Where to source Carnatic and Hindustani classical Vinyl?

[essrand]

Or is this a fruitless endeavour and I had better stick to digital (CDs and streaming)?
Do Indian classical music in vinyl have good pressings or is it matter or title by title?
Would love some pointer/gyan from an Indian classical vinyl aficionado/collector amongst our FMs ....

 

[arj]

Or is this a fruitless endeavour and I had better stick to digital (CDs and streaming)?
Do Indian classical music in vinyl have good pressings or is it matter or title by title?
Would love some pointer/gyan from an Indian classical vinyl aficionado/collector amongst our FMs ....

Generally classical music Vinyls ( western and indian) are better pressed and better maintained than their Film/Pop equivalents hence are usually better on LPs but some pressings even if used. Some CDs especially by Decca/Living Mercury/DEutsche Gramophone /reference recordings etc are excellent.

I am not really an aficionado but do have some 40 odd Indian classical vinyls and they are far better recordings than the CDs for those i was able to compare. Exception is Chanda Dhara pressings for Indian music is excellent on CD but not easily available. Luckily I grabbed some of them at a closing sale many years back.

I would generally choose a vinyl over CD for this unless its not available Do look at the date of the pressing as well egI have Call of the valley as both the old and the new pressing and the old one is leagues ahead in its richness and feel.

Sourcing, am sure there are dealers in Mumbai although the recordings come at a premium .discogs not being available is a shame...

 

[Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra]

Or is this a fruitless endeavour and I had better stick to digital (CDs and streaming)?
Do Indian classical music in vinyl have good pressings or is it matter or title by title?
Would love some pointer/gyan from an Indian classical vinyl aficionado/collector amongst our FMs ....

IMHO it is always better to listen to the indian classical music album on vinyl. Some classical vinyls that I possess have excellent recording. If you listen to the Ghazals on vinyl , you will be delighted. I have heard somewhere that Ghazals are recorded with utmost care . However , recently I have bought some indian classical CDs and those are fantastic.But I can't compare them with their vinyl siblings as I don't have those particular albums on vinyl. Since this kinds of vinyls are never meant for mass market and the few people buy them , you can collect used /preowned records and most of those should be in very good condition. Just listen to Shiv kumar Sharma's Call of the valley , prabha Atre's Thumri, Pt. Bhimsen Joshiji's songs or Ghazals of Ghulam Ali, Pankaj Udhas , Jagjit singh , you will surely think that those are only meant for vinyls.
Regards

 

[Naturelover]

Vinyl Records Online: Get Your Rare Classics & New Releases

Over 36,000 Vinyl Records for Sale: Shop the best selection of new and used vinyl records at our store. Our staff can help you find the perfect addition to your record collection.

musiccircle.co.in

(Pilak Bhatt)
Much respected dealer in Mumbai

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

If you ever want to explore Indian classical beyond vinyl, CD and streaming, you’d find a treasure of old live performances from various festivals (Kashi, Bhopal, Delhi, Ahmedabad etc), as wel as studio recordings and radio programs on archive.org. Some are in FLAC, most in Mp3, but you won’t listen to these anywhere else as they didn’t get published by the labels.

Within streaming, try HCL Music, Classical Saregama and Ragya which are dedicated to Indian classical music. Especially Ragya has relatively limited, but excellent collection from young artists as well as less known senior artists. That and HCL music are great sources to go deeper into the genre. As are some Internet radio stations like Sandesh Radio and Sangeet Samvad. On the other hand, the Internet radio station Shanti Shanti run from Paris has the best sound quality and plays most of the Indian classical legends.

For vinyl and CDs you can look at eBay and old resellers around as most of it is out of print.

 

[arnprasad]

If you ever want to explore Indian classical beyond vinyl, CD and streaming, you’d find a treasure of old live performances from various festivals (Kashi, Bhopal, Delhi, Ahmedabad etc), as wel as studio recordings and radio programs on archive.org. Some are in FLAC, most in Mp3, but you won’t listen to these anywhere else as they didn’t get published by the labels.

Within streaming, try HCL Music, Classical Saregama and Ragya which are dedicated to Indian classical music. Especially Ragya has relatively limited, but excellent collection from young artists as well as less known senior artists. That and HCL music are great sources to go deeper into the genre. As are some Internet radio stations like Sandesh Radio and Sangeet Samvad. On the other hand, the Internet radio station Shanti Shanti run from Paris has the best sound quality and plays most of the Indian classical legends.

For vinyl and CDs you can look at eBay and old resellers around as most of it is out of print.

Thank you for the detailed response with many leads. Just went over to Classical Saregama and 900 for yearly subscription seems very affordable if they offering something different.

Just wondering - do they have albums/songs here that I cannot stream on Spotify or Amazon Music? I am not looking for audiophile quality - normal folks with normal speakers. Most of my moms listening is over Amazon/Google smart speakers and hence wondering if we get something different/extra on these subscriptions(classical saregama or other ones you listed) that I dont get on my current Amazon music/Spotify subscriptions

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

Thank you for the detailed response with many leads. Just went over to Classical Saregama and 900 for yearly subscription seems very affordable if they offering something different.

