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High Altitude Drums 07/08

High Altitude Drums 07/08

IsoMike  ?

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical


John Bogenschutz, Dmitri Shostakovich, Eric Whitacre, Eric Whitacre/Sean O'Laughlin, John Mackey, Richard Saucedo, William Gordon/Stan Jones, Doug Bush, Jeff Ausdemore, Maurice Ravel, Russ Newberry/Jeff Ausdemore, Traditional

Blue Knights Drum Corps
Troopers Drum Corps

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Review by Graham Williams - November 10, 2009

It is difficult to work out exactly who this disc is aimed at. Is it Drum Corps anoraks (nerds)? Is it those wishing to impress their friends with the sonic qualities and indestructibility of their hi-fi system? Is it to spread the word about Ray Kimber’s remarkable IsoMike recording system? The last of these questions is much better answered by some of the earlier releases on this label in which the recording technology is placed at the service of the music and allows the listener to focus on not just the sound but also the musical qualities of the performances.

These recordings, made in Ogden Utah in 2007 and 2008, showcase performances by the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps and The Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps.

The programme on this disc begins with a short ‘Prelude’ played by the Blue Knights, which allows the listener to select a suitable volume setting that will best demonstrate the impressive sounds to come, while at the same time avoiding amplifier and speaker conflagration or permanent hearing damage. Remember these recordings are free from any compression or peak limiting, so their full dynamic range is retained.

I was unprepared for the shock of the next three tracks that condensed some of Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony and 1st Piano Concerto into eleven excruciating minutes. The composer would have been spinning like a top in his grave had he been able to hear what was being inflicted on his music by these horrendous arrangements.

Tracks 6-9 feature the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps. There is much impressive drumming, and the use of additional percussion including tubular bells in numbers such as ‘Ghost Train/Canyon of Heroes’, ‘Sasparilla’ and ‘The Great Revival/Ghost Riders in the Sky’. The Blue Knights return for the final seven tracks starting with the solo drumming of ‘Square Push’ and ‘Street Beat’ that, though two of the shortest on the disc, are among the most spectacular. By the time Track 14, Ravel’s ‘Jeux D’Eau’(which the notes writer tells us is ‘literally translated as “laughing rain”’), was reached I had almost lost the will to live, but managed to last to ‘Amazing Grace’ without recourse to valium.

The 4.0 channel recording does provide an amazingly realistic picture of music played in the great outdoors and though some will question the discs meagre playing time of 39’ 45” be assured it is more than enough.

Copyright © 2009 Graham Williams and HRAudio.net

Sonics (Multichannel):

stars