Taksdal helped found the Vertavo quartet where she played for ten years. She has been permanently employed as solo violist in both the Bergen and Oslo Philharmonic, and since 2006 has been group leader in the Kringkastingsorkestret. She also has a background in the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and several contemporary music ensembles. Taksdal has a varied background from home and abroad as a soloist, chamber musician, improviser (in collaboration with musicians such as Ketil Bjørnstad, Bugge Wesseltoft and Sinikka Langeland), music mediator and pedagogue. She has made a number of radio programs for NRK P2. Taksdal has taught at the University of Oslo, the Grieg Academy in Bergen, the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Barratt-Due Institute of Music. Her heart children are the lively music students at Majorstuen school.

Does Mozart and/or his Symphonies 39/40 have special ‘meaning’ for you and why?

Mozart’s music constitutes for me the true sound of all shades of the human mind – and the joy, beauty, comfort and reconciliation the imagination of a genius can give the rest of us. His last three symphonies made out the first repertoire I was lucky enough to play with conductor Iona Brown in the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. Her detailed, in-depth interpretation, and persistent emphasis on listening to, and spontaneously «conversing» with, our co-musicians, remain in the body to this day. She dwelt especially on the important role of the double bass players and often heard them alone so that the rest of us could learn. “I’d die to play the double bass!”, she said – “or rather, I’d KILL!”

Petr Popelka is himself a God-given double bassist, most alive! It was liberating to play Mozart in his safely anchored, but airy, playful and spontaneous interpretation, 35 years after Iona Brown’s. “He appears like a born Viennese!”, we violists agreed. A few months later, the news came that Popelka will take over as chief conductor for the Wiener Symphoniker. Norwegian “trolls in words” as we call it when words come true. Let us hope Mozart´s music on this album comes true as well.

Do these pieces require a special approach & why?

Mozart himself dreamed of being reborn as a dancer! Rhythmic gestures and swing, humour, pun of words and notes, and the view upon life as an eternal theatre, characterize all his music. The speaking motives must sing, and the singing must speak. The contrasts between weight and lightness, and between sadness and joy, should happen in a hair’s breadth of a moment, or be clearly displayed when they run in parallel. Music was a common «mother tongue» in Mozart’s time. For us string players, it is crucial to use the bow as a nuanced “organ of speech”, and only to colour lightly with the left hand.

Do you have any particular favorite moment in either of the symphonies?

During the recording session, in the middle of the divine Andante movement from Symphony No. 40, a lower string player´s stomach began to rumble loudly. Resulting in marvelous sounds that even Mozart could not have contrived. It will be interesting to hear if LAWO’s microphones are sublime enough to have picked up this soundscape.

Jeg håper du liker å lytte til denne innspillingen!

— Hilsen, Nora

The post Interview with Norwegian Radio Orchestra’s principle violist Nora Taksdal appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

This album represents a personal tribute to the genre and its literature from its origins to the present day, offering a unique perspective.

NativeDSD’s David Hopkins visited the Recording Session to have a talk with Tom Peeters, Owner and Recording Engineer of Cobra Records. The album is available here.

I did the filming and editing. Enjoy friends!

Jonas Sacks

The post Behind the Scenes at a Recording Session (Video) appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

Their DSD files are made directly from analogue master tapes transferred to the Korg MR-2000S studio recorder and analog to digital converter. No equalizers, limiters, compressors or software filters are used in the production of these DSD downloads. It’s a Pure Analog DSD conversion with no additional editing.

After decades of tests with different tape recorders, tapes, digital devices, DSD recorders and reference cables we found a way to create new sound experience. Very clear, warm and exclusively detailed sound. Larger soundstage, better tonal balance, greater dynamics. More details, more energy, more satisfaction. And it’s genuine.

Vladas Straupas

Albums by AnalogFather

The post Introducing: AnalogFather appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

2 New DSD Albums

Performed by: Marianne Thorsen, violin – Eivind Ringstad, viola – Fredrik Sjölin, cello – Trondheim Symphony Orchestra- Peter Szilvay, conductor, on 2L.

Ståle Kleiberg’s concertos unfold in the space between poetry, passion, and playfulness. This is contemporary music with which listeners can easily engage, but which does not for one moment compromise artistic quality. “I try to form the musical expression so that it corresponds with my experience of life; or, to put it another way, to form it so that it is in accord with my conception of what it means to be a human being,” says Kleiberg about himself and his music.

