A few things

Taking it easy this morning, as usual for a Sunday

Here’s a photo of my Cayin N7 digital audio player (DAP) plugged into the Cayin C9 multi-timbre headphone amp. I am curious about how these two interact, specifically how the amp might alter the performance of the DAP. The sound with the headphone amp is much more robust and tonally balanced than with just the DAP output. I have head that the amp in the DAP is underpowered. Maybe having the DAP output drive the amp input is easier for it than a pair of current-demanding headphones, especially the low-impedance (~20 ohms) Hifiman Audivinas I am using right now. With the amp, it may serve as just a voltage source, requiring less current, which it may be poor at supplying. Anyway, I’m only a but educated in electronics, and not enough to state this with any certainty. It’s speculation.

I like Maria BC. I found them on Bandcamp.com. I read in the notes that they are classically trained in singing, and their voice is lovely. The electronics accompanying the vocals are tasteful and unusual. I recommend their Hyaline album for low-key, indie-esque music with guitar and electronics that do not dominate and which allow the vocal performance to shine. A bit morose, and not too much. No melodrama.

A friend gave me a C. Diab album, and I have been enjoying it a lot. Electronics paired tastefully with acoustic instruments is a format for an ensemble performance I enjoy. No vocals. Slow tempo. No pounding bass drum. No ratatat snare. Once again, it’s on Bandcamp.com. I think Bandcamp.com is a great resource.

Canberk Ulas has a new album out in collaboration with a name I recognize, Arve Henriksen. The duduk is the Armenian analogue to the clarinet (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duduk). It has a sound, here, that is much like a gently played violin or viola. It is relaxing, peaceful, meditative music. He uses space to good effect and sometimes harmonizes with himself via multitracking. The swirling reverb effect he uses is mystery-invoking. Electronics provide a soundscape-type sonic backdrop. One technique he uses, that takes the duduk into terrain I’ve not heard before is blowing through it without producing a note, and sampling the sound and looping parts of it for a pitches whisper that is a textural layer beneath clearly articulated notes on a separate track.

I’m going to see a performance by a few woodwind players and a percussion this coming Friday evening, in a small concert hall at my alma mater in town. I’ve asked to make an audio recording with my miniature Zoom H1n recorder. It has made an excellent recording of a jazz trio performance a a couple of years ago. It’s a handy little thing, which I use as a microphone during online music lessons.

One last thing, which a friend sent and which ai find hilarious:

I lied, I don’t have Netflix. Take off your shoes, we’re doing whippits and listening to experimental jazz in the dark

Happy listening! 😁