Audio in the hey days 💫

 

RIP for Roberto De Simone 💫

 

Naples and the world will miss the gentle genius of Roberto de Simone, a man who renovated the tradition with an eye to next millennium.

Roberto de Simone and Beppe Barra 💫

Pino Daniele’s “Nero a Metà” master-tapes and assorted studio paraphernalia 💫

 

💫💎💫

The most expensive disc? 💫

 

Maybe!

This was the most expensive and highly collectible as individual classical LP of the planet. 

 

Leonid Kogan plays the Beethoven violin concerto op.61, accompanied by the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra under Constantin Silvestri. 

First made in UK on Columbia SAX 2386 B&S ES1 original stereo label, matrix YLX 1052 / 1053, issued in its original flip flop cover.

Thanks to Sailo Zucchello for the above.

A violin is a violin…

 

A Comparison of Wood Density between Classical Cremonese and Modern Violins...

Classical violins created by Cremonese masters, such as Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri Del Gesu, have become the benchmark to which the sound of all violins are compared in terms of their abilities of expressiveness and projection. By general consensus, no luthier since that time has been able to replicate the sound quality of these classical instruments. The vibration and sound radiation characteristics of a violin are determined by an instrument's geometry and the material properties of the wood. New test methods allow the non-destructive examination of one of the key material properties, the wood density, at the growth ring level of detail.

 The densities of five classical and eight modern violins were compared, using computed tomography and specially developed image-processing software. No significant differences were found between the median densities of the modern and the antique violins, however the density difference between wood grains of early and late growth was significantly smaller in the classical Cremonese violins compared with modern violins, in both the top (Spruce) and back (Maple) plates (p = 0.028 and 0.008, respectively). The mean density differential (SE) of the top plates of the modern and classical violins was 274 (26.6) and 183 (11.7) gram/liter. For the back plates, the values were 128 (2.6) and 115 (2.0) gram/liter. These differences in density differentials may reflect similar changes in stiffness distributions, which could directly impact vibrational efficacy or indirectly modify sound radiation via altered damping characteristics. Either of these mechanisms may help explain the acoustical differences between the classical and modern violins.

Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention

 

**Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention** were the avant-garde provocateurs who shattered musical conventions in the 1960s and beyond. Led by Zappa's razor-sharp wit and compositional genius, the band became synonymous with satirical, genre-definì rock that blended doo-wop, jazz, classical, and absurdist theatre.

Their 1966 debut Freak Out!—one of rock's first double albums-mocked consumer culture and hippie pretensions, while later masterpieces like We’re Only in It for the Money (1968) lampooned the counterculture itself.

Known for virtuosic musicianship and chaotic live shows, The Mothers (with rotating members like Ian Underwood and George Duke) became a training ground for experimental talent. Zappa's sardonic lyrics

(Don't Eat the Yellow Snow), complex suites (The Adventures of Greggery Peccary*), and fearless attacks on censorship (his infamous 1985 PMRC testimony) cenented their legacy as rock's ultimate iconoclasts.

I feel like I owe it to someone

 

… it was a looong time ago 😉

… but “that” was the feeling in hey days 🤟

Thomas Schick’s “The Double Ported” loudspeaker 💫

 

Introducing 'The Double Ported'. 

The first loudspeaker from Schick. 8 inch fullrange, 94dB/W/m, smooth impedance curve high flux density, paper cone. But also real bass performance, very wide dispersion.

Reactions are - reportedly - very positive, performance-wise.

John Cale - Paris 1919 master-tape 💫

 

💫💎💫

A Michael Chapman’s master tape 💫

 

That’s truly “something” 🤟

These are the production copies of master-tapes of Michael Chapman’s “Playing Guitar the Easy Way”, a truly great, remarkable record I cherished in my records collection for decades.

The record contains absolute gems like “English Musick”; how to don’t notice a weird choice, as the studio log names of the tunes were substituted by the guitar tuning used, which are slowly strummed from low to high strings, at the beginning of each track.

💎

Resistance

 

Lucio Battisti 💫

 

Last known picture of Lucio Battisti 💫

💎

A woman like you 💫❤️💫

A woman like you - Bert Jansch 

I don't believe l've seen

A woman like you anywhere

And I must admit that I can't see

To making you into a dream

But if I had a magical wonder word I'd send a dove to catch your love And I send a blackbird to steal your heart

But a broken heart won't go My endless search, little girl I gonna fix a magical spell To weave on you, little girl

I'll fall along that you catch the wind

Upon the orange to sweetest sin

Before this very moment evil in

I'd rather wait at the dark Of thousand times, little girl And take the woman until The heart of my soul.

And if I catch you sleeping along the west And gave you alone my secret way

But I bind your heart unto me very slow

I don't believe l've seen

A woman like you anywhere

And I must admit that I can't see

To making you into a dream

And if I had a magical wonder word I send a dove to catch your love And I send a blackbird to steal your heart.

❤️ 

Sometimes 💫