[78-L] Silence (no 78 hiss) on CD issues

[Royal Pemberton]

Sounds to me (NPI) like Murray and the best of the others eventually got to
where they could sense how well or how badly something went to wax by what
was reflected back to them from the horn as they recorded, and they could
adjust their singing to compensate, knowing they were making things come out
on the records more effectively in doing so.

On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 11:33 AM, Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com> wrote:

> Martha wrote:
> > When recording acoustically, performers DID hear surface noise.   The
> sound
> > of the stylus against the wax is projected through the recording horn.
> >
> This is a forgotten part of the history of sound recording.  It was a
> unique experience to make an acoustical recording, and is why some
> pioneering performers like Billy Murray found electrical recording
> disconcerting at first.  The performer not only heard the whurring sound
> of the stylus against the wax but also heard their voice echoing and
> resonating in the horn.  You've heard me talk about horn resonances in
> acoustical recording, well, they're there in the recording horn, and the
> experienced performer learned how to work with them much like a
> performer in a concert hall hears the resonating sound of the hall or
> the amplification system.  The microphone in a dead studio gives you
> nothing back, and the acoustically treated dead studio further  reduces
> what the performer hears.
>
> Likewise, it is an interesting experience to hear a metal master or a
> fine vinyl master pressing of an early acoustical recording because the
> sound feels like what the performer might have heard inside the
> recording horn.  There are subtle acoustics that are masked by the
> shellac.  And I agree with Joe Salerno that the CD reissues might have
> been mastered from either vinyl or metal.  Additionally, some of the
> high-level computer restoration systems can take the sound of the
> surface in the blank grooves at the start of the record and use that as
> the model of the sound to be removed.  If you LIKE hiss, especially if
> you feel that this is a reassurance that the high frequencies of the
> music haven't been removed, some restoration engineers bring back a
> touch of surface hiss at 13K or 14K.  But shhhhh, it's a secret.
>
> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com
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