Top of the Pile -- Audiophile stereo recordings (Feb. 1979)

The Art of Fuguing: Bach, trans. by Wm. Malloch; Chamber Orch., Lukas Foss cond. Town Hall Records (P.O. Box 5332, Santa Barbara, CA 93108), multi-mike S-20, $12.98; stereo mike, S-21, $12.98.

These records represent Town Hall Records' attempt to resolve the multiple mike vs. stereo mike debate (See Audio, Nov., 1978). Two simultaneous recordings were made of the same orchestra, one with a single stereo mike (an AKG C-24), the other with over 20 microphones mixed together to create the stereo image. The music is a transcription by the Canadian composer William Malloch of J.S. Bach's The Art of Fugue (Die Kunst der Fuge). This particular work has always been the subject of controversy among Bach scholars since the work is apparently unfinished and Bach never indicated a particular instrument or group of instruments for this composition. (This has led some scholars to declare that this work is PURE MUSIC and was never intended to be played!) Thus the work is heard today only via someone else's transcription, usually on the organ or string quartet. Mr. Malloch's transcription, however, calls for a modern orchestra of about 40 pieces and includes a large percussion section.

The transcription, on the whole, is an excellent one, requiring virtuoso playing in many sections but it will probably be a bit upsetting to Bach purists, especially in places like Fugue #8, where Malloch has inserted snippets of Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, and Saint Saens (just to name a few) ala P.D.Q. Bach. Great fun!!

Musical considerations aside, the work provides an excellent showcase for the recording engineers by utilizing every possible orchestral combination and timbre. The resulting recordings make for fascinating listening when the identical selections from each al bum are played one after the other.

Overall, I prefer the stereo mike version, which is more successful in recreating the sound of the orchestra in the concert hall. The multi-mike version is much less reverberant, so much so that it is hard to believe that these recordings were made at the same time in the same place. The stereo mike captures the sound of the orchestra as a whole. The multi-mike version, while providing more detail, recreates the orchestra as a group of individuals. The violins, for example, have a uniform section sound with the stereo mike, but sound a bit ragged and out of tune with the multiple mikes.

These records do not prove the superiority of one mike technique over another. A change in the mix of the multi-mike version could easily change the sound to closely resemble that of the stereo mike. Similarly, a change in the location or pattern of the stereo mike could result in a totally unacceptable sound. The microphone(s) used on a recording are still not as important as the person using them.

My review pressings were of average quality. Although Townhall Records is a division of Sheffield, these records were not given the super deluxe treatment accorded their direct-disc releases. The records aren't bad, but not as great as the regular Sheffields.

An interesting side-note. The jacket liner notes list Dr. Tom Stockham of Soundstream as part of the recording team on the stereo mike version. This aroused my curiosity since the records are not advertised as being digital recordings. A quick phone call to Town Hall revealed that the recording sessions actually consisted of simultaneous digital (via Soundstream), conventional 24 track, and the two conventional two-track recordings used to produce these records (one for the stereo mike and one for an instant mix of the multi-mike). The people at Town Hall (Sheffield) are to be commended for their experimental zeal.

It's not likely they will recover the cost of such a complicated session from the sale of these records. But, it perhaps means we will be seeing some digital recordings from Town Hall in the future.

-Charles P. Repka

Multi-Mike Version

Record.: B Pressing: B- Perform.: A+

Stereo Mike Version

Record.: A+ Pressing: B- Perform.: A+

Prokofiev: Cello Sonata Op. 119; Shostakovich: Cello Sonata Op. 40 Clark Schuldmann Duo. Musical Heritage MHS 3828 (mail order: 14 Park Rd., Tinton Falls, N.I. 07724).

Sonatas for Trumpet. (Jolivet, Stevens, Ibert, B. Hummel, Kennan). James Darling, trumpet, Genevieve Sidoti, pf. Telarc 5032, $7.98.

There are two ways in which "specialty" recordings of this sort can appeal to the general musical listener--and one way in which they do not appeal at all. Who wants to hear trumpet music, or cello music, or harp, guitar, oboe, whatever? Too often only the performers' colleagues in the business, plus sisters and cousins and aunts, and, of course, foundation presidents, symphony trustees, and the like! But not you and me.

The right ways are (1) to surround your special instrument with others, even as far as an orchestra, to add general interest--it works fine. Crystal records, for example, has discs. And (2) to do as these two teams do--play beautifully and play interesting music, good for any ear. And, of course, with optimum hi-fi recording.

This last is increasingly a thing that small companies do even better than the biggies. Hurrah and hurray! The cello record from Musical Heritage is fascinating. Harry Clark is a first-rate cellist, the sort who can make his instrument interesting for anybody.

