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I was listening light night the Charles Ives’ Fourth Symphony by the kids of American Symphony Orchestra and Members of Schola Cantorum under the baton of probably 180 years old Leopold Stokowski. Ives music is not exactly my cap of tea but I hardly can talk about music here but rather about the Stokowski interpretation. I seldom consider an atonal music as the “Pregnant Music”, sure there are exceptions but generally the atonal tone does not “get” me. However in case of Stokowski and the Ives’ Fourth Symphony the table was turned.

I took my Kostas Metaxas/Charles Kind re-made Stellavox and loaded it with Columbia reel. Well, Columbia is well know as the company that butchered zillion recordings with their Moronic recording practice but in case of this 1965 recording they did quite wonderful fine job… So, why I am telling this story in the thread dedicated to the RAAL “Water Drop” tweeter? Sure, because the tweeter made quite a difference and play its own role.

If you do not know this Ives work by Stokowski then you hardly undusted what I mean. It has big sound. Well, whatever Stokowski did has the BIG sound but in case of the Ives’ Fourth it is not juts a wall of BIG sound but as huge colossal wall of solidified sonic pressures that built a “super pressure” and this super pressure dominate mind with the force of the Tarkovsky’s or Paradzhanov's films…..

You might stay with your eyes closed, truing back to Sound and you always feel that that gigantic wall, almost the Pink Floydian Wall, that ornamented by the relief sculpture of sonic moaning and the supported by the Wagnerian-like pressure, is always there. That physical prentice of the Stokowski-built wall is so animated that you feel that you can extend your hand back and you fell the alive body of bubbling Sound…

Then you turn the “Water Drop” tweeter on….

The Wall trembles and collapse.  You stay with your eyes closed, truing back to Sound but now instead of the feeling the pressure from the Stokowski’ wall you feel that you are staying at the edge of Grand Canyon and juts a few feet behind you a huge, hundreds feet deep and a few miles wide, Earth Opening. Then the real “trip” starts… You make a step back, then one more and one more… but the Stokowski’s force holds you. You do not know if you are on earth yet or you are already are flying over the Grand Canyon. Whatever Stokowski’s does with his winds of Sound eliminate any your concerns, fears or worries about what might happen you and make you and all your awareness absolute and unconditional subordinate of Sound…

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