Acoustic Portrait Records - Indian Classical Music

[square_wave]

A few weeks ago, at the AP home studio, we sat and compared some of the recordings with "meeting by the river" which is considered to be one of the best recordings for popular classical. I certainly think the AP recording sound more like the real thing. Minimal post processing is done. Trying to capture the event as closely as possible. I have picked up 3 albums since. I think this is a fabulous initiative and a boon for classical musicians in India.

@Naturelover , I have not compared the 320 kpbs with the others. I have bought only the highest resolution. If the system is resolving, you will hear a difference. At least stay with the CD resolution unless you are planning to play it only in the car stereo.

 

[AVM]

+1 Definitely worth doing but I no longer have a CD Transport.
Perhaps someone with a Transport can volunteer as there is no point in comparing HiRes with mp3

But for what it's worth the samples even on Youtube sound superb.

.

Agree. No point comparing hi res to mp3

 

[AVM]

Has anyone tested any of the three formats (320kbps, CD, hi-res FLAC) against each other for the same track?
Maybe a review of the music rather than the equipment. @Nikhil , @square_wave , @arj

Guess your CD gear can just be the equipment to do the comparo

 

[Ashenden]

I have been on look out as well. I saw this movie in Amazon prime and fell in love with the song. The audio quality in Prime is far superior to whats in YouTube.

This soundtrack was released by jiostudios and is available on saavn streaming

Sarvam Thaala Mayam - All Songs - Download or Listen Free - JioSaavn

Listen to all Sarvam Thaala Mayam songs now on JioSaavn. This Tamil movie features G.V. Prakash Kumar, Aparna Balamurali, Nedumudi Venu, Vineeth. Play online or download to listen offline free - in HD audio, only on JioSaavn.

www.jiosaavn.com

 

[arunkvivek]

This soundtrack was released by jiostudios and is available on saavn streaming

Sarvam Thaala Mayam - All Songs - Download or Listen Free - JioSaavn

Listen to all Sarvam Thaala Mayam songs now on JioSaavn. This Tamil movie features G.V. Prakash Kumar, Aparna Balamurali, Nedumudi Venu, Vineeth. Play online or download to listen offline free - in HD audio, only on JioSaavn.

www.jiosaavn.com

Thanks for the input! I am yet to subscribe to Saavn. I am looking for an offline source.

 

[Ashenden]

Thanks for the input! I am yet to subscribe to Saavn. I am looking for an offline source.

You can get it from iTunes before they shut it down
Sarvam Thaala Mayam (Tamil) (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - EP by A. R. Rahman, Rajiv Menon & Tyagaraja
https://music.apple.com/in/album/sa...original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1448348555

 

[Ashenden]

The violin solo album from Acoustic portrait is so beautifully rendered and recorded, it brings a lot of peace and makes me keep listening to it. Even the Youtube version is very good.

 

[Nikhil]

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[Ashenden]

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Acoustic Portrait Records has started releasing some amazing recordings for a couple of months now. Their work has been shared on the forum but I would like to create a discussion area for their work here so forum members can find out more on their recordings.

Link: Acoustic Portrait Records

I hope that this area becomes as popular as some of our other discussions on here.

Thanks Nikhil for the resource. From what I heard on those YouTube links, this seems a highly commendable initiative by AP. More strength to them and hope to see more genres in future.

As for Indian Classical, I’ve always felt having a live audience makes a big difference to the performance (I’d imagine it does to all kinds of music, as well). Anyone else feels this way? What would be wonderful is if AP can set up a mini auditorium- day for fifty people - with similar acoustic treatments and quality equipment to record live performances. That will ensure the artists are more in their element (especially classical ones who aren’t used to studio recording) as well as get the magic of performers-audience chemistry into the tracks. Of course they’d need to ensure the audience is well-mannered enough (no talkers, phoners etc), but that’s easily possible if they are by invitation.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

A few weeks ago, at the AP home studio, we sat and compared some of the recordings with "meeting by the river" which is considered to be one of the best recordings for popular classical. I certainly think the AP recording sound more like the real thing. Minimal post processing is done. Trying to capture the event as closely as possible. I have picked up 3 albums since. I think this is a fabulous initiative and a boon for classical musicians in India.

