LP Question...

[BLSamuel]

I'd agree with what's been said. CDs do qualify for media mail but the priority mail boxes might make sense and could be easier. A little bubble wrap or even corrugated cardboard so things don't slide around too much and to protect some from crushing can't hurt.

Do what's easy and makes sense. Dave's suggestion sounds like the way to go. Probably quickest and easiest and still very reasonable.

Thanks for all your work and sharing your new CDs with us.

Ben

[BLSamuel]

And don't forget. As long as the disc survives new jewel boxes are available for $3 or $4 for 10.

[Coytee]

You guys kill me... I was a good little boy today and stopped by post office to buy those little square boxes...

Ben, regarding what you said above

As long as the disc survives new jewel boxes are available for $3 or $4

While I was standing in line at the post office, I was thinking about that and those who want more than one or two... I was wondering if it would work to put the SACD disks in, with their box...but the other ones, with the cheapo boxes, simply remove the disk AND paper content, and put more of them into a singular box, instead of mailing the jewel boxes...

I then decided to stop thinking about it and grabbed a couple more of those little square boxes they have.

I'll dig into it more tomorrow when I'm at the office, where the cd's now reside.

[Mallette]

BUY? The priorty mail boxes are free, unless something happened recently. The DO have some the sell that aren't marked priority. I have a load of them in my garage for which I paid nothing.

Dave

[Coytee]

BUY? The priorty mail boxes are free, unless something happened recently. The DO have some the sell that aren't marked priority. I have a load of them in my garage for which I paid nothing.

I told ya I was looking for the easy button!! you thought I was kidding?!!

These were something like $1.25 or something stupid like that... I've never done this before so I simply walked in and grabbed them... they looked like the right thing so I didn't ask.

NOW do you see what an idiot you are trying to deal with here? [:$]

Ya know what though? I don't really care. It's not a big deal. If I can get these to people who will appreciate them more than me, I don't really care if I end up spending a few dollars.

Heck... ask Colter and some of the guys that were at his house one summer evening... I spent more than a couple dollars bringing along some BBQ ribs for the crowd. Spending $20 for some postage isn't going to kill me.... too much!

[BLSamuel]

Gee Richard, you're giving us all some CDs. A few of these that appear to be coming my way I wouldn't otherwise be able to have for a while otherwise, I think none of us have any trouble paying for any packaging along with the postage. Kind of stupid if this costs you anything other than your time which in itself is very generous.

Heck we'd buy most of them but you're nice enough to pass them along.

Don't feel bad. The last time I mailed a couple of CDs I just bought a few padded envelopes, took them to the post office and mailed them. No jewel boxes or paperwork, just CDs.

The old USPS does do a pretty good job with most things. I think I knew that Priority Mail boxes were included in the postage but not sure I'd have remembered when I went to buy something to ship CDs in.

My funds are somewhat limited lately so inexpensive is great. But a few bucks for a few CDs is still a great deal.

Thanks again! You da man, mang.

[Mallette]

If it is marked "Priority Mail" it is free, even the CD mailers. I keep a supply and use them with the computer purchased postage. It does not get any easier unless you have paid help.

Dave

[Coytee]

Dave: Yours are boxed and should go out later today

Colter: Yours are currently in 2 boxes which should go out at same time. I've got 1 more loose cd so I'll just get a third box and the three will go

Ben: I had a box to put all yours in and all my packing stuff here at office...or so I THOUGHT. Seems some dufas [:$] took that stuff home the other day to pack up a guitar amp...sooooooooooo, I'll try to get yours taped up tonight and out later.

Guys... I don't care about any postage on this... frankly, it's not worth the effort for you to send me $3.89 or what ever it is (imagine my surprise when I fork out $120.82!!)

So, we'll call this either an early birthday present or a late Christmas present for ya! You can buy me a Coke the next time we cross paths. In Michaels case, perhaps I'll meet him in Hamilton (near Cincinnati) and share a Chesters pizza with him!!

[Y]

[Dennie]

Thanks Richard! When I got home from work today, there was a 12" X 12" box on my porch! [<)]

I have a board meeting tonight, but I hope to give these fine Records a spin in the next couple of days!

