Hans Theessink & Terry Evans Delta Time Master Quality Reel To Reel Tape (2Reel)

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A Match Made In Blues Heaven!

Hans Theessink is probably Europe's blues export no 1. After more than 7,500 concerts, 40 years "on the road" and more than 20 albums, an instruction video, a songbook and a DVD to his name, Hans has become a roots and blues institution. With his sonorous baritone voice and unmistakable guitar work Hans is in great demand - delighting audiences around the world with his rich and emotional sounds. The US blues press called him "An international blues treasure" and "One of the world's pre-eminent pickers." The legendary Bo Diddley called him "One helluva guitar player."

Terry Evans hails from Vicksburg, Mississippi. At a very early age he was exposed to gospel music in the local church and knew that singing was his call. In a career that spans over 50 years, Terry has done several albums under his own name and has a long working relationship as a backing vocalist with Ry Cooder. Terry's voice is pure "Mississippi Magic" - the real deal and one of the most soulful voices in the business. His singing can be heard on countless productions e.g. with John Lee Hooker, Pops Staples, Eric Clapton and John Fogerty.

Recorded in Los Angeles, Delta Time is an intimate, audiophile recording that leaves a lot of space for Hans' and Terry's expressive voices and instruments. Hans Theessink and Terry Evans may be from separate sides of the Atlantic Ocean but they work together beautifully and make sense as a natural combination. These two vastly experienced and respected musicians are committed performers who are a perfect foil to each other. Theessink's lazy baritone and Evans' extraordinarily soulful gospel tones are tailor made to blend together with spine-tingling results. Timeless blues -, gospel- and soul-related music comes alive in the capable hands of these two masters. With two guitars, and two remarkable voices they bring forth honest and straightforward power in a stripped-down musical situation - an unhurried vibe that's contagious and flows with the easy rhythm of buddies with mutual respect having a blast singing and playing together.

WHAT EXACTLY IS AN 'ORIGINAL MASTER TAPE'?
Good question. The term is sometimes misused or misinterpreted, so it's worth getting clear on what's what. When an album is recorded, whether in the studio or on stage, it will either be a multi-track recording using several microphones and/or different sessions to record each individual element separately (instruments, vocals), or a live or semi-live recording in which one or several microphones capture the performance as a whole. The recording engineers will then bring the various elements together, editing and mixing them to achieve the desired sound and to remove unwanted noise, culminating in the album's first final arrangement. This is the original studio master tape, of which there will be not just one, but several: each of these is considered an 'original master'.

This original master is then used as the 'blueprint' for all subsequent copies, pressings, remasterings, etc. But of course with each subsequent treatment, something of the original information and hence sound quality is lost. Which is why nothing sounds quite like the original studio master tape. It's the original source of the album in its completed state.

DOES HORCH HOUSE DO ANY KIND OF REMASTERING DURING THE COPYING PROCESS?
Absolutely not! Why mess with the best? The whole point of what they do lies in capturing the magic of the original analogue master tape in its purest, most faithful form possible.

'Remastering' can be compared to using computer software to edit an original photograph. The benefits are that you can remove unwanted marks or noise, clean things up, remove distortion and boost clarity. The downside is that in doing so, you often lose the natural essence of the original and the result can seem rather synthetic, lacking in real life character.

The unfortunate fact is that tapes, like photographs, do tend to age over time, and most analogue masters are now between 30-80+ years old.

So Horch House undertake a painstaking 'soft refurbishing' process, which is key to recapturing the original quality of a master tape.

CAPTURING THE MAGIC OF MASTER TAPE
How exactly does Horch House translate an original analogue master tape into faithful copies on reel-to-reel tape and vinyl records?

They use a process that's been meticulously researched and developed by their expert team of sound engineers, with input from some of the world's leading specialists.

The first step is to carefully assess the sound quality of the original master tape, which their experts do in great detail. The unfortunate fact is that tapes do tend to age over time, and most analogue masters are now between 30-80+ years old. What they're looking to do, therefore, as an integral part of their copying process, is to restore the sound quality back to its original level. They want you to hear exactly what the first sound engineers heard (and indeed the musicians themselves), on the day that the original recording was made. This is in stark contrast to any kind of 'remastering', which they most definitely do not do! They're not looking to 'improve' the recording in any way, but rather to return it as closely as possible to its full original beauty.

They call this their 'soft refurbishing' process.

HOW CLOSE ARE HORCH HOUSE COPIES TO THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES?
Horch House believe that they're as close as it's possible to get - not simply to the master tape in its current condition, but to that master tape's original condition. Thanks to their detailed 'soft refurbishing' process, their master tape copies could, in a sense, now be considered as better than the current originals because they've been lovingly restored to deliver the same sound quality that the originals had on the day they were first recorded.

WHAT ABOUT COPYRIGHT? ARE MASTER TAPE COPIES LEGAL?
All Horch House master tape copies are fully authorized, licensed and approved by the relevant record label/music publisher.

** It is standard practice in all recording studios to keep the tape "tail out". This reduces "pre-echo" and it means that the tape should be placed on the right hand side of the recorder, re-wound and then played.