Issue 181

High-resolution recording of music for immersive audio requires the utmost attention to detail in order to capture pristine tones and reproduce the hyper-realistic sound of music performed live from a space in time. Ulrike Schwarz and Jim Anderson, who have won Grammy awards and received numerous nominations for immersive sound engineering, are accustomed to using only the finest recording studios and equipment to make their projects so successful.

However, the pandemic totally upended the rules of recording and forced engineers to get creative in overcoming quarantine and other barriers to continue their work. With soprano saxophonist/composer Jane Ira Bloom’s latest release, Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1, not only did Ulrike Schwarz and Jim Anderson garner yet another Best Immersive Album Grammy nomination, they have created a new paradigm for recording live, improvised jazz in real time over the internet with the performers in remote locations. Jane Ira Bloom (pictured in the above header image), Ulrike, and Jim spoke with Copper’s John Seetoo a few weeks after a private listening session for the album at Dolby’s Dolby 24 Screening Room surround sound theater in New York to explain the challenges and workarounds they devised to transcend the physical, logistical, technical, and even familial obstacles to create this new release in various high-resolution formats including 384 kHz, 32-bit stereo, Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound, AURO-3D, streaming MQA up to 192 kHz, and other formats.

John Seetoo: Hey, congratulations on, I believe it's your fourth Grammy nomination working with Jane?

Ulrike Schwarz: It's the third; it was Sixteen Sunsets, Early Americans, and now it's Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1, right.

Jim Anderson: But I think between [Ulrike and myself], this is our third or fourth.

JS: OK. Congratulations! As a result of the pandemic, Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1 had an unusual genesis that exemplifies the maxim, "necessity is the mother of invention." What was the original concept for the record, and what led to the changes that resulted in the final product?

US: The way that I understood it was that originally we had gotten [a] grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts, in co-association with NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York’s Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. We had suggested doing a large three-dimensional recording of, basically, the space in between the notes

And that's why Jane composed this cycle of songs for instruments like Japanese koto, Chinese pipa, vibraphone, and all kinds of unusual instruments. It would have [been] an aural representation of the science photography that Berenice Abbott had taken in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. That was supposed to happen all in a spacious, very nice acoustical room, like a church or a big studio. And the other component to make this really very audible was to go into [a] super-high-resolution audio format to really be able to establish that kind of fine, fine line of recording. We got the grant in, I think, December 2019. And we were supposed to go into production early 2020.

And then the world shut down for a while. So, we had to rethink that concept. And by rethinking that concept, I mean, the composer had to rethink the concept. And Jane kind of reduced it to mostly duos. The only trio on the recording is a pre-recorded ground bass line, which was then overdubbed live by the koto and soprano saxophone.

The technical reason we [decided to do what we did] was that establishing recordings at two sites was possible [for us]. First of all, I didn't have three recording systems to set up in different spaces. And second, the strain on the internet connections would have been very big. I think with the possibilities we had, we couldn't have done a three-way live over the internet. Communications with delays (latency) would have made it impossible to actually make music together.

[Jane Ira Bloom joins the call.]

JS: We were just getting into some of the technical issues that had come up for recording Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1 as a result of the pandemic. The question was, what was the original concept for the record and what had to change? Ulrike was going through some of the technical engineering considerations, and she wanted to bring you in on the aesthetic aspects.

Jane Ira Bloom: Oh, sure; I'll tell you how the music came about. It all started with this photographer, Berenice Abbott. [She was] a legendary New York City photographer, who did this gorgeous black and white science photography. She was one of the very first photographers ever to make images of light waves and principles of motion, using this very stark, beautiful, abstract black and white imagery. And she made things in physics feel visible through her lens.

So, this stuff just knocked me out. And I started to imagine how I might try to reimagine these ideas as music. I began composing these pieces for small improvising groups, inspired by her work. It’s hard to describe what goes on in the composer's mind, but somehow I was making the translation. Sometime later, Ulrike, Jim and I were sitting in a coffee shop. We were brainstorming this idea about how we could record these Abbott-inspired pieces in high resolution, immersive sound, and in that way, try to make the technology of recording the sound match the place [where] the music was inspired by these concepts of science, you know, physics. So in that way, art and science would collaborate and with the support of the New York City Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre, we could do this – and then the pandemic happened. All bets were off.

And this is when we all got creative. We couldn't rehearse and record in person with the ensembles that I had imagined, like quartets and sextets. So I honed the material down to pieces that would work very simply as duets, very stark contrast of sound and silence. We couldn't record in the studio. So, Ulrike basically came up with the idea of elevating the recording technology, so she could record myself and three of my bandmates: Allison Miller (drums), Mark Helias (bass) and Miya Masaoka (koto) –remotely in real time, but from our homes in New York City.

Ulrike and Jim did the most amazing, amazing work coming to our homes to record in surround sound under circumstances that would make most engineers faint. So that's where all the audio magic happened. And from my end, basically, we were the creators of the sound. The musicians I chose to write for and perform with all have very distinctive sounds and a very unique improvisational identity, [and] we were used to playing with each other. So we were able to give Ulrike a sound, and a kind of intimate dialogue to the way we were improvising. But from there, she took the sound and ran with it. And what happened after that it's absolute…to me, it's absolutely audio magic. So that's where my story ends and hers begins.

JIB: I imagine you guys have to talk tech. I don't know if I should step out. Make it easier.

US: You can stay, If you get bored, of course you can step out! But I think it's always good to have your perspective.

JS: Jim or Ulrike: can you elaborate on the logistical and technical challenges and how you decided to resolve them?

US: From a studio engineer point of view, our approach is usually [that] we try to get our musicians in a controlled environment, so that we know there won't be any interference from the outside, which [there] would be in personal homes. [If] somebody takes a shower, if there's a construction site outside, or something that would make the environmental noise uncontrollable – that is the first, the biggest problem. You can record all the nice music in the world, but if somebody [is using] a sledgehammer, then this [recording is not usable.

So, in that case, we were very, very lucky, especially in Jane's building. Everybody seemed to be incredibly disciplined, because we used her office three times as a recording studio and nothing ever happened.

In Allison's case, she lives in Brooklyn we used her basement practice room. Drums are a little bit louder, so any outside noise would not have been that significant. But her percussion – I mean, certainly those bell parts, are very, very open to [being affected by] the distractions. And again, nothing happened. That was great.

At Mark's place…that was the East Village, which is a little bit Party Central. That could have been…interesting, but even there, it was very, very controlled. It was [on a] Sunday. It was still [during the] pandemic, so there was limited party action going on.

And Miya on the Upper West Side also had very, very good neighbors. So in terms of outside noise, we were very lucky.

We also tried to find good times. And by good times, I mean we tried to find times when people might not use the internet that much. So, for example, Sunday afternoon is a bad time because everybody uploads their YouTube videos, and the internet gets slow.

So, the first concern was outside noise. And then [related] to that is, of course, how does it sound? How is the sound in the rooms to record? Usually in a studio, you can either change the acoustics if [it’s] a little bit too dry or less dry. But in a little office, you may have walls [that are] too straight, too close, too something, so that there are interferences or unwanted effects. We were able to mitigate that a little bit with very basic measures like [putting] winter jackets on sofas and towels on tables and things like that. And [for] the rest we correctly took a very, very Anderson Audio approach, which is, “you know it, ignore it!” (laughs)

JA: John, we have a saying around here: “when there is no solution, there is no problem.” Therefore, we had no problems, because there were some solutions that we had no resolution for! (laughs)

US: Of course, the most important thing [was facilitating] the communication between the musicians. In order to establish that we had to overcome the internet, mostly the internet speeds. Because, ideally, you want [the musicians] to have [a] line of sight [with each other], and you want them to be in the position to have immediate communication. Or if there is a delay, you want a stable delay, because people will be able to get used to something…I think you can work with anything between, let's say, under 10 milliseconds up to 20 milliseconds if you really have to play together. And so, my job was to try to get the delay between the musicians down to a “playable” latency and also to keep it stable.

Since Jane, Allison and Mark and Miya had rehearsed on free software, it kind of made sense to use the software that everybody was used to, Sonobus. Given what I've learned now about the software, I would now go to a more advanced one that uses the capabilities of the internet a little differently. This was really a one-to-one line, and it depended very much on the speed that everybody had at their home networks.

