advertisement


Jazz in quadraphonic on ESLs at the South Bank

The same chap did some events at Cafe Oto. Some interesting photos and details of his kit:

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/sun-ra-quadraphonic-recordings-70s/

I posted this link in the Quad ESL thread some time ago. The silence was deafening, interrupted only by the sound of pipes and slippers falling to the floor.

I have the Blue Thumb and Impulse quadraphonic Ra titles, but only ever heard them in stereo. I also have Coltrane’s Interstellar Space in quadraphonic, and was always puzzled by how on earth* just sax and drums could be panned into four channels. Sounds like a potential nightmare - it sounds brilliant in stereo.

* just realised all the Impulse quadraphonic titles have a space related/spiritual dimension.
 
I may be mistaken but I think some quad or 5.1 mixes have front two or two plus centre to represent the music, the rears present ambient noise.
 
Graham H said:
The same chap did some events at Cafe Oto. Some interesting photos and details of his kit:

https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/sun-ra-quadraphonic-recordings-70s/
Click to expand...

Hi Graham - I remember and I'm not quite sure why I didn't attend the Cafe Oto event!

Just in case you didn't already know, the chap in the centre of the photo they used is a hero of mine, the recording engineer Michael Gerzon who invented Ambisonic recording as well as doing lots of clever stuff with digital audio for Meridian amongst other people. He recorded hundreds of free improvisation concerts in London and his home town of Oxford but his most celebrated recording is perhaps Evan Parker's The Snake Decides.

There are lots of great photos of Michael here: https://www.michaelgerzonphotos.org.uk/ambisonics.html
 
Paul - Michael Gerzon wrote some interesting articles for Chris Cutler’s ReR quarterly magazine in the 80s and 90s - you probably have them. He seems to have got quite involved with the new music scene at that time, perhaps finding sympathetic creative types who were more tuned in to his ideas. From memory I have recordings of his by Evan P and also Anthony Braxton - and possibly Hugh Davis from the British Sound Archive (although the Braxton sounds a bit flat on conventional systems).

If you attend Elan Carebell’s South Bank event I’d be very interested in reading your report.
 
dalryc said:
I may be mistaken but I think some quad or 5.1 mixes have front two or two plus centre to represent the music, the rears present ambient noise.
Click to expand...

In an ideal world - yes. But can you imagine letting Sun Ra loose with four speakers and a joystick in 1974? I think not.
 
Graham H said:
Paul - Michael Gerzon wrote some interesting articles for Chris Cutler’s ReR quarterly magazine in the 80s and 90s - you probably have them.
Click to expand...

I have one - The Politics Of The PA that is indeed very interesting. I'd love to read more if you or anyone else has access to them.
 
I went to the 4pm session yesterday and listened to Cosmic Music and Attica Blues. A couple of shaky cameraphone pics below.

I found it a really interesting experience. The rear channels were less pronounced than I expected and were generally drums/percussion - I guess the idea being that you're on stage with the drums behind you? - though the odd other instrument popped up at times.

Of the two LPs I thought Cosmic Music worked best in quad. It was great to be right in the thick of it. It was a bit disconcerting at first how the instrument positions changed between tracks but it kind of added to it's charm - the record has kind of a quirky almost DIY feel to it anyway.

I found Attica Blues a bit of a mixed bag. Some of it sounded gorgeous in quad, some of it sounded a bit congested and in your face. I suspect this is a product of the production as much as anything else. It's not a record I know very well so I need to track down a stereo copy and compare.

The quad arrays of Quad gave out a surprising amount of low end. It looked like they were powered by 303s on this occasion. The organiser Elan is obviously an ESL fan - mentioned at one point that he had 22 of them!

I won't be rushing out to buy a quad decoder but if I had a large listening room that could accommodate them it would be an excellent excuse to have a second pair of speakers - great fun.

SNvGSxk.jpg


G6QOBzX.jpg
 
paulfromcamden said:
I went to the 4pm session yesterday and listened to Cosmic Music and Attica Blues. A couple of shaky cameraphone pics below.

I found it a really interesting experience. The rear channels were less pronounced than I expected and were generally drums/percussion - I guess the idea being that you're on stage with the drums behind you? - though the odd other instrument popped up at times.

Of the two LPs I thought Cosmic Music worked best in quad. It was great to be right in the thick of it. It was a bit disconcerting at first how the instrument positions changed between tracks but it kind of added to it's charm - the record has kind of a quirky almost DIY feel to it anyway.

I found Attica Blues a bit of a mixed bag. Some of it sounded gorgeous in quad, some of it sounded a bit congested and in your face. I suspect this is a product of the production as much as anything else. It's not a record I know very well so I need to track down a stereo copy and compare.

The quad arrays of Quad gave out a surprising amount of low end. It looked like they were powered by 303s on this occasion. The organiser Elan is obviously an ESL fan - mentioned at one point that he had 22 of them!

I won't be rushing out to buy a quad decoder but if I had a large listening room that could accommodate them it would be an excellent excuse to have a second pair of speakers - great fun.

SNvGSxk.jpg


G6QOBzX.jpg
Click to expand...
This is one of the very few times I really miss living in London.
 
Thanks very much for the report, paulfromcamden. Did you have an allocated seat or was there a mad scramble for the sweet spot? :)

Also, did you get a look at the turntable used? Seems a bit Thorensy to me but it might be nice to know for sure.
 
MotelBlues said:
Thanks very much for the report, paulfromcamden. Did you have an allocated seat or was there a mad scramble for the sweet spot? :)

Also, did you get a look at the turntable used? Seems a bit Thorensy to me but it might be nice to know for sure.
Click to expand...

Unallocated seating. I think the soaring temperatures may have put some folk off as it wasn't too busy and everyone present was able to sit fairly centrally.

It is something Thorensy but I'm afraid I didn't go up on stage and have a look. He did mention he was using a Decca cartridge. The black box on the table was some kind of mixer that I'm guessing he was using as a preamp.
 
Paul - thanks for the report. FWIW I’ve always found Attica Blues in stereo to sound congested, which is probably intentional. My interest and respect for Shepp has increased with time.

Anyone else attend the Sun Ra session?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top