⌈ The KRAKOW SONIC SOCIETY is an informal group of music lovers, audiophiles, and friends who get together to learn something new about audio products, records, music, and more. The idea for the KTS was born in 2005, although its roots go back several years. Below is a report from the 156th meeting, featuring Mr. HISAO NATSUME and his label, SAKURAPHON. ⌋

THE USUAL REACTION TO THE NEWS that I listen to records transferred from shellac discs is an indulgent look and a brief, “Can you even hear anything on those?” People I talk to usually know what a shellac record is, and, either recalling its sound from movies, where it typically serves as background noise, or assuming that such “ancient” technology simply “must be” absolutely imperfect, they think it’s not worth the time. And to some extent, they’re right. Except that’s not always the case.

▓ A Few Words About Shellac

LET’S RECALL that we’re talking about an invention from the late 1880s. On November 8, 1887, Emile Berliner obtained his first patent in the United States for the phonograph and the flat disc system. In 1889, he produced the first small records made of hard rubber in Germany as part of a joint venture with a toy manufacturer. Mass production and the market launch of shellac records took place in 1894. Flat records with various rotational speeds appeared at that time, ranging from 70 to 90 rpm depending on the manufacturer.

‖ Hisao Natsume with his new release

Around 1910, the speed of 78 rpm became the official industry standard worldwide. According to the Yale University Library, after World War II, when it became necessary to distinguish “78s” from other newer formats, these records began to be called “78s” or “shellacs.” Previously, they were simply called “records” or, when it was necessary to distinguish them from cylinders, “disc records”. The playing time of 78 RPM records is approximately three to five minutes per side, depending on the size of the record.

The sound quality of recordings played on horn-equipped phonographs was truly poor. The frequency response was limited to a narrow range from 100 Hz to 8,000 Hz (in the era of acoustic recordings before 1925, this range was narrower, extending roughly from 250 Hz to 3,000 Hz; electrical recordings after 1925 offered a wider range). The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was typically between 30 dB and 40 dB. And then there was that hissing noise…

And yet people listened to music not only at home, but also in bars and even in street booths where, for a fee, one could hear a new recording. What’s more, it was largely thanks to this technologythat jazz became music for the masses. An article from the National Jazz Library states:

The problem with this system was both the quality of the medium and the playback method - fully mechanical - using a horn to amplify the sound from a diaphragm to which vibrations were transmitted from the stylus reading the information from the record’s grooves. The playback system weighed as much as 200 g, which led to rapid wear and tear on the records.

‖ One of the albums we listened to, Auguste de Radwan (1867-1957), Complete Recordings

The situation changed significantly when shellac records began to be played not only on electrically driven turntables, but also with cartridges (piezoelectric) and an electronic signal amplification system. Although there are still many users today who believe that a horn is the ultimate source of sound from shellac records, I beg to differ. Besides, it is precisely thanks to the combination of two technologies - the older one (shellac) and the newer one (Long Play) - that we are able to listen to these same recordings at home using digital devices.

▓ Sakuraphon

WHEN HISAO NATSUME founded the Sakuraphon label, he was driven by love - a love of piano recordings, primarily those of Frédéric Chopin and his students, but not exclusively. There’s no money to be made from such projects; they’re too niche. The vast majority of the music recorded on shellac discs was never later transferred to either vinyl or digital formats. Thanks to him, we can hear it again:

In response to my question during an interview about the system he uses for remastering, Hisao said that his system was designed specifically for playing 78 rpm records, not for listening to LPs; more → HERE. He has also always used vintage Yamaha speakers, which were in his home even before he was born. The rest of his system is as follows:

‖ Hisao talking about the remastering methods used for shellac records

• Turntables: Technics SP10 Mk 2 (with Dynavector DV505 cartridge) and Garrard 401 (with an oil-dampened tonearm).
• Phono stages: Soulnote E-2, M2TECH Joplin Mk 3, KAB Souvenir EQS Mk 12.
• Cartridges: Stanton, Denon, Nagaoka, Shure, Ortofon... and so on.
• Headphones: Sony (MDR-900ST, MDR-M1ST).

The target medium on which he releases his material is the Compact Disc - the most popular music medium in human history. He digitizes the material himself using Joplin Mk 3 and Mutec MC3+ USB AD/DA converters, recording the signal onto DSD hardware recorders: the TEAC SD-500HR and the Korg MR-2000S. He then transfers the signal to a computer, where he removes clicks and noise using CEDAR (Computer Enhanced Digital Audio Restoration) and iZotope RX. The signal must first be converted to 88.2 kHz, 32-bit (float) PCM on the computer.

