Surroundablog

The Tape Project Launches Audiophile Series

The Tape Project's inaugural release is The Number White by jazz singer Jacqui Naylor.

San Francisco, CA (November 15, 2007)--As reported in Pro Sound News (July 2007), Paul Stubblebine Mastering and valve electronics experts Bottlehead Corp. have introduced The Tape Project, a new label and music delivery format. The Tape Project is presenting a series of analog releases on reel-to-reel tape that aims to offer an analog listening experience that comes as close as possible to that of hearing the original master tape.

Slated for 10 releases per year and sold primarily on a subscription basis, the 15 ips half-track stereo, reel-to-reel recordings encompass a range of musical styles, the first of which include classical, jazz, blues, Americana and roots music. The company is recommending tape machines and specifications for playback, as well as offering its own specially modified tape decks with custom valve components from Bottlehead Corp.

"The only two requirements for the music that we release are that the master must exist on analog tape and that the music be great," says Stubblebine, who founded the company with mastering engineer Michael Romanowski and Bottlehead Corp owner Dan Schmalle. "That it be music that moves the listener. That it be music that can stand the test of time, and continue to bring satisfaction for years."

The company has secured the rights to release a variety of extraordinary recordings. The first 10 titles are:

1) The Number White by jazz singer Jacqui Naylor

2) Dave Alvin's Blackjack David

3) Arnold Overtures, original music by Malcolm Arnold with the London Philharmonic Orchestra recorded by Grammy-winning engineer and audiophile equipment designer Keith Johnson

4) The album that established Robert Cray as a strong new voice in the blues, False Accusations

5) Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos with the New Philharmonia Orchestra performing Albeniz - Suite Espanola

6) David Oistrakh and the London Symphony Orchestra with music by Bruch and Hindemith

7) Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra performing Exotic Dances from the Opera (Saint-Saëns, Strauss, Rabaud)

8) Bill Evans Waltz for Debby live at the Village Vanguard in 1961

9) Mose Allison in 1959's Creek Bank, engineered by Rudy Van Gelder

10) The incomparable Sonny Rollins in Saxophone Colossus

There are two tiers of subscription costs for The Tape Project: $1,200 US for a selection of six of the ten releases per year, or charter subscriptions of $2,000 US per year to get all 10 releases. Each album will also be sold individually for $329 US to non-subscribers. Each tape release comes in a custom-designed box with full-size color artwork and custom tape flanges inscribed with serial numbers for charter subscribers.

Michael Romanowski, revealing the tech behind the analog says, "We have assembled the highest-quality duplicating system that has ever been attempted. The result, for those with ears to hear, is the most involving and satisfying experience that has ever come from reproduced music. I work with master tapes everyday, and these releases are sonically everything that a master tape has to offer. And now listeners get to have this experience in their own home."

Noting specifics about the playback systems, Dan Schmalle adds, "In order to play these tapes correctly, a machine must meet the following requirements: It must play 15 ips half-track stereo, and must be set to the IEC curve--formerly known as the CCIR curve. There are many machines that meet these specs, but many that don't. We have looked at the various machines made for home use and decided to adapt the Technics RS1500 family." The company offers an on-line database of tape machines that meet the requirements.

The tape machines offered by The Tape Project, approximately $7,500 US each, are supplied with a custom playback head designed by Flux Magnetics. Schmalle asked Flux Magnetics to design a head strictly optimized for 15 ips, with no compromise for other speeds.

The playback head is mated with the latest generation playback electronics, developed by Paul Joppa and Dan Schmalle of Bottlehead Corp. exclusively for The Tape Project. There is an optional wireless remote control for the Technics RS1500 offered by The Tape Project.

The company has started an online forum for customers to request albums they would like to own at
www.tapeproject.com/smf/index.php#1

The Tape Project
www.tapeproject.com

Paul Stubblebine Mastering
www.paulstubblebine.com

Michael Romanowski
www.michaelromanowski.com

Bottlehead Corp.
www.bottlehead.com

Radiohead makes labels' history...but don't hold your breath for Paranoid Surroundoid

Just 38 percent of Radiohead fans paid for the latest album, according to data recently supplied by comScore. The band allowed fans to name their price for the downloadable release, "In Rainbows", a closely-watched experiment. While most fans grabbed the album for nothing, a significant percentage paid modest amounts. According to the data, 17 percent paid an average of $4 for the album, while 12 percent paid between $8 and $12.

The result deflates the excitement surrounding the effort, heralded by many as a groundbreaking model. It also challenges the levels of loyalty that established bands can expect from longtime fans. But 38 percent still represents a meaningful number, and earnings appear respectable. Radiohead sold well past one million units on the album, and the band no longer pays a label cut.

Elsewhere, large numbers of fans continue to grab the album outside of the Radiohead website on free file-sharing networks, another unexpected development. In related Radiohead-room..

Radiohead has already said goodbye to EMI and its subsidiary, Parlophone. But the major label is now jumping into the energy surrounding the latest Radiohead release, "In Rainbows". Just recently, the group reissued a number of Radiohead classics and bundled them into a convenient box set. The albums - Pablo Honey, The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail To The Thief, and I Might Be Wrong - are now being offered for pre-order on radioheadstore.com.

Parlophone is also taking the extra step of offering the entire back catalog in the form of a 4GB USB stick. The stick contains WAV files and digital artwork, and looks like the Radiohead bear logo. Alternatively, fans also have access to the catalog in a bundled pack of 320kbps MP3 downloads. "We are particularly excited about the USB stick, which gives fans an easy and portable way to carry the box set and provides another way of bridging the world between on-line and off-line content," said Miles Leonard, managing director at Parlophone. The various configurations start at £34.99 ($72.83), but unlike In Rainbows, consumer cannot name their own price.