An enquiry: First Indian Stereo Recording

bhaskarcan

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Hi All,

For sometime been looking for authentic info on the first recording of stereo music in India. Also the first True Stereo record pressed. But got nothing solid. Like to request all to contribute if any info is available.

Thanks & Regards
Bhaskar
 
I will try to ask around in SIRC. According to information available with me, the first stereo LP came out in India in 1965 (in the world it was 1958 I think). I will try to find out if possible, which one it was. It was probably a single side stereo in my opinion.
 
Thanks.

While browsing through the following link http://www.discogs.com/label/83491-The-Gramophone-Company-Of-India-Ltd?sort=date&sort_order=asc, I found http://www.discogs.com/Ustad-Bismillah-Khan-Gujari-Todi-Shankara-Thumree-Piloo/release/3584196 is described as Stereo(1965) but originally it's not. Even the code EALP doesn't match stereo code(ASD) at that time.

Then, according to above mentioned link the next Stereo record(Indian recording) is http://www.discogs.com/Vilayat-Khan-Bismillah-Khan-Duets/release/4613767 which was released in 1967.

So mainly we have to look for a pre-1967 Indian stereo record. Since we are looking for an Indian recording, we have to keep in mind that most of the Ravi Shankar records were recorded in the West.

Regards
 
If you ask about Film music,I think LaxmikantPyarelal recorded first Stereo song for the film "Karz". First 4-track Stereo was "Sholay" as per info.
 
Spiro, Karz was released in 1980. Sholay was 1975. Both recorded in stereophonic sound.

Regds
I heard in Radio program long back which said that stereo cassette recording was started from movie "Karz ".And real 4 track(Ultra stereo) movie sound track was recorded from "Sholay"
 
We are discussing here about overall first Indian Stereo recording and the corresponding record.

As far as Hindi film music goes, the first true stereo recording was done in 1970 for V. Santaram film "Jal Bin Machhli, Nritya Bin Bijli" on Odeon label. This was recorded at Rajkamal Studio, Bombay.

But much before Stereo film soundtrack, Indian Classical music have had Stereo recording. And I'm trying to know which record was that.

Regards
 
We are discussing here about overall first Indian Stereo recording and the corresponding record.

As far as Hindi film music goes, the first true stereo recording was done in 1970 for V. Santaram film "Jal Bin Machhli, Nritya Bin Bijli" on Odeon label. This was recorded at Rajkamal Studio, Bombay.

But much before Stereo film soundtrack, Indian Classical music have had Stereo recording. And I'm trying to know which record was that.

Regards

I always assumed that Indian non-film releases before the early 1970s era was in mono! :)

On a hunch I just checked my meagre collection of Indian non-film records and surprise, surprise - this is what I found!

1) Sriradhar Manbhanjan - Bengali Musical drama - LP - HMV No. EASD 1344, year of release 1969

2) Ustad Bismillah Khan, Shehnai - LP - HMV No. EASD 1329, Year of release 1969

3) Lata Mangeshkar Recites Bhagwad Geeta Chapters 9 & 12 - LP - HMV EASD 2469, Year of release 1970.

So there must have been stereo record releases even prior to these LPs' release years and there must be many collectors and music lovers in the forum who own stereo recordings from an earlier period.

At least we know the cut-off period from where to make a start for a search! :)
 
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Thanks.

While browsing through the following link http://www.discogs.com/label/83491-The-Gramophone-Company-Of-India-Ltd?sort=date&sort_order=asc, I found http://www.discogs.com/Ustad-Bismillah-Khan-Gujari-Todi-Shankara-Thumree-Piloo/release/3584196 is described as Stereo(1965) but originally it's not. Even the code EALP doesn't match stereo code(ASD) at that time.

Then, according to above mentioned link the next Stereo record(Indian recording) is http://www.discogs.com/Vilayat-Khan-Bismillah-Khan-Duets/release/4613767 which was released in 1967.

