View CartMy Account / Order StatusHelp



Join our e-mail list!

Subscribe to our printed catalog list!
(Your shopping cart is empty)
You are here: Home > 24-BIT TECHNOLOGY
E. Power Productions 24-bit Technology Platform
 
Items bearing this technology logo conform to the highest audio standards for PCM recordings today, by our own recording and technology division, E. Power Productions.
 
Digital technology has improved tremendously since the advent of the Compact Disc. However, the CD itself is limited in resolution, both in the time domain, and the volume domain. The resoultion of a CD is defined by its sample rate, which is the number of times per second that the volume (loudness) of the sound is recorded. Resolution is also determined by the number of digits in the number which is used to record that loudness. On a CD, a 16-bit binary number is recorded. (If you went to school in the 1970's or earlier, you would say: On a CD, a 16-digit Base Two number is recorded.) All CDs have this same, fixed resolution. 
 
When this standard was created, it was thought that this resolution completely exceeded all musical requirements. As a practical matter, most 44.1k/16 recordings have much less resolution due to the use of inferior analog-to-digital converters and their associated circuits. The lack of available dynamic range in the recording process, where engineers must reserve a certain amount of gain to avoid overloads, also reduces the effective bit rate, resulting in recordings that are actually have only 12 or 13 bit resolution. 

In addition, the need for digital filters to prevent supersonic frequencies from interfering with those in the audible band also creates sonic problems. The low resolution of the CD standard makes design of these filters difficult, as their audible effects are worse with low-resolution digital bandwidths than with high resolution.
 
The most significant improvement in the past few years has been the development of analog-to-digital converters that record 24-bit samples of the sound, rather than the 16-bit samples which is standard for CDs and Digital Audio Tape (DAT). These converters can measure volume changes using 16,777,216 increments (2 to the 24th power), compared to a CD's 16-bit resolution of 65,536 increments. E. Power Productions, the recording and technology studio of Loft Recordings and Gothic Records, was among the first to employ this technology in its recordings. This substantial improvement in resolution is especially audible in recordings of organs and choirs, particularly those made in reverberant rooms. Reverberation tails, vocal presence, image depth and openess are all affected. 
 
The use of higher sample rates, such as 88,200 or 96,000 samples per second (or higher), also improve recorded sound, but the effect of these improvements are not nearly as great as the improvement in bit rates.

Quality of low level detail is the most difficult challenge for all digital recordings, and we choose all our equipment primarily by using this criteria. The choice of microphones, cables and other factors are all part of the 24-bit technology platform used by E. Power Productions. 

When the editing is complete, the task of CD mastering determines the final resolution of the compact disc that you buy. In this process, the 24-bit original recording is transcribed into a 16-bit track that is compatible with CD players. There are many tricks and technologies that can be applied at this stage -- at E. Power Productions, we use minimal processing, if any at all.  We also employ the highest quality digital algorithms to produce a result that is as wonderful as the original live sound. Only when all of these elements come together to produce the desired result, does a recording earn the 24-bit technology logo.

E. Power Productions makes a limited number of recordings every year.  Contact us for more information if you would like this technology applied to your next recording project!

Below is a list of CDs that employ our technology.
Sort By:
1 2 3 4
How Excellent Thy Name Kimberly - Kimberly Marshall - Erik Conzius
How Excellent is Thy Name/Marshall & Conzius
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $14.98
You save $4.00!

"This recording honors the Jewish liturgical tradition of cantor with organ-- and a rising star of American cantors. The historic 1901 Murray Harris organ at Stanford University is the perfect instrument for this music, which is concentrated in the latter half of the 19th and early 20th centuries."
In Recital at Lagerquist Hall - Robert Bates
In Recital at Lagerquist Hall/Bates
List Price: $16.98
Our Price: $14.98
You save $2.00!

Robert Bates' recital took place on July 4 during the AGO 2000 Convention on the monumental organ built by Paul Fritts and Company for Lagerquist Hall at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. Works from the German Baroque and the late 20th century are featured, including works by Buxtehude, Scheidt, Bach, Pärt, and Bates' own compositions.
 
Thomsen Chapel Organ Recitals - J. Melvin Butler - Roger Sherman
The Thomsen Chapel Organ Inaugural Recitals (St Mark's Cathedral, Seattle)/Butler & Sherman
List Price: $16.98
Our Price: $14.98
You save $2.00!

