ECM has announced that Pat Metheny’s eleven albums for ECM from the period 1976-1984 are available  in HD Audio, as from 31 July 2020.  “The main premise in digitizing the Pat Metheny tapes was not to change the sound of the recordings, but to realize them in the original form, in the best possible quality,” say ECM. 

Pat Metheny in Stuttgart in 2015 with the SWR Big Band. Photo credit Ralf Dombrowski

THE ALBUMS ARE

Bright Size Life
Watercolors
Pat Metheny Group 
New Chautauqua
American Garage 
80/81
As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls with Lyle Mays
Offramp 
Travels 
Rejoicing 
First Circle 

ECM’s full statement from mastering engineer Christoph Stickel says: 

“The main premise in digitizing the Pat Metheny tapes was not to change the sound of the recordings, but to realize them in the original form, in the best possible quality. The work was based on the original, analogue stereo master tapes. The masters are in very good condition and can be played without problems. All tapes were played by a Studer A820, which was meticulously calibrated to the respective tape. The analog signal was digitized in 96kHz/24-bit, which covers the complete spectrum of the original bands. In each case, a decision was made between a PrismSound ADA-8XR, an Antelope Eclipse Mastering AD, and a Mytek Brooklyn ADC, depending on which one suited best the respective recording. No de-noising and no other restoration affecting the sound was carried out.”

The services through which the albums are available are:

Qobuz (download and streaming)
HDtracks (download)
Acoustic Sounds (download)
Prostudiomaster (download)
Tidal (MQA Master streaming)
Apple (Apple Digital Master download and streaming)
Amazon (Amazon HD streaming)

LINKS:  Pat Metheny at ECM  Records<
Pat Metheny website
HD Versions of the albumsThe Pat Metheny catalogue in HD audio at Highresaudio.de