So mainly we have to look for a pre-1967 Indian stereo record. Since we are looking for an Indian recording, we have to keep in mind that most of the Ravi Shankar records were recorded in the West.

Regards

I forgot about your earlier post!

You are right about the cut-off year of search.

However, there is no mistake on the part of the Discogs website. The number is absolutely correct! I overlooked this LP in my collection and so I'm including a few images for reference.






I have found that HMV had always mentioned STEREO on their LPs and a small box with this message -

"THIS RECORD can safely be played on any modern monophonic equipment with a light weight pick-up. You will hear excellent reproduction on a suitable mono player and full stereo sound on a stereo player."

In my opinion, the second album bearing the series No.EALP is not stereo at all. Non of the LPs in my collection bear the STEREO label. But I've noticed that LPs bearing series No.EASD are all stereo. Probably the letter "S" denotes stereo.

EALP 1261 - A Sitar Recital by Ravi Shankar with Allah Rakha (Tabla) - Year of release not mentioned.
EALP 1267 - Gems from Tagore - Year of release not mentioned (I can personally vouch that this LP is definitely not stereo!)
EALP 1271 - Shehnai Nawaz Bismillah Khan, Raga Bageshri Raga Sohoni - Year of release 1963
EALP 1285 - Shehnai Nawaz Bismillah Khan, Raga Bhairav Raga Multani - Year of release 1964

Incidentally, the Ravi Shankar album that I possess says Made in India on the record label.... I suppose the foreign recordings probably are from his post-Beatles period.

So the search continues!! :sad:
 
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ALP and ASD, mono and stereo respectively, were prefixes of EMI for their western classical series. The E must have been added for non-UK releases, or maybe for specifically Indian classical.

It seems strange that despite stereo becoming popular after 1958, no such recording information is available for Indian releases till the mid-60s or even later.
 
I forgot about your earlier post!

You are right about the cut-off year of search.

However, there is no mistake on the part of the Discogs website. The number is absolutely correct! I overlooked this LP in my collection and so I'm including a few images for reference.


............................................

I have found that HMV had always mentioned STEREO on their LPs and a small box with this message -

"THIS RECORD can safely be played on any modern monophonic equipment with a light weight pick-up. You will hear excellent reproduction on a suitable mono player and full stereo sound on a stereo player."

In my opinion, the second album bearing the series No.EALP is not stereo at all. Non of the LPs in my collection bear the STEREO label. But I've noticed that LPs bearing series No.EASD are all stereo. Probably the letter "S" denotes stereo.

EALP 1261 - A Sitar Recital by Ravi Shankar with Allah Rakha (Tabla) - Year of release not mentioned.
EALP 1267 - Gems from Tagore - Year of release not mentioned (I can personally vouch that this LP is definitely not stereo!)
EALP 1271 - Shehnai Nawaz Bismillah Khan, Raga Bageshri Raga Sohoni - Year of release 1963
EALP 1285 - Shehnai Nawaz Bismillah Khan, Raga Bhairav Raga Multani - Year of release 1964

Incidentally, the Ravi Shankar album that I possess says Made in India on the record label.... I suppose the foreign recordings probably are from his post-Beatles period.

So the search continues!! :sad:

+1 ML, at least we are getting some lead.

First of all the "Jugalbandi" record bears a code 'ASD' and not 'EASD'. I've a very first sample print of the same record which is mastered in Sydney EMI. This recording was done in DumDum studio, Kolkata. Then the tape was carried to Sydney to cut the Master Disc.

Ravi Shankar had stereo release before this but that was foreign recording.

So surely we have to find an Indian Stereo recording pre-dating the 'Jugalbandi' record with a code 'ASD' or 'EASD'.

Regards,
 
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I have posted in some other thread about the magic of listening to a Balamuralikrishna LP at Dr.Bass's place. I forget now, but that LP was, I think, just older than me. 1951?
 
Hi friends, I proudly own this great LP record of 'Duets'- by Vilayat Khan & Bismillah Khan, which was offered to get me by the nice FM bhaskarcan. Thank you Bhaskar.