So, my idea was to use times when not many people were on the internet. And then to bring in mostly gaming audio components, because [they] are the fastest – it's either gaming audio or banking that has the fastest access. I had a gaming audio hub for the communications computer. My recording computer is also a modified gaming laptop, because it can record 64 channels in 384 kHz and 32-bit. That's a very high processing rate that a normal laptop usually can't do. We wanted to be on the internet at a very, very high data rate (at 192) because latency is being calculated in samples. For example, if I am working at 192 kHz compared to 48, I can speed up or reduce the latency to a fourth of what it would have been if I had done 48 kHz.

JIB: Ulrike, I have one thought – because I have to leave you guys – about latency. Because in fact, it's hard. It's fine as [long as] the technical and engineering [people] can get the latency down of how and where musicians hear each other. In fact, there is some kind of odd delay. And the interesting thing about the musicians who – jazz musicians who are used to adapting to all kinds of situations – is that something goes on in our minds so that we actually anticipate one another. We get used to it; we compensate for it. And completely unconsciously, we're making some kinds of adaptations. That's completely non-technical. But it has to do with our minds, which I think is fascinating that we do this, and we don't even know that we're doing it.

US: Yeah, but you can also do this if it's stable, like if it were really super-low, right? [And] if you weren't who you are this project wouldn't have happened anyway.

JIB: For sure [the delay] has to be stable, because somehow, our minds must make some kind of adaptation or anticipation that we're able to calculate what we're going to play before we're going to play it. So it's...

JA: You usually play behind the beat anyway, right? (laughs)

JIB: Behind the beat, behind me, who knows where it is? (laughs)

JS: Were you [all] on camera at the same time so you could see Mark or Allison?

JIB: We could see [each other on] Zoom. We like to feel the presence of the other when we're improvising.

JS: If you didn't have the visual aspect through Zoom, would that have altered how the recording or performance came out?

JIB: I think so. Because we're human and we like to feel like we know the other is there. If they're not, we have to work harder with our ears. And that would be off! (laughs)

JS: I'm just curious – aesthetically, if you were only relying just on hearing each other play in a dialogue form as opposed to...?

JIB: It's a very good question. I think you're right, that there's something that's comforting about the presence of the visual, together with the odd audio sensing that we do. Yeah, I think it does help.

JS: Ulrike, so in addition to the modified gaming computer, did you have to rely on different kinds of mics or preamps, versus what you would normally use in recording in a studio?

US: Yes, actually. So just to finish that other [thought] we had one set of computers that was only for oral communication. That was for [the] Sonobus [software]. Then we had a second set of computers for the Zoom, which was very much out of time. But in order to not slow down the communications computers, we put that on a different set of computers and then the third line was for the two laptops that were doing the actual high-definition recording.

For Jane, I used only two microphones, a Sanken CU-41, and a Neumann TLM 170. I think in a traditional studio recording, she has up to nine microphones. But first of all, we wouldn't have been able to fit that many microphones into the space. And second, that would have recorded too much of the space. So that's why I reduced this to two. In a usual studio recording, she would have [John] Hardy M-1 mic preamps. But in this case, I used the Merging Technologies MERGING+HAPI preamp and Premium A/D cards because I had to split my equipment. So, it was two microphones into the Hapi and then analog out into the Acousta LE03 Interface, so that there wouldn't be any latency. [See the equipment sidebar at the end of the article.] The audio also went to the recording machine independently.

The Acousta LE03 audio interface doesn't have any or has very little latency, [at] 192 kHz into the Sonobus. I had two Acoustas for each side [one for Jane’s Sonobus feed and one at the other musician’s remote location]. Acousta is an Austrian company that  [makes equipment for] broadcasts and they built these latency-free units that you can either use for broadcast or in this case, for the internet recording. These gave us the mix minus feeds for each direction.

Allison’s [drum] microphones were recorded on my big laptop in Allison's basement. But I also recorded the Sonobus feeds of both Allison and Jane, so that I always had a recording of what everybody was hearing and reacting to. I could eventually make adjustments in case they weren't together. But they, as Jane said, were fantastically together [despite] being apart.

JS: Interesting. Separate laptops together using the same clock for sync?

US: I synced them by hand, because I had to for [the] Sonobus recording, so I kind of knew where everybody was supposed to be.

Part of the remote recording setup.

Another thing that was interesting was that at Miya Masaoka's space, she insisted that she had a 1 gigabyte line. I was checking the speed before we went in to record. And I thought, “this is too slow for a gigabyte line – what is happening?” And she had told me that her son was at home, but that wasn't a problem. But…what was the son doing?

[It turned out] he played [online] games with his friends, unfortunately, and that was using a lot of the bandwidth. I had to get him off playing games with his friends during the holidays, which was a difficult task. I didn't make friends that day. But we had to do it, and the faster we could possibly do it, the earlier he could get back to the game. So yeah, that was interesting.

We have power conditioners at home, and at each location, I actually took power conditioners and tried to clean up the power as much as I could so that we would have a really noise-free or very, very low-noise recording. I think that also helped a lot to keep the recording quality on a very, very high level.

JS: I think Jim mentioned a humidifier…

US: Oh, well. Yeah. Usually, the engineers are the big control freaks and they try to get everybody [under] their conditions. This time, what was great was that the musicians actually worked at home and they could choose the best instruments for the recording. Usually, you don't have the ability to do that. So with Mark, I went there a day early and he picked the best bass that we thought would make this kind of recording sound better. He has 10 basses, and I don't know how many more in storage. So we picked a very good one. The thing is, acoustic basses in winter need a lot of humidity. They need to be humidified at all times, otherwise they'll break [the wood can get more brittle and crack if it gets too dry – Ed]. We had a little bit of a discussion as to whether during the recording, the humidifier should be on or off. I would have said it should have been off the whole time. But in one or another track on the recording. I think it was still on. That's the only time you hear any extraneous noise!

(The next part of the interview will go into how the microphone setups created the huge, larger-than-life 3D sounds in the immersive audio release; why they flew to California to mix the album at Skywalker Sound; the role that mastering engineer Morton Lindberg played in the final product; and comparisons between past methods of recording Jane Ira Bloom’s saxophone.)

******

Here’s the equipment used in the production of Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1:

At Jane’s office:

For recording:

- 1 Neumann TLM170 microphone

- 1 Sanken CU-41 microphone

- 1 Merging Technologies HAPI with Premium A/D cards

- 1 Apple MacBook with Merging Technology Pyramix digital audio workstation v12 (running at 384 kHz/32-bit)

- 1 ESP MusicCord Pro ES Power Accelerator, ESP MusicCord Pro ES AC cables

- AccuSound MX-4 microphone cables - AccuSound IX-3 Interconnect cables

- 1 Acousta LE03 interface (running at 192 kHz)

- 1 iMac running Sonobus

The microphone signals were split analog in the HAPI and went to the Acousta to be fed to the internet. The Acousta unit has n-1, so the sax signals for Jane were latency-free and the D/A latency in 192 kHz for the Acousta LE03 was under 1ms.

For all the other venues (Allison Miller’s basement, Mark Helias’ bass studio, Miya Masaoka’s living room) the setup for recording was:

- 1 Merging Technologies Horus with Premium A/D cards

- 1 Merging Technologies Pyramix v14

- 1 PC AudioLabs laptop (the modified gaming laptop that can record 64 channels in 384/DXD)

- 1 ESP Eloquence Power Accelerator

- All ESP Eloquence or ESP MusicCord ProES AC cords

- All interconnect cables are AccuSound IX-3 cables

- All Mogami microphone cables

Microphones (for all three locations):

- Neumann USM 69, DPA 4007s, RadioShack PZM, AMB Tube DI, Neumann TLM 102, ElectroVoice 654, AKG D-112, AKG P-120, Shure SM57, Sanken CMS-2

For communication:

- iPad Pro for Sonobus

- WD D-50 Game Dock (internet hub)

- 1 Acousta LE03 Interface (in 192 kHz

- 1 Focusrite Interface (for Allison Miller) The microphone signals were split analog in the Horus and went to the Acousta to be fed to the internet. The Acousta unit has n-1, so the drums/bass/koto signals for Allison/Mark/Miya were latency-free and the D/A latency in 192 kHz for the Acousta LE03 is under 1ms.

The ability to control the Apple MacBook remotely was done via TeamViewer.

The accumulated latency between the systems ranged between fixed 8ms (minimum) and 64ms (with Mark, due to a slower internet speed).

Header image of Jane Ira Bloom courtesy of Lucy Gram.

