michel devos

I have a 4-disc set of Bach's Das wohl Temperirte Clavier the '48' performed by Colin Tilney on Hyperion, and in the booklet, they explain how they found an original period clavier, tuned to the specifications of the time and played it in a vintage chamber hall. The pics are pretty cool too. I compared this with another copy I own, which does not follow the rigor of the Hyperion and there is a significant difference in sound. Maybe the closet we'll get to hearing what Bach might've sounded like? That's interesting :JSBach wrote his 48 to demonstrate the benefits of his new tuning approach known as the equal temperament (in french, at least...!).(1) That meant any of the preludes and fugues could be played on an instrument tuned that way and sound good, whatever the key...Do you mean, by "tuned to the specification of the time" that Bach's tempering method was not used and the old method of tuning the keyboard specifically for each key was used?Frankly, given the program, I doubt it, but it would be interesting the listen to the differences between the many ways of tuning.Does the booklet give anymore indications about this? (1) I mean the well tempered keyboard Sorry for the confusion. I guess you'll have to excuse my poor choice of words, since I'm not a musician nor a music theorist That said, I was really emphasizing the instrument itself, not the keys the pieces are played in. I pulled out the set though, just to make sure (I should've done this before I typed, but it was buried under a huge stack of cds) and Tilney plays a clavichord (1767) and harpsichord (1764) made by Hamburg builder Johann Adolph Hass for this recording. The booklet also mentions that Tilney performed in the Friends of St. Cecilia's Hall, which is also furnished with period furnishings to boot. When I compared the Hyperion with the other cd I had (it was one of those generic 'weekend classics' sort of cd, which I've since sold, the Hyperion was an upgrade) there was a remarkable difference not only in the sound of the instruments, but also, curiously, the metre the pieces were played in (the Hyperion version seems to be played at a slower pace, where the 'weekend classic' one is played faster. Why that is, I have no idea. Nothing to worry about...Listening to the music is what matters.This Hyperion sounds interesting by the instrument on which the work is played upon, at least. The incredible thing is how these studies which are purely didactical in intention diffuse such strong moods and emotions : great composer, great music!

I have a 4-disc set of Bach's Das wohl Temperirte Clavier the '48' performed by Colin Tilney on Hyperion, and in the booklet, they explain how they found an original period clavier, tuned to the specifications of the time and played it in a vintage chamber hall. The pics are pretty cool too. I compared this with another copy I own, which does not follow the rigor of the Hyperion and there is a significant difference in sound. Maybe the closet we'll get to hearing what Bach might've sounded like? That's interesting :JSBach wrote his 48 to demonstrate the benefits of his new tuning approach known as the equal temperament (in french, at least...!).(1) That meant any of the preludes and fugues could be played on an instrument tuned that way and sound good, whatever the key...Do you mean, by "tuned to the specification of the time" that Bach's tempering method was not used and the old method of tuning the keyboard specifically for each key was used?Frankly, given the program, I doubt it, but it would be interesting the listen to the differences between the many ways of tuning.Does the booklet give anymore indications about this? (1) I mean the well tempered keyboard

Just as anybody, I own several complete sets of the sonatas and none completely satisfies me....However, one of the best compromises for me is the first recording made by Daniel Barenboim for EMI in 1970.Many sonatas are splendidly played, more are of a very good level and none is trivial. So altogether my first choice, especially since, as icing on the cake, the sound quality is excellent. But there are isolated albums that I dig, like Richter Appassionata made in 1960 for RCA, Christoph Eschenbach for the Hammerklavier at DG, Yves Nat for the opus 111, and many others. It seems fashionable nowadays to shoot down Brendel's many complete sets, which I find rather distressing : watching the artist evolution through his four complete sets (Vox + 3 Philips, if I'm right) is a fascinating experience in itself.

For the Nocturnes, my first choice goes without a doubt to the Czeck pianist Ivan Moravec. Originally produced for the label Connoisseur in the late sixties, these performances marry an extremely sensitive playing with a super sound quality. Ivan Moravec, which I met and recorded many times is a perfectionist, be it for the interpretation side (very subjective, this...) and the quality of the sounds he produces : I don't know anybody giving so much attention to the slightest details of the piano tuning, the setting up of the keyboard mechanics and many other things. All this is very well reflected in these Connoisseur recordings which are available on CD under another label :these performances sound like they've been recorded...yesterday!

Same here....this forum was lacking something.Nice to have you back!

One more question : from the basic knowledge I have of the Hammonf organ, I understand the rotational speed of the motor inside the tone generator is locked to the power supply frequency, which is 60hz in the US. What happens if the organ is connected in Europe where the voltage is 230V and the frequency 50Hz? I expect Hammond has solutions for this, since there are many organs playing around here, but what if one is willing to apply the modification by himself?

Yes, that sounds incredible...I'll try to go along that path... What I'm looking for is a reasonable instrument for experiment.As far as I know (and that is very little!), the A100 is similar to the B3 except for vibrato or percussion, right?

