Matrix H Articles

It's important to note that I list all broadcasts from SEPTEMBER 77 through to 1978 as " H/HJ.

I don't know the exact date but it was approximately Sept of 1977 that the BBC announced in the various UK Audio publications that they had now a new matrix enhancement of MATRIX H. It was an agreement reached with the UHJ proponent, the NRDC.The new matrix adopted would now be known as MATRIX HJ (in order to accommodate compatibility with NRDC'S ..UHJ ) .
But even though this "Son of H " system was adopted, some programs were still broadcast in MATRIX H ......as it was determined by some at the BBC it was only fair to those that had invested time and money in aquiring H decoders......only to have them no longer the quad matrix as they were intended to decode. April 1977 to Sept 1977 (or Aug 77) .Equipment was available for MATRIX H via LINTEK and COMCOR and I believe SANSUI. So it's worth noting Matrix H continued but what after Sept 77 was H and what was HJ only the BBC engineers like Tony Wilson, Bill Aitken, etc would know.
Also what quad matrix, Transcriptions Service did ( SQ mostly, some QS), were not the same as regular broadcasts in 77/78.

The following artists I did not take the opportunity to list the tracks.I have to acquire a cassette player so maybe a day in the future I can list these tracks.

GENTLE GIANT-LIVE, SHAKTI-LIVE, JACK BRUCE BAND-LIVE, and CLIFF RICHARD-AT CROYDON (BBC RADIO 2 PRODUCED BY DENNIS O'KEITH, also GENESIS-AT KNEBWORTH (JULY 1,78).

Whoops forgot The Jonathan King Items
-one track on this broadcast is very good (discreet) THE STRANGLERS-NO MORE HEROES (title track)

Pictures of my MATRIX H AND HJ cassette collection.

Derek,

A simply stunning collection!

It took me a few minutes to lift my jaw from off the floor..............

Also, from your 6/25 post you stated "Also what quad matrix, Transcriptions Service did (SQ mostly, some QS), were not the same as regular broadcasts in 77/78." This clarifies some real confusion I've had regarding the radio broadcasts vs. the BBC TS LPs, especially for the same base performances.

I had previously read about a 'quad' release (broadcast) of the Shakti - John McLaughlin done at Golders Green Hippodrome 05/12/77. I have listed it on my site as an BBC TS SQ LP. but just recently got an image of the cue sheet to see that it was stereo only. So I have my pending update page listing it as a stereo disc and am removing the SQ reference. But I still had an old notation that it was broadcast in 'quad' from another guy's In Concert listing page. Mystery solved.

Also your comment regarding the unclear transition point between H and HJ broadcasts helps, though as you said leaves us still unresolved to some degree.

Along that issue, the other day I stumbled onto the BBC Genome Project database. I had heard of it being a work in progress back a number of years ago, but was not aware of it being 'live' now. It is amazingly detailed with Radio Times listings from 1923 - 2009 for both radio and TV broadcasts. The data is qualified as being what was 'scheduled' in the magazine and some changes in what was actually broadcast are known to have occurred. But, the majority of the information is presumably reliable for my research purposes. That said, I did a search for 'Matrix H' information and got pages of radio show listings that I am sorting through. They also do have some that show up as stating being in HJ, though the earliest was March 24, 1978.

So, while I have been working on my Matrix H/HJ draft index, it has now gotten to be a much larger project, beyond the base information that you, Duncan and others have posted. This is going to take me a while to compile, even for a rough draft, as I've been playing with the format relative to what information to post across that varied broadcasts, i.e. special mixes of tracks from released LPs, Proms, In Concert, Jazz specials, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, to Bobok by Dostoevsky.

Therefore, I'll ask you all to bear with me for a bit as I plod through this data. Also, like your onslaught of work, I have a few things that are going to pull me away from this for week or so. But, I'll certainly appreciate any more additions that you can offer, as your schedule allows.

Last, you might find the following item interesting as it seems to clarify the initiation date of the Matrix H broadcasts.



