Chesky Records makes a high-rez album for Head-Fi'ers--in binaural! - Page 5

I purchased this album and I was so excited to hear it with my LCD2's.

 

IMO the album is more of a binaural sample disc (and not much at that). Yes it is a very good recording, but at the end of the day it's about the music. I tried very hard to listen to it, but after the fifth track I just started jumping to the next track. It's basically a very well recorded drumming session.

 

I deleted it from my iPod. I was disappointed.

 

 

 

Well it's not that bad, kind of like highly-specialized background music unless you happen to be a huge percussion buff.

Well actually I'm a drummer ...enough said.

 

 

I do enjoy good percussion...not sure that I'm a "buff" though. I didn't find anything in the samples that was very musically compelling to me.  The Mickey Hart project it reminds me of, would otherwise occur to me as having more going for it in the way of variety and richness of the musical tapestry on that album... at least from the many samples I heard (and perhaps it is unfair of me to judge by just those samples - but its sounding from some others like there's not much more there) - it just seemed to be a novelty recording repeating the same demonstration over and over in much the same way.  Also, percussion connects with people in such a primal and visceral way. There is so much potential in the way low frequency energy can stir our emotions via vibrations that just wash over us, as we also experience hearing them - the former is entirely lost in listening via headphones (which is why I initially said that I wonder how much I'd listen to percussive pieces over headphones - I almost always defer to speakers for percussion). 

Yeah for active listening though, I'll take Moby Dick from The Song Remains the Same, or The Rhythm Method from Different Stages, and of course Mule from Made in Japan over the Micky Hart stuff any day. Classic and primal drum solos.

Edited by grokit - 4/23/11 at 7:07am

Wow, I don't know any of that stuff.  I don't do much rock or pop stuff at all.  I'll check it out though...thanks!  I'd definitely say that the Persian percussion stuff I've mentioned require "active listening"...no, they demand it.  The Mickey Hart project, Dafos, not so much...more of a soundscape like the recording being discussed here, albeit a VERY rich and varied soundscape with some really heart-pounding moments.  From what I can hear in the samples it takes you on a far more exotic trip.  Have you actually heard it?

Regarding the quality of the album - I think it holds up fairly well in the percussion-heavy set post-20th century, which is riddled with "statement pieces" and things that are far removed from musical enjoyment, but I personally don't think percussion does a good job of what some 20th century composers do. I think, however, as an album, it comes across as more of a statement piece because of the obtuse nature of the content; it seems to be more about the recording method than the actual music. That's all well and good, and I applaud the effort (and STRONGLY support the move to providing both binaural and typical stereophonic versions), but I won't be revisiting the album. There are other binaural albums I prefer, both in terms of music content and sound quality.

Although I understand the need to fund a smaller project like this - I think the price is a little steep, but well worth it if you're interested in either contributing to the binaural cause, or just trying something a little different. I'm not a fan of charging money for higher quality storage methods - because the music is the same (which further adds to what I mentioned earlier). I think the sample rate makes it seem a little weird (upsampling?) but I'd need more ideas on what they recorded on to come to terms with that.

I think some of the pieces come across as too "straight ahead", and would be interested in something a little more experimental (without getting amusical) overall. Other than that, it's interesting, but percussion music is one of the things I find particularly niche, even with my eclectic listening library.

 

Thanks for the record.

Edited by MrGreen - 4/23/11 at 9:54am

 

Yeah the Hart stuff is much more exotic, as you say. I haven't heard Dafos, but I have his later "breakthrough" recording, Planet Drum, and one of the the follow-ups, Superlingua, which came with a bonus disc. They have much more of a rhythmic tapestry overall than this Chesky recording, which is quite proficient but also very different. I used to listen to the Hart albums more back when it first came out, ironically this recording has made me appreciate that stuff again. In a word the Hart recordings are much more musical, and in a few words they have a definite world beat vibe that I really like, listening to Superlingua right now which features great African-sounding vocals to go with the drumming.

 

The solos that I referred to earlier are archetypical rock and roll extended solos; I just developed a new appreciation of "The Rhythm Method" recently. Moby Dick is unbelievable, that's John Bonham at his syncopated best. And The Mule is something that I would have to dig out of my old vinyl, I haven't heard it in a while but Deep Purple overall had incredible musicianship and while I am sure there are other great extended rock drum solos out there, these three really stand out for me. It would be interesting for someone with your musical tastes to hear one or more of those solos, I for one would like to hear what you think.

 

Have you heard any of the Rhythmdevils' stuff? That is Hart with fellow Dead drummer Kreutzmann, they had a few releases together during the same period. I am now curious about those recordings, as well as Hart's first solo release, "Rolling Thunder" which was re-released in 2005.

Edited by grokit - 4/23/11 at 12:22pm

When this album will be available on a good old low-res CD?

shame in in the uk and cant buy these tracks. ive listened to so many clips on HDTracks and wonder why they wont expand their market and sell globally?

they must be missing out on a fortune of cash tbh

I live in Denmark and have no problem buying from HDTracks and neither do several of my friends. Works fine both with paypal and Danish credit cards

As for a cd version, just buy the 16/44 download and burn one yourself, I doubt the market is big enough to manufacture and market it as a commercial cd
Edited by nc8000 - 4/26/11 at 1:14pm

Complain to record labels. Chesky can sell his own stuff wherever he wants but the stuff on HDtracks from other labels is out of his hands. If they say "US only" He has to at least pretend like he's filtering out international customers or get sued into oblivion.

 

I don't think burned CD-R from a lossless source files has equal quality to a matrix PCM CD. For me listening to virtual music (a.k.a. files) is a nonsense. Cesky loses.
 

 

Its a file full of the same data whether its on pressed CD, a burned CD, or a flash drive. Your CD player/transport would have to suck to not get the right data off of a burned CD but be ok with a pressed one. $50 CD/DVD burner combo drive can get an exact rip of a CD in one pass these days and burn back a perfect copy in just a few minutes after that.

Sometimes a burned cd will even sound better. If you have a scratched cd and then rip it with eac (which can use all the time required to reread to get all the data off the disc) and then burn it again your players error correction will not have to struggle and the sound could be better