The Tacet Thread (Reviews/Latest News & Releases/General Discussion)

[DaneelOlivaw]

i mean, it's about bloody time we got something new from those guys. How long has it been, since mozart brought out a new album that wasn't some sort of best-of. Lazy creep.

 

[Quadro-Action]

After many interesting statements I like also to write from the sight of my opinion about classical music in surround, because I am an engaged fan with some other in our Quadro-Action since the early 70's. As a fan of quadraphonic surround it is celear, that I wellcome all new activities of labels with new recordings in surround as L2, Alexander Goldberg, Stockfish and of course Tacet - both in Germany. And I wellcome, that also one of the journalist, who are speaking in the magazines about musical themes is among us here - instead sitting in the ivory tower of their editorial offices and broadcasting their own meaning as the wisdom of the world. I will only remember to some remarks of "surround is a gimmick". May be only for the one, but not for all. One of the rare exception is the wellknown Kay Rubinson.

For me is surround-sound the most natural sound, because our ears are surround listening. And as wew are looking spatial in front, our ears can listenung spatial even in around. And so it is really a requirement to produce music also spatial , which is only possible with the surround sound technic.

And from an artistic sight the attempts for a transfer of the sound in or from a music hall (most by so called classical surround productions) to the listener in his home is strictly absurd. Not the place, where music was heard or recorded is important, but the music itself. The music is free from a concert hall or a stage placement. Music has no body and need general not places. It is "only" sound. And the best form for our ears is the surround sound, which will create a lot more clearness and transparency for the music as only herded into the old fashioned stereo line.

So it is very well, the the before namend software labels will transform this idea or discovery in really surround sound productions. And we will have the hope, that this will be together with modern technologies as now Blu Ray have finally the wanted success, as the 3-D movie may have the same with the new possibilities with digtial technics. That was already our dream since the analog times in the 70's.

But unfortunately I have now also a point of criticism by some of the new surround recordings by all wellcome. I miss sometimes a really clearness in the reproduction and the surround soundfield. This was always better by a few of the quadraphonic productions in the 70's by classical surround music and especially in the pop productions. For classical I may name the CD-4 or Q4 productions of different Tomita recordings (Planets) and also Joseph Payne with his 2 quadraphonic recordings of Bach. Here I feel, that the actual surround producers will be anxious for the bad comments of those colleagues of Kay Rubinson, which will call often all those productions, wich are more then the usual stereo, unnatural or the "nice" Gimmicks. Here we all should fight against antiquated and even unknowingly prejudices. For my own surround test I have few from Tact and L2. From Alexander I have to buy also any for listening and test .

Dietrich

 

[wolfram]

Psst, Dietrich,

der Kerl heißt Kal (und nicht Kay).

 

[Quadro-Action]

OK - I was so concentrated for the text and the arguments, that I have overseen the right first name of our Mr. Rubinson, which is of course the rare Kal.

Dietrich

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Psst, Dietrich,

der Kerl heißt Kal (und nicht Kay).

Ja.

 

[TACET]

My excitement has been extinguished for now...there are plenty of other Tacet SACDs that can be released on DVD-A before we'll ever see new material.

Here's hoping we are wrong!

Hi there "in the round",
don't worry!
With great joy and pleasure we noticed this forum which is a big honour for us! As I am very busy with working on new recordings and multichannel mixes I can not visit this thread as often as I would like to do. Only from time to time I have a look and enjoy what's been written in the meantime. Also there are many topics where I do not want to participate in discussion, in particular everything re. review of our recordings. However there are some questions which must be answered. This time: our release schedule. I am sorry that we started our 10 DVD-A set with the 3 Beethoven discs which are available on SACD already. This was only by hasard! Here is what we plan to release within this year and the next:
http://www.tacet.de/main/seite1.php?language=en&filename=news.php&layout=news
Please don't shoot me if we have to change one or two of the positions. But this is definitively what we plan currently. Perhaps it will be even more. The Haydn string quartets will be completed on DVD-A until 2011 which alone are 14 discs. There are plenty of complete Haydns on CD. One of the main reasons to do it was: There is no complete multi-channel version on the market.
The sound carriers might change (I hope not). But the Real Surround Sound multi-channel approach will not disappear. The most encouraging thing about the "TACET thread" is that many listeners are in the same extent infected by the Surround virus as I am. This helps a lot!
Andreas Spreer

 

[wolfram]

WOW!

Hallo Herr Spreer,

that's really a great surprise! Welcome to the forum and especially in your fan-thread. And thanks a lot for the infomations on the upcoming releases. Sounds very interesting.

Unfortunatly I have no time right now, but I might add some more later. I only wanted to be the first one to welcome you.

