Thank you SO much for these admirable performances, in very good monaural sound!
A heads-up for MS-Windows and VLC users:
The cue file here does NOT work. This has been the case with almost all of the cue files included in the recent posts of the Laureate Conductors blog, created by "Magix". I have done various experiments and have determined the solution.
The second line of the file is this one, as first posted:
...then when you open the cue file in VLC, one of the most frequently used Windows audio media players, the tracks open up and the file plays.
I have mentioned this before and have queried as to WHAT media players the blog author is using, on what operating system--have received no reply. I have had to change all of the cue files since the blog re-appeared. It's essential to do that with THIS particular upload as one does not want to start with the first performance of the concerto and play all the way through to the end of the second performance, with no opportunity to select WHICH one by Gulda will be heard (who would want to hear Beethoven's PC 1 all the way thru, TWO times in a row?)
The track timings for your cue file for this upload are all WAY off, after track 1, by several seconds.
Rather than try to repair that problem, in the words of Inspector Clouseau in 'The Pink Panther', I have fix-ed ze bell from ze ringing...
I have converted your long single FLAC of both performances into six segments, each for a movement of both performances of the concerto.
In addition, I embedded the cover of the pertinent LP album into each track so that one gets the right cover for the correct performance; and have also located the album number of the Fonit-Cetra LP of the live version, and the Discogs info for the old London-Decca LP and have appended that information to your inf.txt file.
I converted the tracks from a 2-channel FLAC into a single channel format to conserve file space; most modern CD burners will, on the fly, convert back to 2 channels to burn a Redbook-compatible audio cd.
I have relabeled the tracks and zipped the entirety into a new folder. I uploaded this to Zippyshare as a free non-registered user, which means that the file will expire in 30 days after today, which is 31 October 2019.
The URL for this zip-file is as follows:
https://www86.zippyshare.com/v/qYoFDXrB/file.html
I have suggested before that using CUE files is fraught with difficulty in today's world; they are interpreted differently by diverse players; some -- such as Winamp -- won't parse them AT ALL; and unless your exact format AGREES with what is expected from a given media player, they won't work right or, in the case of VLC, won't even start to play.
Pardon me for my effrontery but I hope to demonstrate to you how to make your uploads as UNIVERSAL as possible, for a wide variety of music-lovers with different OS's, different media players, and different needs.
I might also add that I made "a few changements" as Mengelberg was wont to say...
The performance conducted by Hindemith was a compressed radio aircheck or linecheck but was digitized at about a 6 dB lower peak level than the rip of the London LP with Boehm. In addition, the first movement faded out too early with only 1 second pause before the second. The third movement had 13 seconds of loud audience coughing and rustling. I have altered the level for a reasonable volume in this 1957 transfer, and adjusted the silence lengths between movements; I also fixed the truncation of the hall ambience at the end of the first movement.
Your EQ was excellent in both cases and I made NO alteration!
Alas, that is not the only problem with the cuefile(s) for the Krips Gurrelieder. I tried two different programs to split those FLACs and both failed even after your suggested change.
I have found what the problem seems to be with the files on this blog. Something non-standard appears in the header of the FLACs, which causes many Windows media players to choke at the start of the file, while trying to render it. Often the first track will play but not any of the subsequent ones. Or, if the tracks after no. 1 *will* play, you lose the beginning of the music, and the track timings SEEM to be way off. Changing the CUE file timings to NOT fix this.
I have solved the problem with some other DL's that have an identical issue -- FLACs uploaded by Russian enthusiasts, for example -- by converting the FLAC to WAVE; changing the file name; converting back to FLAC again with a GOOD, reliable, standard app, and then erasing the original FLAC, while renaming the converted one. THEN, the cue file works ok.
In my Windows domain, using XP through 10, I find that "FLAC Frontend" version 2.1 -- a free app -- makes RELIABLE, standard FLAC files.
I have asked this blogger to identify WHAT programs he or she is using to make the FLACs and the CUE files; but there has never been any response. In lieu of this, all of us users must make our OWN fix. Worst-case, if my suggestions above fail, there are programs that will parse a CUE file and then split the tracks along those timing demarcations; and create separare files, one for each track. I've done that, too, using several different free apps for Windows.
Since I now have a fix, I shall NOT ever upload my 'repairs' again. It is, of course, presumptuous and the original blogger my be offended. But, beyond that, it will waste my time since the fix I've devised above is easier and quicker for ME, and I won't take the time to do it for other readers of this blog--you may possibly be able to make this work.
I have also obtained some DLs of FLACs/cue files from other sites, notably one in Russia, where there is an identical problem. I haven't yet used a Hex Editor to examine the files but my "fix" works just as effectively; so I suppose the cause is exactly the same. Could we, here, be experiencing some issues related to using a FLAC creator on a different OS? Or some slightly non-standard app?
If the blogger wishes to use the open source format FLAC, I think it would be a good idea to make it as UNIVERSAL as possible and not tied to some SPECIFIC, odd piece of software.
This is my last word on the subject. If this blog continues to be such a source of frustration, I certainly have others to divert my attention to.
8 comments:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZQOJk4ygAj4H1aAMMffocCf7caNBPpWK
Thank you SO much for these admirable performances, in very good monaural sound!
A heads-up for MS-Windows and VLC users:
The cue file here does NOT work. This has been the case with almost all of the cue files included in the recent posts of the Laureate Conductors blog, created by "Magix". I have done various experiments and have determined the solution.
