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    marye
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    New year, new update. Tell us of your musical adventures in real time!

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  • uncle_tripel
    Joined:
    a day on the green...

    ...with some unbelievable dry sunny weather
    (82 degrees in these parts) in the mid-atlantic for late october,
    I'm putting on my boogin' shoes for
    oakland coliseum
    june 8th 1974

    can hardly wait to get started...

    PEACE for ALL!
    uncle_tripel

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    The sound

    Of thick air...

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    The sound

    Of thick air...

  • uncle_tripel
    Joined:
    always...

    ...avoided the NR on recording
    and found very early the highs just got too muted for my ear,

    returning to some more 1978 this week:
    june 4th 1978
    at Campus Stadium, UCSB in Santa Barbara, Ca

    some more friends of the devils? lol...
    ...= the "on stage" harley davidson acceleration into--->NFA

    make LOVE, not war!

    PEACE!
    uncle_tripel

    PS: new avatar = mickey & jerry on 7/4/86 @ Rich Stadium

  • JimInMD
    Joined:
    Noise Reduction and...

    I used Dolby for a brief blink of an eye when I first started copying tapes. Being young and naive, I thought who wants tape noise to come through on the recording, duh.. no brainer, I flipped the Dolby switch on my Nak and hit record. I just want to hear the music, no hiss.

    Very quickly reality set in. Was it Dolby A or Dolby B? Was the source tape recording using Dolby, if so, if you hit Dolby wouldn't it further compress the recording and further alter the sound, you can't play back using Dolby Squared, right? And what do you do in the car, in the boom box (yes.. we were just a few years out of 8 tracks when I started getting tapes). And who really flips or unflips the Dolby switch anyway based on how you think the recording was made. After all, were all these tapes properly notated every step of the way.

    So I quickly gave up on noise reduction, I had a good enough tape deck that I shouldn't be so worried about tape noise. I quit Dolby and never looked back (and never worried about pressing the Dolby button again).

    Just spit balling here, but my prejudices sometimes come to the surface when I hear a Dicks or Daves or Road Trips that sounds a bit muffled and I wonder if the particular Reel or Cassette or Betamax or whatever might have had a Dolby snafu baked in. To be clear, I have no proof this has ever occurred, I just wonder sometimes.

    I should emphasize Jeffrey Norman / David Glasser, etc. have gotten better at their jobs. So if there is any compression or noise reduction used anywhere along the way, they better at making this music sound as good as it possibly can, regardless of the sordid history of the source tapes. Thank you GD, Mockingbird Studios, the good folks and Plangent Processing and all the others that get this music to my front porch. Oh, and thank you tapers too!

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    Ooops, forgot

    I can’t say for sure off hand about everyone who recorded Dead and NR, but Betty was known for not using it, and if things are done right, no need.
    Nothing comes for free, so every time you do something, it will effect other things, sometimes negatively…a cost benefit trade off…perhaps just like BITD with high gen cassettes? To Dolby or not to Dolby, that is the question lol
    I always have tried not to do any permanent adjustments/fixes, preferring to try and fix some other way, eq etc, but nothing permanent that you can’t fix yer fix!

    Imho NR etc becomes more of a band aid for when things weren’t able to be right, or to help mask issues beyond repair, i.e., the ravages of time.
    Don’t think I’ve ever used any on a master recording?

    Onto rest of GDM soundtrack this afternoon…

  • 1stshow70878
    Joined:
    Thx Oro

    So 15 ips or 30 ips would have been impractical for shows I imagine. Expense, changing reels too often, and as these were for listening by the band not studio use, etc. But what about them using noise reduction? I'm guessing no Dolby.
    As an aside, I seldom have my Dolby on when listening to cassettes even though most were recorded with it. Even factory tapes with Dolby seem less muffled without it and I'm not listening at thunderous levels (most of the time) where hiss is an issue.
    Skylabs, a top notch mid-western audio repairer, no longer works on certain categories of equipment: Consoles, quad receivers, linear tracking turntables, automatic turntables, and reel to reels. Just not worth it from a cost perspective for what those machines sell for vs. repair costs. There are still plenty of specialists who will and R-to-Rs are available restored at very reasonable prices but good luck finding pre-recorded tapes (old or new). Nobody makes them anymore. I was never tempted but my cassette guy sells tons of R-to-Rs for like $200-$300 fully restored, but they are more run of the mill Sony and not high end. And they sell fast!
    Thanks again and cheers bro

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    First half of GDM soundtrack

    Ist show. The more surface area (wider the tape), and/or the faster the recording speed, the higher the resolution. And yes R2R can most certainly sound best. (Like anything though, if done well)
    The problem is a good one is very expensive, they’re as hard to keep maintained etc as a TT, and good linage quality tapes are rare and expensive, oh, and more a pain to “flip” than even a record…but they can sound amazing!

