Imran was the catalyst for this road trip. We were swapping New Year greetings and I thought it was about time I visited Liverpool again. Then the various other partial commitments pile together and I soon had the makings of an odyssey.
One of the least publicised parts of my journey is my hand delivery of a candy floss machine to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, but we’ll let that pass.
So there I was performing three point turns in Imran’s road and eventually parking outside his home.
Imran is a formidable enthusiast, which I think is terrific.
No surprise then, when he showed me his exceptional sound system (hi-fi would be an older word to describe it, but this is like something from Mission Control). Not only that but we listened to tracks and I swear Laura Mvula was in the room with us.
Imran knows his fibre optical digital converters and his bitrates much as he knows his carpentry bandsaws and scroll saws. We listened some great music choices. Imran confided that he was thinking about further changes to his already tip-top system. I couldn’t believe it and offered a few side notes.
I recollect that much classical music is recorded with a conservative bandwidth because of the anticipated dynamic range. It can make certain orchestral treatments sound ’thin’ especially when riding on a -40 decibel reference level. It’s part of the audiophile quest to make it all sound wonderful without clipping.
So I’m intrigued that Apple Classics make much of their classical music sound good, and I suspect there is some remastering involved - possibly even compression? I guess I prefer airiness with orchestral pieces rather than studio reference flatness. Think about any concert hall. They are all different and bring something to the music. I can remember listening to veena masters like Chitti Babu setting up their instruments to the acoustics of the rooms in which they played.
So I’m open minded about reference level flat recordings. Anyway, we tuned the room like Carnatic masters by the simple expedient of opening the door to the kitchen to let the air pressure ‘breathe’.
And I mentioned the kitchen. I was in for the treat of a family recipe traditional meal, for which I was guided through the preparations. This was a two pot meal too, we had bountiful quantities, heady aromas and balanced spiciness. Wonderful. I’m going to attempt to recreate it when I get back to Topsham, although I may have to seek out some of the spice mixes.
We ranged through many topics and it was great to regale one another with stories from the past and as importantly of our plans going forward (‘fun going forward’) in my language.
Finding the echoes and looking to the sky.
And now, I’ve reached Carlisle. That’s over, and out.
