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
@bdp24:

"Yes @thecarpathian, and correctly so. It is also often mis-pronounced tim-ber by the musically uneducated (no offense intended) . Timber! is what you yell when a tree has been felled. ;-)"

So, when the tree surgeon you've hired misjudges his chain-saw angle and ends up sending a tree crashing through your picture window down onto your audio system, which do you yell, then: "timber" or "timbre". . . ?


@chilli42:

"I have tick skin so if I get beat up for stating the obvious I can handle it"

Yeah-- especially once all those ticks are filled to the brim with blood, I imagine it's like being sheathed in a carpet of miniature balloons-- no wonder the punches just glance off !


@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/
I like the "natural" sound of Taj Mahal's "Giant Step" double LP, but have never heard it on CD.

I have some CD's that get high marks for recording quality, but I do not care for the music.

Some by Chesky Records, a few by Ry Cooder (Bop being one) and something by Mapleshade that I received as a gift.

DeKay
@laps- indeed the Roxy Music stuff and Ferry’s solo stuff as well. Avalon and Bête Noire particularly.

Someone mentioned SO, fantastic.

On the Rush front, I think Roll the Bones and Presto are two. Moving Pictures goes without saying. A Farewell to Kings is really good too. Xanadu is amazing…