[78-L] Glass Based 78s

[Michael Biel]

From: "Mark L. Bardenwerper, Sr." <citroenid19 at sbcglobal.net>

> Make sure you trim your replies. This one was a week long.

This is confusing.  What do you mean by this?

> >  Why and how were these made? Pressed from a master or cut 'live'?

> They were cut onsite and were used much as a tape recorder
> was used later. 

Actually, Radio Recorders was located several blocks away from CBS which
was its major client.  So they did not record at the site or location of
the CBS studios.  What was meant in the answer is that lacquer discs are
individually cut, not pressed or mass produced.  

> They are not durable, so were only good for a few playings.
> If a transfer was to be made it had to be done quickly. They
> usually do not stand the test of time either. Mark L. Bardenwerper, Sr.

Since the discs in question are over 65 years old and are mostly quite
playable, they have stood the test of time.  There are some tapes less
than 15 years old that are unplayable.  In 1935 Presto published a study
that showed that professional lacquer recording was quieter than any
shellac pressing available to the public, and played with professional
equipment retained its quietness for at least five playings, and through
the 25th playing the noise level rose to that of an ordinary home
pressing.  Thereafter the estimated playing life was similar to that of
shellac pressings.    

Yes there are many lacquer discs which have developed problems, but most
of them are due to storage and the variations in brands, manufacture,
and different lots.  The same that has happened with tape.  Most of my
lacquer discs from the pre-war years are just fine.  

> > Were they transcriptions sent out to other radio stations?

Mostly lacquer disc recordings were used by the station itself or for
the performers and advertisers.  Sometimes they were used for
pre-recording or repeat broadcast, but that usually happened only on
individual local stations because until 1949 CBS and NBC did not allow
the use of any type of recordings on the network except for several rare
exceptions.  I do have some examples of lacquer discs sent from one
station to another for broadcast use, but most of the time when programs
were syndicated or distributed to other stations the programs were
distributed by vinyl or shellac pressings.  

All this was discussed and detailed in my Ph.D. dissertation "The Making
and Use of Recordings In Broadcasting Before 1936".

> >They only had a single song on each side with some commentary
> > by the DJ, Orson Welles.

DJ ORSON WELLES?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Tell me more!  Orson Welles was not
a DJ, he was one of the most famous and notable actors of the 20th
Century.  If this is from an unknown broadcast of Welles this might be
big news, but from the description so far, I think these might be
sections of a program about music that he narrated.

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com  


78records at cdbpdx.com wrote:
> > Thanks for the info! 
> > There were a couple Presto Glass Base blanks with the Barbary Coast Orch
> > recordings. All comes together now. View here:
> > http://78records.cdbpdx.com/BCO/tn-800_PRESTOGLASSBASERECORDDISC-Label.JPG

>>> "...Radio Recorders was a major Los Angeles studio that did ALL the
>>> recording for CBS on the West Coast and usually had bright yellow labels."

> > Your description is right on the money. Why and how were these made?
> > Pressed from a master or cut 'live'? Were they transcriptions sent
> > out to other radio stations? They only had a single song on each
> > side with some commentary by the DJ, Orson Welles. 
> 
> > Thanks for enlightening me. This is really cool! CDB