    Remember, many CDs AND most vinyl are sourced from (hopefully) master R2R tapes! A purist with the gear and ears might argue that direct to (vinyl) disc recording is the ultimate…but good luck lol
    One of the main reasons digital still gets such a bad rap is twofold
    1- the conversion used originally, and lack of attention to disparity’s between different DACs in the chain. Conversion has come a loonnggg way baby! AND…
    2- a significant number of the CDs first produced to meet the huge demand were not sourced from the master tapes, and lineage and source quality were often a joke! Caveat emptor: not all CDs are created alike!…or Blu-ray’s, or DVDs, or Vinyl etc Like drugs boys and girls, know your sources!

  • 1stshow70878
    Joined:
    4-11-78

    5th show in the box.
    OK, now were getting there.
    Great 1st set.
    2nd set list looks good too.
    Moving right along...
    Cheers

    Random ?s for the tapers and the knowledgeable. Were these original tapes running at 7.5 ips on reel to reels and were they done with any Dolby or whatever? And do you audience tapers use any noise reduction? Been talking to an analog guy who says with reel to reel running fast you get superior saturation and the best analog sound of all, which to his ear beats CDs and even vinyl, and Dolby is unnecessary for good reel to reel recordings.

  • uncle_tripel
    Joined:
    "Don't...

    climb on the fence, you idiot"

    august 6th 1974

    now that's much better, the sound is less polished or over-dubbed...or whatever...

    support your local library,
    my better half's employer also

    Peace for All!
    uncle_tripel

    PS - Hey Bobby, party like it's 1984, Happy B-day!

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New year, new update. Tell us of your musical adventures in real time!
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In reply to by proudfoot

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Sugar Magnolia > Scarlet is sublime

Sunshine Daydream is sublime

The rest just doesn't do it for me

Especially after 7 7 89's glory

You had to be there I guess

I haven't given 7 17 a full, focused listening in a long time, nor 7 19

Full and focused is like when you can listen to the whole thing at high volume and NO interruptions of any kind

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11 years 3 months

In reply to by proudfoot

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Madison Square Garden

Peace

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16 years
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1993-03-17

The singing man is at his song...

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...could not caution all, I still might warn a few...1978-04-14 in blacksburg , VA
don't lend your hand to raise
no flag atop no ship of fools

Peace for All!
uncle_tripel

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1993-03-18

I was at this one. Not Fade Away, house lights come on? Deputies looking around the side stage(clock on the wall says its time to go) band keeps playing on...MG signing for the Deaf Section right next to me, great seats thank you Calico (Irish says hi, the mighty Quinn, P.) encore: I Fought The Law, and the law won....

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4 years 3 months

In reply to by TN John

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Bob Dylan

Blonde on Blonde

for the first time in a long stretch

Wow.

From March 65 through June 66 he released

Bringing it all back home
Highway 61 revisited
Blonde on blonde

Amazing

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11 years 3 months

In reply to by proudfoot

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Beacon Theatre

Peace

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9 years 1 month

In reply to by TN John

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Elko (disc 2) np Seven Story Mountain

Yeah PF - truly amazing that trio of albums Dylan released in a little more than a year.

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...to the Fox on 1978-04-10, so let's just continue this '78 thang...

3/18/1993 yup made that thursday pm show, finished work in DC, checked-in to hotel, couple of beers at hotel bar, couple more beers in shakedown street, few more inside CAP center, but damn, don't remember too much outside of the >>HIAB, Broken Arrow, Loose Lucy, TMNS but not the 2nd set...
oh well, I remember beating the Friday traffic on 95 northbound abit hung lol!

Peace for All!
uncle_tripel

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In reply to by uncle_tripel

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Been working on these last couple daze…
11 is ok, but after all the previous fireworks, perhaps a bit flat or subdued?
12: ditto, like the 11 better though.
14: more like it. First set perhaps takes some settling, but by the big set finale, the band we’ve become used to over summer of 89 is back!
And the second set is thus another beauty eh!

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In reply to by Oroborous

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Good, but I think 14 is better.
But they all bow down at the feet of the master 10/16/89, which I finished also and am still digging in my mind this AM!

Onward to Philly! Cause ya just gotta poke around…

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In reply to by Oroborous

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on 10/15/89 - have spun following night (Nightfall of Diamonds) several times last few weeks.