Below is the text from the clipping re: Matrix H Broadcasts for the week of April 30 - May 5, 1977 that states on the top 3 lines and then the bottom the following:

Quadraphonic broadcasts begin this week. J. Duncan MacEwan, Chief Engineer Radio Broadcasting, introduces the BBC system Quad programmes this week.
Sat. Orazio Benevoli (11.00 R3)
In Concert (6.30 R2)
Sun. The Pilgrim's Progress (5.35 R3)
Sounds Of Jazz (11.2 R1/2)
Mon. The Tempest (7.30 R4)
Tue. BBC Radio Orchestra (9.2 R2)
Wed. BBC Symphonic Orchestra (8.0 R3)
Thur. Live From The Royal Festival Hall (8.0 R3)
Bobok (10.15 R3

The article is at:

http://andywalmsley.blogspot.com/2011/12/youre-surrounded-experiments-in.html

Many thanks for all of the information.

mrfloydin

I'll try and post a list of some of the BBC RADIO DRAMAS from my collection.Soon, probably within a week.

"BOBOK" by Dostoevsky is an excellent MATRIX H broadcast. Quite discreet.Some of these dramas received more than one rebroadcasts, even 1979,80 etc.
The info I received at the time from Alan, was that the H/HJ broadcasts mostly came to a halt in fall of 78.They had a number of anti-quad listeners who managed to get their bitching heard over the favourable reviews. From my experience of quad their voice seems to rule as they are the ones who like to be heard! The final nail in the coffin came about from a labour dispute.Something about more £ for mixing four channels over two or one.I would totally agree, pay them more, there is more work, accuracy involved.

Oh well, what was, is old news now.I'm still pissed off with the BBC policy of reusing the tapes by erasing what they had so they could record future programs!!!! Cheap idiots, lost what they had.I only hope someone was beheaded for that decision.


anyway more to come, derek

A couple of pictures from magazine ads.Two of the MATRIX H decoders available.

Integrex also had a MATRIX HJ decoder that incorporates uhj.

Picture of the rest of my BBC MATRIX H/HJ TAPES.

Mostly BBC radio dramas, with proms concerts as tape filler.

MRFLOYDIN

Just a quick note on MATRIX H broadcasts;

During the BBC'S experimental years......76,77,78........Dutch Radio (NOS) also experimented with MATIX H broadcasts and were in the habit of conducting their experiments by broadcasting and recording in QUAD, concerts from the "Concertgebouw".
Whether or not any "unmarked" quad discs by Phillips were released, is unknown but Phillips were involved.

Also read online that other Scandinavian Countries were also in the loop.Such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.





btw did you get my email address? Sent but got no acknowledgement.


....

The following are a list of BBC MATRIX H/HJ RADIO DRAMAS

Most I have a couple I don't have. In no way is this list complete and you will notice that unlike most music programs these were broadcast well into the 80's as Rebroadcasts.

Unfortunately with some,the exact broadcast dates (and Rebroadcast dates ) are unknown.In a few cases all I have are the year.

BOBOK O5-05-77 (H)
HOUSE ON SECKER STREET D? M?-77(H/HJ)
MOBY DICK 19-11-81-RE (H/HJ)
RICHARD THE 3RD, PART 2 D? M?-77 (H/HJ)
THE TEMPEST 02-05-77 (H) 03-12-81-RE
UNDER MILKWOOD. 20-11-78 (HJ) 12-11-81-RE
VAN DIEMEN'S LAND D? M?-77 (H/HJ)
KNIGHTS AND WITCHES D? M?-81RE (H/HJ)
THE ARCHERS (RADIO SERIAL)....6-ONE HR. Episodes were broadcast first or second week of OCT 77 (H/HJ)

I also know of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, and PILGRIM'S PROGRESS broadcast in 77 or 78 (H/HJ).






Derek
MOBY DICK 19-11-81

Derek,

First, many thanks for the ad images of the Matrix H decoders from back in the day, as I've never seen what they looked like. Do/did you have one of those to listen to live broadcasts at the time, and presumably be able to use to play/decode your cassettes through today? I'd be envious.

Your collection and knowledge continues to amaze me. You must have skimmed through each Radio Times issue as soon as it came to your house, and then set your recording schedule around the upcoming airings. But I can relate to devoted behavior like that. That's the way I was with KBFH and BBC Rock Hour shows.

I just did a quick check of my previous search results that I got from the Genome db and found that I had captured all of listings and repeats in you posted, except that of KNIGHTS AND WITCHES D? M?-81RE (H/HJ).

I found two HJ airings in 1978 of The Tale of the Knight, the Witch and the Dragon, but no other repeats of the episode (HJ or stereo) through the end of 1990.

Also, your cassette of this has a holophonic sticker on it. Is this meaningful to its potential indexing?

