The Classical Download Thread

Started by Mark, June 03, 2007, 02:04:37 PM

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J.Z. Herrenberg

Good morning, and thank you, Rolf!
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Maciek

Does anyone else subscribe to the CHANDOS newsletter? The free downloads from the last couple of times are rather worhtless, but I take them anyway - it's a sort of automatism. But this month I can't seem to be able to download track no. 12. Not that I'm dying to get it (I am a little curuous though - it's Schumann's Abendlied, Op. 107 No. 6 in and orchestral version by Saint-Saens), but I find the situation a bit annoying. Anyone else have the same problem?

(I really hate that disclaimer they have: Please Note: as these tracks are provided free, no customer/technical support can be given or correspondence entered into. The downloads have been tested on most of the popular operating systems and web/email clients. - as I'm almost 100% sure that they in fact do not test these links at all.)

Kuhlau

I subscribe to the Chandos email newsletter, but never bother with the downloads. I note with interest, however, that they say no correspondence will be entered into regarding these tracks. Believe me, it's not just the free MP3s they won't correspond about. Each month, the editorial section gives an email address so you can have a right to reply. But do they ever publish these replies, or even acknowledge their receipt? Do they hell!

FK

Maciek

They used to have some very decent recordings as free downloads - but that was before they started to actually include them into the newsletter. Nowadays, I really don't know why I do it. But, as I say, it's beyond my willpower to stop. ;D

It doesn't seem to be such a great marketing strategy to completely ignore one's customers. But then, what do I know? ::)

Kuhlau

There does seem to be a whiff of intellectual arrogance about the editor, so perhaps that might explain the reluctance to respond to 'plebs'. ;D

FK

Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich



The downloads require registration, you get CBR 320 mp3 files, one file per symphony, plus booklet PDF.

Opus106

Quote from: Wurstwasser on October 25, 2008, 04:33:49 AM


The downloads require registration, you get CBR 320 mp3 files, one file per symphony, plus booklet PDF.
And just in the nick of time.   ;)
Regards,
Navneeth

Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich

But you can get the "prachtige symfonieën" "vanaf 15. october tot 24. november" - so there are some days left. For the prachtig lekker download! :D

Kuhlau

Thanks for this. I successfully downloaded all ten symphonies and their booklets last night (25th).

FK

Opus106

Quote from: Wurstwasser on October 25, 2008, 11:46:47 PM
But you can get the "prachtige symfonieën" "vanaf 15. october tot 24. november" - so there are some days left. For the prachtig lekker download! :D

Ah. My bad.  :-[ I had been reading, or assumed that I read, rather, that as October.
Regards,
Navneeth

Kuhlau

Quote from: opus67 on October 26, 2008, 12:25:53 AM
Ah. My bad.  :-[ I had been reading, or assumed that I read, rather, that as October.

Don't worry. I misread it, too. ;D

FK

bhodges

#431
Thanks to a blog called inconstant sol, here is a live performance of Gérard Grisey's Les Espaces Acoustiques (1974-1985) from the Munich Bienniale, with Stefan Asbury conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (recorded May 2, 2008).

I first heard a recording of this piece earlier this year, and it is quite something--one of the best examples of "spectralism" round.  The timbres Grisey came up with are pretty astonishing.

PS, the piece is in six parts, about 95 minutes long.

--Bruce

not edward

Awesome! Les Espaces Acoustiques isn't one of my very favourite Grisey works (for me, the work he did in the last few years of his lie is very special), but it's an always-fascinating cycle that could almost act as a manifesto for spectralism. This is definitely a must-listen for me.
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

donaldopato

I have never heard a note of this man's music...until today.. it is wonderful! THANK YOU! And this is after only listening to part one of the download.
Until I get my coffee in the morning I'm a fit companion only for a sore-toothed tiger." ~Joan Crawford

Brian

Got this email lately...
Quote
Dear ClassicsOnline customer and enthusiast,

We're very pleased to have you be among the first to know that ClassicsOnline's entire catalog of nearly 22,000 albums is now available at 320 kbps. As a thank you for your loyal patronage, we will make all your previous 192 kbps downloads available at 320 kbps files at no extra charge.
Wow! That's awesome  8)  It means I get to upgrade at least a couple dozen CDs.