Word clocks are common in high-end and professional and some high-end digital systems. They are used to synchronize devices that connect via digital audio signals.

Would audiophiles be interested in Esoteric’s G1X Grandioso clock ($27,000 USD)? Given the technology behind it, I think yes. And if nothing else, the G1X sports museum-quality aesthetics that make for some cool photos.

Esoteric had previously been using a rubidium atomic clock-based design for its flagship clocks. These clocks utilize a hyperfine transition of electrons in rubidium-87, which is used to control the output frequency. Simplified a bit, we can say these clocks use the natural resonance of rubidium-87 to measure time.

Quartz oscillators are much more commonly used than rubidium ones. Clocks with these types of oscillators utilize electricity that is passed through a small piece of quartz, thus causing it to vibrate at a precise frequency. Quartz oscillators can be found in mobile phones, computers, and wristwatches. In recent times, Quartz oscillators have also been used in lower-priced models of Esoteric clocks.

With the introduction of the flagship G1X, Esoteric shocked many in the digital high-end world. Unlike the company’s prior top-of-the-line models, the G1X eschews the use of a rubidium oscillator for a quartz-based one. According to Esoteric, it has improved the performance of the crystal oscillator performance by, among other things, improving the way in which the crystal is cut, and keeping it precisely temperature-controlled. As in life in general, in digital audio, timing is everything.

The Esoteric Grandioso G1X has an elegant, sculptured appearance.

The fit and finish are impeccable.

The G1X offers multiple outputs for synchronizing digital audio devices.

Here's another look at its distinctive design.

In Part One of our Capital Audiofest 2022 coverage (Issue 180), I touched upon the family nature of the specialty audio business. And I’ve found it interesting how the industry seems to skip generations. Our sons have little interest in audio, despite having grown up with great gear. What they didn’t skip over was my wife’s and my love of music without reservation. Our home has always been full of any and all genres of music and they picked up on that diversity. But it’s not unusual for kids to not appreciate their parents’ interests, although all of us are into the fabulous L.A. Dodgers, Phillipe, cats, dogs, and tech. That said, Thomas loves his pair of Audioengine A5+ powered speakers, while our younger son Jonathan adores his Oppo PM-3 closed-back planar magnetic headphones, so perhaps all isn’t lost.

When the vinyl revival started to happen, my oldest son Thomas was on the hunt for fun, cool records. But, funnily enough he wasn’t as concerned about having a turntable. Recent statistics bear this out. According to Billboard magazine, vinyl represented $43.5 million in sales in 2022, yet only 50 percent of vinyl buyers owned a record player. There are various theories for this, ranging from a hipster love of all things retro, to a tangible response to the invisibility of the digital age, in which music, as well as much of our lives, takes place with no physical footprint. So, what could be more basic than a wafer of plastic, with a true analogous signal with wavy lines or something cool-looking on it. I do find it odd that folks would spend that much money on sometimes-overpriced LPs, and not be able to play them. But maybe I’m strange that way. And it is gratifying to have a large piece of artwork that you can hold in your hand, which is satisfying in a way that a Roon GUI isn’t.

Fortunately, some of the most dedicated vinyl enthusiasts are young, hip, passionate, and buy turntables. It’s one reason for the success of companies like Music Hall, Pro-Ject, Audio-Technica, Victrola and many others, all of whom have commendable and good-sounding gear at attractive pricing. Even IKEA has gotten in the act, although their OBEGRÄNSAD record player has gotten negative reviews. (At CES 2023, we saw a lovely new JBL turntable, that clocks in at very competitive $400 with a decent Audio-Technica cartridge. So even large companies are responding.) Affordable digital gear from manufacturers like Schiit, Geshelli Labs, Fosi Audio, Aiyima, Topping, S.M.S.L, LOXJIE Audio, and the Emotiva BasX line is also making huge inroads, especially since advances in technology and build quality mean that some really inexpensive gear sounds pretty musical.

Naturally, life is a balancing act, full of compromises, but as evidenced by the superb reviews that Andrew Jones’ inexpensive speakers for ELAC have garnered, users can have a really serious musical experience for even just a few hundred dollars’ worth of gear. Certainly, the trashing that Class D amplifiers used to receive is no longer valid. At Capital Audiofest 2022 we heard some great Class-D amps, and the availability of low-cost, low-distortion, high-power chips from Texas Instruments and amplifier modules from ICEpower and others has driven down the cost of musical horsepower.

I liken it to the early days of sports cars, where enthusiasts could purchase wonderful entry-level models, leaving the fancier and more expensive cars to those who could afford them. Based on what I’ve seen at Capital Audiofest, CanJam, and more recently, CES 2023, I think we are in the golden age of audio, since $200 for a headphone amp and some headphones can get you some impressive sound. Maybe not comparable to a $25,000 system, but capable of real enjoyment. I tend to think of it as a trickle-down audio equivalent of trickle-down economics, whereas unlike trickle-down economics, the audio version actually works and benefits consumers.

That’s just one of the reasons why I totally enjoy the irreverent energy of the audio scene, especially as evidenced by the headphones community, whose love of independent inventors, irreverent reviewers and personalities, and enthusiastic listeners powers the whole gang. There were lots of visitors to Capital Audiofest with that vibe. The cool thing is that they were happy to listen to a $250,000 system, as well as one costing a few hundred bucks. And one of the largest rooms, with stunning equipment, was also among my least favorite. To be honest, the room was just too big. I’ve eaten in some of the finest restaurants in the world, and the best of them had a small intimate feel to them despite their actual size. They made you feel welcome. On the other hand, at the recent New York Audio Show, Greg Takesh (of GT Audio Works) had the largest room, and it sounded great. At Capitol Audiofest, he had a smaller, standard sized room, and it sounded great also. He told me that he actually dug the smaller room since it was more intimate. With room size bigger isn’t always better. It’s important to match the speakers to the room.

I say this because many of my favorite rooms weren’t necessarily large, but were welcoming. I enjoy spending time with Boris Meltsner of Amped America and Roy Hall of Music Hall, lovely to spend time with because I think both can be hilariously fun straight shooters. I’ve been talking with Roy Hall for years about reviewing one of his turntables, but it hasn’t happened. But having a wee dram of Scotch with him is enough.

I had a great time hanging out with Steve Jain in the Fidelity Imports room. Later we were joined by Hideki Kato of Soulnote Audio, whose gorgeous gear from Japan was contributing to the lovely sounds in the room. I’ve long been a fan of Michal Jurewicz of Mytek Audio, whose Brooklyn DAC+ is a component that I thought couldn’t be much improved upon, although his latest version has managed to do just that. It was a treat to listen to his newest creations, which sounded fantastic combined with JMLab speakers and other gear. Mytek also has an entirely revised product line due in part to a separation from the original factory that manufactured their products, and a new distributor. The new components sport a number of improvements and refinements, so while the shakeup might have been difficult, the resulting new products reveal enhancements across the board.

Well-run audio shows have something for everybody, and the 2022 Capital Audiofest proved it once again. Here are more photos, and we’ll have even more next issue.

There are so many in-ear monitors (otherwise known as IEMs, earbuds, earphones, or in-ear headphones) in the marketplace, how can one navigate the minefield of IEMs which are out there? How can we determine what a set of in-ears may sound like before buying a new item, rather than hitting and hoping and perhaps ending up with an unduly heavy slice of buyer’s remorse? In this short series we hope to assist in making better informed choices. (The first installment appeared in Issue 180.)

Thanks to the abundance of online reviews and albeit sometimes biased opinions, there exists a large amount of information as to what may sound good. Given that there has been such massive growth in the headphones and IEM space since 2012, by now we should be able to experience a known, great-sounding product without too much hassle. Yet a 2017 article written by Jeroen Breebart for The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) titled “No Correlation Between Headphone Frequency Response and Retail Price” noted the disconnect between the two factors.

In other words, you don’t always get what you pay for. That said, it is also possible to get far more than what you used to pay even a few years ago thanks to intense competition.

How may us lowly mortals benefit from modern technology advancements? We mentioned the “Harman curve” in the last installment. This is a frequency response curve determined by Harman to be pleasing to a majority of listeners.

