Stephan Micus

WOW... Stephan Micus, a true, well kept secret in contemporary music played last evening in superb Teatro Donizzetti... a rare, rare concert, indeed.

I knew about this very event few hours before it, thanks to my friend Donatella and her mobile-phone message... and thanking the kindness and support of Francesco Alleva and Alessandro Bettonagli (respectively the organization team and artistic directors behind the concert) I've been able to enjoy ALL the musical nuances, the weird and exotic sounds which came from the classy, elegant, yet minimalist stage.

Dimmed lights, wooden rear baffles... only the (necessary) mikes and booms only slightly worked against the Stephan Micus' ascethic persona, shy, yet strong appearance on stage.

His concerts - never more than 10 - 15 per year worldwide, are completely different than his several records on ECM... he, as a consummate and expert traveller and globetrotter, always travels lightly packed... no guitars, rebab, dilruba, ki u ki, stone percussions and the like; his companion is only what can be stored in an old hobo-like grey, battered suitcase: a zither from Germany, two shakuhachi from Japan, two duduk from Afghanistan, a suling from Bali, two kalimba from Gambia, two tin-whistle from Ireland... that's it.
A world in a suitcase... and his Mount Athos' trained voice... or, again, a superb, SUPERB encore on some obscure, poetic archaic Arabic lullaby where he get three different voices... shivers, tears, deep true emotion...

The so shy Stephan Micus considers the concert as a window where worlds collide... his out of the crowd, meditative, calm, quiet, poetic, beautiful world and our world... he stated that he'll never issue a live recording and, after yesterevening, I know he's sincere!

When I briefly chatted with him, after the concert, I learned many interesting aspects and observed him... his eyes are so quiet, but a little wild, spirited... maybe the long travelling made him so shy, word-shy, too... also when bowing at the audience handclappings, he too quickly disappeared in backstage, in his butter-white indian suit... he smiled a lot, when chatting together... a little sad, yet sincere smile... he appreciated I showed to him some of my vinyl records... ..."ah, vinyl records... they're much better than CDs..." and he carefully, lovingly handled the discs and the cover paper and autographed them...
Again, using italian to introduce his pieces gave to him a cute and friendly looking, but this was clearly a little tiring for him... this effort clearly showed his sincere respect for people in the hall, and his willing to be properly, fully understood...

The music is so important, but more important was looking at this humble, complex Man who saw the whole world, met people in five continents and learned from everyone he encountered on his path... music is already well served by his recordings... what a concert is for is allowing the passionate listener to understand and appreciate the blend of technique, soul, suffering, joy, skill and chance, the nervous and peaceful moods which are behind music, looking at the wrinkles on his face, tasting... yes, tasting the body smell after the concert when caring for these instruments coming from far countries... this is a concert. Living music... and a 360° life experience... a music which, suddenly, simply, changes your heartbeat and makes two hours a blissfull instant.

Om mani Padme Hum.

http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/Artists/micus_stephan.php

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=16055

http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=1532

Fire at Berlin Philarmonia Hall

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356755,00.html



... what a mess, pals... I've no words on this... I'm very sad.

Nick Drake...

... and movies... this is "Black Eyed Dog", one of the very last songs he recorded before his too early death...
... really, I've not words enough to say what Nick's music represented to me since early '70s when I first heard it, beginning from "Pink Moon" album... his music changed my life!
Sadly his was so... so...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDnDxvVjBic&feature=related

This little "divertissement" isn't bad... the New Deal mood with this very music... I find this YouTube's effort timeless and lovingly conceived...

The most mysterious disc ever?

The music and records collector life is quite various, so full of tales, mysteries, sought-after and elusive items: a slight difference in a cover and the very same disc is worth big bucks: come to mind first mono Bob Dylan's, the first Jefferson Airplane's, the "big face" 1st Neil Young, with Last trip to Tulsa, which unpleased a fussy Neil and was re-recorded and disc re-issued on Reprise label... the few copies which circulated (I own one...) are worth... well, you got it... , the Velvet's "torso" cover, where a guy involved in Warhol's Factory appeared, naked torso... after the first Velvet Undergound's sales, he asked for money... and the disc, to avoid legal hassles, was retired and re-issued with torso-less cover... voilà... no more money owed!

... the above are, of course, only some hints, the iceberg tip in the hard collector's jungle!