In my expanded search (-->1990), I also found a show called I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue from April 7, 1984 listed as broadcast in "super-wide track binaural Quad". Show synopsis says that Barry Fox investigates a new approach to surround-sound. Is this likely a next generation of HJ or holophonic or what?

That prompted me to do a 1979 - 1995 search for "holophonic" and I only got one hit which was a May 14, 1983 show called Record Review on R3 with Mozart's Clarinet Concerto by John Warrack.

Last, do you have an understanding of the possible technical similarities of Matrix H and holophonics? I am mildly familiar with the latter format because of two Pink Floyd and Roger Waters LPs that were issued in this encoding format in the 1980's.

I'm going to restart my Matrix H/HJ indexing effort and hopefully get something ready for review in the next week or so.

mrfloydin

Ooops,

Correction. The comment of "Show synopsis says that Barry Fox investigates a new approach to surround-sound", was suppose to be added to the May 14, 1983 show called Record Review program and not the I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue from April 7, 1984.

mrfloydin

MRFLOYDIN

Tales of the Knight, the Witch, dragon etc, is probably the correct title name as you have found on line.As my memory seems to tell me, Alan was also unsure of the title when he found it amongst his tapes.


On the cassettes I have holophonics because there is also something in that format on the tape, same with the SQ indication.I'm certain it was from disc that it was recorded(holophonics), but SQ may be a concert (classical I believe).
Besides Floyd, PSYCHIC TV-DREAMS LESS SWEET was in holophonics.They might have used it again but I'm not certain.The system is in no way related (too bad ) to H OR HJ.

Mrfoydin

One of the reasons I think you have a daunting task when it comes to collating the BBC QUAD broadcasts, is just as you pointed out in your post#30. The fact the the BBC continued to slip in a quad broadcast or two even though their official stance at the time was (1979-80's) that they had stopped all quad broadcasts ! But sure enough they continued, piece meal, to experiment with quad, binaural, and ambisonics.
I'm certain you will find this to be true for the 80's,90', and beyond and even now I read on line they still monkey around with Christmas concerts in QUAD !! Who knows what else. You will probably require the extra strength headache medicine.And be prepared for frustration, just when you think you have all the info, something could trip it up (I.e..new disclosure)

Integrex HJ decoder

Derek,

Relative to your 7/9 post, I just checked and the Genome db has nothing listed for Matrix H or quad from 1990 - 2009 (end of db). The last entries are thru December 1981, plus the show called I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue from April 7, 1984, listed as broadcast in "super-wide track binaural Quad". So if there are other "quad" show airings, they apparently did not get listed in Radio Times. We may have to depend upon the awareness of yourself and others verify and document them.

Also, I PM'd Duncan and he is onboard to do a review of my draft index, when I get it ready.

Last, thanks for today's post of more decoder ads. If I read between the lines it seems that the Compcor and Lintek decoders were earlier models for the Matrix H era or 1977 and early 1978. The later Integrex unit was an ungraded version with HJ decoding capability. Would you assume that it had dual H/HJ coding capability, since either the cutover to HJ was unclear, or even a blend of both formats for a period of time?

Again, it is great that you have such a great archive of relevant articles and magazines to draw on.

Thanks!

mrfloydin

I'll have a look back through my old Wireless World Magazines which go back to May 1975, I know there is an article for the design of an HJ decoder based on the Sansui QS decoder IC if I remember correctly (which I think is the build it yourself kit Integrex sold in the UK). I'll scan and post it when I find it.

DuncanS said:

I'll have a look back through my old Wireless World Magazines which go back to May 1975, I know there is an article for the design of an HJ decoder based on the Sansui QS decoder IC if I remember correctly (which I think is the build it yourself kit Integrex sold in the UK). I'll scan and post it when I find it.

Click to expand...

maybe here http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Wireless-World/70s/Wireless-World-1977-06.pdf

kronos77 said:

maybe here http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Wireless-World/70s/Wireless-World-1977-06.pdf

Click to expand...

Thanks, but aah shit!! My device does not show any pdf's.Crap and double crap.Just when I need to see something of interest.

kronos77 said:

maybe here http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Wireless-World/70s/Wireless-World-1977-06.pdf

Click to expand...

Thats the one! I'll dig out the magazine and scan as jpegs and tag to this thread.

DuncanS said:

Thats the one! I'll dig out the magazine and scan as jpegs and tag to this thread.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Duncan.