Again, Gary and Richard, thanks for all of your hard work getting these packaged up and to my porch!

Dennie

[fini]

BUY? The priorty mail boxes are free, unless something happened recently. The DO have some the sell that aren't marked priority. I have a load of them in my garage for which I paid nothing.

Dave

The PO will even mail the boxes to you! I think they might use USPS...

[colterphoto1]

Michael,

Glad to see you grabbed the Scheherazade. It's the best version of that LP I've ever heard. Not that I'm any expert but I've listened to a few. The sound quality is to die for!

Scheherazade op 35 Fritz Reiner Chicago Symphone Orchestra, Feb 8, 1960. RCA LSC-2446

Thanks to Gary's recommendation, I gave this a listen tonight. The only knowledge I have of this composer and piece is the mention of 'Rimsky-Korsakoff?' in the Beatles Yellow Submarine film. That's it.

Lifting the LP from it's sleeve, I'm impressed by it's weight. The 'Living Stereo' disk by RCA Victor (red seal) is much heavier and denser than standard LP's. The surface is flawless, not a spec of dust or showing of wear. Even the sleeve (absent USPS dropping the box and smashing the corner of each cover) is completely without wear ring. Immaculate disc.

I brush side one, set the old Stanton 681EEE down and await the typical snap crackle pop and amazed to hear nearly none. Settling down with the cover text for a listen I'm impressed by the telling of the tale of this piece of music. Apparently recorded to death in the late 50's and 60's, the Scheherazade is still a favorite work of many listeners of 'serious music'. It's noted that the conductor and orchestra had listening sessions of many of the popular recordings of the day, spotting weaknesses in the performance or recording of each and vowing to avoid those trappings.

Mention is made of the Chicago Symphony Hall's physical characteristics that affect the recording. A shallow and wide stage force the orchestra to be distant from one another and put the conductor as well as musicians to task. The recording takes place in several sessions during a single day, a nearly impossible feat for most of the pop/rock recordings that I listen to. Indeed the final movement is recorded in one fell swoop, noted as a difficult achievement for an orchestra of the day. I listen for a bit in standard stereo, switch to a bit of digital surround mode, decry that heresy, change back and settle with 5 channel stereo in which my center speaker helps fill in the void from LaScalas perched at 14 feet distance (listening position 10 feet from front wall). The separation was just too immense and the center does help anchor the soundstage of the symphony.

My immediate impression is that I really enjoy this work. It's hard to describe upon first listening but I appreciate the composer's writing style. I found a bit about it on Wiki, but not much about the story or construction. The recoding is spotless, the mix impeccable. Much time must have been spent positioning the microphones and adjusting the mix. This being prior to multitrack recordings, it's 'one go', isn't it? My freshman ear hears a melding of sounds of the orchestra, not as an acoustic mush but more of a cohesiveness in playing/recording that I've not heard before. It's not so much 'here's the violins, now some horns, now something else highlighted', but a gentle moving back and forth of the focus between instruments. Bass, cello, french horns, bassoon come together as a single menacing mass at times, then part ways for the soulful violin to sweep my heart away during each movement. Interesting that the writer of the liner notes points out many of the soloists but does not proclaim the principle violin. Ah here it is in the opening title credits Sidney Harth violin solo. The writer seems particularly taken by the brass and reeds. It's quite a mournful but beautiful bit of music.

I shall have to give it a few listens but I think I really dig this one. The sound quality is indeed to die for.

Thanks Richard. I'll be interested in Gary's and Larry's take on this symphony.

[garymd]

Glad you like it Michael!

I'm guessing this is the Classic Records reissue. I have both the reissue on vinyl and the SACD and I've heard Larry's original. They are all fantastic. The original sounds just as good, maybe better in some ways but with more surface noise. As far as the symphony itself, I'll leave those comments to Larry and other classical experts. I just know I like it!

[LarryC]

Thanks Richard. I'll be interested in Gary's and Larry's take on this symphony.