... but, here I'd wish to talk about another lesser known, obscure, niche disc... Tir Na Nog first record on Chrysalis green label.

It's worth - in the "right" (or wrong, depending on which side you're...) hands - fair amount of money, but listen...

Tir Na Nog was a duo of male singer, guitar players, a by-product of some Notting Hill life-style, back in late '60s... Sonny Condell and Leo O'Kelly's voices are angel-like and the cheapy Harmony Sovereign are so cleverly recorded by the magic ears and hands of sound engineer Nic Kinsey at his Livingston Studios in High Barnet, Northern London... it's a superdisc, a lion in sheep skin!

The production is by the giant of English folk music, Bill Leader, a man who, using a tube Revox recorder and a tube AKG C-12 pair made the history of music: Anne Briggs, John Renbourn, Bert Jansch... Transatlantic used in early '60s... Bill's dining-room or bedroom as a studio!!!

The record catalog number is typically Island of the Golden Years... ILPS 9153, Nic Kinsey and Bill Leader were typically Transatlantic chaps as is the sound, superb, I repeat... the Sovereigns' are captured smooth, natural... better, FAR better than expensive Martin's in lesser hands, studio ambient and voices sibilants, all is flawlessly "here" in this very disc!

How I'd wish to know "why" this collaboration happened... it's like if Rolling Stones would have recorded Paint it Black for EMI, with George Martin's producing, back in early '60s!!!

The songs are quite well done, still nice after almost 40 years, sounding not so dated, they aged pretty well.
... so what? Buy it, grab it if you find at some site or record market... I own two copies... like with Lumiere's cartridges... can't REALLY think me without this record!

Speaking about Island made me to go upstairs, looking for more... now listening to Traffic's "The low spark of long heeled boys"... Hidden Treasures, the first track, is really what I think about "my" music... hidden treasures among endless, infinite vinyl grooves... a world, a better universe!

Thanks Stevie... the tenor sax and hand-clapping on the titlesong are "so here"... you can't stop handclapping unison, too!!!

Yeahhhhhhhhh...

Q: What's time?

A: a sandclock!

A simple, ancient way to "see" the time... Anthony Braxton, the great musician used it as an improvisation tool... i.e. - improvising on the sax is sooo various, complex and endless... I'll need a path, a rule... someone who or something which will say "Stop!" and what's more democratic, free and gentle as the Time...

How can I see it, as it's invisible? A wristwatch? naaa... much better a romantic, classy looking one-hour lasting sandclock!

People at the concert, last year, was like ipnotized by sand flowing and flowing... at the last sand-grain, mr. Braxton, suddenly, as he began playing, he stopped with a smile, like an apology.

Imitating the greats is called "learning"... I just found a one-hour sandclock... I guess I'll call my next improvisation "Humbly: Time".

... 'til the very last sand-grain.

Berlin Triode Nights 2008

http://www.thomas-schick.com/dlnds.htm





A music and tube happening in Berlin, hosted and nicely appointed by Thomas Schick and selected friends... nice people, fine food, tubes, music at friends homes & nice music-systems tasting and lotta chatting on the matter... and Berlin still is a vinyl records heaven http://www.33rpm.de/ et al.... a dream.
... for (necessary) weather forecast: http://www.weathercity.com/de/berlin/

Will report soon... just stay tuned.

Laurie Anderson

... a mistery: She looked like she was 2 meters tall, while flawlessly performing, black dressed, braveheart icy eyes, on stage... yesterday evening at MaxLive in Costabissara, Vicenza, Italy.


When I briefly chatted with Her after the amazing, awesome, soooo beautiful show... hey, She was so cute, minute, almost fragile... BUT the light She brings in and with her Music, she's also among the most important performing artists I'm aware of... a true Giantess of arts.

I asked her about the trip to Tibet, Lake Mansarovar and Holy Mount Kailash back in early '90s... she honestly admitted than, more than deep mystic experience, she was very sick due to altitude... but still remembered the yaks smelling;-)

... politics... well: crude, heavy, like an iron hand in fur gloves... she also quoted, among others sad crazyness concerning U.S. of A.'s international politic behaviours she so effortlessly and sincerely blames, the Dal Molin/Vicenza hassle and pain in the ass for many, many people around... a very appreciated and sincere word from a sincere and very sensitive woman and artist.

... and, possibly, for yours truly, maybe among the five very best concerts ever... and I'm a pretty avid concert-goer, believe me...

