Music for testing Hi-Fi

• Live at the Royal College of Music London, 1990
• With : Ustad Sultan Khan - Sarangi
• Ustad Shaukat Husain Khan - Tabla
• Released by Navras Records UK. Ltd. 1992 / Sony Music Entertainment (India) 2002
• This is a good recording at a comparatively lower volume, and has a good dynamic range. You would have to boost the volume to begin with. The piece starts with Mehdi Hasan explaining the composition while the tabla is being tuned, very interesting sounds. Both, the singer as well as the tabla player get into their top form near the 12th minute. Look for the texture in the singer's voice and the aggressive slaps on the tabla.

• Recorded in California. Released in India by Music Today.
• One of the best albums Asha has been involved with. Her voice varies from being husky and full throated, to pretty high pitched, while she is rendering these compositions by Mian Tansen. The taranas are great. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's Sarod has been recorded quite well, along with the tabla and pakhawaj. Don't miss the cello before the tabla/pakhawaj start on the longer pieces.

• AR Rahman is a good sound engineer. Unfortunately he targets his recordings to be radio friendly and for the mini systems, by boosting extreme frequencies at the cost of the mid range. So the male singers usually sound thin and loose whatever baritone they had. Whenever Rahman decides not to succumb to pressure, the results are great. He brought out Lata Mangeskar's real voice (at this age) in "Diya Jale" (the Tamil version by Chitra is good too). The title track has some good bass lines half way through the song. Even "Aye Ajnabi" follows the same style.

• Good recording and a great album. This has been recorded by Daman Sood, arguably the best "sound recordist" we had in India. He ran the Western Outdoor Studios in Mumbai.Daman Sood was to sound recording, what Gautam Rajadhyaksha is to still photography. Daman Sood was involved with the " Playback and Fast Forward" magazine in the 1980's, which got me interested in audio. You can read some interesting old articles at:
• + SoundRecordingFront
• The first song "Jag ke kati sari raina" has a good combination of voice(Jagjit Singh), tabla and guitar. "Champai Dhoop Ke Saye" and "Dhuan Uttha Hai" have some interesting sounds too.