This recording documents the inaugural recitals given on the new Paul Fritts organ of Thomsen Chapel at St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle in 2003. Based on north European practices of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this beautiful organ has singing principals, piquant reeds, and luscious flutes. In addition there are a set of strings which give this organ a wide range of sonic possibilities not usually expected in a small, Baroque-style instrument. The program contains repertoire well-suited to a chapel organ, and includes the first recording of Toon Hagen's partita on 'Vater Unser im Himmelreich.' Features St. Mark's Cathedral organist and choirmaster J. Melvin Butler and associate organist Roger Sherman.
Bach, Improvisations and the Liturgical Year/Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra
Bach, Improvisations and the Liturgical Year/Ruiter-Feenstra
List Price: $16.98
Our Price: $14.98
You save $2.00!

This recording documents a recital given by Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra on the Martin Pasi organ of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynnwood, WA.  Compositions of J. S. Bach were organized by the liturgical year, and interspersed with Ruiter-Feenstra's own improvisations. Based on ideas found in Bach’s works and stemming from genres he most commonly used, her improvisations create new works using Bach’s compositional processes. In her roles as artist and teacher, Ruiter-Feenstra is a major advocate of improvisation and performance on historically-based instruments.
Preludes Postludes beginning 9-11-2001 - Susan Ferré
Preludes & Postludes for the year beginning 9-11-2001/Ferré
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $15.98
You save $3.00!

Presented here are some of the organ works which were played by Susan Ferré during services at Pacific Lutheran University, from the first day of classes on September 11, through the year for more than 130 services, to the triumphant sending forth of Pentecost Sunday and Commencement Worship on May 26th, 2002.

Equipped with one of the finest organs in the world, Lagerquist Hall provided the means for a wide range of musical expression during this unusual musical, and liturgical year.
Herbolsheimer- Let Us Sing Sweet Songs - Opus 7
Herbolsheimer: Let Us Sing/Opus 7
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $15.98
You save $3.00!

World Premiere Recording!
 
A major collection of never-before-recorded music by Northwest composer Bern Herbolsheimer, performed in the beautiful acoustical setting of St. James Cathedral in Seattle. These lyrical works are interpreted with reverence and clarity by Opus 7 vocal ensemble under the direction of Loren Pontén. Opus 7 specializes in the performance of modern and contemporary works, and their previous recordings have received national praise.

Recital at Ascension - Harald Vogel
Recital at Ascension/Vogel
List Price: $16.98
Our Price: $15.98
You save $1.00!

This CD documents the second recital given on the new Fritts organ at Church of the Ascension (Episcopal) in Seattle. German organ virtuoso Harald Vogel takes us on a tour of this new instrument built in 18th century Dutch and German traditions. Included in the program is Cantica Rustica Americana, presumably "discovered" by Herr Vogel and played for the first time in this recital. This theme and variations are based on a 17th-century American folksong that everyone will recognize.
Greater Love: The English choral and organ tradition - ECU Chamber Singers - Daniel Bara
Greater Love: The English Choral and Organ Tradition/ECU Chamber Singers, Bara
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $15.98
You save $3.00!

The ECU Chamber Singers and organist Janette Fishell are conducted by Daniel Bara in these monuments of the English choral tradition. The choir’s sound is greatly enhanced by the sumptuous acoustics of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greenville, and its large, new Fisk organ.
How Bright appears the Morning Star - St. Mark's Cathedral - J. Melvin Butler
How Brightly Shines the Morning Star/St. Mark's Cathedral (Seattle) Choir/Mel Butler
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $15.98
You save $3.00!

The chorale “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” (“How brightly shines the Morning Star”) is presented on this CD in a wide variety of musical styles, along with other hymns, anthems and voluntaries for the season of Epiphany. J. Melvin Butler directs the cathedral choir in this program of familiar–and unusual–works.
The Artistry of Frederick Swann - Frederick Swann
The Artistry of Frederick Swann/Swann
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $15.98
You save $3.00!


Frederick Swann plays selections on the recently restored four-manual Casavant organ in Memorial Chapel at the University of Redlands (CA).
L'Organiste Parisien - Joseph Adam
L'Organiste Parisien/Adam
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $16.98
You save $2.00!

In his first recording on the new Rosales organ of St James, Cathedral Organist Joseph Adam explores the soundscape of Parisian organists from the mid 19th century to the present. Of special interest is the recording "The Last Judgement" of Naji Hakim's, successor to Messiaen's position at la Trinité in Paris.

The Rosales organ is cast in French Symphonic style and is greatly enhanced by St James' reverberant acoustics.
Bach - Preludes and Fugues - Joan Lippincott
Bach: Preludes & Fugues/Lippincott
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $16.98
You save $2.00!

