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Great Recordings, Sonically Speaking - and Why.

I think many of us would accept that artists such as Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, and Dire Straits have consistently put out music that was at least originally recorded to a high technical standard. [I'm not too sure what the loudness wars may have done to subsequent reissues, but even so, the tone and timbre thankfully tends to remain intact.]

However there must be plenty of lesser known recordings out there that could be said to be of a high sonic standard.

One such recording that I like to put on in the background whilst I'm doing other things is a piano recording that features wonderfully lush timbre and some delightful tunes.

This one is The Disney Piano Collection by Hirohashi Makiko and to me it makes a lot of other piano recordings sound a little washed out.
cd318

Showing 3 responses by cd318

cd318 OP
2,636 posts
 
@shooter41,

"Several mentions of Dire Straits but solo Mark Knopfler is a better bet for recording quality. "Sailing To Philadelphia", "Shangri-La", and "Get Lucky" are all really good."


For sure.

Mark Knopfler is a great musician who consistently puts priority on sound quality.

He certainly seems to have taken no chances, or spared any expense when he put together his own recording studios in Chiswick, West London.

Folks like Mark Knopfler and Barry Diament seem happy to go that extra mile when it comes to preserving the highest possible studio sound quality.



https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/british-grove-studios-london
http://www.barrydiamentaudio.com/
cd318 OP
2,636 posts
 
@fyn,

Good review, it might be worth checking.
Seems like a lot of care was taken in the recording to maximize fidelity and not commerciality.

Not my favourite genre but I'll give some of the more upbeat numbers a listen later.


"One more word about the drums. Far too many recording engineers pan the drums across the soundstage, giving an unnatural size to the drums. Not here. The drums are focused in the sound field and sound like a drum kit does live. I wish this was the case in more jazz recordings."
 
cd318 OP
2,636 posts
 
@sumaato ,

"Audio friends, I’ve got to wonder, reading the posts in this thread, if any listeners have purchased a record since about 1980!"


My record buying (current music) began to seriously tail off by the late 1990s.

Afterwards it’s mostly been reissues and material by previous favourites (Dylan, Springsteen, Morrissey etc).

The main problem is the sheer richness of the back catalogue stretching back some 70+ years. Even now there’s potentially hundreds of great albums I’ve not heard - mostly US artists little heard in the UK.

Therefore recent stuff has a lot to compete with if its going to stick and same goes for cinema, TV etc.

In fact the only recent (post 2000) movies I’ve seen that have left much of a lasting impression were both from 2008 - The Hurt Locker and The Dark Knight (Batman).

It's a moot point as what's actually happening today but there does seem to be a clear discord between recent world events and musical commentary.

Any protest singers still around in 2021?
Anyone about to instigate a cultural revolution like the ones witnessed in the 1950s and 1960s or are we done?
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