http://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/blog/
Sorry if there is already a thread on this, I searched but did not see anything, thought there would be some interest here
With Vocalion’s Christmas 2015 release, a new world of audio is opened up. Remember the Quadraphonic boom of the 1970s? It was when many of the major record companies decided that stereo was no longer enough and launched four-channel (quadraphonic) sound. For that section of the record-buying public fortunate enough to own a hi-fi system capable of reproducing four-channel recordings, they were able to hear music literally in a new dimension, because now not only did the sound come at them from front-left and front-right (as it would in conventional stereo), but also from back-left and back-right too. This “surround” effect placed the listener in the centre of the music instead of just in front of it, and as a result new meaning, depth and clarity was brought to the music that emanated from the LP spinning on the turntable or the 8-track cartridge whirring in the tape player. Thankfully, many of the artists who appear so regularly on Vocalion were originally recorded in glorious quadraphonic sound, and we’re excited to present twelve quadraphonic albums across six discs in the SACD – Super Audio Compact Disc – format. (These SACDs also play on any standard CD player, in which they’ll yield full stereo sound.) The artists involved are among the giants of the easy listening field and, we’re very glad to say, have become fixtures on the Vocalion label.
Two of the SACDs are devoted to the lush orchestral music of Henry Mancini. On the first, trumpeter-flugelhornist virtuoso Doc Severinsen partners him in two albums, Brass on Ivory (1972) and Brass, Ivory and Strings (1973), while the second features the elegant piano style of Mancini himself backed by full orchestra in Six Hours Past Sunset and A Warm Shade of Ivory, both from 1969. Mancini’s music is particularly apt for the four-channel treatment. Being enveloped by his rich, sweeping strings adds considerably to the music’s emotional impact. Pianist and country music supremo Floyd Cramer returns with four albums on two separate SACDs: Class of ’73 and Class of ’74-’75, and Super Country Hits (1973) and The Young and the Restless (1974). Produced by Chet Atkins and recorded at the famous “Nashville Sound” Studios, it’s certainly an ear-opening experience hearing Cramer’s inimitable piano in wide, expansive four-channel audio. And you’ll marvel at just how alive and vibrant his country interpretations of popular hits are when given the quadraphonic treatment.
American conductor-arranger-composer Hugo Montenegro is featured on an SACD compiling two remarkable albums he recorded in the early and mid-70s. Others by Brothers (1975) saw him blending his bank of ARP synthesizers with conventional instrumentation in arrangements of soul, jazz and funk hits. The Duke Ellington staple Caravan comes up shining anew in this funky, electric version, and you’ve certainly never heard the soul classics What’s Going On and Nothing from Nothing in such inventive and colourful orchestrations as you will do on this SACD – and adding to the excitement is their rendering in quadraphonic sound. Scenes and Themes (1972) presents a selection of popular film themes in Montenegro arrangements designed specifically for the four-channel recording process.
Last but certainly not least, the final SACD in this batch focuses on the smooth-as-silk voice of legendary crooner Perry Como, in two albums from his vast discography: Perry (1974) and In Person at the International Hotel, Las Vegas (1970). On both, he applies his elegant vocal style to a smorgasbord of evergreens such as Temptation, Without a Song and Hello, Young Lovers that sit alongside songs of the ’70s including You Are the Sunshine of My Life, The Way We Were and Beyond Tomorrow. Again, four-channel sound introduces an exciting extra dimension, especially so on the In Person … album, which was recorded live: four-channel conveys the magical ambience of a concert in a way that conventional stereo simply can’t.
Now for the technical bit. Vocalion’s Hybrid SACDs consist of three layers: a standard stereo CD layer at 16-bit 44.1khz, and two separate high-resolution layers, each of which have been mastered at 24-bit 352khz – one in stereo, the other in four-channel 4.0. Michael J. Dutton remastered both the stereo and four-channel elements from the original analogue tapes: for the stereo element the original ¼” stereo masters were used, and for the four-channel element the original four-channel “discrete” masters were used. These were used respectively to cut the original stereo and quadraphonic vinyl LPs.
