In the beginning...
 

How and when did your interest in things audio start?

I got intested when I was a lad in the 50's and 60's mainly due to those 3
strip 'Cinerama' presentations, all 7 audio tracks running at 29 ips with
valve amps through to those huge Altec 'Voice Of The Theatre' speakers. (800
to over 3000 lbs.) I can still remember the start of the show with Lowell
Thomas appearing in black & white on a small screen in mono sound talking
about the film...then he says 'LADIES & GENTLEMEN, THIS IS CINERAMA'..the
curtain above the small screen goes up, the curtains to the sides move
sideways to reveal a 120' screen, the film then changed to colour covering
the whole screen and the stunning multi-track sound filled the entire
theatre. WOW I was hooked... from then on I dragged my poor parents to many
different showings in many different places, even the 'Itinerama' in that
huge 'big top'

That certainly hit the emotions, from then on I went for gear that did
that...it had to hit those emotions no matter if it was orchestral or rock
or whatever..it had to hit that spot. I have a feeling KeithG is coming
from a place near to that ;-) If its accurate but doesn't have that
emotion - then I'm not interested. (I would love both but I haven't heard a
system that does that for me yet) From then on I've bought, listened to
and sold more bits than I care to think of...though for the last 8 years
I've had Nirvana & I'm happy.

Ok, your turn...maybe your first Fisher Price record player ;

In the beginning...
 

"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message
...
How and when did your interest in things audio start?


1953 (when I was 5 or 6 years old) listening to this on the radio every
Friday (?) night.....


http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...0intospace.mp3


...... sitting on the arm of a chair watching the grille cloth of the radio
more intently than I watch a TV screen today!

Fekkin' loved it! - Scares me more now than it did then!! :-)

(See http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/...yintospace.htm if you are
interested...)



I got intested when I was a lad in the 50's and 60's mainly due to those 3
strip 'Cinerama' presentations, all 7 audio tracks running at 29 ips with
valve amps through to those huge Altec 'Voice Of The Theatre' speakers.
(800
to over 3000 lbs.) I can still remember the start of the show with Lowell
Thomas appearing in black & white on a small screen in mono sound talking
about the film...then he says 'LADIES & GENTLEMEN, THIS IS CINERAMA'..the
curtain above the small screen goes up, the curtains to the sides move
sideways to reveal a 120' screen, the film then changed to colour covering
the whole screen and the stunning multi-track sound filled the entire
theatre. WOW I was hooked...


Streuth! I bet it did!

I grew up in the sticks and my introduction to cinema was more along the
lines of Cinema Paradiso or those Stella Artois sponsorship clips on Channel
whateveritis on the TV films:

A blokey used to travel round the villages with a (pretty decent) sound
projector and charge a fairly small amount to watch films in the various
village halls about once a fortnight. (I even had to bike to the next
village to get to see one!) Perhaps it was the 'effort' needed to see a film
or the rareity of the event but, either way, it ironed in a love of films
for life!

I do remember one incident - the film was 'Carry On Jack' (you never really
knew what you were going to get as the 'programme was subject to change'!!)
and was sitting there thinking 'WTF *is* this crap...??' (or words to that
effect, for a little lad...) when suddenly the film spool fell off the
projector and rolled all the way up the hall in the centre aisle. The blokey
says 'sorry about that - I'll have to give your money back', and promptly
did so. Although the film was/is ****e I still remember the feeling of
disappointment and that I would have been more than happy to wait while he
wound it back up!


That certainly hit the emotions, from then on I went for gear that did
that...it had to hit those emotions no matter if it was orchestral or rock
or whatever..it had to hit that spot. I have a feeling KeithG is coming
from a place near to that ;-) If its accurate but doesn't have that
emotion - then I'm not interested.


Yes Mike, you're right on the money there! The sound of a system quite
simply has to hold my interest or I 'wander off' and find I haven't been
listening to it or (normally a CD, because they go on too long) I'm waiting
for it to end!! My gear only has to be 'accurate enough' then 'pleasing'
takes over....


(I would love both but I haven't heard a
system that does that for me yet)


I don't worry about it - I've heard a lot of live stuff I wouldn't want to
hear twice and I ain't never seen a mastertape, let alone heard one - so I'm
not too bunched up about them! My kit covers the entire spectrum from warm
and woolly to cold, steely and harsh, depending what I put on it, so I
reckon I've got most things covered and I've got so many versions of the
same tunes/works in my Jazz and Classical collections - who's to say which
is the right/best one....??

In the beginning...
 

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message
...
How and when did your interest in things audio start?


1953 (when I was 5 or 6 years old) listening to this on the radio every
Friday (?) night.....


http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...0intospace.mp3


..... sitting on the arm of a chair watching the grille cloth of the radio
more intently than I watch a TV screen today!

Me also, used to listen under bedclothes to headphones on Xtal set to the
plays by Jack Hulbert & Cicely Courtenledge, and 'In town tonight' ...we
stop the roar of London's traffic :-)

Fekkin' loved it! - Scares me more now than it did then!! :-) Me too..

