iain scott

The graph represents the whole song and, as I understand it, is a pictorial representation of the relative volumes and at what frequencies they occur. I'm neither sound engineer nor scientist but, as you, I read it as a drop off at the top end. I also hear it. It's like a 'lack of space' at the top. Do I think our audio is absolutely crucial to a listener's enjoyment? It might surprise you, but no, I don't. The music's either there or it isn't, and in this case it clearly is. Do I think it's worth paying a huge premium for this difference? Again, no. But as you've pointed out yourself, we're not asking for a huge premium and, at least for a limited period of time, our CD is actually cheaper. As regards the downloads and in the US, the point becomes moot as if the various parties respect their agreements, then 'Diatigyw' should not be available in North America. But just so there is no confusion: do I think our audio is better? Yes, absolutely, and over the years, experience has taught me that people regardless of origin, can and do tell the difference. Moreover if all things are equal and when given the choice, those same people will go for the better option. In that light I'm really not sure I follow your thinking as regards 'respect' and 'target audience'. As regards the other domestic labels that are or have operated in the West Africa territories you note, then yes, Sterns has not licensed from all available sources. We can't. It's simply not possible for a whole host of reasons, many of which I'm sure you can imagine. But is that a deliberate policy of deciding the ones we do deal with are the 'only firms that matter' and pushing them as such? No. That's way over the top and, if you look at our releases in total, verifiably not the case. But bringing it back to your original punchline "What would Sterns do without Syllart?". I guess what pushed my buttons was your conceit, however I could also see that it was based in some truth. The relationship between Sterns and Syllart goes back a long way and while it's not always been smooth running, I think it's fair to say that Sterns has been Syllart's most consistent and loyal partner outside of Africa. So yes, indeed, where would we be without Ibrahima Sylla? But the question can be asked both ways: where would Sylla be without Sterns? Not all of Syllart's releases were entirely and exclusively generated by Sylla, and even for those that were and we then released outside Africa, did that not give him the extra impetus, cash or otherwise, to keep his boat afloat? These things are complex and subtle and cannot be distilled to one or two offhand phrases. This is particularly poignant given Sylla's current state of health. It's now in the Senegalese press and so you might already be aware but Sylla underwent a serious operation not too long ago. His energy is undiminished and he's still more than kicking, but he does require regular periods of convalescence. Maybe you weren't aware but now, in this context if not others, I hope you can see how your rhetorical question might seem to me an inappropriate and unnecessary jibe. iain

I dare say that, if I download 'The griot's craft' and compare it with my rip of 'Diatiguyw', I'll not notice the difference, will I? Perhaps I should just download 'Kaba mousso'? MG While it's certainly true that a download will, in itself be compressed, there is a difference a between download that's been created from a file that was already compressed, and one that wasn't. It's not dramatic but it is there and over a longer listening session should become apparent. Personally I can only describe it as 'my ears feeling tired': on 'Diatiguyw' the do, on 'The Griot's Craft' they don't. At the risk of muddying the waters even more, below is a 'spectrum analysis' of the first track from each album. The top is from the 'Diatiguyw' CD, the bottom from 'The Griot's Craft' CD.

I'm glad you're liking the album but, I confess, a couple of things you wrote in your original post have tweaked my tail. Everybody's entitled to their own opinions including "What would Sterns do without Syllart?" although how you're qualified to say that I have no idea but, just to be clear, Sterns have done a damn sight more to this album than "rejig the running order, given it a new sleeve and a title that don't quite fit." The last comment is, again, your own opinion and that's fair enough but if you compare the audio of the 'The Griot's Craft' and 'Diatiguyw' you'll realise that 'Diatiguyw' was mastered from MP3s whereas 'The Griot's Craft' comes from uncompressed and full bandwith audio files. To me that's a fairly big difference and deserves some credit. There's also the track "Kaba Mousso': on 'Diatiguyw' it comes in at 03:57, on 'The Griot's Craft" it's 05:30. Sterns have restored to its full length. Not exactly earth-shattering, for sure, but added together surely it indicates a company that is trying to treat this music with some respect? Sorry if I come across as a bit grumpy and, yes, I do some work for Sterns, but this post comes fairly high up if you do a search on <Sekouba Bambino> and I'd just like the record to be straight ... are at least a little straighter than the tone of what you're suggesting. Iain Scott