Newsletter for High-Resolution Recordings and Releases from AIX Records | May 2, 2004  
Making the Most of the DVD-Audio Format...Means Long Production Cycles!
 The inclusion of so many information screens, interview video, bonus materials /
and multiple mixes adds a lot of extras production time to AIX releases

Another Sunday evening and I've been busy most of the day editing interview video, writing biographies, laying out screens and qc'ing audio mixes in the hopes that the upcoming HE 2004 show in NYC will include our three new titles. I'm particularly proud of these three new projects because the quality of the music is spectacular, the production value of the video has improved once again and because they include so many interesting extras. Where else would you learn that Grant Geissman is one of the country's foremost experts on MAD magazine and EC Comics and has written several authoritative books on the subject. Or how about being able to view all of the album covers that Dean Torrence issued with his partner Jan Berry of Jan & Dean or the album covers that he designed for Chicago or the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Check out the extensive interviews by Eric Rigler and Ruben Blades on Bad Haggis. I've added some recent footage from the "Celebration of Life" held to honor the memory of Jan Berry on Dean Torrance and his Surf City Allstar Band. The Grant Geissman Quintet release was recorded in a more traditional recording studio...I'll be very interested to get feedback from AIX regulars.

Mark Waldrep, Ph.D. Founder and Chief Engineer



AIX Records Garners Top Two Spots In Top 20 List!
 The May/June DVD Etc. magazine selects 3 AIX Records products among 20 "Best Multi-Channel Audio Discs"

 Because many of our subscribers missed last month's newsletter due to an upstream technical snafu, I'm sharing this item once again. According to author Felix Martinez, 3 out of the top 9 DVD-Audio products that he selected were AIX Records titles. In fact, including all formats (SACD too), AIX took the number 1 and number 2 slots as well as slot 14...pretty good against competition from Telarc, WB/Rhino, Pentatone and Channel Classics. No other independent label had more products in the list and no other label scored as high as AIX! The number one slot went to Laurence Juber's Guitar Noir. Felix's comment was "The Definitive recording of an acoustic guitar performance - stunning!". Our Stravinsky & Ravel orchestral release of The Firebird Suite and Bolero was number 2 with the following comment, "Hearing the "firebird" at reference volume is a profoundly moving experience." Finally, Zephyr - Voices Unbound was selected in the 14th position. Felix noted "The naked voice transports the listener in this stellar recording." Thanks very much to Felix and DVD ETC. magazine for recognizing our work and giving us the Gold and Silver!



A Few Words About AIX Founder and Chief Engineer...Mark Waldrep (Only because I was asked!)

 As I often do, this past week's email included a very positive response from a recent customer. It seems his wife had take the time and trouble to locate AIX and purchased the Dorian Michael - Acoustic Blues DVD-Audio/Video title. The last line of his comment was a question regarding my doctoral work...basically wanting to know if I'm a technical geek or a "touchy/feely" right-hand brain type.

I just opened my birthday present: Acoustic Blues. WOW! This is my first DVD-A disk. This disk doubled the value of my rather eclectic multi-brand HT system, the sound improved that much. I've been building a wish list of music for some time, but I'm now a bit afraid to try the "other guys." Thanks for a magnificent musical experience.

I'm curious -- is your PhD in engineering or fine arts? I have a bet with my wife.

Robert

So I thought I would share my response to him with readers of this newsletter.

I received my Ph.D. in 1986 from UCLA in Music Composition. My love of music and appreciation for technology were successfully combined in the first dissertation granted by that institution for a composition done entirely on tape. Morphism II for Tape was a hybrid work that combined binaural acoustic recordings with synthesized tones produced using electronics. The source materials were captured from a hot air balloon, deep inside a "singing" cavern and along the California coast very late one evening.

Besides my Ph.D. in music, I also have a MS degree in computer science and a BA in Art (three dimensional - woodworking). I'm one of those wacko individuals that can happily exist in the world of writing notes and rhythms and then successfully understand the process of making a high-resolution, 24-bit linear sample digital file of it. I know how to build and fix analog electronics and how to orchestrate in the style of Maurice Ravel. It's simply really, I attended a university for over 20 years...and managed to pick up some useful information along the way.



Kudos For The Bach Brandenburgs 3 & 5
 Comments by Reviewer Paul Shoemaker

 "In an important sense this is the first time these works have ever been truly recorded at all, the first time where every part could be heard in proper spatial as well as sonic relationship to each other part. For the first time the listener is actually present at the performance and hears the music just as the composer intended it to be heard. By comparison, previous recordings, even good wide stereo versions, were not much better off than listening through a keyhole. This recording which can be played on any DVD machine is also a tribute to the DVD medium and the expanding realization of its potential service to great music. And this election is a vote of thanks to producer Mark Waldrep who went ahead an made this recording available at a time when the major recording companies were paralyzed by wrangling over 'watermarking' and 'copy protection.' Hopefully, may he never regret doing this for us."

P Shoemaker




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