When the pandemic hit the world with full force in 2020, preparations for this album had been under way for some time. A recording involving a symphony orchestra and three soloists can hardly be arranged on a Monday and executed on a Tuesday – to put it mildly. There are many pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that must somehow find their place. When Norway went into lockdown in March 2020, the pieces were ready, contracts and agreements signed, and the recording dates booked. We wondered how it would all pan out. We even wondered for a while if the recordings could take place at all. Fortunately, the flexibility and the readiness to find creative solutions to new problems shown by everyone involved meant that we were able to get the job done in spite of all the difficulties. In fact, we experienced a personal presence and greater attention to detail than ever before, rather like recording chamber music with the sonic palette of the full orchestra.

Marion von Tilzer (pianist, composer) and Maya Fridman (cellist) bring you ‘Ten Songs of Change’ on TRPTK.

Marion von Tilzer

Author Lulu Wang selected poetry from the Tang and Song Dynasty which are considered the golden age of Chinese arts and culture. Each of the poems reflects the feeling of the trigrams and the related musical piece.

By weaving the poetry into the music, the album becomes a tapestry of experiences and moods reflecting upon the eight trigrams.

The music is dedicated to Maya Fridman, an alchemist who, through her deep musical understanding can turn any music into gold. Her sound on the cello speaks from soul to soul. Working with Maya and Lulu on this project has been a dreamlike experience for which I am ever grateful.

— Marion von Tilzer

Maya Fridman

My meeting with writer Lulu Wang happened on April 18 2018 at the presentation of her latest book. As we talked in the midst of a crowded room, her voice sounded like beautiful music to me. It stayed in my head like an unresolved mystery until I met Marion von Tilzer.

Each song is like a window to a world of a nature element.

Maya Fridman

It was just a couple of months later that we sat down to talk about conscious dreaming, music, and magic. Since I have been in love with her music long before, our meeting didn’t feel like a pure coincidence. It brought me the idea to introduce Marion and Lulu, and together delve into the unfathomable world of I Ching.

That exploration has been one of the most magical things that happened to me. I wish I could capture all the conversations I had with Lulu Wang. She knows how to express in words what is beyond words, even beyond music. In that space beyond Marion composed her Ten Songs of Change. Each song is like a window to a world of a nature element. Marion is not only an outstanding composer but a great pianist as well. It was my long-lasting wish to play together with her. Thank you, Marion and Lulu, for such a precious gift.

— Maya Fridman

New Analog Reel-to-Reel Tape Available

For some time now, NativeDSD.com has been offering Analog Reel-to-Reel Tapes from the 2xHD label of which we also sell the direct to DXD and DSD transfers.

Audio tapes from 2xHD guarantee that ultimate quality is preserved from the original master in contrast to vinyl albums, CDs or other formats.

Limited to only 100 copies of this DELUXE Edition, the recordings on these tapes constitute the material from a June 20th, 1968, studio session recorded by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer (HGBS) and Joachim-Ernst Brendt in Germany’s Black Forest. This is no ordinary recording. This enthralling Bill Evans session was recorded five days after a famous performance at the 1968 Montreux jazz festival by Evans, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Verve’s Montreux live recording won a Grammy, but this studio session has been in the vaults ever since.

2xHD received Positive Feedback’s ‘Best Sounding album of the year’ award for this album two years in a row.
New DSD Bundle

Bob Mintzer Big Band Bundle

Both DSD Albums “Gently” and “Homage to Count Basie” from the Bob Mintzer Big Band are now available at an attractive price through a brand new DSD Bundle!

Bob Minzter is a famed Jazz Sax player, composer, arranger and big band leader. In the Bob Minzter Big Band Box, NativeDSD brings our listeners two excellent, Live to 4 Channel DSD recordings.

Homage to Count Basie is a Grammy Award Winning album that The Bob Mintzer Big Band delivers brilliant interpretations of classic Count Basie tunes delivered by the best musicians in New York (maybe the world). All compositions on Homage To Count Basie are arranged by Mintzer. All the solos were performed live with the band and in most cases using the first take, no “overdubs,” “punch-ins” or “fixes.” This is real music in real-time.

With Gently, Bob Mintzer lays down a totally new attitude for his big band comprised of New York’s finest musicians. It is a big band project that will turn heads with a sound and approach that is virtually nonexistent today in the Jazz world. Gently addresses the quieter side of big band music.

Album of the Week

Please see this week’s album of the week on our homepage.