Personally, for the Peludes and Fugues, I would recommend Ashkenazy : fluid playing and very natural sound quality.

Not only... In the past I had expressed my intention to make a really good hammond recording : as a classical music recording engineer, I have virtually NO occasion to come across one of the famous beasts long enough to experiment . In this case, I feel totally ignorant of how to mix the sounds emanating from the Leslies and the direct sound tapped somewhere from the B3 preamp output : positioning and selection of microphones would be also essential.I'm accustomed working with U87 but I have no idea whether they'll match the Leslies sound adequately or not, the alchemy of sound is sometimes difficult to decipher, and that is where experiment is essential. I have worked occasionally with Rhoda Scot, but these sessions were mere recordings of musical events during appearences in clubs, and although the global results are acceptable, the sound quality is far from the level I would like to reach. So I've been keeping an eye on the second hand market, but prices look outrageously high....I had hoped the new models , being les mechanically complex, would be more affordable but this adjective does not look compatible with the Hammond label. Now, the model represented on the picture may be in my price range, but I wouldn't trust the performances too much... I have really appreciated all the comments I read : thanks!

Finally, the picture....

Finally, the picture....

Thanks Jim and SoulStream...here's the picture...

Sorry, I forgot how to insert a pix...Can anybody help?

In another post, I was inquiring about the latest version of the new Hammond B-3...a friend of mine passed me a picture evidently taken under cover of what seems to be an early development stage of the machine. I cannot see the generator or its digital replacement : any idea...?

By the way, has anybody an opinion on how this new B-3 compares against the original? I havent heard this CD, and I wonder whether threre are many sound samples available. Maybe Soulstream, Jim or MG would like to share their views? Thks

Excellent news...I had planned for month to write a post about my enthusiasm for Tony Monaco, but lazyness (mostly) kept me from doing so. I immensely enjoy mos tof his records, especially burning grooves, Fiery Blues and Master Chops. What strikes me is the variety of stops used in one track, really amazing....Coupled with an excellent bass playing (hand+foot) and a wide dynamic control, this is one of the most satisfying players in the circuit today! Still haven't bought his East to West : would anybody care to comment on this CD? One last icing on the cake : the sound quality is remarkable most of the time, especially Master Chops and Fiery Blues; Look forard to share your impressions about Tony!

Indeed, On Fire sounds very good, at least from the 30 seconds samples available for each track.I ordered it today, together with the Deep Blue Organ trio 'Goin' to Town'... This one really looks promising, with reminiscences from the Jimmy Smith's Groovin' at Small's, which is one of my favorite JOS albums. Did anybody have a chance to listen to this Deep Blue album?

Everything OK with my US copy, althought bought from Amazon UK

I agree with Claude : there is no question EAC is THE best audio cd ripper on the market.It is not really tricky, but it needs to be perfectly configured... That leads me to the problems encountered by two members : if EAC has been set up onto a PC running Win2000 or similar, that means the administrator has to give the rights to install fully and properly this software.If not, chances are high it works poorly, or not at all. Regarding the problems encountered with some Cd's(regardless of course of the kind of music : it's all 1 and 0's...)you should select in the options menu a priority for quality against speed. Normally that should improve things, although there is always a possibility to run into a faulty CD (or CD player : did you ever try to read the faulty CD from another player?). Hope this will help

Same here...I still have one original LP BLP1528 but never could buy VOL.1 and 2 on CD even in Japan. Do you have any idea of what drives OOP albums into the RVG edition, by the way..?

http://www.jazzdisco.org/bluenote/1961-dis/c/#610622 Thanks for this link : sounds very exciting...Any idea why it has not been released yet? That team is the one from Crazy Baby : should be excellent!

Jimmy Smith: At the Club Baby Grand vols 1&2 or the unissued 1961 session.

Go to your usual online shop immediately and order the Earland CD 'Black Talk', the greatest organ combo album ever made. If that one wasn't at the very top of the recommendations you got from board members, throw those recommendations away and start over. And give 'Front Burner' another try - it's a good one.

Frankly, I'm afraid that , for years, I did not pay any attention to Charles Earland, which I had filed in the section 'no excitement (!).. That comes possibly from repeated listenings of the only CD I had from Charles, The Front Burner, which is far from his best ... I recently got recommendations from members of this forum and bought Black drops, Slammin and Jammin' and "If only one night...which completely changed my mind : Leaving this planet was part of the recommended list but was not available from my usual online shop and I missed it. After reading this post, I placed my order for Leaving this planet .It is very nice to read such convincing recommendations on this forum : one feels confident it is not going to be a disappointing purchase... Thanks, MG...!

Good to know that at least sometimes this group aroused some excitement...That seems not to be the case anymore, looking at the fery few reactions from this forum That's a pity, this band was a kind of jazzier version of BookerT and the MG's.Maybe the reason is that album is now completely deleted?If somemembers are genuinely interested, please PM me and see what we can do.