High Altitude Drums = Blue Knights Drum Corps of Denver & Troopers Drum Corps of Casper, WY – IsoMike.com (Kimber Kable) multichannel (4.0) SACD, 39:57 *****:
TrackList: Prelude; SHOSTAKOVICH: Sym. No. 10 1st movt. excerpt, Concerto No. 1 Op. 35 excerpt, Sym. No. 10 4th movt. excerpt; Sleep; Ghost Train/Canyon of Heroes; Sasparilla; Song of the Gandy Dancers; The Great Revival/Ghost Riders in the Sky; Square Push; Street Beat; Cloudburst; Turbine; RAVEL: Jeux d’eau; Night Storm; Amazing Grace
This is another four-channel audiophile SACD in a series using the experimental acoustic baffle system developed by Ray Kimber and called the IsoMike. It uses various baffles mounted near to the mikes to minimize the interference of inter-channel sounds that can compromise fidelity. The baffles are heart-shaped or egg-shaped, and they eliminate the line-of-sight between the mikes, thus revealing more detail and increased sensitivity. Extreme efforts must thus be made to reduce noise in the recording environment.
When I first saw this SACD I thought, “Oh boy, fife and drums in surround…” After hearing it, I’m saying, “Wow! fife and drums in surround!” It’s not what you might suspect. There are selections from Shostakovich and Ravel, some fine arrangements and some interesting original pieces. The Prelude is for the brass alone and there are only two tracks – Square Push and Street Beat – for the drums alone, and they are demo-quality for sure. There are many other uncredited band instruments heard, with the vibes prominent on several of the selections; this isn’t your usual boring fife and drum corps.
The recordings are all made outdoors at an amphitheater at Weber State University in Utah. Sometimes the musicians are close to the mikes and for other selections they are some distance away. The recordings were evidently made on days when there was no wind whatsoever, because there are no distracting background sounds to be heard. The outdoor acoustic lacks any reverberation information as usual with music made indoors, and this accentuates the spatial presence of all the music on the disc. It’s sometimes shockingly realistic – a holographic aural presence. The dynamic range is very extreme – be careful setting levels! The deep bass end generally suffers in outdoor recordings – but not on this one, believe me! It’s an enthusiastic woofer-tester.
The selections offering sound effect opportunities are great fun: Cloudburst, Turbine and Night Storm. One may wonder how some of the sounds are created, but they fit in beautifully. The two drum and bugle corps must really be crowd pleasers at the various sports events where they do halftime. performances! The album’s title is subtitled “High Attitude Drums.” All their arrangements are clever and most listenable – with their choreography they must put on quite a show in person.
– John Sunier