The post Direct Summer Digital appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

Some listeners may be familiar with the Exton, Triton, Cryston and Audio Lab labels. Their DSD Classical and Jazz recordings are coming to the NativeDSD Store for your musical enjoyment! The first 4 are available now.

The post Exton, Triton, Cryston, Audio Lab Join NativeDSD appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

In 1980 Angelo moves to Amsterdam to study musicology at the Amsterdam University and trumpet at the Jazz Department of the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatory. The extremely vivid and divers Amsterdam music scene is a true walhalla for a young, curious and eager trumpeter. In these roaring 80’s Verploegen plays salsa with Ruben Salas, Evolution 2000, Salsa d’Amsterdam, big band with Maiden Voyage and the Frank Grasso Big Band, gets involved with the theatre (Haagse Comedie, later on with Orkater, ZT Hollandia, de Veenfabriek), plays lead- trumpet in the musical Cats and gets acquainted with the improv scene, working with Jaap Blonk, Micheal Moore, Larry Fishkind and many more.

Projects with NativeDSD

NativeDSD.com’s in house label Just Listen Records recorded and released three DSD 256 projects with verploegen in various combinations. The ‘Sweetest Sound’ was the firs in which we invited him to do a recording for the label at our specific terms (play live, in balance, no mixing, no editing, just capturing the live music as it is with the best possible equipment at the best suitable venue).

It was obvious for me to return once more to my first love – the flugelhorn.

Angelo Verploegen

He picked ‘standard’ tunes he grew fond of over the years, looking for a certain degree of variety in melody, harmony, formal structure, keeping the drum-less trio sound in mind, allowing it to flourish, creating a casual, lush and intimate atmosphere.

Just the drums

Giving Verploegen more flexibility, he pitched the idea for ‘The Duke Book: The Music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’. Flugelhorn and just the drums to accompany him: “The Duke Book is about melody and rhythm, about sound and time, about exploring the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn in all kind of ways alongside exploring the sonorities of our instruments” he writes in the liner notes.

Our first reaction..

“Flugelhorn and Drums…. A whole album? Both of you will have to be VERY good to keep the listener’s attention for the duration of a complete album. And yes, it is all very good. These boys needed no producing on my part. Setting up the microphones was also easy. A great space to play, two very musical minded players. I only needed to press record!” writes Jared Sacks the producer.

The Art of Traveling Light

We really wanted to continue our collaboration with Angelo and quickly came up with some new dates for a new session. He wanted to reflect musically on the travels made as a musician. Ironically enough reality caught up with this idea when traveling came to a literal standstill because of the worldwide coronavirus outbreak. Maybe a reason for the better for some reflection on the act of traveling?

We translated traveling lightly literally into a line-up without bass, thus underlining the concept of lightness and transparency in sound.

Angelo Verploegen

He writes “My many travels all represent a mixed feeling of melancholy, to have to leave my beloved family again, and of excitement about plunging into the unknown. And then of course there is all the inconvenience coming with the traveling itself, which I try to ease as much as I can by carrying as little as possible with him: practicing the Art of Traveling Light.”

We hope you will enjoy these recordings made with no sound-equalizing, no mixing, no compressing, no editing applied here. Just the musicians in a beautiful medium-large concert hall, the best possible technical equipment.

Just Listen!

The post Jazz Flugelhorn recorded by the NativeDSD Team appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

The NativeDSD team recorded this music earlier in 2020 and it is now released on the in-house Just Listen Records label. The album was recorded in the highest resolution audio possible today – DSD 256 – Nina, Gijs and Mo recorded each track a few times. This creates a concert-like performance in the recording studio, all about playing together and balancing the sound on set. The artists chose the best take of each track and the resulting audio files are not ‘fussed with’ afterwards: minimal editing, no mixing or mastering, just the music as it was played at the time – both artistically and sonically.

The balance was created completely on the stage. The main microphone array captures this. The spot mics are only used to accentuate certain elements, the ‘attack’ on a string, the details in a high voice.

THERE describes a place

A place where you dare to fly higher and higher, dive deeper and deeper.
There’s space. On the way there’s storm, doubt and sometimes you fall.
Yet there is harmony and clarity.

Beautiful, melancholic music. Nina’s voice is layered and warm, and at the same time you’ll feel a moving lightness and clarity. Recalling something ancient and deep, while maintaining a contemporary feel.”

Mijke Loeven, Director BIMHUIS

Available as Download or CD

THERE is available as original DSD download or as physical copy on CD.

