Dear Gordon, Al Zeffer encouraged me to write to you. I'm inquiring about the audience recording from The Mosque, 5/25/77, made with Nakamichi CM-300's into a Nakamichi 550. I've transcribed my partial cassette dub, and I've attached the source detail for reference. I'm happy to send you my transcription should you wish to hear it.
My transcription from The Mosque 5/25/77 is from the same original source -- the Pat Lee composite reel -- that David Minches recently transcribed in ShnID-107757. Here's the link: <http://db.etree.org/shninfo_detail.php?shnid=107757> This reel is a composite of the Nak CM-300's -> Nak 550 source I transcribed and, from "Cassidy -> The Promised Land," of the Sony ECM-99's -> Sony TC-158-SD source I didn't transcribe due to inferior sound. Bob Wagner has stated that Steve Maizner used the latter rig (Sony ECM-99 -> Sony TC-158-SD), so it's possible the patch filler was recorded by Steve. I really would love to know who used the Nak CM-300 -> Nak 550 rig, and whether better-sounding, lower-generation tapes are available for transcription. (Pat Lee's reel is third-generation; I don't know the generation of my partial cassette dub.) I've been waxing evangelical about this splendid recording of this magnificent show for years now; it is a masterpiece. I'm not a big '77 fan at all, but this is one of my all-time favorites. Jerry's vocal and instrumental vibrato and tremolo are tremendous. "Mississippi Half-Step" brings tears to my eyes every time. "Jack Straw" rivals Norman 10/11/77 and Boston 11/13/78 for intensity without bombast. "They Love Each Other" is amorous and passionate for the era; "Pretty Peggy-O" is delivered with real gravitas. "Scarlet -> Fire" is right up there with the all-time greats -- including UNI-Dome 2/5/78, which this resembles in heroic glee and in the shimmering effulgence of Jerry's tone. I've been avidly seeking the show for a long time. The transcription I made is all I have, and the circulating transcription (which may have been heavily digitally processed) sounds like it's in black-and-white when contrasted with the tonal color and depth of my transcription of my admittedly trebly, somewhat distorted partial dub, which sadly is both sonically challenged and agonizingly incomplete. Though I have the circulating soundboard transcriptions, this audience recording outstrips them all in its ambiance and emotional intimacy. I did write last Hallowe'en, before I had transcribed my tape, as you are the appointed caretaker of this show on DeadLists (whatever that means). Al recently informed me that you have been (or had been) living in Cambodia for some time; he drew my attention to your web blog, Tales of Asia, and so I'm trying to reach you at your e-mail address listed there. I understand the blog, and so perhaps the website, may be defunct, but I thought I might as well try. Please reply with any information you might provide. If you have a copy of this recording, would you be willing to pass it along? I'm of course happy to trade; I have most of what circulates from '65-'84, as well as some material that doesn't circulate. Hope this reaches you, and finds you well. Thanks for all your contributions over the years; Dead Heads everywhere have benefitted from your efforts and enjoyed your recordings. Best wishes. Sincerely yours, George M. Prescott Jr. ****************************************** The Grateful Dead The Mosque Richmond, VA 5/25/77 Unknown stereo audience recording: Nakamichi CM-300's -> Nakamichi 550 Maxell XLII-S-90 cassette (unknown generation) -> Nakamichi DRAGON (no Dolby, EQ 120 zsec) -> ADC Sound Shaper Two Mk II stereo frequency equalizer -> Edirol UA-5 T-MOD PLUS (custom-modified by the Oade Brothers) (driven by MME, in advanced mode; set to Red Book Standard for LPCM streaming) -> USB 2.0 -> Audacity 1.2.6 (set to 32-bit float/44.1kHz resolution for recording LPCM stream; set to Red Book Standard and, with snap-to on, to cdda min:sec:frames 75 fps for cutting tracks on sector boundaries and exporting them as .wav's) Transcribed by George M. Prescott Jr. on October 15, 2010 georgemprescot...