FredT

I recently discovered the ability to download mp3 files, convert them to wave and then burn cds for my listening pleasure. Couple goodies of recent: On John Berky's abruckner.com site, Mr Berky has made available a fascinating document of Paul Hindemith conducting the 7th symphony in I believe the Nowak edition. There isn't much of Hindemith conducting other composers but one can appreciate his love of the score though there is some sloppy playing by the NY Phil.

Another magnificent offering on The European Archive site is Mahler's 4th conducted by Karel Sejna with the Czech PO. IMHO, this is one of the very great Mahler 4th's; beautifully played with a sense of intimacy which is surely right for this lovely, at times delicate creation. Sound is not too bad either though bass is admittedly weak.

Also I'd like to mention some Artur Rodzinski-Cleveland Orch goodies on archive.org. 

I'm having a lot of fun searching out downloads, especially those ones that remain hidden treasures, not yet available on commercial cd!

:)

SonicMan46

Well, whether this short thread will be transferred to the larger one mentioned in the preceding post, I believe that some clarification of the audio file conversions may be of use to those just getting into ripping, downloading, & converting of audio files from one type to another.

First, keep in mind that MP3 audio files are a 'lossy' format, i.e. depending on the bit rate (and type used), the standard CD audio tracts are reduced in size to a tenth of their original size (e.g. @ 124 kbps, a 10 MB per minute CDA or WAV file is reduced in size to about 1 MB/minute); of course, this process compresses and 'removes' audio information - at higher bit rates, the MP3 sound quality becomes pretty much indistinguishable from the original audio signal - I usually rip my CDs at 192 kbps, and those being offered at 320 kbps will pretty much match CD quality to a normal pair of ears!

Now, the main reason to obtain audio tracts as MP3 files (or other 'lossy' formats) is to save a LOT of space and put much more music onto devices that have more limited capacity, such as SD cards  or other storage options.   But an important 'reverse' consideration is under discussion, i.e. taking a 'compressed & lossy' audio file and converting it back into the size of a standard CD or WAV format - keep in mind that this will permit these audio tracts to be played on equipment that can only handle CDs (e.g. an older car CD player) - however, the process of taking a MP3 file back up to a much larger size CDA or WAV does NOT restore the original audio signal; the data that was LOST in the compression process cannot be restored; now, if the original extraction was done at a HIGH bit rate, then the sound will likely be similar, but if done at a lower rate, the sound will be degraded.

This remains for me a confusing process even after many years of reading, ripping, and burning CD-Rs - for those who may be REALLY interested in all of this audio stuff, I can recommend the book pictured below -  :D


Kuhlau

An excellent post, Dave. I'd also like to recommend a thread on another classical forum which throws a good deal of light on the subject. Ignore the posts by yours truly and skip through to the one by a member called hugerr on page 2 (Reply #27): CD Formats.

FK

SonicMan46

Thanks, FK - not easy to put comments into a few paragraphs, esp. on such a complex topic -  :)

My other recommendation for those using a variety of audio formats is to purchase machines that have the ability to play as many audio (and video) formats as possible - my portable CD players & CD/DVD players can also play MP3 CD-Rs, so very easy to place a disc into any of these machines regardless of the files contained - keep in mind that on a single CD-R you can 'burn' about 10 hrs of music as MP3 files (at a standard bit rate) - I use these type of discs in my basement workshop - one will play for hours!  :D

drogulus

#439
    You can reduce most mp3 wisdom to 2 rules:

     1) Lossless is better than lossy, and all lossy files should be made from lossless ones.

     2) So: Either use lossless files for everything, or use the lossless files as your archive from rips and make your mp3s for your player from that.

     Maybe that's 4 rules, so I'm using lossy compression. :D If you do it this way you can redo your lossy files if you decide they don't sound good enough (meaning you can actually hear the difference from the full version). If you just go with lossy files as rips you can't go back without reripping. The information is lost.

     Downside: These approaches are the safest and provide the most peace of mind about SQ, but they also require the most HD space and with a dual format collection you're always performing maintenance to keep them up to date. I think it's worth it.
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