A case of mono

A series of reflections on music or records

With the recent RSD 2021 release  Chet Baker Sings, the trumpeter gets to feature his singing voice. The feature of the release is it is in mono. Being in mono actually brings this recording to life.

Listening to it is a pleasure and being a stereo or audiophile nut (albeit without the budget) means the resurrection of the Connoisseur BD-1 belt drive turntable that was built by the experts at Ring Audio. The assembly kit was placed on a solid piece of wood that was anti-vibration. Drilled in place beside the platter is the original classic SME 3009 tonearm. Chosen for its characteristics to accompany the tonearm is the Nagaoka MP-10 cartridge, a Japanese cartridge that for its time was expensive. Fortunately, the MP-10 cartridge still works with the new generation of its brand of stylus options. The MP-110 replacement stylus represents an upgrade over what would have been its new MP-100 counterpart.

Together, the Nagaoka combination sounds like a dream, accurate and bringing out detail in the mid-range. The high end rings and the bass is present.

That it is from the original mono tapes acutally brings this recording to life. Keeping it in mono makes it sound less processed. With eyes closed, the image of Chet Baker Sings rings true centre.

WELCOME TO 2020 : 1000 HOURS AND COUNTING DOWN

The news? Moving into a new apartment with a view in upper Scarborough, we decided to bring the old stereo system back to life. This system is about as analogue as it can get, with Kenwood KA 3500 40 watt amp, Technics SL-1200 MKII turntable, two former Mirage speakers with a Ring Audio internal design and two cassette decks: one Sony and one AIWA.

THE Turntable Doctor at Bay Bloor Radio examined the stylus of the Ortofon 2M Blue After an electronic cleaning and although the stylus was already shorter than an original needle, he pronounced the stylus was still good and had 1000 hours left on it.  Now how long is 1000 hours in record playing terms? That was a good question. The Turntable Doctor said that should be three years. I thought why not keep track of what is 1000 hours?
As well, the technician suggested demagnetizing or clearning the cassette heads every 30 hours. So keeping track of that well will be on the table. The titles listed will be either on vinyl or cassette unless listed otherwise. There will be compact discs played as well and those will be included as well (but will not count towards the 1000 hours).

Welcome to my listening, good taste or whatever you may term it.

DATE	ARTIST	ALBUM	FORMAT	TRACK	ALBUM TIME	RUNNING TOTAL	CASSETTE TIME
2019-12-28	NILS FRAHM	SCREWS	ALBUM	SIDE A/B	00:28:00	00:28:00
2019-12-28	CRASS	Sheep Farming in The Falklands	flexi	SIDE A	00:05:22	00:33:22
2019-12-28	U2	NO LINE ON THE HORIZON	ALBUM	SIDE A	00:17:00	00:50:22
2019-12-30	BOB DYLAN	LIVE AT BUDOKAN	ALBUM	SIDE B	00:26:42	01:17:04
2019-12-30	SUPERTRAMP	EVEN IN THE QUIETEST MOMENTS	ALBUM	SIDE A/B	00:43:25	02:00:29
2019-12-30	APHEX TWIN	SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS 1985-1992	ALBUM	SIDE A/B	00:34:20	02:34:49
2020-01-01	EMMYLOU HARRIS	LUXURY LINER	ALBUM	SIDE A/B	00:38:35	03:13:24
2020-01-02	BOBBY WISEMAN SINGS WRENCH TUTTLE	IN HER DREAM	CASSETTE	SIDE A		03:13:24	00:29:07
2020-01-05	ELUVIUM	COPIA	VINYL	SIDE A	00:18:50	03:32:14
2020-01-06	ELUVIUM	COPIA	VINYL	SIDE B	00:21:00	04:12:55
2020-01-06	GLENN GOULD	WELL TEMPERED CLAVIER	VINYL	SIDE 1/6	00:19:41	03:51:55

The most recent listen goes back to the classical, Glenn Gould Well-Tempered Clavier. No. 1 is in C, it always starts that way. These are pieces that many have undoubtedly played while learning piano for the Conservatory. No doubt no one will ever play them as well as Glenn Gould could.
Eluvium is a taste that goes back 10 years to 2009. The Volume 1 box set of that time is long out of print, but back then it was one hundred sixty dollars which was a lot of money then.