Notes_Norton

I rip all my albums that I want to listen to often, unless I can buy a factory produced copy. That way I have the choice of convenience or sound. I play digital more often, it's convenient, and it saves my LPs. I put the LPs on when I want more serious listening, especially for my favorite sax players and vocalists. ------------------------------------- Wibbles, I understand what you are saying. There is no way to do a double blind test. The person playing the CD and the LP needs to know. BTW, she sat with her back to me, and I didn't say a word, but I admit, we do have a mental connection. However the difference on sax tone is so obvious, no one needs to be cued. Perhaps the reason why I'm so sensitive to vocals and saxophones is because they are my primary instruments, and I work on the nuances of those tones and have done so all my life (so far). Or else, some instruments take the digital treatment better than others. This is not an analog is always better post. Again it's a matter of which distortion do I want to listen to: CDs add high frequency harmonics that weren't present in tone of the instrument LPs add surface noise and suppression of some harmonics For symphonies I prefer CDs, for serious Jazz and Pop music I like LPs, and for non-serious, chewing-gum for the ears music a good mp3 is fine. The biggest difference is in the tone of Stan Getz and Paul Desmond. I've heard both these sax players in person and on LP their tone is instantly recognizable. On CD it's still recognizable, but with an added edge that was not present when I heard them live. BTW, we "opened" for the Dave Brubeck Quartet when I was a young man on a Jerry Lewis Telethon. We played during the commercial break and didn't get on TV. Paul Desmond was very kind and encouraging to the young rock and roll sax player. A true gentleman. But that's besides the point. On CD Stan Getz sounds more like Zoot Sims. Insights and incites by Notes

"The Great Pretender" - The Platters

Thanks. Interesting article. Of course any demos on the Internet aren't valid because the Internet is both digital and the audio on the Internet videos is compressed. I did a single blind with my wife, who is also a musician. I didn't tell her which one was playing and I muted the first note so the needle dropping on the groove wouldn't be heard. I did this with two commercial releases, "Focus" by Stan Getz and "The Baddest Turrentine" by Stanley Turrentine. The difference is obvious and she preferred the recordings. Now that is with saxophone, my primary instrument. On the Getz album strings accompany the sax, and there isn't a great difference in the sound of the strings. The Turrentine album you could hear the difference even in Ron Carter's bass as well as the entire sound of the jazz group. Now I don't know how well-mastered the commercial releases are, but Verve and CTI are good labels who's owners care about music, so I assume they are at least good quality mastering, probably taken from the original analog masters and recorded to CD. Notes

On LP: The Planets - Gustav Holst - Adian Boult w/London Philharmonic & Chorus

Yes I know vinyl degrades, and no matter how well you look after them, there are often a few pops and clicks. So which distortion do I want. Surface noise or tinny tone? It's picking the lesser of the two evils. I wore out a couple of "Focus" by Stan Getz LPs, bought it on CD, and it's not the same. Edgier tone, harsher, just the wrong mood entirely. I listen to it on CD. I have others that I bought or recorded myself from LP to CD and listen there when casually listening, that makes the LPs last longer. When it's time for serious listening, sometimes the LP is best. It depends on the music. If it's a symphony orchestra, I'll usually go for the CD. The harmonics don't seem to bother me on violins as much. Perhaps because I don't play violin so I'm not as intimate with the tone as I am with saxophone and a few other instruments. After listening to a lot of sax and vocal jazz albums on CD for a couple of years, the difference in sound is in my face (or ears) and I'm loving it. Since I took care of the LPs and on all but the oldest, I've always used a good light tracking tone arm there aren't any scratches. High humidity in Florida minimizes any static. It's too bad higher bit-rate SACD or other formats didn't take off. A SACD played on my DVD/Blu-Ray player have much better tone. Insights and incites by Notes

Forgotten Steps / Image and Likeness - Andy Summers & Robert Fripp

Midnight Blue - Kenny Burrell (great jazz guitar player)

I read an article in a trade mag from one of the guys on the team that invented the CD. He said the CD adds high harmonics to the sounds. That's why Stan Gets and Stanley Turrentine sound like themselves on LP and edgier on CD. I'm not saying analog is better. Two different kinds of distortion. It depends on which one you want to listen to. For a symphony, I'll choose CD, for serious saxophone listening I'll choose LP. Notes

Vinyl, LPs, Turntables Oh Boy! Listening to analog is joy! It's been a long time. My old turntable broke wellover a year ago, and I finally decided to get a new one. I didn't get top-of-the-line, a Music Hall USB-1 for about $200 by the advice of a sales rep at Crutchfield. I know there are different kinds of distortion with digital and analog vinyl. Is one better than the other? Depends on what kind of distortion you want. Both color the sound differently and neither one sounds like a good Tascam, Studer or Ampex studio machine. So I pulled a random LP out of the pile which happened to be "The Baddest Turrentine" by the great tenor sax player, Stanley Turrentine with an all-star cast of the finest jazz men of the 1970s. I have this on CD as well. As soon as the needle dropped, I was in ecstasy. BIG, FAT, WARM sax tones, round acoustic Ron Carter bass sound, mellow George Benson jazz guitar and so on for all the other great musicians. I don't care what anybody says, I like analog better. But I'll probably still listen to the CD more often, because of convenience. Insights and incites by Notes

I got out vinyl today and am listening to "The Baddest Turrentine" by Stanley Turrentine. It's on UTube but it sounds much better in vinyl

Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley

Tinkle Tinkle Little Star? Tinkle tinkle little star please don't fret on your guitar A B C D E F G Don't forget to L M N O Pee Tinkle tinkle little star please don't fret on your guitar

I think you know too much about that ;D

Capriccio Italien - Tchaikovsky (Igor Manasherov, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra) A nice Sunday morning listen after 5 straight one-night gigs playing pop music. I dearly love the pop music we play, we had a great time, but variety is indeed the spice of life.

Dirty Deeds Done Cheap - AC/DC

I gigged on Black Friday and made money!!!

Jorge Caballero plays Capriccio Espagnol (by Rimsky Korsakov) I wish I could play like that. I think I started guitar too late to get that good.

How do you get a guitar player to play softer? Put some music in front of him.

"Mommy, mommy, I want to be a musician when I grow up!" "Now now Billy, you can't do both."

I had a gig on F13 and late last month it was rescheduled for later this month as the honoree had to go into the hospital. Two days later a country club / golf community called and said they had a cancellation and wondered if we were open. Great luck for us we ended up filling the date and still have the rescheduled date. We did the gig, the members loved us, the dance floor was full an night plus the new Food and Beverage and Events managers took our cards and said we were great and will have us back. To top things off, they paid us an extra $50 for doing a great job. Friday 13 was a lucky day for us!!! Insights and incites by Notes

New Day - Alicia Keys

Frankenstein - The Edgar Winter Group

Trombone player at the end of a New Years Eve gig asks the owner if he can leave his 'bone there until the next gig. The owner says, "Sure, when's you next gig?" Trombonist replies, "Next New Years Eve."

What's the difference between racoon and a bagpipe that have been run over? Skid marks in front of the racoon.

I'll pass by the more recent songs with this title, and go back to the Stone Age of Rock 'n Roll for a triple word score Why The Coasters? Of the music my older sister played, The Coasters were one of my favorites. Girls, Girls, Girls - The Coasters