mjzee

Interesting idea about the frequency analyzer. The speaker's specs say it should play down to 20 hz or so, but aurally that's not very true.

New Wine was one of the first Jackie albums I heard; I always liked it, though now think there are stronger versions of these tunes elsewhere. Hat Trick is really good, as is his last album, Nature Boy.

OK, I tried it. On first pass, I think I still prefer using the controls on the subwoofer than those on the preamp. But I'm sure I now have some months ahead fiddling with all the controls to find that sweet spot.

Thank you! That was fascinating. I have the box set linked-to at Discogs, and compared the Hartman disc to what I think was the first CD release from 1986. I only compared My One And Only Love. I think I prefer the version with Coltrane's overdubs.

Scott (or anyone), can you recommend a good procedure for setting the crossover for a subwoofer? I've never done this before. Is it just setting the preamp to control the crossover, then turning the screw little by little until it sounds good? (And why is it a screw and not a knob?) Also, on the Emotiva there are 2 screws: one labeled "high pass" and the other "low pass." Do I just adjust "low pass" or both?

I'm going to send the Georgia address a thank-you card.

http://www.oberlin.edu/kohl/collection-neumann.html

I see the Complete box is now $82.79 at Amazon; this might sway me.

The ancient Greek chorus wasn’t called a chorus for nothing. The theatergoers of Athens expected it to sing. You would never know this from modern practice: Think of the 1957 Tyrone Guthrie film of “Oedipus Rex” or, better yet, the comically serious version of Sophocles’ tragedy that Fred Astaire watches with alarm in “The Band Wagon” (1953). In any number of modern performances, tuneless choruses chant in dismal unison. What happened to the music of Greek theater, which for Aristotle was “the greatest of the pleasurable accessories of tragedy”? Alas, it is lost to us. Unlike the text of the plays, the music wasn’t set down on tablet or papyrus in any way that we can now reconstruct. As Thomas Forrest Kelly observes in “Capturing Music: The Story of Notation,” music was for centuries preserved through an aural tradition—songs were learned by listening. In our age of recorded sound and easy playback, it is hard to imagine how fragile and ephemeral music once was. We may have the architecture and art of, say, the eighth century, Mr. Kelly says, but we don’t have the music. He quotes Isidore of Seville, the early medieval scholar and cleric: “Unless sounds are held in the memory by man they perish, because they cannot be written down.” Mr. Kelly’s fascinating book tracks the centuries-long process by which pitches and rhythms were codified. More here: WSJ (Or Google the review's title "Making a Note of It")

dead.net

Got an email from Blue Note today: FOUR "NEW" MILES DAVIS TRACKS RELEASED ON VINYL FOR RECORD STORE DAY 4 newly-discovered Miles Davis tracks will receive their first-ever release exclusively for Record Store Day Black Friday as the 10" vinyl piece Enigma. The never-before-heard tracks from the legendary trumpeter are alternate takes record in 1952-53 including "Enigma," "Kelo," and "Chance It." The package includes new liner notes from esteemed writer Ira Gitler. Click HERE for a list of participating stores.

I'd like to hear Jackie's two Jubilee dates in great sound. I have them on a Roulette two-fer called "Tune Up" that's in reprocessed stereo.

Bob Dylan Plays Concert For One Person (really)

Spaceballs is one of my favorite stupid movies (high praise from me). I still LOL at some of the lines: "Yogurt! I HATE yogurt!" "I'm a mog - half-man and half-dog. I'm my own best friend." "What's the combination? OK, I'll tell you: 1.......2.......3.......4.......5."

Back in the early '70's, I noticed some releases that seemed to all come from recordings Hooker made for a Detroit record label in the late '40's - early '50's. There was a single album, a double album, and a triple album boxed set, all containing different tracks. I think some of these reissues were on United Artists, one may have been called Coast To Coast Blues Band, another may have been called John Lee Hooker's Detroit. I haven't seen these discs in years, and was always kind of intrigued by them. Does anyone here know them? Were they all solo recordings? I imagine 6 discs of solo Hooker might begin to sound a bit repetitive. Does anyone have any favorites?

I got my replacement disc in the mail today, shipped with the pages scanned above. This is an incredibly nice thing to do in this day and age, and my hat's off to whoever in Georgia sent this to me.

PM sent.

You would have an iPhone loaded with 8 tracks. You have the phone because, although the island cannot currently get cell service, you are hoping that one day it will.

I tried one, and could hear it.

The BBC aired the 3,000th episode of “Desert Island Discs,” its longest-running radio series, last week. The anniversary attracted no attention on this side of the Atlantic, however, because the perennially popular “Desert Island Discs,” whose guests are invited to select and discuss the eight records they’d take with them were they to be shipwrecked on a distant isle, has never been heard in the U.S. save by fanatical Anglophiles with shortwave radios. More here: WSJ (or Google the article's title "Soundtracks for the Stranded")

I'm still on the fence about buying this. I already have Decals (on vinyl) and that twofer CD of Spotlight Kid and Clear Spot. I'd like to hear it to see if there's a great aural improvement. And what I'd REALLY like is a remixed Spotlight Kid: they need to bring the band up in the mix and Beefheart's vocals better integrated with the band. There is something seriously wrong with the way Beefheart mixed that album.

PopMarket has the box today for $44.99 (CD) or $74.99 (LP).

In effect, that's what we do when we go hear music in a club or concert hall.

This is disturbing to hear. I remember the controversy at the time, but was told that corrected versions had a different, more "yellow" graphic on the paper "band" that went around the package. Now it turns out not to be so.

Boys, boys...that's why we have an "ignore" option as part of the board software. Use it judiciously.