The second line of the file is this one, as first posted:
FILE "Beethoven PC1 Gulda Hindemith, Böhm (1957,1951).flac" FLAC
If this line is changed, with the word FLAC at the very end, replaced by WAVE --
FILE "Beethoven PC1 Gulda Hindemith, Böhm (1957,1951).flac" WAVE
...then when you open the cue file in VLC, one of the most frequently used Windows audio media players, the tracks open up and the file plays.
I have mentioned this before and have queried as to WHAT media players the blog author is using, on what operating system--have received no reply. I have had to change all of the cue files since the blog re-appeared. It's essential to do that with THIS particular upload as one does not want to start with the first performance of the concerto and play all the way through to the end of the second performance, with no opportunity to select WHICH one by Gulda will be heard (who would want to hear Beethoven's PC 1 all the way thru, TWO times in a row?)
Yours sincerely,
8H Haggis
Followup:
The track timings for your cue file for this upload are all WAY off, after track 1, by several seconds.
Rather than try to repair that problem, in the words of Inspector Clouseau in 'The Pink Panther', I have fix-ed ze bell from ze ringing...
I have converted your long single FLAC of both performances into six segments, each for a movement of both performances of the concerto.
In addition, I embedded the cover of the pertinent LP album into each track so that one gets the right cover for the correct performance; and have also located the album number of the Fonit-Cetra LP of the live version, and the Discogs info for the old London-Decca LP and have appended that information to your inf.txt file.
I converted the tracks from a 2-channel FLAC into a single channel format to conserve file space; most modern CD burners will, on the fly, convert back to 2 channels to burn a Redbook-compatible audio cd.
I have relabeled the tracks and zipped the entirety into a new folder. I uploaded this to Zippyshare as a free non-registered user, which means that the file will expire in 30 days after today, which is 31 October 2019.
The URL for this zip-file is as follows:
https://www86.zippyshare.com/v/qYoFDXrB/file.html
I have suggested before that using CUE files is fraught with difficulty in today's world; they are interpreted differently by diverse players; some -- such as Winamp -- won't parse them AT ALL; and unless your exact format AGREES with what is expected from a given media player, they won't work right or, in the case of VLC, won't even start to play.
Pardon me for my effrontery but I hope to demonstrate to you how to make your uploads as UNIVERSAL as possible, for a wide variety of music-lovers with different OS's, different media players, and different needs.
Yours,
8H Haggis
Second followup:
I might also add that I made "a few changements" as Mengelberg was wont to say...
The performance conducted by Hindemith was a compressed radio aircheck or linecheck but was digitized at about a 6 dB lower peak level than the rip of the London LP with Boehm. In addition, the first movement faded out too early with only 1 second pause before the second. The third movement had 13 seconds of loud audience coughing and rustling. I have altered the level for a reasonable volume in this 1957 transfer, and adjusted the silence lengths between movements; I also fixed the truncation of the hall ambience at the end of the first movement.
Your EQ was excellent in both cases and I made NO alteration!
Sincerely,
8H Haggis
Alas, that is not the only problem with the cuefile(s) for the Krips Gurrelieder. I tried two different programs to split those FLACs and both failed even after your suggested change.
Thanks for the corrected Beethoven though...
I have found what the problem seems to be with the files on this blog. Something non-standard appears in the header of the FLACs, which causes many Windows media players to choke at the start of the file, while trying to render it. Often the first track will play but not any of the subsequent ones. Or, if the tracks after no. 1 *will* play, you lose the beginning of the music, and the track timings SEEM to be way off. Changing the CUE file timings to NOT fix this.
I have solved the problem with some other DL's that have an identical issue -- FLACs uploaded by Russian enthusiasts, for example -- by converting the FLAC to WAVE; changing the file name; converting back to FLAC again with a GOOD, reliable, standard app, and then erasing the original FLAC, while renaming the converted one. THEN, the cue file works ok.
In my Windows domain, using XP through 10, I find that "FLAC Frontend" version 2.1 -- a free app -- makes RELIABLE, standard FLAC files.
I have asked this blogger to identify WHAT programs he or she is using to make the FLACs and the CUE files; but there has never been any response. In lieu of this, all of us users must make our OWN fix. Worst-case, if my suggestions above fail, there are programs that will parse a CUE file and then split the tracks along those timing demarcations; and create separare files, one for each track. I've done that, too, using several different free apps for Windows.
Since I now have a fix, I shall NOT ever upload my 'repairs' again. It is, of course, presumptuous and the original blogger my be offended. But, beyond that, it will waste my time since the fix I've devised above is easier and quicker for ME, and I won't take the time to do it for other readers of this blog--you may possibly be able to make this work.
I have also obtained some DLs of FLACs/cue files from other sites, notably one in Russia, where there is an identical problem. I haven't yet used a Hex Editor to examine the files but my "fix" works just as effectively; so I suppose the cause is exactly the same. Could we, here, be experiencing some issues related to using a FLAC creator on a different OS? Or some slightly non-standard app?
If the blogger wishes to use the open source format FLAC, I think it would be a good idea to make it as UNIVERSAL as possible and not tied to some SPECIFIC, odd piece of software.
This is my last word on the subject. If this blog continues to be such a source of frustration, I certainly have others to divert my attention to.
8H Haggis
Listened to and grateful, Guido.
Wonderful upload, but I can't understand why it says op 19, when that op. is concert N. 2
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