Sorry if there is already a thread on this, I searched but did not see anything, thought there would be some interest here
With Vocalion’s Christmas 2015 release, a new world of audio is opened up. Remember the Quadraphonic boom of the 1970s? It was when many of the major record companies decided that stereo was no longer enough and launched four-channel (quadraphonic) sound. For that section of the record-buying public fortunate enough to own a hi-fi system capable of reproducing four-channel recordings, they were able to hear music literally in a new dimension, because now not only did the sound come at them from front-left and front-right (as it would in conventional stereo), but also from back-left and back-right too. This “surround” effect placed the listener in the centre of the music instead of just in front of it, and as a result new meaning, depth and clarity was brought to the music that emanated from the LP spinning on the turntable or the 8-track cartridge whirring in the tape player. Thankfully, many of the artists who appear so regularly on Vocalion were originally recorded in glorious quadraphonic sound, and we’re excited to present twelve quadraphonic albums across six discs in the SACD – Super Audio Compact Disc – format. (These SACDs also play on any standard CD player, in which they’ll yield full stereo sound.) The artists involved are among the giants of the easy listening field and, we’re very glad to say, have become fixtures on the Vocalion label.
Two of the SACDs are devoted to the lush orchestral music of Henry Mancini. On the first, trumpeter-flugelhornist virtuoso Doc Severinsen partners him in two albums, Brass on Ivory (1972) and Brass, Ivory and Strings (1973), while the second features the elegant piano style of Mancini himself backed by full orchestra in Six Hours Past Sunset and A Warm Shade of Ivory, both from 1969. Mancini’s music is particularly apt for the four-channel treatment. Being enveloped by his rich, sweeping strings adds considerably to the music’s emotional impact. Pianist and country music supremo Floyd Cramer returns with four albums on two separate SACDs: Class of ’73 and Class of ’74-’75, and Super Country Hits (1973) and The Young and the Restless (1974). Produced by Chet Atkins and recorded at the famous “Nashville Sound” Studios, it’s certainly an ear-opening experience hearing Cramer’s inimitable piano in wide, expansive four-channel audio. And you’ll marvel at just how alive and vibrant his country interpretations of popular hits are when given the quadraphonic treatment.
American conductor-arranger-composer Hugo Montenegro is featured on an SACD compiling two remarkable albums he recorded in the early and mid-70s. Others by Brothers (1975) saw him blending his bank of ARP synthesizers with conventional instrumentation in arrangements of soul, jazz and funk hits. The Duke Ellington staple Caravan comes up shining anew in this funky, electric version, and you’ve certainly never heard the soul classics What’s Going On and Nothing from Nothing in such inventive and colourful orchestrations as you will do on this SACD – and adding to the excitement is their rendering in quadraphonic sound. Scenes and Themes (1972) presents a selection of popular film themes in Montenegro arrangements designed specifically for the four-channel recording process.
Last but certainly not least, the final SACD in this batch focuses on the smooth-as-silk voice of legendary crooner Perry Como, in two albums from his vast discography: Perry (1974) and In Person at the International Hotel, Las Vegas (1970). On both, he applies his elegant vocal style to a smorgasbord of evergreens such as Temptation, Without a Song and Hello, Young Lovers that sit alongside songs of the ’70s including You Are the Sunshine of My Life, The Way We Were and Beyond Tomorrow. Again, four-channel sound introduces an exciting extra dimension, especially so on the In Person … album, which was recorded live: four-channel conveys the magical ambience of a concert in a way that conventional stereo simply can’t.
Now for the technical bit. Vocalion’s Hybrid SACDs consist of three layers: a standard stereo CD layer at 16-bit 44.1khz, and two separate high-resolution layers, each of which have been mastered at 24-bit 352khz – one in stereo, the other in four-channel 4.0. Michael J. Dutton remastered both the stereo and four-channel elements from the original analogue tapes: for the stereo element the original ¼” stereo masters were used, and for the four-channel element the original four-channel “discrete” masters were used. These were used respectively to cut the original stereo and quadraphonic vinyl LPs.