Discussion with Thomas Mowrey

[Lute]

For anyone interested in the beginnings of Quad recordings, there is a discussing going on with Thomas Mowrey over on SA-CD.net...

http://www.sa-cd.net/showthread.php?page=2

 

[Franklin]

That link doesn't work (even though it is the link at the top of the page if you take a certain route to the thread.)

Try this: http://www.sa-cd.net/showthread/128156//y?page=2

 

[Lute]

That link doesn't work (even though it is the link at the top of the page if you take a certain route to the thread.)

Try this: http://www.sa-cd.net/showthread/128156//y?page=2

Thanks for fixing that, Mike! I appreciate that! :brew

I've been enjoying Mr. Mowrey informative posts and... Pentatone's efforts with releasing their Quad recordings on SACDs.

Btw, after I posted this link, I noticed Ubertrout had already posted a link to this same Thread. So, a big thanks to him as well.

 

[Franklin]

Classical in immerserve surround can be a great listen. I suspect that not all use the same methods but, for those who are interested and don't know already, Tacet have released a bunch of stuff on SACD and DVD(-A?) and there's a bunch of DVD-As via the DTS Collection too I think (video layer has DTS track) that are also immersive.

 

[Lute]

Here is a quote from a post by Mr. Mowrey on SACD.net, "I will be very interested to hear what you think after you have heard the first four of my 360-degree direct sound source recordings — Carmen, Damnation of Faust, Symphonie Fantastique and Treemonisha..."

According to him, Pentatone has done a beautiful job with the 4.0 mix on these SACDs.

 

[Lute]

Classical in immerserve surround can be a great listen. I suspect that not all use the same methods but, for those who are interested and don't know already, Tacet have released a bunch of stuff on SACD and DVD(-A?) and there's a bunch of DVD-As via the DTS Collection too I think (video layer has DTS track) that are also immersive.

Agreed! I love Tacet surround recordings.

And let me also mention 2L's excellent Mch SACD/Bluray series. Many of which offer wonderfully immersive surround sound.

Here's a list of some... http://www.sa-cd.net/alltitles2/393/1

 

[Thomas Mowrey]

Here is a quote from a post by Mr. Mowrey on SACD.net, "I will be very interested to hear what you think after you have heard the first four of my 360-degree direct sound source recordings — Carmen, Damnation of Faust, Symphonie Fantastique and Treemonisha..."

According to him, Pentatone has done a beautiful job with the 4.0 mix on these SACDs.

PentaTone (actually, Polyhymnia, PentaTone's engineering provider) did indeed do a good job with these quad recordings, which I produced. They did so simply by keeping their fingers off the knobs while making the transfers to DSD from the 4-track analog masters, just as they were when I left them in DG's Hannover post-productions studios 40-some years ago. The Polyhymnia engineer Jean-Marie Geijsen confirms that in no uncertain terms here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/GBctVE8qGEs The buyer of PentaTone's SACDs will hear exactly what we made back then.
- Thomas Mowrey, New York, 4/23/15

 

[JonUrban]

PentaTone (actually, Polyhymnia, PentaTone's engineering provider) did indeed do a good job with these quad recordings, which I produced. They did so simply by keeping their fingers off the knobs while making the transfers to DSD from the 4-track analog masters, just as they were when I left them in DG's Hannover post-productions studios 40-some years ago. The Polyhymnia engineer Jean-Marie Geijsen confirms that in no uncertain terms here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/GBctVE8qGEs The buyer of PentaTone's SACDs will hear exactly what we made back then.
- Thomas Mowrey, New York, 4/23/15

Hello Mr. Mowrey. Welcome to QQ and thanks for checking in. It sounds like these SACDs will be well received around these parts. :music

 

[0tto]

For anyone interested in the beginnings of Quad recordings, there is a discussing going on with Thomas Mowrey over on SA-CD.net...

http://www.sa-cd.net/showthread.php?page=2

i went over there with intention for just brief look and stuck by reading all posts, particularly ones by mr. Thomas Mowrey.
amazing. thank you for it.


b.t.w. sure, mainly here discussions about pop genres but we aren't absolutely alienated from classical music.
it's just that for classical music seems wasn't been so much struggle on the way into surround format in the past either present time,
unlike for pop, or more precisely rock music

 

[0tto]

thank you mr. Mowrey.
nothing can be better than words from first hands of one, who has been involved from very beginning.
thank you for what you did and now sharing with us your knowledge and welcome on board of surround(o)carrier "QuadraphonicQuad"

 

[Lute]

PentaTone (actually, Polyhymnia, PentaTone's engineering provider) did indeed do a good job with these quad recordings, which I produced. They did so simply by keeping their fingers off the knobs while making the transfers to DSD from the 4-track analog masters, just as they were when I left them in DG's Hannover post-productions studios 40-some years ago. The Polyhymnia engineer Jean-Marie Geijsen confirms that in no uncertain terms here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/GBctVE8qGEs The buyer of PentaTone's SACDs will hear exactly what we made back then.
- Thomas Mowrey, New York, 4/23/15

It's great to have you here on QQ, Mr. Mowrey. Thanks so much for sharing that video link and your insight into how these Quad recordings were made and released. Many of us here are also very interested in listening to Classical recordings in 360 degree surround sound. These SACD releases from PentaTone are very exciting, indeed!