To echo Gary, I'm very happy you like it! It's as good a work as exists to draw a music fan into classical music. Rimsky was a great master of "orchestration," the art of using instruments in the creation of great music. He wrote a highly-regarded book on the subject (so did Berlioz). Here, a wide variety of brass, woodwinds and percussion plus a well-balanced use of strings (strings are the mainstay of a symphony orchestra) creates a fabulous panoply of orchestral sound. And of course, the solo violin, representing Scheherazade' tale-telling, unites the work by appearing in each movement as she spins out her safety in her stories.

Rimsky was steeped in using "orientalism" or representations of the Far East in his music. Scheherazade is drawn from the "Thousand and One Nights" tale. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheherazade_(Rimsky-Korsakov). Orientalism is embedded in 19th-century Russian music. We'll be hearing another such piece at Strathmore on April 25, Alexander Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia., although it is nowhere near as special as Scheherazade.

Scheherazade is not usually called a symphony, even though it has four movements, but rather a "symphonic suite." A suite is a set of like-minded shorter pieces, like the Nutcracker or Tchaikovsky ballet suites. Symphonies usually have a very complicated and involved structure, as we'll hear in the Tchaikovsky symphony at Strathmore.

The Chicago has always been one of the great orchestras of the world, especially strong in brass. The concertmaster (first violinist and leader of all the strings), Sidney Harth, is extremely well-regarded in this recording.

No one here can go wrong with either the CD or the LP of this work. See http://www.amazon.com/Rimsky-Korsakov-Scheherazade-Stravinsky-Nightingale-Hybrid/dp/B0006PV5VC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1236349452&sr=8-1 and http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?Title_ID=11047.

[colterphoto1]

Thanks guys. Glad I got the correct impression from this work.

The disc that Richard sent me is of the second cover Larry shows. It has the Miracle * Surface 317X logo, but it's also imprinted " An RCA Victor recording licensed from BMG music" It's the 200 gram pressing.

…The second movement is just ravishing in the
beauty of the Chicago's playing and Reiner's romantic approach; there
is some staccato triple-tonguing done by trumpeter Adolph Herseth in
the fourth movement that should leave you, if not him, breathless. But
let is just be said that, after you hear this, no other Scheherazade will ever replace it in your affections." HP's The Golden Dozen LPs – Harry Pearson, The Absolute Sound, June/July 2007

The
jewel in the Living Stereo crown. This, like the Respighi, is
considered one of the very best LPs by Reiner, the CSO and RCA's crew.
Another Mohr and Layton classic.

[Coytee]

Ya ya ya....but does it jam like Freebird..... [:|] [^o)] []

[colterphoto1]

Richard - how do you want payment for the LP's shipping and CD's?

[colterphoto1]

Gary, check out this site

http://www.317x.com/imagemenu.html

I was googling 317X to find out about the Miracle*Surface and ran across this- it's a bunch of album covers of way cool music.

M

[Coytee]

Richard - how do you want payment for the LP's shipping and CD's?

Well... since I've met you before and you DO look to be halfway honest []... you can simply send a regular check to me. My address is on page 5 of this thread, fairly near the top.

Keep it simple. No need for expensive money orders or anything like that.

Also, I'm not expecting ANY reimbursement (including postage) for the CD's... I decided to simply let those go out and not worry about them since I got those for free.

Maybe on my next trip to Cincinnati area, you can buzz on down and we'll order a http://www.chesterspizza.com/ I'd have to go to http://www.graeters.com/ afterwards too.... any objections?

[pi] [Y]

[colterphoto1]

MD- that last bit is a quote from a review- not me. I'm not that good of a writer. My scribblings appear on the previous page.

[BLSamuel]

Richard - how do you want payment for the LP's shipping and CD's?

Well... since I've met you before and you DO look to be halfway honest ... you can simply send a regular check to me. My address is on page 5 of this thread, fairly near the top.

Keep it simple. No need for expensive money orders or anything like that.

Also, I'm not expecting ANY reimbursement (including postage) for the CD's... I decided to simply let those go out and not worry about them since I got those for free.

Maybe on my next trip to Cincinnati area, you can buzz on down and we'll order a http://www.chesterspizza.com/ I'd have to go to http://www.graeters.com/ afterwards too.... any objections?

You keep mentioning this Chester's Pizza. At least 3 times now, probably more. Can I come too?