Of the many musical forms that J.S. Bach cultivated during his lifetime, none has enjoyed more lasting influence than the prelude and fugue. In this recording, Joan Lippincott provides us with a beautifully rounded survey of Bach's mature preludes and fugues, from the Pièce d'Orgue, BWV 572, one of his boldest independent preludes, to the Prelude and Fugue in E Minor ("Wedge"), BWV 548, one of his most ambitious compostions for the organ. To round out the recording, Lippincott also includes the Canonic Variations on Vom Himmel hoch, a very late work, written at the same time Art of Fugue and the Musical Offering
Chosen Tunes - Susan Jane Matthews
Chosen Tunes/Matthews
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $16.98

The former principal organist of Grace Cathedral, Susan Jane Matthews presents the first recording of the cathedral?s Æolian-Skinner organ in more than ten years. With a program of well-known English, French, and American works, Matthews demonstrates the wide variety of sounds possible from this landmark instrument, set in the acoustics of one of America's most grand, neo-Gothic spaces.
Randall Thompson - The Light of Stars - Choral Arts
Thompson: The Light of Stars/Choral Arts
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $16.98
You save $2.00!

The Light of Stars
The Choral Music of Randall Thompson
Choral Arts, directed by Richard Sparks

Randall Thompson is one of the most important American composers of choral music. Writing in an unabashed Romantic style, this music is ideal for a choir like Choral Arts, which prides themselves in purity and breadth of choral sound.

This recording contains Thompson’s “Alleluia,” probably the most popular American choral work ever written, as well as six works never before recorded.
Be Still My Soul - All Saints Beverly Hills - Dale Adelmann
Be Still, My Soul/All Saints' Beverly Hills
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $16.98
You save $2.00!

World Premiere Recordings!

A stunning program of contemplative sacred texts set to some of the most beautiful singing we've heard. Slow, focused intensity creates a strong emotional response from many listeners, including us.  The Martin piece alone is worth the price of admission. With première recordings of new anthems by Craig Phillips and Roland Martin, this CD is also the first recording of the widely admired Choir of All Saints, Beverly Hills, under its new director, Dale Adelmann.
In Dialogue, v.1 - Robert Bates - David Yearsley
In Dialogue, v.1/Bates & Yearsley
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $16.98
You save $2.00!

Two extraordinary organists playing two extraordinary organs in dialogue might seem an over-abundance of riches. Yet it is possible that the great organists of earlier times enjoyed responding to each other across vast spaces. This new recording, which includes compositions by six masters of the North German School, recreates this sound and ambience using two mean-tone organs in Stanford's Memorial Church.
The Young Bach - Harald Vogel
The Young Bach/Vogel
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $16.98
You save $2.00!

THE YOUNG BACH reveals Bach, the teenager- a brilliant debut of talent that would change the organ world forever. Harald Vogel offers new insights into some of Bach's most popular early works, playing John Brombaugh's historically inspired instrument in Eugene, Oregon.  Includes Bach's "Eight little Preludes and Fugues".

Complete Organ Works of Bruhns & Hanff - William Porter
Organ Works Bruhns & Hanff/Porter
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $16.98
You save $2.00!

William Porter, organist William Porter plays the complete works of Bruhns and Hanff on the spectacular organ of the Danish national cathedral. Restored to 1654 condition, the organ includes many pipes dating from one hundred years earlier.
French on Flentrop - J. Melvin Butler
French on the Flentrop/J. Melvin Butler
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $16.98
You save $2.00!

Cathedral organist Mel Butler plays a program of French music, from de Grigny to Tournemire. Although it is a Dutch organ, the 1965 Flentrop is surprisingly well-suited to French repertoire.  With an abundance of reeds, beautiful flutes and six seconds of reverberation, the organ renders French music in an highly effective, if not authentic style. Mel Butler lives a superb performance, which is captured with our proprietary 24-bit recording technology.  Highly recommended!


Widor: Symphony gothique & Symphony romane - David Fuller
Widor: Symphony gothique & Symphony romane/Fuller
List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $16.98
You save $2.00!

Titled after the architectural style of the two churches to which they were dedicated, the final two symphonies of Charles-Marie Widor represent his most arresting and original compositions for organ. Written as concert works, these symphonies pay homage to the church through the use of chant themes-the “Gothic” with the Christmas introit, Puer natus est nobis (“Unto us a Child is born”) and the “Romane” with the Easter gradual Haec dies quam fecit Dominus (“This is the day the Lord has made”). David Fuller is a well-known scholar of French music and brings these late works of Widor to life brilliantly in this recording.
 
 24-bit Technology and extensive notes on the music and organ.
   
 
1 2 3 4
The Gothic Catalog
P.O. Box 414
Orcas, WA 98280 USA
 About Us
 Privacy Policy
 Send Us Feedback