USSR Ministry of Culture Stereo Disc

[Mikey405]

I've sampled a Russian "USSR Ministry of Culture" record which demonstrates "How Stereo Works" by making sure you have the speakers placed correctly, the phase wired correctly etc. The announcers voice is fantastic - It's a cross between RP and deepest Russian - and some of the dodgy English he uses is quite something too - "It comes maximum close to natural conditions".

The download is 49MB and lasts for 21 Minutes.

http://www.oldtechnology.net/misc/US...20Side%201.mp3

I hope you enjoy it.

[espidog]

Just listening to it now - great fun. It's a shame the engineers didn't apply a bit more effort to getting the levels balanced between the different music and narration sections. I was nearly knocked flat by the...er...groovy music when it appeared on the RH channel!

Of course, playing it backwards with the channels out of phase reveals a coded message intended for KGB 'sleeper' agents.

[Tazman1966]

I'm just listening too. I nearly jumped out of my skin as well! I'm at the very soothing bit near the end now though

Originally Posted by espidog

Of course, playing it backwards with the channels out of phase reveals a coded message intended for KGB 'sleeper' agents

Originally Posted by Mikey405

...and some of the dodgy English he uses is quite something too...

He speaks better English than I do Russian though

Cheers,

[harvestgold]

This is superb! Many thanks for sharing it. I have two or three stereo demonstration disks along these lines and they are great fun. My favourite being an "Audio Fidelity Stereo Disc" one (Stereo pronounced Steereo as it is american). I also have a Decca FFSS single too.

This Russian one sounds extremely clean, in excellent condition and a quality transfer too!

Cheers, Neil.

[Mikey405]

Thanks Neil.

I wasn't really very happy with the recording, so I've sorted out the hum on my record-deck (Wires to the stylus were the wrong way round) and also that high-pitched whistle in the background (Switched-mode power supply making noise). Anyway, the file name is the same, but the downloaded file is the newer and better quality one.

Hope you enjoy it - I'll try and put side-2 up tomorrow, but that's not very interesting.

PS. This bloke starts off by saying "Steer-eo" and ends up saying "Stair-eo" by the end of the record...

[Dave Moll]

Originally Posted by Mikey405

PS. This bloke starts off by saying "Steer-eo" and ends up saying "Stair-eo" by the end of the record...

Yes, but at least he consistently follows it with "-phone-ic"

I have made the following rough notes on the contents which I though might be helpful:

00:00 - 00:20 introduction
00:20 - 03:08 orchestral music (which I don't recognise)
03:08 - 03:45 introduction continued
03:45 - 04:15 test of right channel
04:15 - 04:45 test of left channel
04:45 - 05:45 both channels together
05:50 - 07:35 balance check (mono sound)
07:35 - 09:00 "styereo-phone-ic" sound
09:00 - 10:00 polarity test
10:00 - 10:25 "enjoy the effect of spatial sound"
10:25 - 16:10 Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Straus II
16:10 - 18:30 forward/backward movement of sound (birdsong/country sounds)
18:30 - 21:23 In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg

[Mikey405]

Thank you for the useful reference Dave. The sleeve gives even more information about the various pieces of music used in the test, so I though I'd augment your timed-list with the extra bits that you'd have to have a ****** good knowledge of weird music to know...

Band I: P. Tchaikovsky. The Swan Lake. Introduction.
Band II: Channel Identification. I Vigners. Beat.
Band III: Channel Balance. A Zakis. Rumba.
Band IV: Phase.
Band V: The Enjoyment of Stereo. J Strauss. "An der Schonen blauen Donau".
Band VI: Effect of "being there" - bird watching.
Band VII: High-quality stereophonic sound. P Tchaikovsky. The Swan Lake. Act 2. No. 10 - Scene.

I particularly like the very jaunty version of The Blue Danube on track 5.

Thanks Dave.

From Mike.

[Mikey405]

I've uploaded side-2 as well - It's rather more boring but if you would like it for completeness, here it is:

http://www.oldtechnology.net/misc/US...20Side%202.mp3

Enjoy.

From Mike.

[Mikey405]

The track listing for side-2 is: (Exactly as written.)

1. S. Prokofiev. Classical Symphony. Part IV. USSR Radio Big Orchestra. Conductor G. Rozhdestvensky.
2. P. Tchaikovsky. The Queen of Spades, Scene: The Gambling House. Orchestra and soloists of the USSR Bolshoi Theatre. Conductor B. Haikin.
3. J. S. Bach. Toccata in D Minor. G. Grodberg (organ).
4. O. Vecchi. Madrigal. Ensemble "Madrigal" under A. Volkonsky.
5. M. Kazhlaev. Jazz Concerto. USSR Radio Light Music Orchestra under J. Silantiev.
6. A. Rubenstein. Night from opera "The Demon". Choir of the USSR Bolshoi Theatre, Conductor G. Rozh-destvensky.
7. V. Ditel. Variations on the theme of Russian folk song "Korobeiniki". Osipov Folk Instrument Orchestra. Conductor V. Gnutov.

[Dave Moll]

Originally Posted by Mikey405

Band VII: High-quality stereophonic sound. P Tchaikovsky. The Swan Lake. Act 2. No. 10 - Scene.

Whoops! Looks like I misidentified that one.

[Mikey405]

Originally Posted by Dave Moll

Whoops! Looks like I misidentified that one.

That's alright Dave - I only new "The Blue Danube" one, and I wasn't even sure who wrote that. (I used to think it was called the Blue DaNOOB.)