Regards.
 
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I have posted in some other thread about the magic of listening to a Balamuralikrishna LP at Dr.Bass's place. I forget now, but that LP was, I think, just older than me. 1951?

Was it a stereophonic recording? The earliest recording detail that I could find was of his album Ragam - HMV/EMI No. ECLP 2324, year of release 1966.
That was a Mono LP.

That ECLP series sent me on another hunt and I found the following (pre-1967) in my collection:

ECLP 2269 - Meera Bhajans, Songs of Devotion - Year of release unknown, probably 1961/62
ECLP 2274 - Gems from Bengal - Year of release 1962
ECLP 2344 - Lata Recites Bhagwad Geeta & Dyaneshwari - Year of release 1967

All are in Mono. Subsequent releases up to around 1975 are also in Mono. I also found Stereo releases in the same series on or about 1975 but with no systematic serial number being followed. The ECLP series was probably meant for Regional, Devotional and other Indian music genres.
 
First of all the "Jugalbandi" record bears a code 'ASD' and not 'EASD'. I've a very first sample print of the same record which is mastered in Sydney EMI. This recording was done in DumDum studio, Kolkata. Then the tape was carried to Sydney to cut the Master Disc.

Ravi Shankar had stereo release before this but that was foreign recording.

So surely we have to find an Indian Stereo recording pre-dating the 'Jugalbandi' record with a code 'ASD' or 'EASD'.

Hildebrand was right when he posted 1965 as the year of the first Indian stereophonic release. I am also veering around to that view.

A bit of surfing in the net revealed this -

EASD 1299 - Ustad Bismillah Khan & Prof. V.G.Jog, Shehnai & Violin (Jugalbandi) - Year of release 1965
ASD 2294 - Yehudi Menuhin & Ravi Shankar, West Meets East - Year of release 1966

Let us not forget that the Vilayat Khan & Bismillah Khan record had the serial No.ASD 2295 in 1967! If HMV released only one album on each year, it meant that they were testing the waters for marketing Stereo LPs and wanted to gauge the response, perhaps.

I checked out releases of classical music prior to 1965 and almost all of them bore the series EALP. There were releases by Odeon and Columbia but they were in Mono, too.

I think we'll need some authoritative source to confirm our doubts!
 
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It seems strange that despite stereo becoming popular after 1958, no such recording information is available for Indian releases till the mid-60s or even later.

There was a blanket ban on the release of foreign exchange for "wasteful" expenditure like the import of electronic equipment (including studio equipment) from the mid-'50s (when TTK became the finance minister) until about 1966 (when his 2nd stint as FM ended). There was a devaluation of the Rupee vs. various currencies in 1966, after which small amounts of forex were allowed to be used, only by the so-called "actual users" for importing some limited kinds of electronics, including professional studio equipment. The studios probably upgraded their equipment only after 1966, all prior equipment was probably monoaural. There might have been a few indigenous designs of stereo equipment prior to 1966, but its unlikely to have been a complete stereo studio recording setup.

(As an aside - please note that import of calculators was completely banned until the late '70s, and all solid-state equipment, including pocket transistor radios, were assessed very heavy customs duty based on the number of transistors in the circuit - hence the popularity of low transistor-count imported medium-wave radios with 5 or 6 transistors only, which companies like Sanyo, Sony, Panasonic, etc. excelled in at the time. You won't find too many western imports of high-quality solid-state electronics from the '60s from the likes of RCA, Grundig, Telefunken, Philips, Sylvania, ITT, etc., because those designs had too many transistors and would have been too expensive to import - duties were as high as 365% on almost any electronic item until as late as 1985. One could only salivate at the first PLL synthesized digital-tuning 10-band radios from the likes of Sony, Telefunken and Grundig in the early 70s - they were too expensive to import. Of course, there was a thriving smuggled goods market for all kinds of electronic junk, which continues to this day, except that the composition of those goods has changed radically.)
 
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