He plays expressively, accurately, in tune and in marvelous style; his cello tone as captured here is superb. The piano (wife) is equally proficient, though for my ear she is not quite as good at phrasing and shaping a melodic idea as her husband; even so, the two work together marvelously and the recording of their respective instruments is of top quality on excellent surfaces. None better! The Prokofiev is one of those graciously melodic, al most old-fashioned pieces, full of tunes and pleasantly wry harmonies.

The Shostakovich, a middle-early piece (1934) from around the time of the ever-popular Fifth Symphony, is one of the composer's best, not yet acid and tired, nor bombastic and overstuffed, still spiced with the sharp humor of the earliest Shostakovich but full of pleasant melody as well. I really enjoyed it and so should you, with such a big, lively sound to help.

The trumpet recording is period music, all neo-classic. Good trumpet, and interesting music too. Indeed, as this somewhat derivative music poured forth so expertly along with the expert accompanying piano, I had a curious daydream: I saw a dim stage and in front of it these performers; on the stage were three shadowed figures, to the right, Igor Stravinsky, on the left, Aaron Copland and, in the middle, corpulent and solid, Paul Hindemith. The neo-classic influences! Halsey Stevens' Trumpet Sonata caused old Aaron to gyrate and prance a bit on his side, twitching that magnificent nose-- this was his music. But Stravinsky, too, could be seen to be beating time hard, with the tip of one little finger; his influence was also easy to hear.

And Hindemith sat stolid but benign; Halsey Stevens learned from him as well. The three patron saints of the neo-classic. But when Kent Kennan's Sonata for Trumpet began, a violet spot came up and bathed Paul Hindemith in a rosy aura--Hindemith could be seen to bow, and bow, and bow again, as Ken Kennan made his musical points. Pure Hindemith! Dream or no, all this neo-classic mu sic is good, if derivative, and the sum of it makes an interesting musical picture of an era that we are now almost ready to rediscover. (Excellent record.)

E.T.C.

Musical Heritage:

Sound: A- Recording: A- Surfaces: A

Telarc:

Sound: A- Recording: A- Surfaces: A

Fatha: Earl "Fatha" Hines--M&K Real Time Direct To Disc, RT 105, stereo, $15.00.

Earl Hines is a jazz performer perfectly suited for direct-to-disc recordings. His hands range the entire length of the piano, extracting its full sound.

Yet, he maintains an evenness of performance that makes the engineering of his sessions a relatively stable and predictable affair. For Fatha, Hines uses a trio of Red Callender on bass (and I assume he is the un-credited tuba on the opening track), and Bill Douglas on drums.

The surface of the record is absolutely clear. There are none of the usual pops and clicks associated with mass-produced records, nor is there even a hint of tape hiss. Of course that's because tape isn't used but it's conspicuous in its absence for those accustomed to ordinary records.

Hines' piano has been miked both for maximum sound pick-up and to spread it across the stereo spectrum.

The sound they get is unusually dry and lacking in any of the reverberation or echo normally used in recording. It is the actual sound of the piano in the studio with the natural room dynamics found there. This dryness tends to make the piano overly percussive at times. On Art Tatum's Humoresque, the piano sounds like it cracks when he rivets some of those notes on the high end . . . but the dynamic range of the instrument is brought out in a way that is unheard of in traditional recordings.

The bass and drums do not seem to get the same attention as the piano, but they are still heard with a clarity equal to or better than traditional recordings. Both are mixed into the center. The bass has a full-bodied tone but doesn't jump out of the speakers the way Hines does. The same is true of the drums which have a crispness and precise definition of sound but don't kick out quite as hard as live drums will.

Fatha plays it safe in terms of musical intensity. Hines lends a brisk and light reading to these contemporary and traditional standards. But on the few tunes when things start cooking, as on Horace Silver's The Preacher and Tatum's Humoresque, the percussive demands of Hines' high end tax the recording process almost to its limits.

Write M & K Realtime Records, 8719 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211.

-John Diliberto

Sound: A- Performance: C+

Gale Maximum Fidelity Recordings.

17th Century Italian Music, Vol. 1: 1 he London Early Music Ensemble, Christopher Hogwood cond. Gale GMFD 1 76-001, $14.95.

J. S. Bach: The Complete Flute Sonatas: Christopher Taylor, flute; Leslie Pearson, harpsichord, and Dennis Vigay, cello. Gale GMFD 2-76-002-3, $21.95.

Chavez, Serebrier, and Hovhanees: Music For Percussion: Tristan Fry Percussion Ensemble, John Eliot Gardner cond. Gale GMFD 1-76-004, $14.95.