Her music, formerly a newly composed project titled "Homeland" - whose disk will be available in early 2009 - has been able to "stop the clock": the text and atmospheric music and texture, her electric violin, voice and sampling, the superb, Zen-like viola on the right-stage, THE MIGHTY vintage bass-guitar... I never saw such a long-scale instrument... going subterrean low-bass, con gusto... WOWOWOW!



A rare, rare happening and personally feeling fortunate enough having been in the bunch enjoying this very concert and a joy meeting such a truly warm human being, a very sincere artist and a musical lighthouse to me since my first exposure to her music.

ohhhh, Suuuuupermaaaannn...;-)

http://www.laurieanderson.com/

http://www.mansarovar-kailash.com/

The little, mighty SHELBY 4W LAMP - an industrial tale!

A SHELBY 4W bulb is endlessly, humbly shining since 1901!!!

This little, tender, humble glass globe with a filament is a sort of industrial miracle... the story: in Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Guard Station # 6 this bulb never broke, nor stopped to shine in 107 years!

Its light saw several wars, Edison, Roosvelt, the Great '29 Depression, the New Deal, JFK and Nixon, Reagan and Bush, and it became a cult... people, the brave Fireguard caressed its warm glass bulb before a mission, pregnant women searched in its warm round belly and long life an happy ending and good health in their pregnancy fruits.

It's a tale, a modern one, with some Fritz Lang's Metropolis flavour, but still a tale... let's remember the average bulb life is in the few thousand hours realm... this gizmo shone for more than a million hours... here is, still alive and kickin'...

http://www.centennialbulb.org/cam.htm

Tibet & Tibbetts

I love Steve Tibbetts and Tibet... if a pix tells more than 100 words, a song is worth a book!

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ky6O6VoXV0

&

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJGQAXG162I&NR=1

Have a listen to this nice music... it's full of compassion and love for Tibet and Its People... and Now, when the newspapers are almost silent on the matter... NOW it's the very moment to wish to Dalai Lama and His People to live in peace in their ancient Holy Land.

Namastè! Om Mani Padme Hum! Amen!

"Buddhism is the only religion that doesn't promise anything. Only suggests we work with ourselves fundamentally."

--Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche

Slate and audio

Few days ago I went to Liguria for shopping... no, no pesto, trofie and the like... BUT, slate!

This wonderful, natural, almost sexy material has some vibes taming properties which, I must admit with regret, I wasn't aware of...

I had a 60 x 60 x 8 cm slab custom made at a slate workshop and placed, with some troubles due to the 90 kilos weight, under the Garrard 301/Shindo with my bronze arm-base, Schick 12 inches arm and Lumiere DST cartridge.

Under the slab I placed my "RollingPods"... the 140 kilos total-weight monster is controlling sound and vibes... while granito or marble are "singing" materials, slate is self-dampening, giving to music a shiny, true-to-life patina... nonetheless, dynamics are GREATLY improved, the inter-notes silence is more "here", more important in music as it is at a concert...

Selfconsciousness in Sound

The Void (Sanskrit: Shunyata. Tibetan: Tong-pa-nyi.)- The Buddhist conception of the ultimate nature of reality. Refers specifically to the lack of an inherently existent self in all phenomena and beings.

... and that's what I got... as I meditate, I don't want... things happens, by chance... purer than pure, no will, no wishes... things - sometimes - find me.

Unsaid, mysterious worlds are all around... let's give our truest, inner very Self the possibility to blossom... only an empty, quiet mind is able to see and hear the Very Essence of World... call it God if you can't absolutely avoid it... but it's higher, no need for books, priests, monks, churches... be your Cathedral the Universe... be your Bishop and Pope...

Sound is your Holy Book... and the above "only" from a century old Tibetan singing bowl I (quite) recently found in an humble, small street market... Its double tone, soooo deep ringing has been sort-of a switch for me... "ON"... no, better: "OM"...

Chanting and meditating on these heavenly sounds is like I found a diamond in the mud, which shines and shines, endlessly...

Satori...

