Classic Banjo Music Store

[Hal Allert]

Friends, it is with great pride and financial pleasure that I announce today the opening of the Classic Banjo Music Store.

This store is the result of several years of audio restoration. I have undertaken to return some of the old banjo players' music to the public in a clearer and more listenable format. The music I started with came from cylinders, records, and tapes. It was mostly unlistenable due to the hiss, pops and crackles, and re-recordings over the years.

Up to this point, I have restored 10 CDs worth of music from Charles Mansell, Tom Barriball, Tom Edwards, the Torrences, and others. The music is available as individual downloads, or bundled downloads which are the complete sets of singles, and hard copy CDs. These formats are available only through PayPal to keep the costs down.

I hope you enjoy these first 10 CDs as much as I do. Rest assured that others are on the way.

You can access this music either through http://www.classicbanjo. com, http://blog.classicbanjo.com, or http://shop.classicbanjo.com. Of course, comments are always welcome.

Hal Allert

[Trapdoor2]

I'll echo what I just posted to the yahoo group: I would like to hear a clip or two! Just a short mp3 "example" clip would help me a lot in my decision to purchase.

I don't think the lack of a clip will actually keep me from purchasing...but it might mean I purchase a "single" or two just to hear what you've accomplished.

===Marc

[Hal Allert]

I wish I could post clips alongside of the names but this particular engine doesn't allow it. Sorry. I have it on good authority that the cuts are good, though.

Hal

[Jody Stecher]

This is good news. Thanks for making these recordings available. I was wondering how much difference there is between the downloaded sound files and the audio quality on the discs. Are these MP3 discs? Also can you please let us know the shipping charge is for sending CDs and how many CDs move the charge higher? thanks!

[Hal Allert]

Jody Stecher said:

This is good news. Thanks for making these recordings available. I was wondering how much difference there is between the downloaded sound files and the audio quality on the discs. Are these MP3 discs? Also can you please let us know the shipping charge is for sending CDs and how many CDs move the charge higher? thanks!

[Hal Allert]

Jody, the shipping is figured out by the post office and added automatically. I am not adding a handling charge or shipping fee. That part is out of my hands. When I checked out how much it would cost in postage, the post office said $1.56 for one and $1.90 for 2. So it is all done by weight. If you bought, say, all ten, I would probably send them in a flat rate box. I am pretty new to this and haven't actually had a customer yet. Do you want to be the first?

Hal Allert said:

Jody Stecher said:

This is good news. Thanks for making these recordings available. I was wondering how much difference there is between the downloaded sound files and the audio quality on the discs. Are these MP3 discs? Also can you please let us know the shipping charge is for sending CDs and how many CDs move the charge higher? thanks!

[Ray Jones]

If you have never heard Charles Mansell , you have missed out on a banjo experience. He is one of my banjo Heroes. I don't think that there exists many photos of him. I do have just this one.

[Jody Stecher]

Yes, I'd be delighted (and even excited) to be the first customer and a return customer for future releases as well. I will order as soon as I know which format to choose, download or CD. The decision would be based on the format of the CDs. If these are mp3 CDs they will sound the same as the downloads and I could avoid the slightly higher charge and the shipping costs by downloading. Thanks for charging the actual USPS costs. I do the same for my customers at my website. At last I am being done unto as I have done.
-Jody



Hal Allert said:

Jody, the shipping is figured out by the post office and added automatically. I am not adding a handling charge or shipping fee. That part is out of my hands. When I checked out how much it would cost in postage, the post office said $1.56 for one and $1.90 for 2. So it is all done by weight. If you bought, say, all ten, I would probably send them in a flat rate box. I am pretty new to this and haven't actually had a customer yet. Do you want to be the first?

Hal Allert said:

Jody Stecher said:

This is good news. Thanks for making these recordings available. I was wondering how much difference there is between the downloaded sound files and the audio quality on the discs. Are these MP3 discs? Also can you please let us know the shipping charge is for sending CDs and how many CDs move the charge higher? thanks!

[Trapdoor2]

Ok Hal, I've triggered a buy on the 1st Mansell bundle for download.