Those big radio orchestras really set the scene...a lot of work must have
gone into

(See http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/...yintospace.htm if you are
interested...) ta



I got intested when I was a lad in the 50's and 60's mainly due to those
3
strip 'Cinerama' presentations, all 7 audio tracks running at 29 ips
with
valve amps through to those huge Altec 'Voice Of The Theatre' speakers.
(800
to over 3000 lbs.) I can still remember the start of the show with
Lowell
Thomas appearing in black & white on a small screen in mono sound
talking
about the film...then he says 'LADIES & GENTLEMEN, THIS IS
CINERAMA'..the
curtain above the small screen goes up, the curtains to the sides move
sideways to reveal a 120' screen, the film then changed to colour
covering
the whole screen and the stunning multi-track sound filled the entire
theatre. WOW I was hooked...


Streuth! I bet it did!

Pity it was too expensive/large to keep going and to film, but it knocks the
socks off Imax for sound at least. Think there's a Cinerama reconstruction
in Bradford UK and one in Seattle

I grew up in the sticks and my introduction to cinema was more along the
lines of Cinema Paradiso or those Stella Artois sponsorship clips on
Channel
whateveritis on the TV films:

A blokey used to travel round the villages with a (pretty decent) sound
projector and charge a fairly small amount to watch films in the various
village halls about once a fortnight. (I even had to bike to the next
village to get to see one!) Perhaps it was the 'effort' needed to see a
film
or the rareity of the event but, either way, it ironed in a love of films
for life!

Used to go to the Saturday morning cinema, it was pretty rowdy with the film
being interrupted by the manager on many occasions...a diet of cowboys &
indians got boring though. One one occasion we were all thown out, with the
manager screaming that he couldn't take any more!

I do remember one incident - the film was 'Carry On Jack' (you never
really
knew what you were going to get as the 'programme was subject to
change'!!)
and was sitting there thinking 'WTF *is* this crap...??' (or words to that
effect, for a little lad...) when suddenly the film spool fell off the
projector and rolled all the way up the hall in the centre aisle. The
blokey
says 'sorry about that - I'll have to give your money back', and promptly
did so. Although the film was/is ****e I still remember the feeling of
disappointment and that I would have been more than happy to wait while he
wound it back up!

Funny how things like that stick in your memory. Remember sometimes on those
Bell & Howell projectors with ultra fast rewind when a splice broke, film
would go everywhere before you could stop the reel :-)


That certainly hit the emotions, from then on I went for gear that did
that...it had to hit those emotions no matter if it was orchestral or
rock
or whatever..it had to hit that spot. I have a feeling KeithG is coming
from a place near to that ;-) If its accurate but doesn't have that
emotion - then I'm not interested.


Yes Mike, you're right on the money there! The sound of a system quite
simply has to hold my interest or I 'wander off' and find I haven't been
listening to it or (normally a CD, because they go on too long) I'm
waiting
for it to end!! My gear only has to be 'accurate enough' then 'pleasing'
takes over....

Exactly - I've heard that 'magic' even on a cheap trannie or car radio
when the conditions were right.

(I would love both but I haven't heard a
system that does that for me yet)


I don't worry about it - I've heard a lot of live stuff I wouldn't want to
hear twice and I ain't never seen a mastertape, let alone heard one - so
I'm
not too bunched up about them! My kit covers the entire spectrum from warm
and woolly to cold, steely and harsh, depending what I put on it, so I
reckon I've got most things covered and I've got so many versions of the
same tunes/works in my Jazz and Classical collections - who's to say which
is the right/best one....??


Spot on. If you can listen to and enjoy the majority of you own music
collection happily then thats all that counts. I was at a house the other
week where the guy kept getting up during the music and fiddling around with
this & that, really annoying (mind you imo it didn't sound too good ;-)

In the beginning...
 

On Sun, 8 Aug 2004 12:35:04 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message
...
How and when did your interest in things audio start?


1953 (when I was 5 or 6 years old) listening to this on the radio every
Friday (?) night.....


http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...0intospace.mp3


..... sitting on the arm of a chair watching the grille cloth of the radio
more intently than I watch a TV screen today!

Fekkin' loved it! - Scares me more now than it did then!! :-)

(See http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/...yintospace.htm if you are
interested...)

Eeee by 'eck, that takes me back to when I were nobbut a lad!(Said in
a
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

In the beginning...
 

On Sun, 8 Aug 2004 13:14:04 +0100, "Mike Gilmour"
wrote:


"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message
...
How and when did your interest in things audio start?


1953 (when I was 5 or 6 years old) listening to this on the radio every
Friday (?) night.....


http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...0intospace.mp3


..... sitting on the arm of a chair watching the grille cloth of the radio
more intently than I watch a TV screen today!

