1. Volume 26n2 of the BAs Speaker has been published. It features 4 meeting summaries:
1. Piano buff David Temple's account of our trek to the historic piano museum in Ashburnham. And they are not just museum
pieces, but working pianos available for demonstrations and concerts featuring music of the period in which the piano was made.
2. The Do-It-Yourself meeting at Brookes Tanner's cabinet shop in Manchester NH.
3. WCES reports.
4. The Boston Symphony's Transcription Trust Archives with Bridget Carr and Bob Miller.
Articles: "The Death of Dynamic Range" chronicles the loudness wars on CD. "By Any Measure" reviews the history
of sound measurement. "Crafting Sound: Luthier Ray Hardy" profiles a string instrument maker. 34pp.
2. A friend recently clued me in on a special on a DVD player, a Yamakawa from ecost.com,
for $31 after rebates. It can be configured to be region free. The sad thing is that he asked me "What can I do with my Sony player that cost $1200?"
(He's an early adopter). I suggested he could keep it for the odd disc that wouldn't play on other machines. He said the new player plays everything.
He said the Sony plays CDs... Another friend said it's well made. So it could go in a museum of well-made-things.
3. I enjoyed a CD of Respighi's Pines/Fountains/Festivals of Rome with Lorin Maazel and the Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra. What is special, technically, is that it was recorded with a matched pair of Bruel and Kjaer 4009 omnidirectional mikes, eight
feet behind the conductor, fifteen feet above stage level, and five feet apart. From time to time the strings get drowned out by the brass, as would
happen in a live concert, but the overall sound has a realism that few recordings can offer. Sony SK 66843
David Hadaway
President, Boston Audio Society
email:
dhad000@yahoo.com
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