Today I would like to introduce you to a very special master tape copy, "Pipes and Strings". The first association with pipes may be a bagpipe, but here you have to think bigger. In fact, huge, the pipes are a church organ. The strings, on the other hand, are represented by a guitar, acoustic, electrically amplified - after all, it has to stand up to the force of the organ's sound. And does this unusual combination even fit together? This much can be revealed in advance, yes, even exceptionally well!
Rainer Neuwirth, sound engineer and producer, has brought together two outstanding musicians, Paul Lammers (organ) and Levin Ripkens (guitar), at a location steeped in history, the Marienbasilika in Kevelaer, and arranged a series of well-known and lesser-known pieces. He perfectly miked the result of the playing together of these disparate instruments with the room acoustics of a Gothic church and also recorded it on tape with his Nagra IVs.
The whole thing comes beautifully packaged in a high-quality box on two high-quality aluminum reels. Content and location are well documented and photos of the recording show artists, instruments and the recording location. The playing time is over an hour.
Rainer Neuwirth offers various speeds and equalizations, I have 15 ips NAB here. I listened to it with the NAGRA T-Audio via NAGRA VPA tube amplifiers on "Audio Physic" CODEX loudspeakers.
Volume one begins quietly with a pavane, the guitar is the leading instrument here, the organ accompanies the whole thing discreetly but with comprehensive spatiality. The following piece is much better known, Europa by Carlos Santana. The beautiful guitar sound is perfectly accompanied and enhanced by the organ sounds. You have to listen to this piece out loud! This is followed by an Oscar-winning film score - "Schindler's List" by John Williams. The calm guitar piece is perfectly complemented by the organ. This is followed by a piece that one would not have expected, as if made for the organ: "Bohemian Rhapsody" I am sure that Freddy Mercury, wherever he is listening from, is enjoying this heavenly performance. It goes without saying that you have to listen to this piece out loud. "Fly me to the moon" afterwards is a swinging contrasting program, organ and guitar in perfect dialogue. Volume one comes to a gigantic end with "Phantom of the Opera", Andrew Lloyd Webber has rarely been heard so beautifully and bombastically.
Volume two begins again with a well-known, quiet piece, "still got the blues" by Garry Moore, wonderful organ accompaniment to the perfectly played guitar. This is followed by one of my favorite pieces, "Jupiter" by Gustav Holst. Everyone has heard it played on the organ in church, but not like this! I wish I could hear the entire "planets suite" like this in the future! This is followed by a wonderful piece by Astor Piazzolla, 'Oblivion'. The organ is a wonderful accompaniment for a quietly played guitar. In the next piece, "Riverdance" by Bill Whelan, the organ easily replaces an entire symphony orchestra. "Das Boot", who doesn't know the film score, is the next piece. The organ is perfectly suited to a submarine - after all, Captain Nemo also had one on board his "Nautilus". "Nothing else matters", an unusually melodic version of "Metallica", brings the album to a fascinating close.
The two musicians, Paul Lammers, 23 years old on the organ, and Levin Ripkens, 33 years old on the guitar, are two top-class performers, and I'm sure we'll be hearing more from both of them in the future. And in Rainer Neuwirth they have found a sound engineer who has captured their performance perfectly on tape.
If I were to rate the quality of these tapes, then ten out of ten points would be due for both the artistic quality and the sound engineering. I have rarely heard such high-quality and perfectly made master tape copies. The reels, the tape box and the extensive, illustrated booklet are designed with the same attention to detail.
Rainer Neuwirth, sound engineer and producer, has brought together two outstanding musicians, Paul Lammers (organ) and Levin Ripkens (guitar), at a location steeped in history, the Marienbasilika in Kevelaer, and arranged a series of well-known and lesser-known pieces. He perfectly miked the result of the playing together of these disparate instruments with the room acoustics of a Gothic church and also recorded it on tape with his Nagra IVs.
The whole thing comes beautifully packaged in a high-quality box on two high-quality aluminum reels. Content and location are well documented and photos of the recording show artists, instruments and the recording location. The playing time is over an hour.
Rainer Neuwirth offers various speeds and equalizations, I have 15 ips NAB here. I listened to it with the NAGRA T-Audio via NAGRA VPA tube amplifiers on "Audio Physic" CODEX loudspeakers.
Volume one begins quietly with a pavane, the guitar is the leading instrument here, the organ accompanies the whole thing discreetly but with comprehensive spatiality. The following piece is much better known, Europa by Carlos Santana. The beautiful guitar sound is perfectly accompanied and enhanced by the organ sounds. You have to listen to this piece out loud! This is followed by an Oscar-winning film score - "Schindler's List" by John Williams. The calm guitar piece is perfectly complemented by the organ. This is followed by a piece that one would not have expected, as if made for the organ: "Bohemian Rhapsody" I am sure that Freddy Mercury, wherever he is listening from, is enjoying this heavenly performance. It goes without saying that you have to listen to this piece out loud. "Fly me to the moon" afterwards is a swinging contrasting program, organ and guitar in perfect dialogue. Volume one comes to a gigantic end with "Phantom of the Opera", Andrew Lloyd Webber has rarely been heard so beautifully and bombastically.
Volume two begins again with a well-known, quiet piece, "still got the blues" by Garry Moore, wonderful organ accompaniment to the perfectly played guitar. This is followed by one of my favorite pieces, "Jupiter" by Gustav Holst. Everyone has heard it played on the organ in church, but not like this! I wish I could hear the entire "planets suite" like this in the future! This is followed by a wonderful piece by Astor Piazzolla, 'Oblivion'. The organ is a wonderful accompaniment for a quietly played guitar. In the next piece, "Riverdance" by Bill Whelan, the organ easily replaces an entire symphony orchestra. "Das Boot", who doesn't know the film score, is the next piece. The organ is perfectly suited to a submarine - after all, Captain Nemo also had one on board his "Nautilus". "Nothing else matters", an unusually melodic version of "Metallica", brings the album to a fascinating close.
The two musicians, Paul Lammers, 23 years old on the organ, and Levin Ripkens, 33 years old on the guitar, are two top-class performers, and I'm sure we'll be hearing more from both of them in the future. And in Rainer Neuwirth they have found a sound engineer who has captured their performance perfectly on tape.
If I were to rate the quality of these tapes, then ten out of ten points would be due for both the artistic quality and the sound engineering. I have rarely heard such high-quality and perfectly made master tape copies. The reels, the tape box and the extensive, illustrated booklet are designed with the same attention to detail.