Some more practical infos:

http://www.bodhisattva.com/about.htm

RecordStoreDay

Il 19 aprile c'è il RecordStoreDay. "Nessun luogo può cambiare la tua anima più dei piccoli negozi di dischi". Forse ha proprio ragione lo scrittore inglese Nick Hornby, che li venera con la forza di un culto: tra quegli scaffali pieni di titoli entri chitarrista ed esci batterista, arrivi per chiedere l'ultimo successo in classifica ma c'è sempre qualcuno capace di farti cambiare idea, di farti scoprire un mondo, di darti una chance per crescere e per diventare migliore. "Cosa ascolti quando entri nel tuo negozio favorito per il download?" si chiede Nick Hornby. "Niente. E chi incontri? Nessuno. Chi ti consiglierà di smetterla di ascoltare questo e di cominciare ad ascoltare quest'altro? I negozi di dischi non possono salvarti la vita, ma possono dartene una migliore". Tanto entusiasmo viene condiviso anche da Don Was, musicista e per anni produttore di Bob Dylan e dei Rolling Stones: "In principio fu il negozio di dischi, un tempio moderno con i suoi sacerdoti e i suoi iniziati, santo ricettacolo dei ritmi e delle rime più sacre. In confronto" osserva il musicista di Detroit "Internet sembra un'asettica stanza d'ospedale". (LaRepubblica, 9 aprile).
Che cosa sarebbe stata la (mia) vita senza musica?

Rullit - an audio experimenter (again) from Germany

Warhol's Lumiere and RS-3 - An Hommage

Have a look here: http://community.webshots.com/user/highfilter
Rullit is an audio brave, fearless experimenter from Germany... his search is a tasty, tireless in respectfully modifying and revamping old classics from Saba, Telefunken, Siemens, Isophon speakers... RE-604 and AD-1 german triodes, EMT and Commonwealth classic broadcast idler-wheel turntables... practically a brother;-)))!

http://www.field-coil.com/#field_coil

Very, VERY interesting approach and stuffs...

Harps and harpists: pure bliss!

Yesterday evening a superb concert at my town Conservatory of Music: Maria Rosa Fogagnolo and Nazarena Recchia in a duo harp, so rare and magical concert... REALLY moving, exotic music from even more exotic instruments, rarely seen solo, imagine duo!?!... sometimes relegated to a sort of a noise, a colour for orchestra and a nuance in composers palette, like celesta or triangle... what a SHAME!!!!;-)
Haendel, Pachebel, Albeniz, Granados... all superbly played music... BUT the highlight has been Giannantonio Mutto's Five Jewish and Yiddish Songs!
Encore and encore and... audience wasn't never tired in listening to this ancient airs from the past coming from a contemporary composer who composed this haunting, beautiful piece for his harp students, as a joke... WOW!

The two so elegant, almost ethereal musicians were caressing strings and air together... when I had the opportunity, after the concert to strum an harp briefly... I understood how difficult is to tame the resonances, stopping the unused strings to freely vibrate... imagine a wild, untamed grand-piano, without pedals. Only hands, palms, fingers... a joy for the ears and for the eyes, as well, but a quite muscular instrument, indeed ... and, as a plus, now I know that the red strings are "C" and the black one are "F"... a well spent day;-)
Sound-wise... well, I've been impressed in hearing the BIG sound, lots of air moved... and again, as usually when I go to a concert, a good lesson to apply when back home in my listening room...

M -U -S - I - C: an amendment and an addendum

In a past post;-) - browse in previous posts, at yr. convenience) - I blissfully quoted my experiences in details retrival from high quality vinyl discs... birds sounds, heating boilers and the like.

Well, I must amend something I guess I heard... to my GREAT surprise in Hopkinson Smith's EMI Reflexe of S.L. Weiss lute music I was sure the low rumble noise I was listening during quiet lute solo pieces was the above mentioned boiler... BUT, after installing in my analog rig (Garrard 301 with Shindo heavy platter, spindle and leaded-mat, w. 25 kilos bronze arm-base) the recently received Thomas Schick's 12 inches arm, with my own heavier brass o-ringed/tamed arm-weight and Lumiere DST cartridge... well... what I now hear is a completely new, huge, improved mess of ambient details... AND the "boiler" isn't a boiler... but ALL these low noises are cars, possibly going in a underground garage or the like.

My madness made me, few days ago, to make a little research... Tonmeister Matthes recorded this very record with Maestro Smith playing a circa 1700 precious, sought after museum-quality lute... and, in fact, the recording happened in a Nurnberg museum...

I did a Google Earth research and found the Museum site;-)

I went to Nurnberg a couple of times and I remember there are no hills for hundreds kilometers around... so, voilà... YEEEESSS!

