Author Archives: The Mighty Thunderer

About The Mighty Thunderer

We write about music, audio, and technology. Like the namesake of this blog, Ludwig van Beethoven, we are hammer of polite society. We will point out the absurd and educate on the sublime...

Quo vadis, ‘analog’? Or, how I learned I’m not spending thousands on a losing proposition

Posted on February 24, 2014 by The Mighty Thunderer

Next year, 2015, I will celebrate forty years as an audiophile. I didn’t know I was an “audiophile” back in 1975 when I purchased my first “stereo” for the amount of $500—a daunting sum for an eighteen year old mail … Continue reading →

Posted in Audiophilia | 1 Comment

The Furtwängler Conumdrum

Posted on February 23, 2014 by The Mighty Thunderer

The very talented young conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic  Orchestra, Gustavo Dudamel, is in a bit of hot water. His silence on the topic of the popular uprising against the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro in his home country … Continue reading →

Posted in Classical Music | Leave a comment

The Mac is dead. Long live the Mac.

Posted on September 5, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

As I reported ten days ago my old iMac died after giving me six years, eleven months and ten days of service. Notwithstanding the two hard drive crashes, and a dead SuperDrive after two years, I think I eked out … Continue reading →

Posted in Audiophilia | Leave a comment

Of Macs and Men, part deux

Posted on August 25, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

Back in 2011 I experienced the second of two catastrophic hard drive crashes on my late 2006 vintage iMac. I was able to replace the hard drive and it worked until some time very early this morning after 2 AM … Continue reading →

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The Perfectly Realized Illusion: why high-end audio matters

Posted on August 20, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

One day, in the late nineteen-seventies, I visited my local high-end audio salon, Sound Components, in search of my favorite classical record magazine Gramophone. As I walked in, I was stopped in my tracks by a piano recording that was … Continue reading →

Posted in Audiophilia | 2 Comments

A (very) short introduction to Cuban Music

Posted on June 1, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

Beginning with the settlers in Cuba who came in with the second wave of colonizers, the musical life in Cuba was always rich. Cuba, as the colonizers discovered, was populated by three Indian tribes—the Siboney, the Taino, and the Guanatabey. … Continue reading →

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April 30, 1993

Posted on May 1, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

Steve Jobs created the computer that gave us the World Wide Web. CERN has given us many things in our day, most notable among them recent proof of the existence of the so-called ‘God particle’, the Higgs Boson… one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Macs and PCs | Leave a comment

An anniversary that should make most of us feel really old

Posted on March 15, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

A couple of weeks ago, an auspicious anniversary passed very quietly; nary a mention of it in the press or on technical and music blogs. I sure as hell didn’t remember it — for reasons that will be made clear … Continue reading →

Posted in Audiophilia | 1 Comment

Van Cliburn dead at age 78

Posted on February 28, 2013 by The Mighty Thunderer

The very first classical music record I purchased, probably in 1972 or 1973, was “Chopin’s Greatest Hits,” played by Van Cliburn. I purchased it as much for mine, as for my mother the piano teacher’s, enjoyment. That little gem, containing … Continue reading →

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Dave Brubeck, R.I.P.

Posted on December 5, 2012 by The Mighty Thunderer

I can credit the man who passed away today at 91, Dave Brubeck, with my discovery of jazz. Born out of a post-adolescent loathing and hatred of all things disco, I discovered an album at my local record store that … Continue reading →

Posted in Jazz | Leave a comment