I Have To Beg Your Pardon

Rebecca Pidgeon's 1993 cover of Spanish Harlem is a legendary reference track for soundstage and dynamic range. Good or bad, this recording will expose your hifi system for what it is.

People are sick of this version of Spanish Harlem because it's overplayed as hell in audiophile circles, showroom demos, etc. Or at least it used to be. Then it became cliché, and people got sick of it. I don't care. I'm not sick of it. And it will come back around for the same reasons it became overplayed in the first place. It's a masterful recording of a beautiful performance of a classic song.

I'm here for the soundstage and close-up vocal performance. Listening to this song for the first time is perhaps the strongest instant "wtf" moment I've had listening to a track on a high-end two-channel system. The presence of the vocalist at the front center of the room is remarkable. Bass and piano are also centered, but at the back, with the guitar centered up front near the vocal. Strings flank on left (violin) and right (viola). A shaker off to the far right has a reverb that, combined with the reverb on the vocals, defines a mid-sized space.

When reading detailed descriptions of recorded music such as the one I wrote above, I often feel the same as looking at one of those magic eye puzzles (it's an autostereogram). Like, "Yeah, I see it." Kind of. What is it I am seeing again? But I can easily place those performances when listening to this track on headphones, near field monitors, or loudspeakers.

Another fantastic thing about this track is the silence, or floor, created by the dynamic range. Even listening at high volumes there is plenty of silence to be had. The bass is full, but you can still hear the squeak of fingers sliding up and down the guitar strings and the typical nuances of a closely recorded vocal.

Listening Notes

• 0:00 Bass centered in the back
• 0:04 Vocals centered very close up front
• 0:22 Staccato vocal phrasing with excellent detail on mouth movement
• 0:51 Piano joins bass in the back
• 1:39 Viola comes in on the right, followed very closely by the shaker on the far back-right and the violin on the left

Data

Song: Spanish Harlem
Album: The Raven
Artist: Rebecca Pidgeon
Genre: Soul
Year: 1993
Length: 3:36
Composer: Phil Spector
Producer: Phil Spector