@Naturelover , I have not compared the 320 kpbs with the others. I have bought only the highest resolution. If the system is resolving, you will hear a difference. At least stay with the CD resolution unless you are planning to play it only in the car stereo.

Are you referring to Ry Cooder and VM Bhatt’s ‘A meeting by the river’? Did AP record it too (think Water Lily did the more popular record). I couldn’t find it on AP website. Any link? Thanks.

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

@SachinChavan. 100% correct. The other diff is having enough time. The min is 90min or 2 LPs. Hence a mini concert with full concert structure. That would be great. There have been great epic performances by Indian musicians over the years but very few recorded with full attention to quality. Hopefully this can change.

 

[square_wave]

Are you referring to Ry Cooder and VM Bhatt’s ‘A meeting by the river’? Did AP record it too (think Water Lily did the more popular record). I couldn’t find it on AP website. Any link? Thanks.

It was done by Water Lilly of course. I was referring to a comparative listen.

 

[Nikhil]

As for Indian Classical, I’ve always felt having a live audience makes a big difference to the performance (I’d imagine it does to all kinds of music, as well). Anyone else feels this way? What would be wonderful is if AP can set up a mini auditorium- day for fifty people - with similar acoustic treatments and quality equipment to record live performances. That will ensure the artists are more in their element (especially classical ones who aren’t used to studio recording) as well as get the magic of performers-audience chemistry into the tracks. Of course they’d need to ensure the audience is well-mannered enough (no talkers, phoners etc), but that’s easily possible if they are by invitation.

Hi Sachin,

The folks behind AP regularly attend live performances and host events showcasing live performances. They recently had an event that was by invitation and was well regarded by those who attended.

A Magic Evening - Concert by Sameer Rao

Sameer Rao is one of the leading Hindustani musicians in India. He is a disciple of Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia and has been learning the art from the age of 11. He will be accompanied by Adarsh Shenoy on Tabla. Please note, less than 10 seats available on bench for elderly audience, rest of the...

docs.google.com

With regard to your comment on the interaction with a live audience - the background story of this performance was that they sometimes find it a challenge to motivate the musicians to perform to their best abilities. So they decided to try out doing a recital within a temple and the results were sublime. See the video and you can see an intimate performance for those lucky to be there.

Regards

.

 

[Naturelover]

Any idea what's coming up in their music offerings, @Nikhil @square_wave ?

 

[Nikhil]

Any idea what's coming up in their music offerings, @Nikhil @square_wave ?

Will have to check but I doubt I will be able to get much info.
Although you can keep an eye on their Youtube channel for a preview of their latest launches.


.

 

[AVM]

Watching the artists perform as one listens to the audiophile recording enhances the overall experience. I become inclined to explore more.

Guess DVDs should be a good alternative.

 

[Naturelover]

Got four CDs from them.
Autumn Raaga, Naad Naman, Raag Bageshri, Violin Solo.
Lovely music, wonderful recording. Hoping for more, much more.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

It was done by Water Lilly of course. I was referring to a comparative listen.

Ah ok, I thought there was a version of the same album recorded by AP. Can you elaborate on how the AP recording compared with the Water Lily on various sonic aspects? What were the pointers that WL was processed sound? How to identify processes sound? Lower dynamic range? Less airiness?

Talking about labels recording Indian classical, there was (perhaps still is) a label called ‘Ninaad’. I liked their sound.

 

[square_wave]

Ah ok, I thought there was a version of the same album recorded by AP. Can you elaborate on how the AP recording compared with the Water Lily on various sonic aspects? What were the pointers that WL was processed sound? How to identify processes sound? Lower dynamic range? Less airiness?

Talking about labels recording Indian classical, there was (perhaps still is) a label called ‘Ninaad’. I liked their sound.

View attachment 36683

I listened in the same environment where I have listened to the singers themselves performing. So I can easily make out how much of processing have gone into the recording. Bear in mind processing is not bad per se. Most of the time a sound engineer's job is to make the vision of the artist or the producer come true. Not necessarily to make it sound raw. AP recordings, by design sound as close to the original as possible. If you are used to the sound of real instruments, you can make out by ear how much of change has happened. A sound engineer might be able to give you a technical explanation.