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Stuart Ferguson's Collection

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan   08/11/1996

Greek Theatre, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Source Audience
Media CDR   2 discs
Notes DVD 1820; lineage: lineage: Sonic Studios DSM mics: Sony D7 DAT @ 48kHz. Recorded from 2nd row in the front left section near center aisle. DAT master playback from Panasonic SV3700 DAT deck via coaxial out to M-Audio CO2 converter to optical in on MacBook Pro, captured in Audacity 1.312. Sample rate conversion, track markers, export to FLAC level 8 (Audacity 1.312). SBE check in xACT. FLAC tags in kid3. MD5 in Checksum+. FFP in xACT.
Tech Notes RESEED NOTES
For those who have the original download and wish to seed, the original download folder is enclosed inside this updated folder, which includes one other folder of UPDATES FOR RESEED, with artwork, this updated info text, two alternate tracks for CD burning (see note below under setlist), and relevant .ffp files. Just download the UPDATES FOR RESEED folder and its contents and the main "nusrat 1996-08-11 UPDATED" container folder and you're all set.
J-Card Comment SOURCE AND LINEAGE

- RECORDING
Sonic Studios DSM mics: Sony D7 DAT @ 48kHz. Recorded from 2nd row in the front left section near center aisle.

- TRANSFER
DAT master playback from Panasonic SV3700 DAT deck via coaxial out to M-Audio CO2 converter to optical in on MacBook Pro, captured in Audacity 1.312.

- MASTERING
Sample rate conversion, track markers, export to FLAC level 8 (Audacity 1.312). SBE check in xACT. FLAC tags in kid3. MD5 in Checksum+. FFP in xACT.



NOTES ON QUALITY

- ROUGH START
Because the taper had travel difficulties and was still en route to her seat (with the DAT recording the entire journey) during the opening song, the beginning of the first track is extremely muffled. After the first few minutes, the taper got settled in one place and the sound became much more consistent.

- NOISY SPOTS
There are a handful of momentary spots of digital hum.

- AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Rhythmic clapping and cheering can be heard intermittently as audience members, usually solo or in pairs, would dance up to the front and, after a brief interval of ecstatic rhythmic jumping or dancing, with a great flourish shower a fistful of paper money on the musicians before dancing back down the aisle to wherever they came from.

There was also a fair amount of subdued audience conversation, especially at the beginning of each set, but fortunately not much drunken hollering at this Sunday afternoon show. Overall the sound is not too bad considering the low-budget mics, but the listener will certainly notice the flaws typical of a stealth audience recording.

- SONIC STUDIOS MICS
The omnidirectional mics are usually a drawback for concerts, but in a lovely space like the very front of the Greek with a mostly well behaved audience, the three-dimensional sound is sometimes surprisingly pleasing. (Other times, when you hear people talking, not so pleasing.)

I have never encountered any other sources of this show but if anybody else was out there taping I'd love to hear the results.

- LEVELS AS IS
Going by the "first, do no harm" principle, rather than risk destroying the dynamic range by compressing, amplifying, normalizing, or adjusting the volume envelope, I left the music as it was so each listener can decide whether s/he wants to edit or not. A few of the claps hit 0 dB, but the levels are mostly OK.

Samples are provided so you can judge for yourself whether it's worth the download.



NOTES ON THE PERFORMANCE
This was my first introduction to Nusrat, and the only opportunity I had to see him perform. Exactly one year after this appearance at the Greek Theatre, he suffered kidney and liver failure, and died of cardiac arrest at age 48 five days later, on August 16, 1997. I cannot compare this show to other Nusrat & party performances, but even if it was the band's worst day ever (which I doubt), it remains one of the most transcendent concerts I have ever attended.



TENTATIVE TRACK LISTING
Since listening to Nusrat doesn't really go well with a hyperfocused mental state, and I don't understand Urdu well enough to search for lyrics, I can only offer a tentative guess at a setlist. I spent several hours comparing these tracks to official CDs in our collection as well as videos and sample mp3 previews online. If anyone out there can chime in with a complete and correct list, I'm sure all of the rest of us would appreciate it.

SET 1
/?/ not sure if there was another song before ALLAH HOO; if so it's missing /?/
01 // ALLAH HOO [% fade in; rustling and sound anomalies first few minutes]
02 ALI DA MALANG
03 MERA PIYA GHAR AAYA
04 announcer / set break****

SET 2
05 warmup to set 2
06 JHOOLE JHOOLE LAL
07 AKHIYAN UDEEK DIYAN
08 DAM MAST QALANDAR MAST MAST
09 announcer / end of show ****

**** UPDATE: The full show is 700MB and won't fit on a standard CDR. NOTE: Shorter alternate FLAC versions of the two announcer tracks (track 4 and track 9) are included for those who wish to burn to CD. ****
Trades Allowed Yes
Reference / Generation 1820
Owned by Stuart Ferguson · Last Updated May 23, 2023