Wolfram

 

[SoonerCaniac]

What a wonderful surprise Mr. (Herr) Spreer, it's a true pleasure to have you visit and post in this thread. I know many of us certainly appreciate your news of the schedule release and what an exciting release schedule it is! I am not a classical expert in any form but even I know what kind of endeavor the complete string quartets of Haydn must have been and continues to be. I am also really looking forward to the Beethoven Piano Sonatas. We are all glad to see Tacet is committed to high-resolution surround sound, but more importantly, is willing to explore and experiment with exciting applications of the medium. Tacet remains a breath of fresh air!

In my opinion, due to the niche nature of surround sound, it is important that the consumers have the opportunity to interact with the labels. As I'm sure you understand, our passion for surround sound means we always are on the search for new releases in the hope that someone in the recording industry is keeping this musical interpretation alive. It is a byproduct of that passion that we speculate and hypothesize sometimes excessively while we await any surround-sound news. While I realize you are quite busy with your projects, it is helpful to know that you occasionally visit the thread and are willing to provide us with some factual information to quiet our speculations! Hopefully members who participate will take the opportunity to provide constructive feedback and ask questions from time-to-time that will help improve our understanding of your company and also your understanding of your fans and supporters. We would welcome your participation in that manner as you have the opportunity.

Once again, thank you for stopping by with the great news and please come back again soon!
Josh

 

[wolfram]

Well, all this got me so excited, that I just ordered the Pictures & Reflections dvd-a. My Tacet-dealer jpc had a special offer where you have to pay nothing for delivery til tonight (usually you have to spend at least 50 Euros for free delivery). So, Herr Spreer, you know it's for me if you send it to jpc and I will let this thread know how (much) I like it.

And I'm very curious for those Haydn quartets, for honestly I don't have any of them as yet. And it sure is the perfect year to launch a project like that. But the rest sounds fascinating as well.

So, I guess the last 3 Beethoven symphonies will be dvd-a only (and no sacds anymore). I had been wondering for quite a while, how you would fit the numbers 3 and 4 on one disc. Now I know. Still the collector and completist in me would have loved to have these on sacd as well (and wouldn't have minded a 2-sacd-set). But anyway, I'm sure I will love them. And maybe I'm guessing wrong.

So, please keep stopping by and keep up the excellent work.

Wolfram

 

[JonUrban]

I have to say that all of this talk has gotten me motivated to buy some of these as well. They sound very interesting! It's also great to see that the creator of the label has chimed in here as well.

I stickied this thread so it stays at the top.

 

[SoonerCaniac]

I have to say that all of this talk has gotten me motivated to buy some of these as well. They sound very interesting! It's also great to see that the creator of the label has chimed in here as well.

I stickied this thread so it stays at the top.

Excellent Jon, thanks and welcome aboard!

 

[JonUrban]

Excellent Jon, thanks and welcome aboard!

Thanks! I just ordered the two demo/samplers and the Ravel/Mussorgsky Pictures and Reflections discs from Elusive Disc. I'll post back here when I give them a spin!

 

[wolfram]

Let's see who gets his Pictures & Reflections first. So you went straight for the wildest of the Moving Surround mixes out there. I'm very curious how you like it (actually I'm as curious how I like it as well).

We got stickied! Cool!:sun

 

[jmserre]

My excitement has been extinguished for now...there are plenty of other Tacet SACDs that can be released on DVD-A before we'll ever see new material.

Here's hoping we are wrong!

Hi there "in the round",
don't worry!
With great joy and pleasure we noticed this forum which is a big honour for us! As I am very busy with working on new recordings and multichannel mixes I can not visit this thread as often as I would like to do. Only from time to time I have a look and enjoy what's been written in the meantime. Also there are many topics where I do not want to participate in discussion, in particular everything re. review of our recordings. However there are some questions which must be answered. This time: our release schedule. I am sorry that we started our 10 DVD-A set with the 3 Beethoven discs which are available on SACD already. This was only by hasard! Here is what we plan to release within this year and the next:
http://www.tacet.de/main/seite1.php?language=en&filename=news.php&layout=news
Please don't shoot me if we have to change one or two of the positions. But this is definitively what we plan currently. Perhaps it will be even more. The Haydn string quartets will be completed on DVD-A until 2011 which alone are 14 discs. There are plenty of complete Haydns on CD. One of the main reasons to do it was: There is no complete multi-channel version on the market.
The sound carriers might change (I hope not). But the Real Surround Sound multi-channel approach will not disappear. The most encouraging thing about the "TACET thread" is that many listeners are in the same extent infected by the Surround virus as I am. This helps a lot!
Andreas Spreer

Extract from Tacet DVD-A list:

- Spohr sextet and nonet (camerata freden)

YES YES YES!!!!! Thank you Thank you!!!!!

Hope one day you can add the Grand Partita by Mozart (I know demanding customers always want more )

 

[jmserre]

Hello me again.

For those interested here is my review of the Bouzignac Motets an SACD on the TACET label:

http://www.geocities.com/jmserre/ENBouzignacTacet.html

(If you read French, of course my French writing is slightly less bad than in English.....)

http://www.geocities.com/jmserre/FRBouzignacTacet.html

Thanks for your time.

