The AIX Records 2015 Sampler…Is Late!
It’s not going to get done in time…the new AIX Records 2015 sampler. I’ve been working like crazy on the latest Blu-ray sampler disc, but things are moving slowly. The previous sampler was really good (I hope all of your have a copy) with its 41 tracks, HD-Video for each track, and three different mixes for each as well. But the repertoire is limited to recordings that I’ve made since I started capturing the videos using HD-Video equipment. Having a demonstration disc that contains 41 tracks is great during a show but it leaves more than half of the albums in the AIX Records catalog out. What to do? Make a 2015 version of the AIX sampler that includes tracks (or segments of about 2-3 minutes duration) from virtually very product that we’ve completed.
That’s what I’ve been doing over the past few weeks. The disc is almost done but it’s not going to be completed in time for the 2015 CES Show that starts on Tuesday. I had really wanted to have a new product to pitch during the 4 days of the HRA Marketplace but the project has grown considerably from the 2013 version and it’s just not going to be finished.
The disc is going to contain 70 real high-resolution audio tracks (including a 2.0 stereo 96 kHz/24-bit PCM mix and two 5.1 surround mixing from two perspectives…”stage” and “audience”). There are 28 tracks with vocals featuring Willie Nelson, Jennifer Warnes, Paul Williams, and Dave Mason.
The instrumental section has 23 different tunes from Wallace Roney, Carl Verheyen (doing a high-powered, rock guitar track), Laurence Juber, Paul Smith, Grant Geissman, Patrice Rushen and Peppino D’Agostino. I’ve even included a tune by Latin Celtic Jazz Fusion band Bad Haggis…with a name like that; you know it’s an eclectic piece.
The final section is dedicated to classical repertoire. The previous sampler didn’t have much classical music on it because I didn’t shoot HD-Video during the classical recordings I made in Europe (actually I did shoot some video in PAL format but am too lazy to edit them to match the audio…maybe someday). There are 19 tracks in the classical section. When there’s no video, you’ll see an animated background and titles.
The process has been grueling. First, I searched my hard drives for alternate tunes that I have edited video. In fact, I had to rent an HD-Cam video deck a couple of weeks ago to reload the raw video angles to reassemble the finished segment. I should have output the edited masters back to the HD-Cam deck…but now that tape is so yesterday, I didn’t. Pushing tapes in and out all weekend it not my idea of a good time. But it had to be done.
The standard definition videos don’t fill the entire HD-Video (1920 x 1080) screen. They are blown up 200% and don’t look nearly as good as the high-definition videos, but I think you’ll appreciate seeing the artists during the sessions.
The next step is finding each track (in all three mixes) and syncing them up to the temporary audio track that accompanies the video export. As soon as I finish today’s post, I’ll be loading up the classical tracks and syncing them…by hand. I’ve spent the last two days working on the vocal and instrumental tracks. Then I have to double check levels etc in the studio prior to encoding to Dolby True HD.
The packaging is designed but has not been sent off to the printer. I’m actually not sure all of the content listed above is going to fit on a single sided 25 gig Blu-ray. I won’t know that until I complete the encoding, author the disc, and hit multiplex. I’m optimistic…but you never know.
Why not just put the sampler online like the iTrax/Sprint collaboration we did last summer? It’s just not the same as being able to slide the disc into a Blu-ray player and hit play. New customers love being able to purchase a disc and get a survey of the AIX Records catalog. This will undoubtedly be the most extensive sampler we’ve ever produced. I hope you’ll want a copy.
This sampler looks nice, but I never listen to samplers. Do you have plans to produce a new recording? I am particularly interested in not-so-well-known classical music. Or would there be a classical recording (a full opus, not a sampler with bits and pieces) that you would particularly recommend among your own or available on iTrax?
I find that samplers to be very effective at introducing customers to new repertoire and artists…AND most importantly to the benefits of high-resolution, purist style recording. Making new recordings is very expensive and the thought of doing a classical project is appealing but wouldn’t pay. If you want to hear some of the best orchestral recordings, you might want to check out our Bach Brandenburg DVD…he’s my favorite composer.
While I don’t listen to samplers, I do find samplers to be very useful in identifying albums, labels, artists and composers for further investigation.
For classical recordings of somewhat less well known works I recommend Mark’s chamber music recordings.
Stevens & Ives Quartet: Brahms Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34
Chamber Music Palisades: Shostakovich, Debussy & Brockman
George Enescu Wind Quintet: Scarlatti & Beethoven
Pro Arte Trio: Haydn Piano Trios
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet, K.581, Horn Quintet, K.407, String Quartet, K.169
Thanks for mentioning the Haydn Trios…those are some of my favorites.
Many thanks for all the recommendations. I’ll probably go for the Haydn Trios, because these pieces are new to me while I already own far too many recordings of the Brandenburg. On the other hand, for the Brandenburgs, I know them so well that, for the sake of appreciating the quality of the recording, it would be interested. I may end up buying both, but I’ll start with the Haydn.
I love both recordings and the repertoire. The Brandenburg is special because of the sound of the recording. Placing lots of stereo pairs of microphones brings an intimacy and level of detail that spacious recordings don’t have. Richard Hardbattle, a reviewer in the UK, wrote to me about his review…he told me that he’s heard hundreds of Brandenburg recordings but mine was a completely new presentation…he could hear into the orchestra.
Depending on how the Blu-ray disk is authored you could quite easily put the tracks on-line: assuming each track had it’s own transport stream file (m2ts) with the various audio tracks multiplexed in, you could simply rip the disk and place each file as you do your normal downloads. Each m2ts file would contain the video and all sound options which the user could then choose to access in the software used for playback – VLC et al.
I do want a copy, but I’d prefer to download.
The disc is a fully navigable Blu-ray title. I don’t see how you could stream 36 Mbps and view/listen to the output…and switch to the various audio streams. Tidal and Deezer are just get to the point where they can stream CD quality (1411 kbps) and MQA might get us 96 or 192 kHz/24-bit audio in a stream but I haven’t heard anyone talking about 30 plus Mbps! Even downloading a project like this would be 25 gigs…and that’s pushing it.
I’m not talking about streaming, I’m talking about downloading. And yes it would be 25GB if single layer, otherwise up to 50GB dual. However I wouldn’t be interested in the classical and as I have a 100Mb connection (assuming the connection at your end can match that) I could get the lot in a few hours. More than likely I’d cherry pick, even if over a few days (especially if your connection were slow) It is an option, we are now in the 21st century and the bandwidth is there.
I like to think I ahead of the curve…but we only have 10 Mbps up and down here (and I thought that was pretty good). Downloads would be possible but they are only segments of about 2-3 minutes…
Keep on posting how it evolves – I wan’t one!