Suggestion 1. Delete the "company name" requirement from the address form. I put "none" in there but it seems silly to have it as a *required* field.

Suggestion 2. You need some information on the sales page regarding how the downloads will be transacted. Nothing (unless I've missed it somehow) tells me where to go to get the download or what I should expect upon purchase.

Looking forward to hearing these tunes!!

===Marc

[Hal Allert]

Jody, the CDs are in .cda format, normal for CDs. As much as can be differentiated from these old recordings, once the music was restored, it was saved as a .wav and a .mp3. I believe the quality to be equal between the two formats. It is your choice.

Hal

Jody Stecher said:

Yes, I'd be delighted (and even excited) to be the first customer and a return customer for future releases as well. I will order as soon as I know which format to choose, download or CD. The decision would be based on the format of the CDs. If these are mp3 CDs they will sound the same as the downloads and I could avoid the slightly higher charge and the shipping costs by downloading. Thanks for charging the actual USPS costs. I do the same for my customers at my website. At last I am being done unto as I have done.
-Jody



Hal Allert said:

Jody, the shipping is figured out by the post office and added automatically. I am not adding a handling charge or shipping fee. That part is out of my hands. When I checked out how much it would cost in postage, the post office said $1.56 for one and $1.90 for 2. So it is all done by weight. If you bought, say, all ten, I would probably send them in a flat rate box. I am pretty new to this and haven't actually had a customer yet. Do you want to be the first?

Hal Allert said:

Jody Stecher said:

This is good news. Thanks for making these recordings available. I was wondering how much difference there is between the downloaded sound files and the audio quality on the discs. Are these MP3 discs? Also can you please let us know the shipping charge is for sending CDs and how many CDs move the charge higher? thanks!

[Hal Allert]

Marc, once the PayPal transaction is completed, instructions are given along with a link to the download. As for the company name bit, I will talk to the company.

Trapdoor2 said:

Ok Hal, I've triggered a buy on the 1st Mansell bundle for download.

Suggestion 1. Delete the "company name" requirement from the address form. I put "none" in there but it seems silly to have it as a *required* field.

Suggestion 2. You need some information on the sales page regarding how the downloads will be transacted. Nothing (unless I've missed it somehow) tells me where to go to get the download or what I should expect upon purchase.

Looking forward to hearing these tunes!!

===Marc

[Trapdoor2]

Ok, transaction successful! The 1st Mansell is just over 80mb and downloaded in just a minute or two (broadband cable). The sound quality is good, no hiss or scratch and the music is quite clear. Sure, it is obvious that it has been 'cleaned up' (some of the voice over is lost in the cleanup...hard to make out what he is saying in some bits) but I'm sure, far better than the originals.

I'm very pleased with this and will download more as I get to it. Thanks, Hal, for doing this...it is a valuable resource and yet more vintage banjo music to go into my ipod!

===Marc

[Hal Allert]

Marc, I believe that Mr. Mansell had a library of his music on tape that was recorded at an earlier time. When he put together a set of songs for someone he drew from his library and just introduced the song to be played. When I first listened to his recordings, all of the introductions were muffled so much I couldn't make out what he was saying. After cleaning them up, I could understand most of them.

Also, his introductions were recorded differently than his library. Different settings, etc. There was a noticeable 60Hz hum with his voice that probably came from an ungrounded outlet or something like that. I had to effectively clean up two separate pieces for each song. I am not happy with the way his voice turned out but at least it is mostly intelligable. As I get better, so will the recordings.

Hal

Trapdoor2 said:

Ok, transaction successful! The 1st Mansell is just over 80mb and downloaded in just a minute or two (broadband cable). The sound quality is good, no hiss or scratch and the music is quite clear. Sure, it is obvious that it has been 'cleaned up' (some of the voice over is lost in the cleanup...hard to make out what he is saying in some bits) but I'm sure, far better than the originals.

I'm very pleased with this and will download more as I get to it. Thanks, Hal, for doing this...it is a valuable resource and yet more vintage banjo music to go into my ipod!

===Marc