@hotmail.com Set I 01 Mississippi Half-Step 10:01 10:01 02 Jack Straw 06:05 16:06 03 They Love Each Other 07:18 23:25 04 Mexicali Blues 03:51 27:16 05 Pretty Peggy-O 07:40 34:56 Set II 01 Scarlet Begonias -> 11:03 45:59 02 Fire on the Mountain 11:33 57:32 This is the same recording as was transcribed by David Minches from Pat Lee's reel in ShnID-107757. No patches were necessary; all songs here are intact. Only the material recorded with the equipment denoted above was transcribed. The dub was recorded on Nakamichi MR-2's by the person who provided the source cassette. Unfortunately, the recording levels are less than optimal: for the first-set material, the left channel averages -5 dB and the right channel averages -3 dB; for the second-set material, the left channel averages -3 dB and the right channel averages 0 dB. These imbalances could not be compensatorily corrected, as the Edirol's input-level control is unitary across both channels for unbalanced analog inputs, precluding individuated left-channel and right-channel gain adjustments. Still, the amplitude differential is slight, and creates no phase-perception problems. The underrecording yielded mild tape hiss, but helped not to worsen preexisting distortion. I learned from reading the interviews with Frank Streeter and Bob Wagner in The Deadheads' Taping Compendium Volume II that Nakamichi CM-300 microphones boosted bass response below 200kHz but tended to constrict high-end frequency registration. To compensate, judicious analog equalization brightened the highs and softened the midrange while preserving a healthy signal-to-noise ratio and minimizing tape hiss and distortion. Careful comparative listening revealed no phase-shift, signal-degradation, noise, or artifacts due to EQ. Though one can hear some generational wear in the cassette dub, and though the sound at times verges on distortion (which was not created or worsened during dubbing or transcription), this source, as adjusted, has much more presence and gusto than does the source that circulates. The vibrato and tremolo in Jerry's singing and playing come through loud and clear. Stereo imaging is surprisingly strong; the tonal range is excellent; and the timbral accuracy is very good. Instrumental separation is somewhat lacking. This tape captures the sound from the stage and in the hall remarkably well. There are a few blemishes, hotspots, glitches, and dropouts; none of these transient analog anomalies lasts very long or proves unduly obtrusive. Known Flaws (major flaws in boldface): Mississippi Half-Step: 03:22 blemish; 04:34 left-channel mic. bump; 05:34, 06:10, 07:54 blemishes; 08:58 dropout Jack Straw: 00:56 glitch; 01:51, 02:40, 02:46, 02:58 blemishes They Love Each Other: 00:30-00:37 crunchy; 00:49-00:51 beer bottle; 01:08, 01:33, 02:40, 03:33, 04:00, 04:17, 05:20, 06:35 blemishes Pretty Peggy-O: 02:21, 02:50, 02:55 minor glitches; 03:56-03:57 beer bottle; 04:31, 05:34, 06:12, 06:19 blemishes Scarlet Begonias: 00:18, 01:06, 01:11, 02:02 blemishes; 02:16 warble; 02:21, 02:49 blemishes, 03:04 warble, 04:08, 04:12, 05:02 blemishes, 05:10-05:22 hotspots, 05:56 hotspot, 06:22, 07:06, 07:30, 07:36, 07:42, 09:58 blemishes; 10:14 dropout; 10:30-10:45 distortion Fire on the Mountain: 00:38 blemish; 01:10-01:15 hotspot; 01:26, 01:39, 01:54, 02:46, 02:58, 03:06, 03:38, 04:12, 04:32, 05:07, 05:16, 05:19, 05:59, 06:19 blemishes; 06:54 hotspot; 07:40 blemish; 07:49 dropout; 08:42, 08:57, 09:20, 09:44 blemishes; 10:48-10:55 distortion No digital pitch-correction, noise-reduction, or sound-adjustment algorithms were used in this transcription. Rounded track timings courtesy of Exact Audio Copy CD Layout Editor V0.99. Sector-boundary errors were detected in "Fire on the Mountain," and were post- padded with Trader's Little Helper v.2.6.0.168. SBE-free verification and lossless FLAC encoding with checksums and fingerprints courtesy of TLH. File-integrity check and problem-free verification courtesy of shntool 3.0.4. This transcription is dedicated to whoever made this splendid recording of this magnificent show. Here's hoping more of this masterpiece emerges soon. Enjoy!