About the artists

Gijs Idema and Nina Rompa played in duo for many years and started composing and arranging together. For this album they started searching further. They searched for a color and a story to tell, with a beginning and an end. It provided pieces that are sometimes transparently, sometimes ambiguously connected to each other. In their search they also found an addition, and with Mo van der Does on the clarinet their sound was complete.

The post THERE – A new Just Listen release appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

Matt Arthur, finding himself somewhat lost and unfulfilled at home, left Britain on a spontaneous trip to Amsterdam, alone, searching for a spiritual and musical break. He took himself to a local open mic event at Amsterdam’s café De Koe. That’s where Jara Holdert first noticed him, sitting at the other end of the bar. After they heard one another’s songs, they knew immediately that they were woven from the same artistic cloth. A conversation started over some jenevers and continued when they met up again the next evening and Jara showed Matt around the canals under a full Amsterdam moon. They talked about music and philosophy and life and heartbreak. And then they had to part, way too soon.

Matt went back to London, and Jara stayed in Amsterdam. Too often, stories end there. And it would have been a beautiful story, even if it was only ever going to be a fleeting one. But when, almost a year later, Jara decided to pay Matt an impromptu visit, they discovered that their musical connection went far deeper than they’d realised. The moment they were in the same room again, something clicked. Something in the space between them – the space they had reduced from miles and miles to just metres – fell into place. 

“The very first day, we went up to Matt’s studio in Tottenham and from the moment I picked up a guitar, we were playing, exploring, adding, and a song flowed out. It surprised both of us,” says Jara.

The next two years were spent writing songs over WhatsApp, meeting over FaceTime and visiting each other —- when they could afford it —- to play intimate acoustic shows together. 

“We discovered that there was this kind of magic between us, musically.” says Matt. “We don’t ever need to discuss things too much. We could start and end songs on stage whenever we liked, or we could change melodies and arrangements and we knew that we would follow each other”.

The Coo

Jara: “Our days together were always limited, so we never had much time to rehearse. But we discovered that it didn’t matter when we played impromptu concerts – we trusted each other musically, and because we took songs on stage right after we’d written something, the material stayed fresh and the performance adventurous. We both had experience with studio projects and band projects where tracks were perfected to a tee and rehearsed for hours, but that’s not what we were about. Our playing together felt more free, spontaneous, a breath of relief. We thought part of our magic was in that – and that the live-feel of our material is what we should try to capture if we’d ever record.

Live Audiophile Recording

In April 2019, the time was ripe – the Coo was ready to capture their sound as it was created, as it evolved, and as it had always been heard —- in a live environment. NativeDSD’s Just Listen offered to carry out the production and recording. Two sessions in which The Coo played the same set were digitised using the Pyramix Horus A/D running at DSD 256.

Jared Sacks, the producer and Engineer was in a little room in the back of De Uilenburgersjoel, tucked away in the center of Amsterdam. An audience of about 50 family and friends of the musicians, and others interested joined us in the recording journey.

After minor editing and a little mixing, the files are available in their original recording format from NativeDSD. The DSD 512 Stereo files were created by Tom Caulfield at the NativeDSD Mastering Lab using Jussi Laako’s latest EC modulators from Signalyst. We are curious what you think!

Making-of Featurette

In two intimate conversations between the duo, cut with behind the scenes footage and excerpts from the various songs available on the Album, this video lets you in on the the project, that was carried out in April of 2019.

Their first EP ‘Amsterdam Moon’, Recorded in front of a live audience by Native DSD Music for Just Listen Records in April 2019, is available for download in its original recording resolution, only at NativeDSD.

Follow The Coo

https://www.facebook.com/thecoomusic
https://instagram.com/thecoomusic
https://www.thecoomusic.com

The post Amsterdam Moon – introducing The Coo appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

• 
  The Contemporary Fortepiano [Pure DSD]
  US$26.49 – US$41.99
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With a lot of excitement the NativeDSD Team releases this new homegrown DSD 256 & Multichannel album: The Contemporary Fortepiano.

It features Rembrandt Frerichs on the Fortepiano and Harmonium with a personal style that is driven by content rather than virtuosity. His music invariably carries an artistic message, which is informed by his world travels. This gives his work an additional dimension. Rembrandt integrates elements of Arabic music into a new concept, seamlessly connecting East and West. He feels equally in his element while playing the percussive 18th century fortepiano, a 19th century harmonium or his modern grand piano. With violone player Tony Overwater and percussionist Vinsent Planjer, they form a unique-sounding trio, whose subtle style is its own trademark.