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In reply to by proudfoot

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Newcastle City Hall

Peace

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...an enormously (is that a word?) long-time since I've pulled this one out to actively listen,
and what is this the X-factor you speak about Dave...?
@ Duke on April 12, 1978
[internet archive identifier 149531 (addeddate 2020-04-15)]

WOW!!!

hey now, maybe just maybe, when you release a BOXSET,
maybe you could consider releasing TWO separate shows instead
of ALWAYS just ONE show.
After all, it is an 8 show box release...

I'll be passing on the BOXSET, but will pick-up this X-factor...
...and keep up the good work!

Peace for All!
uncle_tripel

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As part of my side trip into Bob Dylan's big three plus a compilation, I am listening to Postcards again the first time in a while.

Such great songs.

Tragically, the title (and some of the lyrics) refers to an episode of evil in our nation's history. Ugh.

Bob Dylan: a titan in the world of music and culture.

Luckily I got to attend three of his performances

1986 (not with GD)
1987 with GD
2000 at the Gorge when he opened for Phil Lesh and Friends

That show in 2000 was really good

Also worth checking out is the 1966 Live Recordings by Bob Dylan. 36 cds for your coin. It might be worth checking the set lists before buying first though - they don't vary much.

Alternatively, you could go for the Bootleg Series Volume 4, titled "The Royal Albert Hall" concert named after a real bootleg, but actually featuring the show in Manchester 5/17/66 - the famous "Judas!" show. But if you get the box, you do get the great real Albert Hall shows from later in the month -including much slurry talk from Bob onstage. Great shows.

what a run around from amazon jeff's india help this morning.

Order the Joni, both, from Amazon because of free shipping.

Some odd things come up about being called for the delivery and special instructions of getting ready for it's delivery, like padding on the floor, clearing the passage ways.

I dig a little deeper and they have both of these items (records and cd's) weighing 1100 lbs each!

So I used chat to inform them of the error on page and to verify stuff would be coming regular mail and no one was going to show up with an 18 wheeler, handing me a box of cd's.

Over an hour and 10-12 transfers to "people who handle that", not one seem to understand the simple fact that the records and cds did NOT weigh a TON! And all I wanted was assurances the stuff was coming as it should.

No warm fuzzy feeling, may have to cancel and reorder from Joni. (then I get the "free" print,,,,,while supplies last)

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In reply to by Dennis

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Dennis,
Yes, the UK Amazon site tells me that an adult has to be present for the delivery! Where will I find one of those?

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And I was driving by the Santa Barbara Mission on my way to the carwash as Mission in the Rain played. Whatever metaphor one may assign to the word "Mission", the coincidence made me smile, smile, smile. And on this day of days.

Daverock, I recently saw Cat Power perform the 5/7/66 show in a small theater. Highly recommended to all who have the chance.

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In reply to by TN John

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10/18/89: good
10/19/89: better
10/20/89 best ???
We shall see sports fans as after a long fly ball to right center the kid might be looking at a ITPH leading to a DHB…
Onward!

EDIT: weellll? 10/20/89 was working hard to best the 19, but the flubbed Fire perhaps holds this one back?

This run was weird? Sometimes brilliance on par with any else this year, otger times inconsistent? I’m not sure what they should do with these?
Don’t think they merit stand alone mini box, which is good because at only one a year we’re probably down to less than 20 remaining!! One or two might work as Dave’s but don’t think he’s used multitracks just for DaP yet?
One or two could fit in a 89 fall tour box with say 9/29, 2 from Jersey, 2 from Philly, 2 from Charlotte, and remaining Miami. Yes that’s eight, but some are probably short enough to fit on 2 discs.
I’ll consider mote of that after I finish the tour.
So, onto Charlotte!

I have the 5-CD Movie Soundtrack in folders by date on my music player.
Started last night and am going through it in order.

Watched The GD Movie and bonus DVD last weekend.

Unfortunate that Dave/Rhino did not (so far) choose the honor the 50th anniversary of the glorious year of 1974 Grateful Dead with a Plangentized/Normanized Winterland October 1974 “The Last Ones” Box of complete audio and video.

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In reply to by bigbrownie

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BigBrownie I have only heard one track by Catpower - a cover of "Satisfaction" on a cheapo compilation of Stones covers. Slowed down, and played with just an acoustic guitar, it's one of the best covers of their songs I've ever heard. So, yes, I'll look out for that Dylan show she has done - cheers.

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In reply to by daverock

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University Of Montana

Happy wake and bake y'all!

Peace

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...the radar...the 1978-04-08 show @ Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, FL...
...right out of the chute with a sweet sounding 1st set
check it out on the: archive/identifier 150560 (addeddate 2020-09-10)

everyone enjoy your weekend!