Just wondering - do they have albums/songs here that I cannot stream on Spotify or Amazon Music? I am not looking for audiophile quality - normal folks with normal speakers. Most of my moms listening is over Amazon/Google smart speakers and hence wondering if we get something different/extra on these subscriptions(classical saregama or other ones you listed) that I dont get on my current Amazon music/Spotify subscriptions

Saregama would have content that’s published by them, so is quite likely to be also on Amazon Music/Spotify. As I wrote earlier, try Ragya and HCL Music apps for exclusive content. Ragya has good sound quality as well and an interesting Prahar based user interface. Besides, try the Internet radio stations mentioned (Sandesh Radio and Sangeet Samvad) for the music they directly from the performers. All of these can be played over smart speakers via Chromecast/AirPlay.

Another excellent source for classical aficionados are YouTube channels run either by artists themselves, or the festival organisers or some dedicated fans. For example, there’s a playlist containing well archived Sangeet Sarita episodes from radio on one fan’s (DS Rathi) channel (just search ‘Sangeet Sarita). Then there are video recordings of performances at the prestigious Harballabh music festival over the past many years on their channel. You’d also find recordings of classical performances on Doordarshan over the past decades. And so on and so forth. The charm of listening to (and viewing) live performances in baithaks and festivals is quite distinct. Most of it is free to play content, but there’s also paid stuff by some like Darbar Festival.

P.S. 1 There’s still a surviving classical music culture in Pakistan unknown to most Indian classical listeners (unlike there Ghazals and Sufi music that we are well-versed with). You’d find a lot of it on a slightly pricey subscription based app ‘Saarey Music’ that streams exclusive classical content from the country. They have a free trial for a week or so.

P. S. 2 Another surprise app is ‘GurbaniMC’. The Sikh devotional music is raga-based and at quite at accomplished level too. They also have devotional playlists by individual Ragas. This app’s UI is also worth checking out. With Gurmukhi lyrics along with English translations line by line - a lot of effort has obviously gone into it.

 

[essrand]

Vinyl Records Online: Get Your Rare Classics & New Releases

Over 36,000 Vinyl Records for Sale: Shop the best selection of new and used vinyl records at our store. Our staff can help you find the perfect addition to your record collection.

musiccircle.co.in

(Pilak Bhatt)
Much respected dealer in Mumbai

This should do it for me . I remember browsing this store, long time ago, but he seems to now have a killer Indian classical collection.

 

[essrand]

If you ever want to explore Indian classical beyond vinyl, CD and streaming, you’d find a treasure of old live performances from various festivals (Kashi, Bhopal, Delhi, Ahmedabad etc), as wel as studio recordings and radio programs on archive.org. Some are in FLAC, most in Mp3, but you won’t listen to these anywhere else as they didn’t get published by the labels.

Within streaming, try HCL Music, Classical Saregama and Ragya which are dedicated to Indian classical music. Especially Ragya has relatively limited, but excellent collection from young artists as well as less known senior artists. That and HCL music are great sources to go deeper into the genre. As are some Internet radio stations like Sandesh Radio and Sangeet Samvad. On the other hand, the Internet radio station Shanti Shanti run from Paris has the best sound quality and plays most of the Indian classical legends.

For vinyl and CDs you can look at eBay and old resellers around as most of it is out of print.

This is a gem of a reply. Thank you for bringing to my attention these resources for a music lover.

 

[phil0s0phia]

IMHO it is always better to listen to the indian classical music album on vinyl. Some classical vinyls that I possess have excellent recording. If you listen to the Ghazals on vinyl , you will be delighted. I have heard somewhere that Ghazals are recorded with utmost care . However , recently I have bought some indian classical CDs and those are fantastic.But I can't compare them with their vinyl siblings as I don't have those particular albums on vinyl. Since this kinds of vinyls are never meant for mass market and the few people buy them , you can collect used /preowned records and most of those should be in very good condition. Just listen to Shiv kumar Sharma's Call of the valley , prabha Atre's Thumri, Pt. Bhimsen Joshiji's songs or Ghazals of Ghulam Ali, Pankaj Udhas , Jagjit singh , you will surely think that those are only meant for vinyls.
Regards

I do agree with your points but I've listened to many ghazal CDs under Magnasound label which are well mastered(AAD). I believe with proper mastering, the same album can sound well on CD as well

 

[Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra]

I do agree with your points but I've listened to many ghazal CDs under Magnasound label which are well mastered(AAD). I believe with proper mastering, the same album can sound well on CD as well

Spot on. Yes AAD Cds are way better than ADD Cds. I also possess some of them and those sound fantastic in my humble rig. My experience is , some vinyls are better than cds and some cds are better than their vinyl siblings.
Regards