“The sound of the fortepiano very much suits our modern time”

Rembrandt Frerichs

Frerichs notes: “It is an instrument that connects cultures.” With the new album for Just Listen Records, ‘The Contemporary Fortepiano’, the trio takes the listener on a world tour comprising 15 musical miniatures that each highlight a different aspect of the ensemble.

Recording in DSD256 in Groningen, the Netherlands

The decor of this recording is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Groningen, The Netherlands. It is well-over three hundred years old. The acoustics of the space fit these instruments perfectly, and that is why we chose it for this recording.

We used Bruel & Kjaer 4006, Schoeps and Neumann microphones and had the musicians sit in a circular setup to provide a wonderful sound in both Stereo and Multichannel DSD 256, with the violone (Tony Overwater) seated behind the main microphone system. The mics were outfitted with Van den Hul Carbon fiber cables, that ran to a custom made Rens Heijnis analog mixing board. The mixed signal then went to the Horus Analog to DSD 256 Converter, made by Merging Technologies. All microphones were also stored separately, in case any balance needed to be adjusted in post (which we did, a tiny bit, on particular parts). Except for those tiny adjustments, you are hearing the music exactly as it was performed and recorded at the church.

I invite you to take a listen to the sound samples and then purchase a copy of this wonderful DSD 256 release at the NativeDSD Music store. It is really something quite special.

The post Period Instruments with Modern Jazz Flavours appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

Breno Víricimo

I met Breno in 2014 in a bar around the corder of my house in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). He plays jazz trio’s there as a double bass player on Saturday nights. We became friends and soon he brought in 5 guys and recorded with us on ‘8 ensembles’.  Pretty soon after the first recording we thought it would be a good idea to do a whole album, with music from composers that he grew up listening to, and some of his own compositions.

In november 2015 two days were picked and we rolled back into the stage at MCO in Hilversum with a Merging HAPI and analog mixing boards, carbon fibre cables and top notch mics. Today we are proud to present you ‘Raízes’, which means Roots in Portugese. Not only does this title reflect the content of the works but it is also a symbol of the sound of Breno’s earthy and flowing double bass. Together with singers like Laura Polence and Lillian Vieira this makes a great listen for a laid back summer evening with the vibes and colors of the Brazilian landscapes in mind. On the days of the recording I filmed a lot and created this video:

Responses

The album was released on april 29 and we have gotten great feedback so far! Here are a few responses:

“The SQ is fantastic!!! Absolutely world class. The atmosphere is just there and the idea of DSD really shines. WOW! I am so glad there are alternatives to the consumer mixes out there, i.e. where dynamics is what it is, dynamic. I just love it and with good gear you can really enjoy the feeling of ”being there”. Any chatter or musician interaction is part of enjoying this kind of music I think. Kind of live recording feeling. The ”Jazz at the Pawnshop” atmosphere is something to strive for. From my point of view.”

— Per Eklöf (Sweden).

And here is another one!

“I have really enjoyed listening to Raizes and it has been a great experience. The quality, the sound stage and the depth of the recording is so exceptional. The vocals and the various instruments are so clear. I have my favourite tracks and it’s easy to get immersed in the sound. They sound like I’m right there listening to the live performance. Raizes is easily one of the best albums I’ve listened to recently and I look forward to more of such releases fro you. Congrats to everyone involved.”

— Tayo Adegun (United Kingdom)

Technical approach

Just like the previous project the main microphones (for Stereo) were a pair of Bruel and Kjaer (B&K) 4006 which have been rebuilt to accept 75 volt Phantom Powering directly from the stage. In between this pair of microphones we had a Sennheiser MK8 and a B&K 4006 coupled together to give us sound recorded using the M/S technique. The M/S Omni output from the front pair of B&K 4006 microphones was also being used as the center channel for the multichannel tracks. The support microphone for the vocals was the Sonodore MPM-91. The center and surround microphones (also B&K 4006) completed the microphone set.

All tracks (2 and 5 channels) went through custom made analog and battery powered pre amplifiers, (Custom made by Rens Heijnis) which were then connected to the Merging Technologies HAPI Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) running at DSD 256fs with 3T carbon cable made by Van den Hul.

Enjoy the music!

The post Brazilian Roots. Raízes! appeared first on NativeDSD Music.