[78-L] Hello and a question

[David Lennick]

It's a little more complicated than that for recordings made in the studio. 
Beginning in early 1940, Columbia began recording its masters at 33RPM on 
sixteen inch discs, still using 4-minute takes, which they'd then copy to 78 
for commercial issue. This actually began as a backup system, and they might 
have anticipated the long-playing record becoming a reality, for which they'd 
want high quality source material, better than just playing back 78s. Most of 
the other companies began to follow the same pattern in the mid 40s. Tape 
didn't come into use in the US till 1948-49, about the same time as the LP was 
launched. By then, the system was reversed..they could record continuous long 
movements but they still had to have short takes to issue on 78 and 45. I don't 
think Wozzeck was issued on 78s but I'll bet that it still has 78-RPM take 
numbers in the files.

Toscanini was notorious for refusing to start and stop for record sides, so 
even in the studio, most of his recordings were made in continuous mode. You 
can hear chopped notes at the beginnings and ends of sides in such works as the 
William Tell Overture and Beethoven's 5th Symphony (and of course the 7th, with 
its long blank gaps, and the Eroica, taken from a broadcast).

dl

Pablo Varela wrote:
> Thank you! I hearded that were made in that way but I someone told me about a Brunswick machine that have some kind of automatition in the process.
> I have Mahler Ninth only in CD, but I have 1947 Tchaikowsky Pathetique by Toscanini in LP and I asume that was made as you said, and I have a Columbia box with Berg's Wozzeck by Mitropoulos in 33 RPM wich offer a list of complete operas in 33, 45 and 78 RPM.
> I suppose that those operas were mastered in 78 and then joint in LPs.
> Thanks again.
> Pablo.
> Â 
> Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:52:01 -0500
> From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Hello and a question
> To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Message-ID: <491B41F1.1040005 at sympatico.ca>
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> 
> This was done on many recordings, such as most of Toscanini's in the 1930s,
> by 
> feeding the audio to one cutter and having a second one ready when the 
> engineers were getting near where the record should end. Then they switched the
> 
> audio feed to the second cutter. Sometimes this was a very abrupt change and 
> there would be a lot of blank grooves at the beginning of the second side while
> 
> they waited for an appropriate place to make the change (and sometimes they 
> were almost too late).
> 
> Some recordings were made at 33RPM on long-playing sixteen-inch discs and 
> transferred later to 78.
> 
> dl
> 
> Pablo Varela wrote:
>> Hello all :)
>> I have a big doubt about history of recording of live events in 78's
> era.
>> For example, what kind of machine was used for recording Mahler's
> Ninth by Bruno Walter in Viena 1938. Common shellacs have 4 minutes playback by
> side. How was recording this performance without a break?
>> I hope I was clear because I usually speak in spanish.
>> Thank you in advance.
>> Pablo Varela.
> 
> 
> 
>       Yahoo! Cocina