 

[TACET]

I once send Mr Spreer an e-mail asking if he actually moves the musician around, I mean positioning them as per what we hear (I do not mean moving while playing!) He was evasive in his answer (probably a trade secret).

no trade secret, Jean-Marc!

For a couple of years already the musicians position during the recording session is not the same as on the finished disc. I prefer to try different settings in my studio. And often - even more important - together with the surround recording simultaneously a special one point stereo version is recorded for the release on CD and LP which means that the musicians have to sit accordingly to what is needed for stereo.

In the beginning this was different. For the first years we were restricted by technical means and had to decide before the surround recording session "who sits where". This can work, too. For those interested the booklet of one of our early DVD-A discs (D94 Mendelssohn octet and quartet, played by Auryn & Minguet quartet) was inserted in our website (pdf format)
http://www.tacet.de/download/D94_Booklet.pdf. For the Mendelssohn the Auryns and Minguets had to sit in this special order. They liked it! (Same with item numbers D101, D108, D112, D118)

Does anybody have a list of recordings which are done in "Real Surround" manner? During last High End show in Munich I heard a sample of a Swedish comany. It was a Mozart violin concerto with the orchestra behind the listener and the solo in front. Unfortunately I do not remember more details. That was really good! If there is a list of those titles - including pop, rock etc. - we could place it on our website or insert a link to it.

Andreas

 

[jmserre]

no trade secret, Jean-Marc!

For a couple of years already the musicians position during the recording session is not the same as on the finished disc. I prefer to try different settings in my studio. And often - even more important - together with the surround recording simultaneously a special one point stereo version is recorded for the release on CD and LP which means that the musicians have to sit accordingly to what is needed for stereo.

In the beginning this was different. For the first years we were restricted by technical means and had to decide before the surround recording session "who sits where". This can work, too. For those interested the booklet of one of our early DVD-A discs (D94 Mendelssohn octet and quartet, played by Auryn & Minguet quartet) was inserted in our website (pdf format)
http://www.tacet.de/download/D94_Booklet.pdf. For the Mendelssohn the Auryns and Minguets had to sit in this special order. They liked it! (Same with item numbers D101, D108, D112, D118)

Does anybody have a list of recordings which are done in "Real Surround" manner? During last High End show in Munich I heard a sample of a Swedish comany. It was a Mozart violin concerto with the orchestra behind the listener and the solo in front. Unfortunately I do not remember more details. That was really good! If there is a list of those titles - including pop, rock etc. - we could place it on our website or insert a link to it.

Andreas

Thanks again for your time. mmmm I thought I had all of your multi-channel recordings but for some strange reason I do not have this one, I will remedy this as quickly as I can, as you know I am in Canada so I will go through Adagio.

Your booklet explains better than I ever could why I think your approach is the best, it is not that you just do what you do randomly you really think and study the music to devise the best presentation to make it as vivid as possible.

As for recordings from other companies that are in the same style than yours I can think of only two:

On Telarc the LAQG (Los Angeles Guitar Quartet) latin with 1 guitar in each speakers (4.0) well recorded and dynamic.

A recent recording by 2L (a package of SACD and Blu-ray) SONaR for harp. The musician are around the harpist. In particular the third piece has voices floating all around. A note to reader of this thread this is comptemporay music, I enjoyed it very much, but it is not "easy" music. 2L is from Norway.

 

[TACET]

On Telarc the LAQG (Los Angeles Guitar Quartet) latin with 1 guitar in each speakers (4.0) well recorded and dynamic.
A recent recording by 2L (a package of SACD and Blu-ray) SONaR for harp. The musician are around the harpist. In particular the third piece has voices floating all around. A note to reader of this thread this is comptemporay music, I enjoyed it very much, but it is not "easy" music. 2L is from Norway.

Perhaps this was mistakable. Apart from the "moving" versions - there are surely some more recordings with the listener surrounded by instruments than these two, not only on TACET. I know of a couple of them and could try to find them out for recommendation, e. g. AIX, some the old Quadro recordings, an early DVD-A of Naxos with Vivaldi, the mentioned Mozart violin concerto etc. But maybe this is not necessary and somebody knows them all?

 

[wanners]

There's a disc made in Norway of Mozart's violin concertos, with Marianne Thorsen--Trondheimsolistene. I don't think it's the one you're talking about because it doesn't sound quite so discrete as you describe. But you are surrounded by instruments and it is significantly more than merely ambient. The sound quality is brilliant (at least to me!)

I just got a few TACET discs, Mozart, Beethoven and waiting for Vivaldi in moving surround (they sent me the SACD by accident insead of the DVDA).

I'll write about them soon. Don't expect too much though as I'm no classical music expert, but I don't worry, only good things to say.

I'll also list the AIX discs I have that I know are discrete MC.

 

[wanners]

Does anyone know if there will be a near future release of the brandenburg concertos in moving surround sound? The dvda has real surround sound but not moving.