Me also, used to listen under bedclothes to headphones on Xtal set to the
plays by Jack Hulbert & Cicely Courtenledge, and 'In town tonight' ...we
stop the roar of London's traffic :-)

Fekkin' loved it! - Scares me more now than it did then!! :-) Me too..

Those big radio orchestras really set the scene...a lot of work must have
gone into

(See http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/...yintospace.htm if you are
interested...) ta

Eeee by 'eck, that takes me back to when I were nobbut a lad!

(Said in a North-East Scottish accent, of course................)

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

In the beginning...
 

"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 8 Aug 2004 13:14:04 +0100, "Mike Gilmour"
wrote:


"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Mike Gilmour" wrote in message
...
How and when did your interest in things audio start?


1953 (when I was 5 or 6 years old) listening to this on the radio every
Friday (?) night.....


http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...0intospace.mp3


..... sitting on the arm of a chair watching the grille cloth of the
radio
more intently than I watch a TV screen today!

Me also, used to listen under bedclothes to headphones on Xtal set to the
plays by Jack Hulbert & Cicely Courtenledge, and 'In town tonight' ...we
stop the roar of London's traffic :-)

Fekkin' loved it! - Scares me more now than it did then!! :-) Me
too..

Those big radio orchestras really set the scene...a lot of work must
have
gone into

(See http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/...yintospace.htm if you
are
interested...) ta

Eeee by 'eck, that takes me back to when I were nobbut a lad!

(Said in a North-East Scottish accent, of course................)

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering


Eeee, 'em days we 'ad now't 'ceptin valves n' grid bias batteries :-)

In the beginning...
 

In article ,
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
Eeee by 'eck, that takes me back to when I were nobbut a lad!

(Said in a North-East Scottish accent, of course................)

First surround I heard was in the Odeon, Aberdeen. The Robe, in the '50s.
And the thunder FX made some of the surround speakers rattle. Not very
impressive.

First impressive live band sound wise - Emile Ford and the Checkmates at
the Beach Ballroom. You could actually feel the bass guitar. Amazing at
the time - before the Beatles were well known. Saw them there too just
after they came back from Hamburg.

--
*Husbands should come with instructions

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In the beginning...
 

"Mike Gilmour" wrote


Used to go to the Saturday morning cinema, it was pretty rowdy with the
film
being interrupted by the manager on many occasions...a diet of cowboys &
indians got boring though. One one occasion we were all thown out, with
the
manager screaming that he couldn't take any more!


Yes, I wonder if that's why the blokey was keen to refund everybody when the
reel fell of - mebbe he was worried there might have been a riot???


I do remember one incident - the film was 'Carry On Jack' (you never
really


And I'm having trouble with this as well - according to the IMDB 'Carry On
Jack' was released in 1964 and the incident *had* to be before then! -
Misremembered? (I was certain that was the film!)


Spot on. If you can listen to and enjoy the majority of you own music
collection happily then thats all that counts. I was at a house the other
week where the guy kept getting up during the music and fiddling around
with
this & that, really annoying (mind you imo it didn't sound too good ;-)


Yes, been there, seen that!

:-)

In the beginning...
 

On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 00:20:11 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
Eeee by 'eck, that takes me back to when I were nobbut a lad!

(Said in a North-East Scottish accent, of course................)

First surround I heard was in the Odeon, Aberdeen. The Robe, in the '50s.
And the thunder FX made some of the surround speakers rattle. Not very
impressive.

First impressive live band sound wise - Emile Ford and the Checkmates at
the Beach Ballroom. You could actually feel the bass guitar. Amazing at
the time - before the Beatles were well known. Saw them there too just
after they came back from Hamburg.

Aaaah, the Beach Ballroom..................

Many a happy memory got started in that den of iniquity! I wonder if
it's still there, I only remember it from the late '60s, when I was up
at Uni there.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

In the beginning...
 

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
Eeee by 'eck, that takes me back to when I were nobbut a lad!

(Said in a North-East Scottish accent, of course................)

First surround I heard was in the Odeon, Aberdeen. The Robe, in the '50s.
And the thunder FX made some of the surround speakers rattle. Not very
impressive.

I remember The Robe as the first cinemascope film ever, I agree the FX
sounds seemed overdone, maybe those early surrounds or amps were not up to
the job, cherry red anodes anyone ;-)

early days First impressive live band sound wise - Emile Ford and the
Checkmates at
the Beach Ballroom. You could actually feel the bass guitar. Amazing at
the time - before the Beatles were well known. Saw them there too just
after they came back from Hamburg.

--
*Husbands should come with instructions

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

First impressions stay with you for life :-) Used to love 'feelin' the high
spl's of rock bands in my early days...but now I value my hearing...getting
old eh?

In the beginning...
 

In article ,
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
Aaaah, the Beach Ballroom..................

Many a happy memory got started in that den of iniquity! I wonder if
it's still there, I only remember it from the late '60s, when I was up
at Uni there.

It's still there as part of a leisure centre.

--
*If all is not lost, where the hell is it?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.