Dear Gordon,
Sorry that my e-mail to you from October 21st may have been posted to
all on November 3rd; I was only trying to contact you directly using
the "e-mail update" feature for this entry. I'm new to DeadLists, and
am still getting the hang of things. (Based on the messages I received
when I subscribed to DeadLists, I had thought than only messages sent
to deadli...@gdead.berkeley.edu were sent to all, but now I realize I
may have been mistaken.)
Anyway, I still welcome any information about any and all analog
sources for this recording.
I've done extensive research since my last e-mail, and I've concluded
that Justin Lee recorded the show with the Nak-into-Nak rig noted above
(a rig I understand you as well used in the '80's). Not only was
Justin listed on the Live Music Archive (but nowhere else) as the
recordist, but he and Dave Cohen used this rig to record
Alpine Valley 7/18/89. I've corrected my attached transcription detail
accordingly.
Kudos to David Minches for transcribing Pat Lee's third-generation reel
using state-of-the-art DSF technology.
Best,
George
P.S.: Apologies in advance if this message winds up in the DeadLists
mail archive as a duplicate (or, worse, ends up inadvertently being
sent to all DeadLists subscribers).
*********************************************
The Grateful Dead
The Mosque
Richmond, VA
5/25/77
Recorded by Justin Lee with Nakamichi CM-300's -> Nakamichi 550
Maxell XLII-S-90 cassette (unknown generation) -> Nakamichi DRAGON (no Dolby,
EQ 120 microsec) -> 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; 08:26 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 Justin Lee, who made this splendid
recording of this magnificent show. Here's hoping more of this masterpiece
emerges soon.
Enjoy!