Recently, Sakuraphon has also added recordings from archival tapes to its catalog.

▓ Meeting

HISAO’S VISIT TO KRAKÓW was part of a trip he took, along with his former boss from a major Japanese company, to several European countries. In Poland, he wanted to see, as he put it, two cities: Warsaw and Krakow. Warsaw - this is probably obvious - because of Chopin and the places associated with him. As for Krakow - because of me (I’m just repeating what he said :)

‖ Mietek Stoch was Hisao guide in Poland (from Krakow they, as expected, traveled to… Zakopane)

Mietek Stoch served as our guests’ guide. One of the greatest - and probably the greatest - LP collector in Poland, he is the twin brother of Bronisław - the father of Kamil Stoch, who is also a collector - and is, moreover, a wonderful storyteller. He has an enormous knowledge of records and classical music, which he shares on the airwaves of Polish Radio Program II; you can learn more about his passion in the Mieczysław Stoch. So 35,000 vinyl records aren’t enough… interview → HERE.

It’s almost unbelievable, but the story is true - I introduced them to each other last year. The owner of Sakuraphon was looking for contacts in Poland who could lead him to records he didn’t yet own. Then, as soon as they met in Tokyo, it turned out they had already met twenty years earlier, when Hisao worked at Union Disk, and Mietek was releasing albums of Polish music in Japan. During Hisao’s visit to Poland, Mietek served as our interpreter.

▲ A few simple words…

HISAO NATSUME

HELLO TO EVERYONE HERE; I am extremely pleased to be a guest at this meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society. As I’m sure you all know, I specialize in music recorded on shellac records at a speed of seventy-eight revolutions per minute. I’ve been collecting them for forty-four years and have one of the largest - if not the largest - collections of shellac records in Japan, and perhaps even in the world, featuring piano music, including some of the rarest and most beautiful recordings.

Why did I become interested in them? I once heard Dinu Lipatti and was captivated by him. He is a representative of a minimalist, wondrous, spiritual art of interpretation. What caught my attention was that Lipatti was a student of Alfred Cortot - the legendary French pianist with whom Lipatti studied piano at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. Cortot noticed his talent during a competition in Vienna (where he walked out of the jury in protest against Lipatti being awarded only second place) and invited him to his school.

‖ The Meeting was a chance to hand Hisao a certificate of Krakow Sonic Society membership

Alfred Cortot was a student of Émile Decombes, who in turn was a student of Frédéric Chopin. My dream was to hear Chopin himself, but for obvious reasons that was impossible. So I decided to get as close to him as possible - through the students of the pianist’s students, who had already begun recording. I must say that contemporary interpretations are completely different from what people living close to Chopin’s time presented. The old recordings are, quite simply, closer to the master - not only in terms of time but, as I believe, also musically.

But he is not the only one who interests me. From as early as the late 19th century, we have recordings by Liszt’s students. One of the students’ students was Teodor Leszetycki (German: Theodor Leschetizky). Leszetycki was a Pole who settled in Vienna, and one of his most important students was Ignacy Paderewski. These recordings already exist, are available, and have piqued my interest greatly. First, because he was Polish, and second, because through a network of connections spanning successive generations, he was linked to Chopin himself.

I have incredibly rare records from that period, including one of which I know only a single copy - my own. If it were to break, this music would disappear forever. So I’m trying to remedy this issue. In any case, besides Paderewski, Leszetycki also had other famous students, such as Mieczysław Horszowski. I, however, became interested in musicians who weren’t famous - those who recorded something once, maybe twice, and then disappeared from the radar. I wanted to make this music more widely available because it’s so rare - hence the idea for my own label, Sakuraphon, which reissues these rare recordings on CD.

‖ Hisao Natsume with the KSS certificate

At the very beginning, I had only an interest in music. However, once I started working on audio remasters, I also became interested in audio equipment. But for me, it’s vintage equipment. I use modern digital tools, but the foundation consists of products from years ago. In reality, I’ve never been interested in audio for its own sake - I only use it for remastering music and listening to it.

When transferring the signal from shellac records, the key factor is the selection of the phono cartridge. These have completely different types of grooves, diameters, and tracking forces than modern ones. I currently have thirty-one 78 rpm cartridges, and for each project I select the one that sounds best. This is absolutely essential. Another important element is the interconnect I use to send the signal to the phono preamp.