The engineers at Harman addressed the issue of inconsistency in the frequency response of headphones. Many headphones delivered tubby bass and harsh treble. Who could help sweep away this sonically-muddied state of affairs? One exemplary engineer, Harman’s Dr. Sean Olive, set his sights on designing products that not only would compete with the then -super-popular Beats headphones by Dr Dre, but improve on them. Why? The tenacious Dr. Olive was not content to simply replicate Beats models (and perhaps gain an equal share of the marketplace), but instead pushed the necessity to find the audio parameters that would deliver the best listening experience. Harman had already done this for loudspeakers, thanks to the research and industrious subjective and objective testing performed by Olive’s colleague, Dr. Floyd Toole.

Part of Harman’s efforts of seven years of intensive headphone analysis from 2012 to 2019 encompassed subjective testing of both trained and non-trained listeners, including American, Canadians, Chinese and Europeans. This resulted in the creation of the Harman curve. This is a huge oversimplification of the development and testing that came to produce this outcome, which is a well-respected and generally-accepted good fit for most listeners. The Harman curve’s resultant frequency response provided a preferred listening experience for 64 percent of the tested listeners, with the remaining split falling at 21 percent to those who enjoyed a less bass-rich sound and 15 percent preferring a significantly more bass-emphasized experience.

Additionally, this showed that no matter where you are from in the world, you are likely to be more similar than different to most people in your listening preferences. Growing up, I always enjoyed more of a treble-emphasized and detailed sound, and I wondered if this was more to do with a genetic or nationality-related thing, or just simply personal preference at that age. It turns out to be the latter, as the studies revealed that as humans we tend to enjoy music in a manner which is more universally the same than may have been initially considered to be the case.

How can the Harman curve help us? Harman’s delta between on- and off-target frequency responses is graphed as an error curve. The flatter the error curve, the less deviation from the target. This is really helpful because it’s such an easy visual reference to interpret. If, however, you are just comparing an overlaid target curve with a given IEM’s headphone’s frequency response, here are some pointers which may help you examine what you are looking at.

Measurements aside, It’s important to keep in mind what you personally prefer in steering your ultimate choice. If you like headphones that are warmer in the bass than what is “accurate,” that’s OK, and you can use measurements accordingly to make both initial visual and audible comparisons. Ask yourself: do I like a clear midrange with no bass “bleed” into those mids above 200 Hz? Or I might prefer a slightly warmer sound, with a darker tonality with a boosted bottom end. Do I like a more detailed presence for female and male vocals? How much top end detail do I like to hear that is refined, yet not brittle and fatiguing? Yes, ultimately it does boil down to physically trying out the in-ear headphones you intend to buy, but you can certainly slough away a huge slice of rubbish-sounding products simply by looking at their frequency response curves (if available) compared to the Harman curve.

When I was considering which in-ear headphone to buy next, I had the following prerequisite: it had to have a good physical fit to eliminate bass leakage. In some of the subjective listening tests conducted by Harman, when evaluating one particular model of headphones approximately half of the listeners said the bass sounded great, and the other half reported than the bass sounded like it was missing, when the measurements revealed that the unit did indeed have significant bass response. What was happening? Some listeners experienced bass leakage resulting from a poor seal to the ear. A good seal is critical to prevent bass rolloff, up to 500Hz. (Incidentally, if you haven’t tried them, the Comply Foam earphone tips are a great solution for a truly snug and bass-sealed fit as they gently expand to fill your outer ear canal.)

To that end I considered the Etymotic Research ER2SE Studio Edition IEM (SRP: $99.99 - $109.99. They are deep-fitting in-ears which are not going to fall out, and have a super snug fit. I know some people may find these invasive and uncomfortable, but since I had been using similarly close-fitting earplugs for riding my bike and felt comfortable with them, I knew this probably wouldn’t bother me. In fact, citing the ER25SE as offering a focused and engaging listening experience is not surprising, given their physically deep fit and claim for studio-grade accuracy. ER Series IEMs are available in a number of variations including an extended-bass-response model, the ER2XR. Like the ER25SE, it also fits deeply into the ear canal – great for blocking external noise by the way.

Check out the error curve on these JBL Endurance RUN headphones:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/jbl-endurance-run.39901/

The Endurance RUN has a small error curve of 1.24, and a corresponding predicted listener preference of 84.68 percent.

Alternatively, why not consider the go-to choice of Dr. Sean Olive himself: the JBL CLUB Pro+ TWS. These wireless noise-cancelling headphones are even closer to the Harman target curve with an average error curve of just 1.02 and a predicted preference of 88.22 percent. These have an SRP of $199.95 could very well be your “home run” IEM.

These do have active noise cancellation, which is great for the most part, but there is one caveat to bear in mind. The limitation of ANC is that it is most effective only in certain bass frequency ranges and as such, we asked Dr. Sean Olive about these characteristics. He replied:

“While it is true that ANC is most effective below 1 kHz, an in-ear headphone uses passive attenuation above that frequency to effectively offer a relatively flat noise attenuation across the entire frequency band. Compare that to, say, the passive attenuation of the ER2X which has ~35 dB of attenuation above 1 kHz and very little (10 dB) at lower frequencies. From a sound quality view, I would argue it’s better to have constant attenuation across the bandwidth than uneven attenuation that is very frequency-dependent. When you consider that JBL’s TWS headphones with ANC include both passive and active noise attenuation, they tend to do a better job across the entire bandwidth in reducing noise than, say, a passive-only solution that works mostly at higher frequencies.

This should give a more neutral presentation than, say, a passive IEM that only attenuates above 1 kHz. Most noise sources (planes, HVAC, cars) produce noise mainly between 20 Hz to 1 kHz and this is really where you need the attenuation. Otherwise, the noise will effectively frequency-mask (i.e., reduce the perceived loudness) of the music; the worst sounds affected are bass vocals, with less masking at frequencies above that. The bandwidth over which the masking occurs increases with SPL. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_masking)

The benefit of ANC/passive attenuation in headphones is that you don’t have to turn up the music as loud to improve intelligibility in voices and instruments, which ultimately can reduce fatigue and noise-induced hearing loss.

What most people complain about with ANC is a strange pressurized feeling inside their ears, wind noise (outdoor) popping sounds. This can vary depending on the fit/seal, individual listener and design.”

Our gracious thanks go to Dr. Olive for his groundbreaking research. In the next part of this series, I will explain how you can hear what the Harman curve sounds like before you buy your next IEM, and how I decided upon my personal choice of in-ear monitor.

When I bought Drama (1980), my first Yes record, I wasn’t aware that it marked an end of era as Jon Anderson, the iconic voice of Yes, and Rick Wakeman had departed the band before album’s completion. At 14 years of age, as far as I was concerned the new singer Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes had always been in Yes, and they finally made a record I really liked, Back then, progressive synthesizer music was my least favorite category in the rock and roll genre, so I usually tuned to another station the second I heard the ponderous sounds of bands like King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and yes, oftentimes Yes.

It was years before I learned about original Yes members Bill Bruford (drums), Tony Kaye (keyboards), and Peter Banks (guitar), who played on Yes (1969) and Time and a Word (1970). And it was only recently that I acquired original pressings of The Yes Album (1971), Fragile (1971), and Close to the Edge (1972), featuring staples of classic rock radio like “I’ve Seen All Good People,” “Roundabout,” and the title track of the latter. I'm definitely a superficial fan and happily skipped over several 20-minute compositions from Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973), Relayer (1974), Going for the One (1977), and Tormato (1978).

In 1979, while working on the next record with producer Roy Thomas Baker in Paris, France, musical differences strained the band's relationship. Chris Squire, Steve Howe, and Alan White wanted to write heavier rock music. When White hurt his foot from a night of roller skating with Richard Branson, the injury ended the Paris sessions and sent the fractured band back to England to regroup. In early 1980, Anderson and Wakeman quit, and the remaining members scrambled to finish the album and embark on a tour planned before recording began. Chris Squire invited Horn and Downes from the Buggles, famous for "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979), and Drama was born. It’s sometimes an overlooked chapter in the Yes canon, but it shouldn’t be.

I'm sure Yes purists were horrified that Horn replaced Anderson, but it's one of those age-old quandaries – like which is the authentic version of Van Halen: the band with David Lee Roth or with Sammy Hagar? Is AC/DC better with Bon Scott or Brian Johnson? I’m an original fan of Queen and I see red when young people think that Adam Lambert has anything to do with “Bohemian Rhapsody” other than singing it, but there’s no doubt Queen found a new demographic because of Lambert. I suppose people can be forgiven for not knowing a band’s entire history. No matter how anyone feels about Trevor Horn, Drama was a singular dividing line between the classic and modern eras of Yes, but it also introduced the band to a whole new generation of listeners.

Drama only made it to number 18 on the Billboard charts, but it remains one of the only Yes records I listen to regularly from start to finish. There is a certain freshness, hard edge, and economy with six tracks that clock in just under 37 minutes:

Side One

1."Machine Messiah" 10:18

2."White Car" 1:18

3."Does It Really Happen?" 6:27

"Machine Messiah" is a surprisingly dark, plodding track with a massive wall of sound. It is juxtaposed against the sparseness of "White Car," which acts as a respite and perfect transition into my favorite song from side one, "Does it Really Happen?"

Side Two

1."Into the Lens" 8:31

2."Run Through the Light" 4:41

3."Tempus Fugit" 5:12

"Into the Lens" is a bit meandering for my taste, but my favorite song from side two, "Run Through the Light," is masterful with its drum and bass parts. "Tempus Fugit" is an all-out closing salvo of instruments. And as good as the album sounded on my stereo, there was nothing better than hearing the songs live.

In September of 1980, the Horn/Downes version of Yes played Madison Square Garden for a three-night run, and my friend's mother got us excellent seats right next to the rotating stage in the center of the arena. It was the closest I had ever been to a historic band. They played most of Drama in addition to "Starship Trooper," "And You and I," and "Yours Is No Disgrace." The band sounded great with Horn as vocalist, Downes on a large array of keyboards, and White behind the drums. Squire was an unexpected virtuoso who made me appreciate bass in a new way. Finally, there was the remarkable Steve Howe who did not play like any of my guitar heroes. He just stood on his section of the stage next to the effects pedalboard and played the guitar high up on his chest with the intense concentration of a jazz musician. These days Howe can be found gracing the pages of Jazz Guitar Today, discussing his earliest influences: Django Reinhardt, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, and Charlie Christian.

Drama was a brilliant comet that sailed through the musical universe and evaporated as Downes and Howe formed Asia with Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and John Wetton of King Crimson. Horn became a super-producer for Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Yes's next album, 90125 (1983), which would see the return of Jon Anderson. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" became a massive video hit on MTV, and like the Buggles predicted, video killed my radio star. I wasn’t as interested in 1980s-era Yes, let alone Asia, whose music I found completely bland.

There have been 12 studio albums since Drama performed by different iterations of the band, which includes 20 musicians over the decades. We now have 22 studio albums, remixes, and live recordings from which to pick and choose, so any panic over changing personnel was unwarranted and premature. Among the longest-serving members, and whom most would consider the true heartbeat of Yes, Chris Squire (1948 – 2015) and Alan White (1949 – 2022) have both passed on, but Yes continue to tour and make records. The last one was The Quest (2021).

Ultimately, the overarching success of Yes is not in their half-century recording career but in their consistent touring. Yes has provided their fans with 42 concert tours since 1968. Our own Frank Doris, editor of Copper, saw Yes for the first time at Long Island’s NYCB Theatre in November 2022 – he’s been a fan since he first heard “Roundabout” on the radio. The lineup featured the unstoppable Steve Howe, none other than Geoff Downes on keyboards, Jon Davison on vocals (since 2012), Billy Sherwood on bass (since 2015), and Jay Schellen behind the drums (since 2018). Frank reports they’re all “exceptional musicians” and thought the concert was stunning. The band delivers no matter who’s playing. Frank and I will both tell you: if you get a chance to see Yes, say YES!

Foreigner burst onto the rock scene in 1976 with songs and a sound that were unlike anything else. There was an energy to the music and a depth of production quality that made songs like “Feels Like the First Time” and “Cold As Ice” soar to the top of the charts and sit in heavy radio rotation. There was a moment between that launch and the mid-1980s where I can hardly remember not hearing one of their songs on the handful of stations I’d listen to. But arguably my most memorable Foreigner moment was on my honeymoon in Florence, Italy, when I was waiting for my wife to get ready for dinner and the band appeared on Italian television for a post-performance interview, and founding front man Lou Gramm was introduced in Italian with his birth name, Grammatico. That night they lit up the TV like they had always done, and would always do thereafter, regardless of the changes that would occur within their lineup.

Now, this chapter in rock history comes to a close. The band has decided that their upcoming tour will be their last. Just like the way they arrived; their exit will be one big bang. It will begin in early spring with a limited residency at The Venetian in Las Vegas, and will be followed by a world tour that opens with special guest Loverboy. Through a partnership with the Grammy Museum Foundation, the band has launched a choir contest, where winners from each of the markets they are scheduled to play will have the opportunity to sing a cappella versions of classic rock songs before the band stakes the stage. It’s another groundbreaking move by a band that’s always found a way to set rock on new and ambitious paths.

Copper had the opportunity to speak with lead singer Kelly Hansen, who has fronted the group since 2005. (The Iineup also includes founding member and guitarist Mick Jones, noted Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson, Michael Bluestein on keyboards, guitarist Bruce Watson, Chris Frazier on drums, and guitarist Luis Carlos Maldonado.) We spoke about the tour, the band’s legacy and who will carry the flame forward, the partnership with the Grammy Museum, and whether this is really the end to an act that has never lost a bit of its steam through more than four decades of evolution.

Ray Chelstowski: While this may be Foreigner’s final tour, is their music something that you or your bandmates might keep alive on your own? Kelly

Hansen: Well, my part in this decision is tied to the fact that these are very difficult songs to sing [unless] you’re young. I’m going to be 62 years old next month and it gets harder every year. I don’t want to do these songs at less than the level that they deserve. That heavily factored into the reason why we made this decision.

RC: Is recording new material off the table?

KH: Well, not [for] an entire album. We kind of decided that making albums didn’t make sense for us anymore. In 2009 when we made the album Can’t Slow Down we spent a year of our lives and hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the day it was released it was available for free on the internet. That’s not a model that you can support anymore. Doing a single song or a mini-campaign is definitely possible. We have a bunch of stuff in different states of completion, so that’s a possibility. And most music that classic rock bands are making isn’t meant to chart. It’s meant to drive people to the live show.

RC: You have tapped into a younger audience with high streaming numbers and music appearing on programming like Stranger Things. How do you market the band after the touring has ended?

KH: Well as you said a lot of it has to do with placement in movies and television shows. That comes down to musical directors and consultants who are looking for something iconic that a lot of people will know. When a younger audience hears a song and goes to learn more about the band, they discover the catalog. Over the last 10 years I’ve seen a lot younger people at our shows. They know the words to the songs so I know that they weren’t dragged there by their parents. I think that is really due to these placements and social media.

RC: You’ve been with the band since 2005. What song remains the one you have to work the hardest at getting right each night?

KH: They all have their own special requirements that are challenging and require a lot of focus on my part. But in terms of notes and pitch, “Urgent” and “Juke Box Hero” are really up there and they come usually at the end of the set when your voice starts to get fatigued. “Night Life” is also up there and when we have done it it’s usually the show opener. That’s difficult because there’s no warm up except for what you do backstage. Then on “Waiting [for a Girl Like You]” there’s a falsetto thing that I do at the end that’s really high which is difficult because it’s a very low-register song and you have to get the timbre right. That takes a whole different kind of concentration. If your voice isn’t completely right, or tired or hoarse it gets difficult to do those low-register songs.

RC: What is the most important lesson you’ve learned from founding member, guitarist and songwriter Mick Jones?

KH: I’ve had many experiences in my musical career with people who were talented and tuned in and have what I call “big ears,” especially in regard to arrangements. It’s one of the things I have always loved about Foreigner songs. The arrangements, the parts and the power chords were very orchestrated compositions. That’s in large part due to Mick’s musical influences that brought him to France and led to all of the things that he did. When we started working together we really saw things the same way. In the studio he was always very particular with what he wanted for vocals but was always open to my input.

RC: How will the residence at The Venetian differ from what fans will hear on the larger tour?

KH: When we go to Las Vegas and do a residency we are able to stay set up, and that allows us to stretch our legs a little bit and relax and try some things that we might not be able to do on an “every day” show. We are still working out the details but it makes everything a lot more relaxing. Vegas is also a different audience. There’s a hard-ticket audience that comes to see you and that’s why they are buying that ticket. Then there are the fairs and festivals where a person might buy a ticket to the fair and there’s a band playing but they don’t know it’s you. Then there’s something like The Venetian where people are coming from all over the world to see you play, so the audience behaves differently than any other kind. That creates and obligation on our end because we know that people are coming from far away and spending a lot of money to come see us.

RC: The partnership with the Grammy Museum Foundation is very cool. How did this come about?

KH: We’ve been working with them for quite a long time, over 15 years. Choirs would come and perform with us on stage during “I Want to Know What Love Is.” What we have tried to do is raise awareness about the lack of funding of music and arts in schools. I’m a product of the public school system and we all felt like this was a way to give back. This year we are going to have several choirs open for us, and then there will be a winner chosen and they will get an award from our partner, Bose, and everyone else who has participated will receive a donation to their program. It’s also about having fun and showing these kids what it’s like to perform in front of thousands of people. We get to see their faces and see their reactions, and the notes we get from parents and choir directors about how this experience has affected their kids makes this a really good thing all the way around. We’re happy to do it and I think we get the better end of it all because we get to witness all of this.

RC: Is there a final tour live recording in the works for fans after the tour concludes?

KH: I don’t know if we’ve actually considered that. That’s a very interesting proposition. Thanks for giving us that idea. We’ve certainly done a lot of live audio stuff but we haven’t [considered] something like documenting this final tour, in a visual sense. That’s something to definitely think about!

RC: The Who and others have infamously called it quits many times before, only to return to the stage. Is there any chance that you guys could change your minds?

KH: I’ve been on the road every year for the last 18, nine months out of every year. Although it’s wonderful and I’m grateful for the opportunity, you miss things like family and pursuing any other interest. I feel now like I’d like to live a life. Every person goes through their own life arc. When I was 20 years old all I wanted to do was be in a big rock band. But as you get older, life changes. I feel like we’ve really done our best to deliver these songs as correctly as possible and I feel good about it all. I don’t want to be one of those bands that shouldn’t be out there performing but still is.

RC: So, what’s next for you after this tour ends, and will it involve music?

KH: I don’t know. It might. I don’t know what the future holds for me. I don’t have anything planned because my first order of business is to take a break, enjoy my family, and [figure out] where our next move is and what we are doing; setting up the next section of my life. But I suspect that there might be things that develop that I really can’t say “no” to and I look forward to that.

Header image of Kelly Hansen courtesy of Krishta Abruzzini.

Octave Records' Clandestine Amigo has released their third album, Pinnacle, showcasing the vocal, piano and songwriting talents of Jessica Carson. The new album, available on SACD/CD and high-resolution download formats, features a richly-textured production and wide musical variety, and utilizes Octave Records’ Pure DSD recording process to deliver extraordinary sound that provides a deep emotional connection to the music.

Jessica Carson noted, “This album, for me, marks the beginning of something new. I’m in a happier time in my life now, and Pinnacle feels like it has a more conversational style between myself and people who will be listening to the album.”

Pinnacle features Jessica on acoustic and electric piano and vocals, accompanied by electric and acoustic bass, drums, electric, acoustic and pedal steel guitars, mandolin, trumpet, organ, accordion, and a string section. Pinnacle was recorded in pure DSD 64 at Animal Lane Studios in Lyons, Colorado, Cinder Sound in Longmont, CO and Octave Studios in Boulder, CO. The album was recorded and mixed by Jay Elliott, with assistance from Giselle Collazo, and mastered by Gus Skinas.

The album opens with the up-tempo “That Deep Blue,” about contemplating an unknown future, but one with the promise of dreams fulfilled. “Anything for Your Love” combines romantic lyrics with a piano-driven groove, while songs like “Promise” and “Dualities” showcase the album’s more intimate side with crystalline acoustic guitars, mandolins and other stringed instruments, and vocal harmonies. “Maggie” features the inimitable accordion of Octave Records artist Alicia Jo Straka in a song that would not be out of place in a Gypsy-jazz club. Pinnacle’s closer, the gospel-infused “Found My Faith,” ends the album on an uplifting and inspiring note: “So sweep me up and carry me away/If God is love, then I found my faith.”

Pinnacle features Octave’s premium gold disc formulation, and the disc is playable on any SACD, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray player. It also has a high-resolution DSD layer that is accessible by using any SACD player or a PS Audio SACD transport. In addition, the master DSD and PCM files are available for purchase and download, including DSD 64, DSDDirect Mastered 352.8 kHz/24-bit, 192 kHz/24-bit, 96 kHz/24-bit, 44.1 kHz/24-bit, and 44.1 kHz/16-bit PCM. (SRP: $19 – $39, depending on format.)

We spoke to Jessica Carson about the making of Pinnacle.

Frank Doris: Why did you name the album Pinnacle? It’s not the name of any of the songs on the album, and there aren’t any obvious lyrical references to any of the songs.

Jessica Carson: I actually really struggled with it. But the song that begins the album, “That Deep Blue,” marked an end of a chapter in my life and the beginning of something new. That's why I put that song first. It sort of felt like I wanted to find something that described what that song means to me. Pinnacle was the word that came to mind.

FD: The songs on this album feel like they’re more direct than the last two Clandestine Amigo records. I’m wondering if you just felt like, I'm going to say what I'm going to say this time. I’m not going to veil it.

JC: I think there's a little bit of that. I would definitely say that it's my happiest subject matter. (laughs) It's not so much poetry as it is journaling and conversation, if that makes sense.

FD: You have a family now.

JC: In “That Deep Blue” there's [a line] about eternity and gravity and the concept of – when you have a kid, you're passing on the line; whatever genes and DNA you have, they keep going. You're kind of creating eternity. In “Anything for Your Love” there's another line about eternity. So, yeah, there are some places in those songs that I am thinking about how happy I am with my partner and that we're gonna have a child. (laughs). How weighty that can be, such an intentional decision.

FD: Pinnacle has more of a “produced” sound and a pop sound than the previous Clandestine Amigo albums. Was that a conscious decision or it just came…

JC: Out that way? It made sense to me for this one to be the most produced for a few reasons. Temporary Circumstances was going to just be a piano and vocal album, and then we added things to it. Things Worth Remembering is a little more produced. But this one – you know, I I've been in this business of making albums (laughs) for a few years now. And not just my own, but other people's, and helping them get session players and coordinating it all. And I felt like this might be my last album for a little while because I'm so busy, you know, with a kid, and to the point where I'm really not writing new songs right now.

Knowing that intuitively as I was making it, I thought, I feel like this is some of my best songwriting. Which it should be; the longer you do something, ideally the better you get at it. I felt like I really wanted to fill them out and get the best players that I’ve worked with, from [trumpeter] Gabriel Mervine and [multi-instrumentalist] Tom Amend to [guitarist] Eben Grace, who's also a producer. Deborah Scmit-Lobis wrote the string parts and I had a string quartet of really fantastic players on three songs.

After working with so many musicians for Octave Records, I know which ones are gonna come prepared. (laughs) And the ones who don’t need to come prepared. They'll listen to the songs a few times and they’re so good they can just improvise something.

FD: Let’s focus on some of the individual songs. “Maggie,” is that about a real person?

JC: No. I personified my house. It’s on a street called Maggie Street. Before my partner and I got together I had my own house. He was in an apartment and we decided to get a house together. And that song is about the idea of getting a house with this person that I love. Inevitably, when you get with a person and you're vulnerable with them, they see the worst parts of you and they see the best parts of you. And that's sort of that idea – do you really want to see which one I will turn out to be tomorrow? It's sort of a light and fun take on a heavy subject.

FD: There’s a little bit of stylistic diversity on the record. Is that deliberate, or did the songs evolve?

JC: I didn't want this to be just a continuation of the other two albums. And so for a song like “Promise,” I hired players that I don't normally play with. For “Ain't No Going Back Home” I hired a totally different band. And there are certain things that you just can't, um, you can't achieve if you just use the exact same players every time.

FD: “Found My Faith” almost feels like something I had heard before. It sounds like an instant classic. If you got Meghan Trainor or somebody like that to cover that, it could be a huge hit.

JC: Well, if you know somebody like that, put them in touch with me!

This edition of Complete Recovery includes more than a few novelty acts and parodies. Here are some more of my favorites that are distinctly different from the originals:

Abbatoir (not the original Death Metal band) – “Voulez-Vous” (Abba)

Admit it, you do want to hear Abba songs done Death Metal style.

Peter Bence – “Thunderstruck” (AC/DC)

Hungarian pianist Peter Bence is wild and supremely talented. He once held the title of “World’s Fastest Pianist” according to Guinness World Records, but that should be tempered by the fact that the record is achieved not by playing music, but by the rapid two-handed hammering of a single key. In his case, it was a staggering 765 key hits in 60 seconds.

AC/DC meets Beethoven in this performance on the grand piano augmented with a bit of looped synthesizer and a bass drum pedal.

Boiling Point – “Battle Hymn of the Republic” (written by Julia Ward Howe)

This is not a song that comes to mind when I think “jazz,” and I was surprised to find that there are actually quite a number of jazz versions. This one comes from a Japanese direct-to-disc recording of guitarist Shoji Yokouchi’s ensemble, Boiling Point. The instrumental work is credible, and the sound is quite good, but if you listen beyond this first track, you’ll hear a couple of, shall we say, “less satisfying” vocal outings (“My Funny Valentine” and “Misty”) by singer Mari Nakamoto.

Broken Peach – “Tainted Love” (Soft Cell)

A friend turned me on to this wild Spanish outfit doing covers of mostly ’80s hits. They performed on Spain’s version of the Got Talent franchise in 2016. This one comes from a Halloween special that also included a heavy version of Human League’s hit “Don’t You Want Me.” Their choreography and hard rock energy are impressive.

Mac Sabbath – “Sweet Beef” (Black Sabbath – “Sweet Leaf”)

This is one of the coolest parody tribute bands around. Black Sabbath songs re-done with food-oriented lyrics performed by a very competent quartet (Ronald Osbourne – vocals, Slayer MacCheeze – guitar, Grimalice - bass guitar, The Catburgler – drums) dressed in full McDonald’s character costumes. (There is another Black Sabbath tribute band – Slack Babbath –with great stage names: Ozzy Ouseburn, Phonet Iommi, Beezer Scuttler, and Bill Fraud, but they play the music straight.)

Postmodern Jukebox – “Creep” (Beck)

How about a smoky nightclub version of Beck’s first hit? Postmodern Jukebox’s slogan is “Today’s Hits Yesterday.” They cover artists as diverse as Kate Bush, The Pixies, Huey Lewis, Leonard Cohen, The Weeknd, and many more.

Shut Up and Kiss Me – “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Queen)

Shut Up and Kiss Me is a Romanian ensemble with two (sometimes three) female vocalists, two male acoustic guitarists and a young woman on standup bass. They specialize in acoustic covers of well-known rock songs.

Shirley Serban – “Bohemian Catsody” (Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”)

Two covers of the same Queen song in one article? This one’s just too good to miss. Cat lovers as well as cat haters should get a kick out of it. The parody lyrics are pretty spot-on. Having done quite a few comedic covers of pop songs, Shirley Serban could be reasonably described as New Zealand’s female Weird Al Yankovic.

The Surfrajettes – “Heart of Glass” (Blondie)

This Canadian all-female instrumental quartet (think The Ventures) specializes in ’60s surf-style covers of hit songs along with original material. They certainly look the part, with white go-go boots, beehive hairdos, and miniskirts, all the while wielding Fender and Creston guitars with an extra dose of reverb. The Surfrajettes have performed on numerous music-themed cruises and are currently touring the US.

Various Artists (featuring John Paul Jones) – “When the Levee Breaks” (Led Zeppelin)

Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones put together this international collaboration as a part of Playing for Change/Songs Around the World, a project that is based on the idea that music can be a unifying force in the world. This track features an incredible cast of musicians, gorgeously photographed in their home environments, both indoor and outdoor.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this selection of unusual cover versions of popular songs.

Header image: The Surfrajettes, courtesy of Hi-Tide Recordings.

There was nothing ordinary about Jutta Hipp, from the fact that she was the only white European woman signed to Blue Note Records in the 1950s to the fact that, six years after that signing, she dropped out of the music scene so completely that she even stopped collecting her royalty checks. But most unusual of all was this German pianist’s wonderful playing, which earned her the nickname Europe’s First Lady of Jazz.

Hipp, a native of Leipzig, was born in 1925 and started playing piano as a child. Her ambition was to become a painter, but she loved to listen to and play jazz. That hobby turned into a show of resistance with the rise of Hitler, who banned jazz from the airways. As a teenager Hipp secretly heard and played it with her friends anyway. During the war, she struggled as a refugee, but by the early 1950s she’d found her footing as a professional jazz pianist.

She toured and recorded with bandleader/saxophonist Hans Koller and started her own quintet. Quickly her reputation grew as an excellent player and colleague. In 1954 her fortunes changed in a way that her fellow jazz musicians in Europe must have dreamed of: famed jazz critic Leonard Feather stepped in to assist her career. This led not only to important festival engagements, but also her first American gigs and her contract with Blue Note. By 1956 she had immigrated permanently to the US.

Finding long-term reliable work as a pianist became increasingly difficult; Hipp dealt with her stress by smoking and drinking heavily. Although no one knows for sure, that difficult psychological situation may be what convinced her to walk away from her career. In 1960 she took a job at a clothing factory, restricting her playing to weekends before she eventually stopped performing altogether. She stayed at that factory for 35 years and died in 2003, largely forgotten in jazz circles, but fortunately captured on recordings.

Enjoy these eight great tracks by Jutta Hipp.

1. Track: “Indian Summer”
   Album: Jutta Hipp: The German Recordings
   Label: Jazzhus
   Year: 1955/2012

In the three years before signing with Blue Note and coming to the States, Hipp made a few recordings on the Jazzhus label. Here she plays with her trio, Harry Schell on bass and Karl Sanner on drums.

In the early years of her career, her favorite piano influences were the intellectual bebop of Lennie Tristano and the blues- and gospel-oriented hard bop style of Horace Silver. On this recording of Victor Herbert’s “Indian Summer,” you can hear both those forces at work.

2. Track: “My Heart Stood Still”
   Album: Jutta
   Label: Fresh Sound
   Year: 1954

Another compilation of early recordings, Jutta offers the pianist’s quintet, whom she toured with until her move to America. These are both live and studio recordings made in Frankfurt and Cologne.

She demonstrates an easy sense of swing on this recording of “My Heart Stood Still,” which quickly develops into a wild, polyphonic improvisation. One of the hallmarks of her up-tempo style is the use of an added note in the right hand against certain notes in the melody as a form of punctuation.

https://open.spotify.com/track/6cg7aiLiHL5N7ZPl02gLdp?si=0a8d5ec58d9f49f5

3. Track: “Yogi”
   Album: Cool Dogs & Two Oranges
   Label: Jazzhus/Fresh Sound
   Year: 1954

Cool Dogs & Two Oranges is a studio album by the Jutta Hipp Quintet. It gives a good sense of the ensemble. Hipp was the founder, not the star, and much of the focus was on the interplay of the two saxophonists, Emil Mangelsdorff and Joki Freund. To be frank, Hipp is the best ensemble musician here. The saxophones’ close harmony lacks precision.

There are no compositional credits on the album, but the tune “Yogi” is in a standard bebop style. Hipp mostly stays in the background, providing rhythmic chords. But when she takes her short solo around 1:45 she makes the surprising choice to play almost straight eighth notes, not swung, which gives an intriguing sense of syncopation.

4. Track: “Flamingo”
   Album: Deutsche Jazz Festival
   Label: Brunswick
   Year: 1954

It was Leonard Feather’s influence that helped Hipp find her way to the stage at the Deutsche Jazz Festival. On this album she appears as part of alto saxophonist Hugo Strasser’s combo, which also featured her usual bassist and drummer, Hans Kresse and Karl Sanner.

“Flamingo” is a tune by Ted Grouyer made famous by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. This track shows a different side of Hipp. Her solo, starting at 2:31, is based on heavily swung chords rather than a single melody line, in keeping with the chordal nature of the arrangement.

5. Track: “Jeepers Creepers”
   Album: At the Hickory House, Vol. 1
   Label: Blue Note
   Year: 1956

By 1956 Hipp was established as a Blue Note artist. This put her in the company of higher-quality fellow musicians than she’d had access to in Europe, not to mention the top-notch skills of producer Alfred Lion and engineer Rudy Van Gelder.

The difference is immediately apparent on this live recording from the Hickory House in Midtown Manhattan. Joining Hipp are bassist Peter Ind and drummer Ed Thigpen. In her playing of the 1938 Harry Warren tune “Jeepers Creepers,” Hipp demonstrates her absolute control over the keyboard. Every note has a specific strength and purpose within each phrase. Ind’s bass solo is worth sticking around for.

6. Track: “Moonlight in Vermont”
   Album: At the Hickory House, Vol. 2
   Label: Blue Note
   Year: 1956

That same concert at the Hickory House in New York provided material for a second LP.

Hipp had a penchant for the up-tempo and the angular, so it’s a treat to hear her play something slow and sentimental like “Moonlight in Vermont.” It’s a thoughtful, even dreamy rendition, packed with ideas that she inserts between phrases of the popular Karl Suessdorf melody, introduced to the world in 1944 by Margaret Whiting.

7. Track: “Violets for Your Furs”
   Album: Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims
   Label: Blue Note
   Year: 1957

Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims is the pianist’s best album. Sadly, by the time it was released, she had left the world of music to make an honest living. It’s almost painful to hear these duets with the great saxophonist Sims and imagine what other collaborations Hipp might have engaged in with access to Blue Note’s stunning roster of artists.

In his liner notes, Feather describes the album as having the spirit of a live show, although it was made in the studio. The combo, anchored by Ahmed Abdul-Malik on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums, provides a wistful backdrop against which the two stars express themselves on “Violets for Your Furs.” Hipp teases out subtle counterpoint as Sims introduces the melody.

8. Track: “Too Close for Comfort”
   Album: Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims
   Label: Blue Note
   Year: 1957

Here’s another example of the collaboration between Sims and Hipp.

On “Too Close for Comfort,” the almost disembodied trumpet line on the chorus is provided by Jerry Lloyd. Sims is at his laid-back but virtuosic best, and Hipp’s solo starting at 3:25 matches the saxophonist’s easy-going creativity.

Header image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Hajo Hipp.

They recorded Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” and hit No. 1 with the single before Dylan himself had a chance to release the song. That early triumph represents the Byrds in microcosm: innovative, curious about new music, and equally interested in folk traditions and the rock industry. It’s appropriate that the music press coined the term “folk rock” to refer to the Byrds’ distinctive sound.

In the 1960s, two main forces were trending in the American popular music industry: folk revival artists like the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary, and the Beatles-led British Invasion. The Byrds is where these two trends met. Three singer-songwriters – Jim (Roger) McGuinn, Gene Clark, and David Crosby – started a band called the Jet Set in Los Angeles in 1964. Soon bassist Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke joined them.

The Beatles were evident in many aspects of the band’s development, even beyond the British Invasion style. Jet Set changed their name to the Byrds as a nod to the distinctive “misspelling” of the Beatles, and McGuinn started playing a Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar, which helped define the Byrds’ sound, after seeing one in the Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night.

But it was the music of Bob Dylan that had the biggest impact on the Byrds’ first album, Mr. Tambourine Man, released on Columbia Records in 1965. Four of that record’s 12 tracks are by Dylan. There are also some original songs by Clark and some other covers, among them “Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe” by one of the first female rock and roll stars, Jackie DeShannon. You can hear the close vocal harmonies and the twang of McGuinn’s Rickenbacker, both defining elements of the Byrds’ early sound.

The debut album enjoyed critical praise and strong sales, and by the end of 1965 the Byrds were ready with their second release. Turn! Turn! Turn! once again offers rock-tinged versions of folk-influenced covers and originals. The arrangement of the title song, which would become a huge single for the band, was originally constructed for a Judy Collins recording. Significantly, David Crosby had his Byrds songwriting debut as co-author of “Wait and See” with McGuinn. Of course, two songs were by Dylan.

There were big changes (including no Dylan presence) for Fifth Dimension in 1966. Gene Clark, who had been the primary songwriter, left the band. McGuinn and Crosby scrambled to fill the void. Three of McGuinn’s songs performed reasonably well on the charts (“Eight Miles High,” “5D – Fifth Dimension,” and “Mr. Spaceman”), but there were no smash hits.

While the album was critically dismissed at the time, it does contain some interesting song choices. Among those is “I Come and Stand at Every Door,” credited to Turkish poet Nâzım Hikmet. The haunting melody is far from Turkish, however; it’s borrowed from the traditional Scottish ballad called “The Silkie,” which had been recorded by Joan Baez in 1961.

As the remaining four Byrds adjusted to the loss of Clark, bassist Chris Hillman stepped up as a songwriter for the first time. This turned out to be a valuable contribution. Four of the best songs on Younger Than Yesterday (1967) are by him, including the single “Have You Seen Her Face.” He also co-wrote the single “So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star” with McGuinn.

Crosby continued to work on his songwriting, too. The heartbreak song “Everybody’s Been Burned” shows the sophistication of his imagery, turning a common trope into a genuinely individual statement. By this point, the Byrds’ sound often integrated elements of jazz and psychedelia, as can be heard in this arrangement.

But Crosby was infuriating his band mates with his onstage political rants, not to mention his moonlighting with Buffalo Springfield. The Byrds fired him in 1967. There was friction with drummer Michael Clarke, too, who left partway through recording The Notorious Byrd Brothers in 1968.

This was a band in desperate need of new personnel. Their choice was Gram Parsons, who had moved to Los Angeles from New York only two years before and was focused on the intersection between country music and rock. Parsons was an accomplished player on piano and organ, a new sound for the band (he also played guitar). His first and only Byrds album appearance was 1968’s Sweetheart of the Rodeo, on which Kevin Kelley appeared as drummer.

Parsons’ country influence was supported by the addition of two pedal steel session musicians on that album. Composed by Parsons and his former International Submarine Band colleague Bob Buchanan, “Hickory Wind” is unabashedly country.

The pull of country was too much for Parsons and Hillman. They both followed in the footsteps of Clarke; he had left the year before for the Flying Burrito Brothers, which devoted themselves to the then-new genre of country rock. In their place for the next recording sessions were Gene Parsons (no relation) on drums and other instruments, the soon to become legendary Clarence White on guitar, and John York on bass. McGuinn was the only remaining original member.

Thanks to the vision of producer Gary Usher, the distortion and sound-play of psychedelia and electronica had started playing a bigger and bigger role on Byrds albums. At the same time, the country sound was still there. Under producer Bob Johnston, the two conflicting elements coexist, reflected in the title of the 1969 album Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde. “Child of the Universe,” by McGuinn and jazz composer Dave Grusin, is firmly in the psychedelic category.

McGuinn found himself with an outstanding opportunity when he was invited to co-write a song with his hero Bob Dylan to be used as the theme of a culturally significant film, Easy Rider, which was being written, produced, and directed by the team of Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and Terry Southern. (Dylan and McGuinn collaborated again in 1972 on the soundtrack for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.) The Byrds album Ballad of Easy Rider included that theme plus tracks not related to the film. The other single, soon to be made into a bigger hit by the Doobie Brothers, was a cover of Art Reynolds’ “Jesus Is Just Alright.”

Bassist John York left the band, and 1970’s (Untitled) album introduced bassist Skip Battin. McGuinn was trying to put together a rock musical with Broadway director Jacques Levy, based on the tale of Peer Gynt. Although that project never reached fruition, some of its songs are on this album, including “All the Things.”

The heyday of the 1960s was over for the Byrds. Byrdmaniax, recorded in 1971 in the middle of a massive tour when everyone was exhausted, is considered one of the weakest Byrds albums, and it offered no successful singles. Part of the problem, besides fatigue, was the decision by producer Terry Melcher to add orchestrations without the band’s consent. The musicians therefore retained stricter control and worked with more focus on Farther Along, also from 1971. But nobody was happy with this album either – not the band, the fans, or the critics.

Still, it has some moments, including the tuneful “Precious Kate,” written by Skip Battin and Kim Fowley with an obvious tip of the hat to Dylan’s melodic phrasing.

Byrds was the band’s final album, released in 1973. It’s historically important as a reunion album by McGuinn, Clark, Crosby, Hillman, and Clarke. It lacked the verve and energy of the old records by that lineup, and McGuinn’s guitar sound does not have that distinctive Rickenbacker jangle. Still, fans were happy for one more chance to buy a Byrds album, even if they largely ignored its singles. McGuinn, Clark, and Hillman would team up once more for an album, Byrds, in 1977.

Even if the Byrds’ career had a lackluster fade-out, their contributions to American music in the 1960s can’t be overstated. They perfectly wove together all the most important strands of their time and place and turned them into songs that struck exactly right in their moment yet will also last forever.

Header image: the Byrds in 1965. (L to R): Chris Hillman (bass), Gene Clark (vocals, tambourine, guitar), Roger McGuinn (12-string guitar, vocals), Michael Clarke (drums) and David Crosby (rhythm guitar, vocals). Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/KRLA Beat/Beat Publications, Inc./public domain.