My guess proved to be correct... an underground garage amplifying the entrying and exiting cars was, IS quite near to the Museum, maybe for personnell and the like!

To my very surprise, at some point on EMI disc, I've NOW been able to identify a roaring car, previously unaudible with other, lesser arms... an Alfa Romeo or an old, clunky Mercedes 200... who knows?!?!;-)))

... I wonder and ask myself: how many hidden informations are in the humble vinyl records grooves?

So, let me please pay a grateful acknowledgement: thanks Thomas for the great arm... thanks Chiaki for the great cartridge!

Their magnifying capabilities are... simply unbelivable!

... and, last but not least... the second time I bother Aldous Huxley... in his "The Doors of Perception" he describe his experiences with lisergic drugs AND an interesting chapter on "how to enjoy paintings"... I always used his method since I had my first exposure to this seminal book, when since in my teens...

Mr. Huxley's advice is simple: always look, when in a Museum looking at masterpieces on the walls, to the clothes, to jewels, don't look at the figure face, look at the hand veins... don't look at the rose first, but look instead to the leaves... look at the background, at the tiny details... you'll better understand the central human figure, the Madonna with Bambino... I always applied this to visual arts... BUT it's in music I obtained the most astounding results... again and again: God is in Details!

The listening/reading experience

It's a varied experience, always different... sometimes I look for intimacy, details, other times for guts, muscular sound, to dance and to sing-a-long... BUT, one of the highest peaks for me is listening to a group or a musician and in the meanwhile read something related... few moments ago David Gans's book "Grateful Dead Interviews" while listening to Deads' "Go To Heaven"... followed my "Dick's Pick # 4" - the very best... great results also with Frank Zappa's "Chunga's Revenge" or "The Grand Wazoo" or "The Yellow Shark" and FZ & Peter Occhiogrosso's Biography or Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica", "Lick my Deacals off, Baby" or "Doc's at The Radar Station" and Don Van Vliet's Biography... can't imagine what these people did in their lifes, pals... I love reading about them and listening to their music... it's like sitting on the couch with the musician and better, MUCH better understanding their musical and life vision. A totalizing experience...

Japan and Japanese

To better understand Japan, here is a truly astounding, complete (!?!), incredible list of Japan related links lovingly edited by Mr. Jim Breen, an Australian professor and lover of Japanese culture.
Any word on my part is unnecessary... but this link will open to anyone interested - as did for me - new worlds.
... BTW, it's also very WJAAS' friendly!

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/japanese.html

... some words about the "bird-fish" drawing: made by a children... a genius?
Let's find and use again our childish life-enjoyment approach...

Philips 9710 or "The Doors of Perceptions"

Why bothering Aldous Huxley for an apparently humble wideband 22 cm diam. speaker, made by Philips in The Netherlands back in the '60s?
Why these little unassuming speakers are truly a masterpiece!
Their superb paper dual-cone, the copper polepiece, the Alnico magnet and the incredibly linear frequency response... ALL the above give to this speaker its high status.
I've always been a lover and a scholar of old classy widebands: Goodman's Axiom 80, Siemens Klangfilm KL-307 and now Philips 9710 are capable - in carefully built, non-resonant large plain-baffles - to reproduce music in a much larger scale than expected by lesser audio cognoscenti, a different interpretation if compared with other top-class speakers systems.
The detail is ABSOLUTELY astounding and the level of resolution is of stellar quality.
Also bass sounds are nicely reproduced with no sense of frequencies lacking or rounded highs.
These gizmos will be mounted on a quite large baffle, tricky in building... my deepest thanks to M. Salabert of PHY-France http://www.phy-hp.com/English/Communication_E/Com_E_Baffle_Plan.html
and to Rob from The Netherlands http://www.dhtrob.com/installatie/weergevers.htm
and to Troels from Denmark
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/philips9710.htm
and, last but not least to Nico Wilke http://www.german-vintage-loudspeakers.com for their important suggestions and hints in the making of my new project.
Stay tuned...;-)

A superb link from Germany

http://www.german-vintage-loudspeakers.com

I wish to anyone, to the audio daredevil, the pleasure to browse inside this superb site, also very WJAAS' friendly! A well kept secret in the whole Web... shhhhhh!

'THE MIDRANGE IS WHERE WE LIVE!'