I’ve brought a few records of Chopin’s music for you - mainly performed by Leschetizky’s students - which I’d like to present to you. These will include: Ignaz Friedman playing Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 69, No. 1, from the album Pupils of Leschetizky Vol. 3, Auguste Radwan performing Mazurek, and Leo Sirota with Etude, Op. 10, No. 2.

Thank you very much for such a warm welcome! ‖ KSS •

▓ Sound

MIETEK STOCH • Ignaz Friedman – a wonderful recording! As you probably know, Waltz in A-flat Major, known as Farewell Waltz, was composed by Chopin for Maria Wodzińska.

HISAO NATSUME • When I was a child, I played this piece at a small concert in Japan. When I finished, a very elderly lady came up to me, kissed me on the head, and said, “I am Maria Wodzińska; Chopin composed this just for me - thank you.” I should add that the original recording from which I transferred the audio was released by the French label Ultraphone. When releasing this album, I thought it would be nice to pay homage to that label, so I tweaked the name a bit to “Sakuraphone.”

Mazurek on the next album, a recording from 1933, now using a microphone, was played on an Érard piano - a company founded by Sébastien Érard, one of the most important and distinguished companies in the history of French piano and harp manufacturing. As you can hear, this is a completely different interpretation from those to which contemporary virtuosos have accustomed us.

MIETEK • Hisao won't say this, but I get the impression that pianists today are competing over “specs” and chasing their own tails, forgetting about the music.

WOJCIECH PACUŁA • I can see that Wiciu didn’t like this interpretation of Mazurek – why?

RYSIEK B. ‖ KSS • I didn’t like it either…

WICIU ‖ KSS • Indeed, it’s not „my style”. It was played too staccato, it lacked a good flow.

ANDRZEJ GROCHOWALSKI ‖ KSS • I should add, that there was a lot of noise in this recording. The previous album, one with Walz, sounded much better.

HISAO • The next recording should sound better. This is a recording from the tape. Its history is very interesting. It was discovered by Sirota’s granddaughter, Nicole Gordon. She is the daughter of Beate Sirota Gordon, a well-known feminist activist who, at the age of 22, played a key role in drafting women’s rights into Japan’s postwar constitution.

From 1930 to 1946, Sirota lived in my country and did some recording. When he died, several reels of tape were found in the basement of his house; they subsequently went missing again and were eventually discovered in New York, from where I received them for remastering. This is also a different sound. As far as virtuosity goes, this isn’t an example of it. Nevertheless, it’s a very interesting interpretation. The artwork on the CD is a reproduction of a tape reel.

MIETEK • I’d like to take this opportunity to say a few words about Chopin. What’s so amazing about him? - I see in him a concentration of everything within his short pieces -both lyricism and drama. These elements can appear in truly cosmic quantities. Béla Bartók composed the piece Microcosmos, and that’s a whole cosmos under ten fingers. But Chopin is galaxies - and that’s the difference.

The best interpretation of his music, in my opinion, is one that combines lyricism and drama into a single flow. There shouldn’t be any distinction between them - it should all be cohesive. Just like on the album I brought with me - by Yakov Flier, who belonged to the same generation as Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels. He was vice-chairman of the jury at the 7th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. Flier remained in the shadows, but he developed tremendously. It’s often the case that the greats rest on their laurels, but he didn’t.

‖ Mietek Stoch with Jakow Flier’s album

RYSZARD B. I have to admit that what I liked best was Ignaz Friedman’s album featuring Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 69, No. 1. The sound quality, considering how old it is, is incredible. Besides, it was so perfectly produced that it sounded like a historical recording - but from a tape. I’m a little disappointed with the sound quality of Auguste Radwan’s album, even though it’s a tape recording.

By the way - my opinion of the Melodia albums has been confirmed. They’re excellent, uncompressed, and have high dynamic range. Congratulations on your choice!

MIETEK • The quality of Melodia records depends on where they were pressed. There were three pressing plants, with the best one in Riga. That one had a complete Telefunken production line, and you can hear it.

ARTUR REICH ‖ KSS, Audio Video Summit • I’m surprised that Sakuraphon’s records are of such high quality. There’s no dramatic difference between LPs and shellac records. After all, we’re used to thinking that there are always some pops and cracks, and “lathe noise” involved. The improvement with LPs was obvious, but it wasn’t a shock - just a change in perspective.

