don't touch the vinyls again. Lately, there is a huge wave of vinyls here in India. The latest machines etc. cost huge and it will be a while to get this technology become easily accessible to all music lovers.
Well! I am looking forward to having your collection as and when possible.
Thanks again!!
Regards,
Prasad
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DeleteHi Prasad - not sure why do you believe that 32 bit digitization is the best possible way of preservation, when in majority of the cases its not. To create high quality rips, each and every component that makes up digitization chain plays an important role - quality of vinyl, quality of recording pressed into the vinyl, the turntable used, the cartridge, the cables used for pre-amp, etc. Each of these help extract audio signal, but are also a source of noise, and maintaining good signal to noise effects is critical. Most of the titles are not audiophile recordings, neither are the discs of high quality make. Creating rips of higher sample size may lead to louder audio, but will also amplify inherent recording noise, vinyl wear/tear noise and noise introduced by digitization equipment. This will result in bloated audio files with some jarring sounds, so it is better to dial down on the sampling rate to subdue noises. In most cases, especially for older titles, 16 bit/44 khz is the most optimal digital settings. Long story short - higher sample depth/size does not lead to better digital files, its quite the opposite in reality given all the variables, & difficulty in getting a good signal:noise ratio.
DeleteGreat post Kirrin, appreciate the new transfer and the lossless files. Many thanks again.
ReplyDeleteWOW EPIC BLOg
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this beautiful music!
ReplyDeleteThank you !
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDelete