The Syd Lawrence Orchestra - Big Band Spectacular - CD

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The Syd Lawrence Orchestra - Big Band Spectacular - CD
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Chasing the Dragon - CD- Live D2D Direct To Disc -Limited Edition 

Audiophile Recording Now Available On CD!

The UK's leading big band, The Syd Lawrence Orchestra, were chosen by producer Mike Valentine for his exploration into the sound differences between direct cut vinyl and a multi-track analogue tape recording and mix done of exactly the same event. The album had to be recorded live so he had to choose a selection of music which would be of the perfect length.

Valentine chose a recording studio which not only had a superb sounding space, but also an engineer versed in the black art of cutting live vinyl. Ultimately, he chose Air Studios with engineers Jake Jackson and John Webber.

The Syd Lawrence Orchestra led by Chris Dean perform music consisting of eight pieces from the big band era, the creations of Glen Miller, Artie Shaw, and Benny Goodman played live at Air Studios.  That recording is now available on CD - enjoy!

This was the Syd Lawrence Orchestra 

With a direct cut the band has to play live from the first to the last track on each side.  Any mistakes and it is back to the beginning again. With all of their radio work and concert appearances, the band seemed to be ideally suited to the task.  I therefore approached their leader, Chris Dean and explained what I would like to do.  He was immediately excited with the idea of creating a record, as opposed to a CD, because a lot of the band’s followers have been asking when were they are going to release a vinyl record. Chris was also up for the challenge of the live recording approach.

A direct cut record
We contacted Air studios and I hired the same hall and technicians as I had used before on the Four Seasons recording.  In particular, John Webber , the cutting engineer was again available, as was the same sound mixer Jake Jackson  The day came round.  We all arrived at the studio and the vinyl gods must have been smiling on us, because everything went well.  We cut four tracks in the morning for side A and four tracks for side B in the afternoon.

I always want to push the envelope, so decided to release the album as a double LP.  The second LP to be created with a twenty four track two inch Studer tape recorder, running at 30 inches per second.  This we mixed down to my half inch tape, again running at 30 IPS, which became the master tape from which the second record was cut. This means that one record will be the direct cut and the second a record of exactly the same session cut from the analogue tape version.  People will therefore be able to compare these two techniques from exactly the same session, the direct cut, versus the more conventional analogue mix down and mastering version of events.  What will the differences be?  Well, hopefully, we should all know soon enough.

 

Selections:
1. Sing Sing Sing
2. Moonlight Serenade
3. Begin the Beguine
4. American Patrol
5. In the Mood
6 String of Pearls
7. Little Brown Jug
8. Anvil Chorus

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