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notes::
notes as they came with the files:
*** kbrubaker's notes ***
In October 1977 I received two cassettes with a recording of Pink Floyd’s third
night at Madison Square Garden. I don’t know anything about the provenance of
this recording, other than it was offered for sale in the back of a music
magazine. It was also the first concert tape that I ever got, and I was very
excited to have finally located an “underground recording”.
The recording has lots of echo, and sounds very live and booming. It is often
hard to make out lyrics. Rick’s keyboards come through as droning sounds, but
are listenable. It sounds like the recorder was up in the rafters or somewhere
pretty far from any speakers. Overall, although it is not a particularly good
recording there is something kind of appealing about it. As I said it has a very
“live” feel that I liked. I listened to it dozens of times when I received it.
I don’t think that this recording sounds weaker than some others from the time
because it is a high generation dub. I actually think that this is a low
generation copy of a an average sounding master. Remember that I purchased this
from an ad in a magazine and received it in October 1977. Since magazine ad
space usually closes two months before publication, the seller would have had to
place the ad almost immediately after the concert in order for it to run in a
September issue. There simply wasn’t much time for the recording to change hands
often before it was advertised.
I am very happy that Neonknight generously offered to work on the retrieval and
restoration of this tape, and wish to thank him for his efforts. One look at his
EMI Tape icon told me that he was the right person for the job.
*** neonknight's notes ***
Kbrukaer's Scotch cassettes had been stored in his basement and he had not
listened to them for over 20 years. Disturbed from their slumber they safely
completed their journey across the Atlantic and I got the ball rolling by
forwarding them backwards and forwards a few times and was pleasantly surprised
by how quiet they were.
I have recently started using a Technics RS-B965-M to transfer tapes. You'll not
find one for sale. It's a heavily modified and impressive sounding deck created
by expert tapehead A.N.T. For those who would like to learn more there is a
detailed account at http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=6018
Whilst completing the transfer I checked the heads on the Technics after each
side and there was no tape residue whatsoever. The tapes are in good shape and
gave no cause for concern.
The labels on the cassettes stated that the date of the recording was 1977-07-02
but after preliminary investigations it quickly became clear that the comments
by Roger from 3 July could be heard. Listen out for frustrations boiling over as
Roger says, "I’ll start that again because that’s the wrong verse. Having a word
with that stupid mother***er sort of put me off," for example.
It's a shame the recorder missed Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-X).
The recording has a minor phase shift and may benefit from some speed
adjustment. I haven't tackled either for this release. I also avoided the
temptation to make a cleaner join in Dogs, preferring to leave the cut and
continuation clear for all to hear. There are a few pops on the tapes which I
left in as well. In a brief experiment, adding 8-10db to the upper end worked
very well. For some, I think, the real value to this recording could be as an
addition to a quad/surround mix.
Summing up this is not a transfer I expect many of you will play repeatedly but
as new recordings from this era are somewhat rare nowadays I am delighted to
have helped bring it to the community.
Neon 05/11
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