Peace for All!
uncle_tripel

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In reply to by uncle_tripel

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Pittsburgh Civic Arena [2nd Set]

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last night on the anniversary of Jerry's death, we attended a Graham Nash show where he was storytelling all night on each tune's origin. Nash discussed how CSNY were stuck on who to play lead on their new tune, when David Crosby offered the Dead were in the next studio. CSNY asked Jerry to play pedal on 'Teach your Children.'

Garcia ripped his classic pedal steal solo in one take, to the delight of everyone. Nash paid Jerry with a fender guitar he had purchased in Arizona, which Garcia promptly placed an alligator sticker on. And the rest is history. A great night of music and stories in Omaha from Graham Nash last night.

"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself."

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Wow, Oroboros. What a setlist! Must have been a great show. If I read that right there were 3 encores with 4 songs. And the Alligator story too. Bonus.
Cheers

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In reply to by 1stshow70878

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It was a fantastic night.

And Graham brought that up about the anniversary of Jerry's death and spoke of Garcia's genius and generosity as he told the tale. Paid homage to the Dead as well and the crowd roared. Several stories of Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, the Hollies, Neil Young, and more as he explained the circumstances surrounding writing songs and the process. Fun stuff for us gray heads.

Addendum, Graham's excellent four piece band included two young multi-instrumentalists switching off and adding color, power, swell, and nuance to the show. Wonderful evening.

"Chance favors the prepared mind." - Phil Lesh

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In reply to by 1stshow70878

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Don’t recall this one standing out?
Let’s find out…

Nice tale Oro other!
Sounds like an awesome show.

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10 years 2 months

In reply to by Oroborous

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"The Alabama Box : 1950's and 1960s Oddball Labels". 8 cds of grassroots, primitive rock n' roll from Bear Family. One of a series of regionally based box sets of obscure rockabilly, rock n' roll etc. Sound quality wise it makes "Elvis At Sun" sound like "Dark Side of The Moon". No need to get hung up on that though - put some dirt in your eye.

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11 years 3 months

In reply to by TN John

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Madison Square Garden

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17 years 4 months

In reply to by TN John

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Best of Brubeck
Stan Getz and Oscar Peterson Trio
C McB & Inside strait Live at VV
Kenny Burrell Midnight Blue

Now, Jazz for a mellow morning

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‘Music is the healing force of the universe’ - Albert Ayler. I’m streaming this, but I must go and dig out the ‘Holy Ghost’ box by him on John Fahey’s Revenant label. It’s hiding upstairs somewhere.

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In reply to by Colin Gould

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The Singles double cd by Sun Ra. As it's 10 years ago this week since I saw them - the Marshall Allen led band - at Ronnie Scotts, I thought I would revisit the cds and records I have by them over the next 7 days.

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...back from 1978 today; it's oakland 1976-10-09 set 2, just need a little change from '78 [archive/identifier 12519]

Peace for All!
uncle_tripel

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In reply to by uncle_tripel

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10/14/94
In between my repeated listens of 51.

I like Vince probably a little more than most, but Samba in the Rain is not my favorite song....
:)

I am going to listen to each of the September 90 MSGs in sequence.

I am very glad 9/16/90 was released as a Dickus Pickus. I am really looking forward to hearing that again.

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In reply to by proudfoot

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Did both Charlotte shows yesterday.
Like much of this tour: really good except there seems to be one tune, every show, that has issues? And being that there getting more comfortable with the midi, they occasionally go for it and not quite hit it.
Brent had some ruff songs in Charlotte, but sounds good now on Little Light.
Ok, let’s see how this one shakes down, and then hopefully I can finish with the 25…
Onward!

Edit: best way PF. Lol, I can’t seem to just listen to a show now, it’s like I have to hear the whole tour. Hey, it’s an obsession but it’s pleasing ; )

DBL Edit: 24th more like previous tour consistency, except somehow they FU return to PITB? And the 25th, oh yeah!
After doing this tour again, it’s easy to see why Dave picked what he has SO FAR! And yeah, this tour ain’t always clean and shiny supermodel dead, but personally I dig the looseness and overall psychedelic vibes.
Yeah I know the midi isn’t for everyone, but if they had it back in 69 you can bet they’d have been into it. And yes this tour isn’t quite as tight, on all fronts, as spring 90, or even much of summer tour, but that’s why it stands out to me, in a good way.
Oh, and lest you get turned off by the vocal centric arc mixes…MULTITRACK!
These can be significantly cleaned up!
Listen to how good Nightfall and Miami sound…

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In reply to by Oroborous

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Fox Theatre
St. Louis