We are Frank & Al. Frank is from Japan, Al is from Germany. These names are synonyms established a long time ago at the beginning of our friendship. We share every day interests such as Japanese Reggae personified by J.S.Bach, Sake, amplifiers, Sushi and good food in general, loudspeakers, music and common madness. We have a mutual friend, a former terrible nurse, who once escaped on mysterious tracks from Tokyo to Freiburg where she started playing the piano. She underwent a metamorphosis and now she is wonderful, especially when playing Mozart or Brahms sonatas on her Steinway B grand piano.

私たちはフランク＆アルです。フランクは日本人、アルはドイツ人です。大昔に、我々の友情が始まった時から、この呼び名が使われました。（訳注："Al Capone"とその片腕"Frank The Enforcer Nitti"から借用しています。口げんかをしている時は、お互いを、"Alfonzo","Frankonsutein"（フランコンスタイン『ヤン グ・フランケンシュタイン』の日本語字幕せりふより）と罵倒します。"Alfonzo"と優しく呼びかけると、我がドイツ人ジェントルマンはかなりめげま す）。我々は、J.S.バッハの再現とも言うべき日本のレゲエ、酒、アンプ、寿司、旨いものなんでも、スピーカー、音楽、互いが熱狂しているもの、そんな 関心事を毎日共有しています。私たちには、共通の友人がいます。かつては身の毛もよだつ恐怖の「ナース」と呼ばれていましたが、捜査の手を逃れ、ミステリ アスなルートでトキオからフライブルクへ逃亡し、そこで身も姿も変えて、ピアノを弾き始めた女性。彼女がスタインウェイ・Ｂ・グランドピアノで、モーツァ ルトやブラームスのソナタを奏でる時は、誰もがこのまま死んでもかまわぬと思ってしまう。（訳注：おいおい、何を書いとるんじゃ。Mo Hayder の"Tokyo"の恐怖のNurseとごっちゃにするな。彼女はそんな人じゃない。もっと、恐ろしい。何人のドイツ人ジェントルマンが身も心も奪われたこ とか。美しき、魔性のギャンブラー。皆さん、バーデン・バーデンのカジノにお立ち寄りの際には、お気を付けて）。

We want to take you hostage to the wonderful world of German loudspeakers which were built back in the old days. These ancient drivers have properties which seem to have vanished during the past two or three decades. By now modern day HiFi has conquered the markets worldwide.

私たちも、彼女のように、皆さんを、昔に作られたドイツのスピーカーの素晴らしい世界に誘い込み、虜にしたいのです。これらの太古のドライヴァーが持つ特 質は、ここ２０年から３０年の間に消滅してしまったように見えます。今や、現代においては、ハイファイが世界市場を席巻してしまっています。

"The midrange is where we live". This eternaly valid quote of Paul Klipsch needs no further comment. It represents the essence of what we are trying to advocate.

「中域こそ、我らが生きる所」。ここに引用したポール・クリプシュの言葉は、永遠に妥当するものであり、それ以上のコメントは不要でしょう。これこそ、我々が声を大にして言いたいことなのです。

Please feel invited to enjoy hundreds of pictures of vintage loudspeakers of mostly German origin. We are trying to provide you with as much background information as possible. This website will be updated regularly; with new pictures and with new research results. For further background information we need your help.

我々の招きに誘われて、どうぞヴィンテージ・スピーカーの何百枚もの写真を楽しんでください。そのほとんどがドイツで作られたものです。私たちはできるだ け多くの参考資料を提供しようとしており、このウェッブ・サイトは、新しい写真と資料で定期的に更新されるでしょう。更なる参考資料のため、皆さんの協力 を必要としています。


We do not consider ourselves the stone of wisdom! It is very very difficult at times to recapture technical or historical facts about those old drivers and the companies behind them and we are certainly willing to reverse or relativate our documentary data. Reliable documentation is scarce and some data which are available are controversial. There may be errors in parts of this web site. But we are trying to inform you as best as we can. Any help from outside to fill the information gaps is greatly appreciated! Join the party! Please help us with YOUR knowledge! So, if you know something about old speakers, magnet manufacturers, companie's history, technical data of any sort AND if you want to share this information - get in touch! If you find errors in our information or if you have another version - get in touch!

