1. Home
  2. music
  3. 1267722483

Windham Hill an audiophile label?

I've been revisiting all of the early Windham Hill Records releases as part of a project detailing the Windham Hill Discography (you can see the site at http://windhaming.wordpress.com )

In my project I reprint all of the original liner notes and credits, and I've recently interviewed Harn Soper and Russell Bond of The Music Annex in Menlo Park where many of the classic Windham Hill albums were recorded (George Winston's Autumn, to name one.)

A typical Windham Hill album from 1980 to 1986 was:
- recorded direct to two-track, with minimal or no reverb at 30 inches per second
- Mastered by Stan Ricker at Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs
- Matrixed and pressed at RTI - Record Technology in Camarillo, CA
- Pressed using Quiex vinyl.

What do you think? Are any Windham Hill albums an important part of your audiophile collection? What are your observations on the sound?

(As an aside, I've also heard that they released original reel-to-reel recordings recording in "real-time" directly of the masters, and were a leader in chromium cassettes. Interesting details.)
darkj
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
Windham Hill was a child of the 70's.
The Hippie era was just passing, and the 'mystical' era of the 70's was starting. Along with the flowering of free love/ (and sex) was an increase in interest in the occult/yoga/ eastern religion.
Windham Hill fit right in. Narada eventually joined Winham Hill in making and distributing the stuff. (I know, I was Narada's first part time employee.. when it was just a distribution company.. in the basement of a bookstore!) Windham Hill was mostly sold in 'eastern bent' bookstores and as ads in the backs of Yoga Journals and other new age magazines.. The dude who thought up Narada, asked my boss (the Yoga bookstore owner) to join up with him BECAUSE he know the buyers' mindset. (the typical 'new age' bookstore owner!) I left in 1980, and that is about when Narada started recording it's own artists instead of selling others juust as a distribution company.
The stuff could be disparaged as mystical elevator Musak.. but it filled a purpose, sold a LOT of music, and is still interesting musically.
Post removed 
darkj's avatar
darkj OP
135 posts
 
Yes, Mark Isham is one of my favorites, particularly Tibet. I also love his work for David Sylvian on Brilliant Trees and Alchemy. Of course, he's also gone on to become a first-rate film composer and scorer.
narrod
1,064 posts
 
Gosh, no mention of Tuck and Patti.
darkj's avatar
darkj OP
135 posts
 
@Justlisten - I'd love to have more details about the studio at the house in Belmont. Not everything was recorded at the Music Annex. Different Fur, Mobius Recording in San Francisco were used. Shadowfax recorded in LA, two albums were recorded in Seattle, and so forth. Now Will Ackerman has an awesome recording studio called Imaginary Roads in Vermont. He continues to win Grammys as a producer.
More to discover