Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
Don't forget your vape!
The Blue Note Thread
- Thread starter stpaulbrowns
- Start date
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
Nice writeup of the mastering session for upcoming Sonny Clark Trio
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JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
mingerton
Well-Known Member
Apologies if I missed it when I was away, but have people on this thread debated whether to get the 1LP Mono vs the 2LP Stereo TP of Blue Train?
store.bluenote.com
I'm leaning to the 1LP Mono because I don't know how much I would listen to 5 alt. takes, a false start, and an incomplete take on the second LP.
But maybe Stereo is a superior way to listen to this Blue Train over the Mono?
John Coltrane - Blue Train (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)
On September 15, 1957, John Coltrane went into Rudy Van Gelder’s living room studio in Hackensack, New Jersey and recorded his first great masterpiece: Blue Train. It would be the legendary saxophonist’s sole album as a leader for Blue Note, a locomotive 5-track album fueled by the bluesy title...
store.bluenote.com
I'm leaning to the 1LP Mono because I don't know how much I would listen to 5 alt. takes, a false start, and an incomplete take on the second LP.
But maybe Stereo is a superior way to listen to this Blue Train over the Mono?
Dtknuckles
Well-Known Member
I was gonna comment on that.
Also I live about halfway between where they keep the tapes and where they get mastered. I want the application for a summer job to be that courier?
Dtknuckles
Well-Known Member
Apologies if I missed it when I was away, but have people on this thread debated whether to get the 1LP Mono vs the 2LP Stereo TP of Blue Train?
John Coltrane - Blue Train (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)
On September 15, 1957, John Coltrane went into Rudy Van Gelder’s living room studio in Hackensack, New Jersey and recorded his first great masterpiece: Blue Train. It would be the legendary saxophonist’s sole album as a leader for Blue Note, a locomotive 5-track album fueled by the bluesy title...
I'm leaning to the 1LP Mono because I don't know how much I would listen to 5 alt. takes, a false start, and an incomplete take on the second LP.
But maybe Stereo is a superior way to listen to this Blue Train over the Mono?
Why do people care if something is stereo or mono? I can see it with Hendrix or people that actually used it as a way to create something, but how does it enhance jazz?
That being said, it seems you get a lot more in the package than just the extra record. I’d be interested in those liner notes and the photos.
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
Grab My Favorite Things.
It's fairly inexpensive and comes with ST and Mono disk where you can get a flavor of both types with the same music.
It's a very preference oriented listening decision.
ST tends to pan sounds L or R, which bothers some folks, but has better fidelity and instrument separation.
I tend to favor ST myself, but mono continues to grow on me.
For the classics I am starting to acquire both.
Jazz is a real rabbit hole that gets deeper.
Welcome to the show.
zdkaiser
Well-Known Member
Apologies if I missed it when I was away, but have people on this thread debated whether to get the 1LP Mono vs the 2LP Stereo TP of Blue Train?
John Coltrane - Blue Train (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)
On September 15, 1957, John Coltrane went into Rudy Van Gelder’s living room studio in Hackensack, New Jersey and recorded his first great masterpiece: Blue Train. It would be the legendary saxophonist’s sole album as a leader for Blue Note, a locomotive 5-track album fueled by the bluesy title...
I'm leaning to the 1LP Mono because I don't know how much I would listen to 5 alt. takes, a false start, and an incomplete take on the second LP.
But maybe Stereo is a superior way to listen to this Blue Train over the Mono?
I am opting for the 1 LP mono pressing. For the reasons you mentioned, I too won't listen to the outtakes. Plus I also have a stereo pressing of the album from a previous trade.
Regarding @Dtknuckles comment, many of these older jazz albums were recorded when stereo recordings were in their infancy. So, on certain stereo albums, you would end up with musicians hard-panned to one channel or the other. For me, that is often quite distracting when listening. One example that comes to mind is the stereo pressing of Giant Steps by John Coltrane. I believe this was originally recorded in 1960 in both mono and stereo. Anyways, I have the stereo copy and Coltrane is hard-panned to the left channel. He is such a prominent player on that record, so when he's soloing it just creates this lopsided soundstage. Like Coltrane is way on the other side of my listening room. I don't particularly care for how that sounds. Not saying all jazz albums from the '50s and '60s will sound like that, but many do.
I'm sure others can speak more on the topic. I'm not much of a historian when it comes to this stuff, and my jazz knowledge is very limited compared to other members on this forum.
Dtknuckles
Well-Known Member
Even ST jazz from this era is not really done at the boards like pop/rock is. Wasn’t it more mic placement or at least a pair of stereo mics like classical used to be done?
However in pictures from recording we do see close micing of horns. (I think). Maybe they were mixed in to add presence?
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
I am not sure it's about mic placement.
*I'm no expert in music recording*
My understandingis a different type of recorder and a different groove cut for mono vs ST.
There are some really good articles on RVG recording studio. He was always experimenting for the newest sound.
No constants in there so mics were all over the place it seems.
MikeH
Well-Known Member
You're right in that it's not something like Hendrix or some bands where they used stereo to an advantage to create a specific sound. early stereo for jazz wasn't used very creatively. They just placed instruments hard-panned to certain sides to give the false sense of space. From what I understand, mic placement was more prominent in mono recordings back then to help give you an idea of the space because of the limitations of mono.
they definitely hard-panned lots of instruments in stereo jazz during the early years. I have quite a few early stereo jazz vinyl that are distracting to me as @zdkaiser said (especially if you ever listen in headphones). you'll have piano on one channel, horns on another and then drums on both, or some combination of those. You'll get sections of songs where there's interplay between only two instruments and there's nothing in the center of the imaging at all. Some albums have a little bit of bleed into the other channel. There was a span of a few years where I definitely prefer the monos over stereo.
Russ I
Well-Known Member
BoomBoom mentioned that bleed as one reason he enjoys the stereo mix of Blue Train. (Harley prefers the mono.)
MikeH
Well-Known Member
I just watched the interview with that german dude and Harley says he grew up with the mono so he has a soft spot for it but likes the stereo because of the bleed. KG was pretty non-committal haha. I had thought in the past KG pushed the mono as his preferred version.
With the bleed, it's not AS bad as most early stereo recordings with super hard pans. I have the classic records stereo pressing and it's pretty good but I'm excited to get the mono.
Russ I
Well-Known Member
Damn, guess I misremembered! (Wasn’t about to go back to try to verify haha.)
MikeH
Well-Known Member
I think they have said different things in different interviews to be honest haha. it's a bit of a loaded question for them since they are kind of doing press for it. "we like them both...buy them both!"
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
Yeah I recall Joe talking about how immersive the ST sounded while holding a beer.
MikeH
Well-Known Member
or "another adult beverage" haha. never change joe harley!
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
Listening to early copies of Sketches and KOB, I can say that ST is insanely good with the 30th street sound.
It just works with the gigantic studio room.
It just works with the gigantic studio room.
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
Fantastic article on the ST vs mono BN recordings.
@Dtknuckles
Note this RE Blue Train-
(The center was empty on occasion, as it was with Blue Train, for example, with horns, reeds, and piano on the left and drums and bass on the right).
londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com
@Dtknuckles
Note this RE Blue Train-
(The center was empty on occasion, as it was with Blue Train, for example, with horns, reeds, and piano on the left and drums and bass on the right).
How They Heard It – Blue Note Records and the Transition from Mono to Stereo
GUEST POST : Richard Capeless, October 23, 2014 Ed. Note: In the second draft of this article, I aimed to trim much of the fat. For those of you who have already read the first draft, I hope that y…
londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com
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JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
Dial S for Blue Note 