 

[winopener]

First of all, thanks Mr. Mowery for join' in and share your view and experience on surround. Don't own yet any one of the four discs above, i'm going to get the Fantastique soon.

PentaTone (actually, Polyhymnia, PentaTone's engineering provider) did indeed do a good job with these quad recordings, which I produced. They did so simply by keeping their fingers off the knobs while making the transfers to DSD from the 4-track analog masters, just as they were when I left them in DG's Hannover post-productions studios 40-some years ago.
- Thomas Mowrey, New York, 4/23/15

May i say that this is the best quote of the month. In a musical world full of "digital remasters" that frequently turns out as "digital re-smashing" to read such a thing is a relief.

 

[quadtrade]

Welcome Tom, i just read the section you wrote about the start of quad, always thought it was the Vox folks who struck first. Thank you for getting history straight!

 

[Thomas Mowrey]

Welcome Tom, i just read the section you wrote about the start of quad, always thought it was the Vox folks who struck first. Thank you for getting history straight!

Many thanks for the kind words of welcome, also from the other folks above. It's very gratifying to be in touch with people who are interested in the development of surround sound. I gave a 45-minute speech on that subject (and my career generally), with something like 50 illustrations that were projected on a big, bright screen behind me while I was talking, at the University of Rochester a couple years ago. I will try to attach a PDF of it to this message. It was preceded by a short introductory MP4 with still photos cut to music, which I'll also try to attach. The speech covers a lot of the ground that I wrote about in some of the earlier links here, but there's quite a lot of different material as well.

Incidentally, while I had worked at Vox in New York for the four years (1964-68) just before doing the experimental quad recordings during 1969 in Rochester, Vox had nothing whatsoever to do with the development of surround sound, although I think it started to release some matrixed quad recordings around 1970-71, using the so-called "Sansui QS" matrix system, which, like all of the other matrix systems, was a knock-off of Peter Scheiber's original matrix circuit.

Now let's see if I can actually attach these files.

 

[Old Quad Guy]

Now let's see if I can actually attach these files.

Hello Tom, Thank you for being Here! Let us know if we can do anything for you, anytime.

I run Quadraphonic.info as an always free deposit of Quadraphonic Information. Would be willing to host any documents or anything else you wished preserved. Thanks.

Jim

 

[peterzach]

I am mostly a rock guy, have afew classical recordings but always go back to rock recordings so can someone give a exact link for a couple of good examples of these recordings that you guys are talking about. Looking at a big list is to over whelming to me so if you can give me a couple of disk's that might interest someone like me who likes prog and rock, thanks.

peter

 

[Old Quad Guy]

I am mostly a rock guy, have afew classical recordings but always go back to rock recordings so can someone give a exact link for a couple of good examples of these recordings that you guys are talking about. Looking at a big list is to over whelming to me so if you can give me a couple of disk's that might interest someone like me who likes prog and rock, thanks.

peter

Peter, check out post #5 here for the latest great stuff coming out now. Here is a list of other titles by the label. All very good!

Link: http://www.sa-cd.net/alltitles2/31/1

Jim

 

[Thomas Mowrey]

Hello Tom, Thank you for being Here! Let us know if we can do anything for you, anytime.

I run Quadraphonic.info as an always free deposit of Quadraphonic Information. Would be willing to host any documents or anything else you wished preserved. Thanks.

Jim

Jim and Jon, I attached two files (a PDF and an MP4) to my long message above, but they seem to have disappeared into the ether. Are attachments supposed to be available with posts, or are they elsewhere? Thanks - Tom

 

[JonUrban]

I have received the files from Tom and posted them on our server. You can access them with the following links:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/miscstuff/1-Mowrey_Roch_Intro.mp4

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/miscstuff/2-Mowrey_Roch_Speech.pdf


NOTE: I tried these links in IE, Firefox, and Chrome. For some reason when I use Firefox I get a file corrupt error, but the file plays in IE and Chrome. So, if you are using Firefox and not able to play the file, just right click and download it.

 

[Thomas Mowrey]

I am mostly a rock guy, have afew classical recordings but always go back to rock recordings so can someone give a exact link for a couple of good examples of these recordings that you guys are talking about. Looking at a big list is to over whelming to me so if you can give me a couple of disk's that might interest someone like me who likes prog and rock, thanks.

peter

Peter, here are links to the Amazon sites which offer the recordings displayed on post #5 above, as referred to by Jim below:

http://www.amazon.com/Bizet-Carmen-...51&sr=8-1&keywords=bernstein+carmen+pentatone

http://www.amazon.com/Berlioz-Damna...330&sr=8-1&keywords=damnation+ozawa+pentatone

http://www.amazon.com/Berlioz-fanta...&keywords=berlioz+fantastique+ozawa+pentatone

The surround layers of all three of these SACDs are DSD transfers of the original 360-degree, immersive quad mixes which I made in the early 1970s. While Carmen is perhaps the most satisfying overall, I (perhaps immodestly) recommend all of them to you. For straight-out surround thrills and twitches, however, try movements 4 and 5 of Symphonie Fantastique and the final scene (last half-hour) of The Damnation of Faust, which contains a hair-raising Ride to Hell and arrival there.