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 53 "Waldstein" & OP. 57 "Appassionata": Peter Frankl, piano. Gale GMFD 1-76-005, $14.95.

Schumann: "Frauenliebe and Leben," Op. 42; Brahms: "Leider.": Sheila Armstrong, soprano, and Martin Jones, piano. Gale GMFD 1-76-006, $14.95.

Nowdays, the majority of classical and popular recordings are made using multitrack tape recorders and a forest of microphones connected through a console and a myriad of electronic gadgets to most, if not all, of the available tape tracks. The final master cutting tape is the product of the balance engineer and the tape editor, and their objective is to make a note-perfect recording of the music, without musician-created noise, with little consideration being given to any thing else. However, during the recording process, the tape is often infused with the coloration, distortion, and hiss inherent in all signal-processing equipment.

Ira Gale of Gale Maximum Fidelity Recordings reviewed the entire recording process and concluded that most of the recording stages could be eliminated if extra care was used on the remaining mechanical and electronic processes so as to eliminate as much noise, tape hiss, coloration, and distortion as possible. Using only a mixing console, as few microphones as possible, and a custom-designed tape recorder, the performance is recorded on as few tape tracks as are absolutely necessary. After the master tape goes through the balance and editing pro cess, it has become the master cutting tape. This tape is played back on the same tape recorder that was originally used to make the tape, but this time the recorder is used to drive the cutting head. The resultant lacquer and all the remaining steps used to make the final pressing are all handled with the greatest of care so that the finished product is as perfect as possible. Pressing of the Gale records is a hand operation, rather than an automated pro cess, and uses specially formulated PVC. In this process, every record is visually examined prior to packaging.

The records are then packed in a sturdy record box to overcome the warp problem believed to be caused by the shrink wrap used to seal record albums in their jackets. Each record weighs about 165 grams (relative to the 110 or so in a normal disc), which also assists in preventing record warp. Checking our copies of the Gale records we were pleased to note very little or no warp present.

A unique feature of all Gale records it that they carry a replacement warranty covering the pressing for up to 10 years if the warranty form is completed and returned within 10 days of purchase. If the records become dam aged in any way, e.g., scratched, warped, broken, or even worn, they can be exchanged for a new pressing simply by returning the record to the nearest service center, enclosing a check for one-third of the then-cur rent recommended retail price.

Each Gale album is accompanied by an illustrated booklet that supplies de tails about the record album. However, these booklets generally do not list where the performance (recording) took place, the city, or the recording date. Frequently, the instruments used in a recording are not identified. These recordings are distributed by Audio-Technica and are available at most of the stores handling high-end audio equipment.

Generally speaking, most of the music on these Gale recordings are offerings of esoterica and of relatively limited appeal. The instruments used in the Seventeenth Century Italian Music al bum are actually musical instruments from that era. We've never heard these instruments before and, thus, cannot fully relate to them. There are in stances where the instruments sound rather odd. It is assumed that the instruments were properly tuned against the standard pitch used in the 1600s.

We consider this record the best in this series. In the Bach: Complete Flute Sonatas (two records) the positioning of the instruments is difficult to deter mine, and they appear to have been placed close together at center stage.

It is difficult to sit through the playing of both records at one time unless, perhaps, you are a flautist. The Music for Percussion is a noisy recording that gives the impression of being too hollow sounding. The Serebrier: Symphony for Percussion is well performed and worth hearing. In the Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, the piano is recorded rather well, actually sounding like the Steinway it was, but at times some of the notes appeared to be slightly fuzzy and indistinct. While listening to the Schumann: Frauenliebe and Leben as well as the Brahms: Lieder, we concluded that the singer, Sheila Armstrong, was not in tremendously good voice that day and she was, at times, difficult to understand.

As a whole, the pressings are very good even though some scratches, fingerprints, and few loud pops and other noises were occasionally present.

While our set of Gale records are the flattest records we have encountered in more than 25 years, we did detect a subtle rumble that originates on each record, though it was not obtrusive be yond four or five feet from the speakers. The dynamic range is excellent, but because no sound processing equipment was used, the average re cording level was necessarily kept be low the industry average so as to avoid clipping of the musical peaks. This, in turn, does make the rumble and tape hiss more noticeable. The perspectives are not always real due to the close miking technique used in making these recordings. Also, the transient response is not as good as we have experienced from other audiophile recordings.

(Source: Audio magazine, Feb. 1979)

Also see: Top of the Pile -- Audiophile stereo recordings (May 1979)

Telarc (Feb. 1979)

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