Hey kid...yeah you...wanna buy a time machine for fifty bucks? This stuff will put you inside a New York City recording studio June 26, 1957. Here... take a look...all 5:26 min of "Ruby, My Dear" spread over a 12 inch 180 g. vinyl pressing at 45 RPM.
Those two microphones in stereo essentially act as a pair of ears. It's like you are standing right in the middle of the studio, with Monk on your right, the drums behind him and the two sax players (John Coltrane and the father of modern Saxophone, Coleman Hawkins) on the other side of you. Quite exciting. The mono has the bass miked and the stereo doesn't, but it sure sounds realistic. The tape boxes were marked "binaural" by the way....
Steve if you don't mind a question- was this how the stereo Mulligan Meets Monk was recorded as well?
Thanks, looking forward to hearing the stereo 45 rpm version you remastered. This one is still in stock at Acoustic Sounds.
I used the stereo tape? I didn't remember. I had the mono as well which sounded more focused but lost a lot of that lifelike charm.
The Acoustic Sounds description says stereo. Either one would be ok with me, if it's stereo I'll probably get the mono to compare with and vice versa. I quite like the Monk's Music stereo mix.
The stereo recording that captured the ambience works significantly here since the band has three saxophones and a trumpet that made beautiful harmony in the space. The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall has similar quality, too.