私たちは「賢者の石」だなどはうぬぼれていません。これらの古いドライヴァーやその背後にある会社について、技術的、歴史的な事実をキャプチャーすること は、時には非常に困難を極めます。私たちは、喜んでドキュメンタリー資料を入れ替えたり、その価値を相対化します。信頼できる記録はまれであり、提供でき る資料の中には、議論の余地のあるものもいくつもあります。このウェッブサイトの一部には、誤りがあるかもしれませんが、できるだけ最もよい情報を提供し ようとしています。情報の透き間を埋める外部からの援助は大歓迎です。さあ、我々の仲間になって下さい。あなたの知識で我々を手助けして下さい。古いス ピーカー、マグネット製造会社、会社の歴史、あらゆる種類のテクニカル・データについて何かご存じであれば、ご連絡下さい。また、我々の情報に間違いがあ りましたら、あるいは別のヴァージョンの情報をお持ちであれば、ご連絡下さい。

The world of German vintage loudspeakers is a fascinating chapter of engineering history. Listening to those speakers is a fascinating experience!

ドイツのヴィンテージ・スピーカーの世界は、エンジニアリングの歴史において魅惑的な１章を占めます。これらのスピーカーを聴くことは魅惑的な体験です。

"Music is the Best"
「音楽こそ最高」（Frank Zappa）。

Enjoy!

M - U - S - I - C

Many, many years ago I had my first seminal exposure to the world of "Le Cahier de l'Audiophile", a magazine which also opened never guessed doors toward the most beautiful of passions: the sound, more than music, because in sound - in nature: crickets, wind, storm, birds - you hear the music seed and after this you'll became aware of a parallel world of infinite beauty... a by-product of this love is in hearing differences among audio gears and recording and instruments and halls... a curse, you'll say... NO!... a blessing, indeed.
Being able to follow several musical lines in classical music pieces, at a concert and at home, the joy of a montain stream water sound, and the birds... the birds! They're a blessing's blessing... since my boyhood I always loved their singing.
My mother woke up at dawn to sip a peacuful coffee cup with a singing bird company from the highest tree... for years... it was her very way to love and celebrate Earth and Its mysteries.
Now I still love same singing, and I also found a crazy way to go beyond this... on several, dozens recordings, mostly classical music, I became aware of the well kept hidden sounds captured by mikes: a motorbike in a David Munrow's record, and birds, plenty of them: in a Bert Jansch's disc, in Paniagua's several recordings on Harmonia Mundi's and many many others...
Some weeks ago I found an obscure solo lute music disc on EMI Reflexe... and I jokingly began to count the birds singing on the recording which I was able to listen to... well: I counted SIX!!! different birds singing!
The disc is: Pieces de Luth by Anthony Bailes and the Tonmeister is Johann-Nikolaus Matthes... he also recorded a FANTASTIC Hopkinson Smith's disc of S.L. Weiss Lute Music... and there too, tons of details from recording venue - unfortunately it was recorded in winter... so, no birds;-)))... but nonetheless an huge, subbass heating-boiler switching ON and OFF several times during Weiss' celestial music... well, nice mikes, Mr. Matthes!
I cannot explain "Why" I'm so attracted by these sounds, instead of considering them as distracting noises... they simply seem to near myself to musician and composer and Music and recording place.
That's why now, almost in my fifties, I understand when a Japanese gentleman, mr. Iwata-san, owning a superbly complex, expensive, BIG multiamped horn-music system, told - in an interview to Jean Hiraga of L'Audiophile fame - his life was devoted to M-U-S I-C... and he felt fortunate enough to have reached M-U-S... hoping to reach, more... I... and C, too, maybe?!?! before his death.
I'm humbly in same league: I reached in my own life M, a strong, mature, heartfelt, well done, proud "M"... and, thinking different from mr. Iwata-san, I sadly know I'll be not able to go beyond "U" or "S"... but this is one of the Great Mysteries... someone else will get closer to the Perfection, one day... and so on and on. I'm definitely faithful in humankind;-)

P.S. - if anyone wonder who's the white bearded man in the pix... he's Pandit Pran Nath, an Indian master singer, a man whose micro-tonal technique defined a new standard in musical subtleties, very rare and almost unknown in Western music... Indian musical heritage and Raga inspired La Monte Young, Terry Riley and many others...
The pix is an homage to Pran Nath's vocal accuracy and ancient art... a step closer to perfection in Music.
If you'll listen to his music you'll understand what I mean... in tears.