MIETEK • Yeah, the long-play record is the pinnacle of what sound can be, and digital technology ruined it all… I wonder how Wojtek will defend that :)

WOJTEK • Digital technology speaks for itself, I don’t need to do it for it :)

TOMEK KASZUBA ‖ Kasoto • I may not be completely objective because I am the designer of the speakers we use to listen to music.

‖ Tomasz Kaszuba with his Kasoto OnWaTi (Special Edition for Soyaton) loudspeakers

WOJTEK • Let me say it out loud - it sounded really good.

HISAO • I agree, it sounded very good.

TOMEK KASZUBA • So I’ll say a few words about the tape recordings we listened to from the Sakuraphon album. First of all, it was an old tape that had been sitting in a basement for several years, likely under less-than-ideal conditions. When we hear “master tape,” we expect weight and dynamics. That wasn’t the case here. But it couldn’t have been. If the label doesn’t compress the signal - and Sakuraphon doesn’t - we get a faithful representation of what’s on the tape; perhaps that’s why Rysiek was disappointed with Auguste Radwan’s album.

WICIU • Besides, it was a home recording, not one made in a professional studio. So it wasn't a high-quality tape recorder, microphone, or recording space. All things considered, the sound was really great.

ANDRZEJ GROCHOWALSKI • I’m on the “digital” side of things, but I was captivated by the atmosphere and magic of the record ripped from a shellac disc. Once I mentally filtered out the hiss, the sound absolutely surprised me. The piano’s tone here is truly unique. It was a pleasure to listen to because it’s an authentic and natural sound.

ZBYSZEK BIELAK ‖ KSS • I really liked what you said, Mietek, about Chopin in a cosmic context. His music glides through entirely different emotional densities than those of other composers. For me, classical music is associated with the cosmos precisely because it doesn’t fully capture earthly relationships.

Chopin isn’t about a wall of sound or a sonic storm; rather, in these short pieces, he was able to take us through all the phases of a musical climax - almost reaching the intensity of Wagner - only to bring it all back down to earth in just a few notes at the end. That’s why I found the album with recordings transferred from shellac so fascinating. This is a time capsule. We don’t listen to this like other recordings; instead, we’re transported to another time. The hiss completely separates us from reality, and all that remains is the music - a fascinating sound and experience.

By the way, I have a question for Hisao regarding shellac records - it’s a very delicate material, and in Japan, tremors and earthquakes are a daily occurrence. Aren’t you worried about your collection?

HISAO • That is indeed a big problem. That’s why, specifically for my collection, I built a special, decoupled concrete ceiling, which isolates the records from the floor. I hope that will be enough. Another safeguard is that I’ve digitized everything and have it stored on various digital media.

WOJTEK • Which brings us back to the digital technology and Mietek’s question about how I’m going to defend it. I said - it’ll defend itself…

▒ Summary

I’VE BEEN FAMILIAR WITH SAKURAPHON RELEASES for many years, and I’m a fan. For nearly thirty years, I’ve also been collecting CDs of jazz recordings from the golden age of swing - that is, the 1920s and 1930s - as well as those from the 1940s. For me, transcribing a shellac or lacquer record is therefore something natural. And these recordings are incredibly authentic because of their simplicity and naturalness. I think that’s exactly what we heard during our meeting with Hisao Natsume.

You can hear this man’s great love and passion for music in them, and his knowledge of rare recordings by Chopin’s students is invaluable. Hisao is also a kind, warm, and cheerful person, which - I’m sure - shines through in what we hear when we play his albums. For me, meeting him, even though we’ve known each other for a long time via email and WhatsApp, was a wonderful adventure.

I don't know if we've encouraged you to explore the Sakuraphon catalog. Even if we haven't, I hope that we've given you something to think about. ‖ WP

‖ SETUP

• Turntable: J.Sikora Reference Line (special edition for Soyaton) with J.Sikora KV12 tonearm and Ortofon P.W. MC cartridge
• Phono stage: Thöress Phono Enhancer III
• CD Player: McIntosh MCD550
• Reel-to-reel tape recorders: Otari MX5050 B2, Technics RS-1500 US

‖ Julek Soja’s system

• Linestage: VAC Vintage Line Preamplifier
• Power amplifier: VAC PA 80/80
• Loudspeakers: Kasoto OnWaTi (Special Edition for Soyaton)
• Cables: Soyaton Benchmark.

You can purchase Sakuraphon albums directly from their website by LINK.