[78-L] The cylinder is coming back

[Royal Pemberton]

I wonder if anyone's managed to collect all the componentry to rebuild and
restore a complete electric recording system from the 1920s, and put it to
use to make the odd retro record?

On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 10:28 PM, David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>wrote:

> http://www.catherinenorth.com/
>
> Real vintage analog rules at Catherine North
>
> by kathleen on April 1, 2011 · 5 comments
> 4retweet
>
> Artists who are seeking the ‘ultimate vintage analog recording experience’
> will
> now be able to take advantage of Catherine North Studios’ exclusive new
> direct-to-wax cylinder recording service.
>
> “We’re really excited to be bringing back a recording technology that
> hasn’t
> been used in almost a century,” says studio co-owner Duke Foster. His
> business
> partner, Michael Chambers, agrees. “Analog tape is great, but the ability
> to do
> multiple takes has really been abused in recent years,” says Michael.
> “Recording directly to wax cylinder is a more honest, artist-oriented
> approach.”
>
> Sound purists will appreciate the complete absence of all electronics in
> the
> signal path. “At first, I was a bit concerned when Michael and Duke told me
> we
> were getting rid of all electronics at the studio,” explains Catherine
> North’s
> house tech Tristan Miller. “But when I realized the fidelity of sound
> transmission through mechanical coupling, I was completely blown away.”
>
>
> The process offers many advantages from a production standpoint. “What’s
> really
> great about wax cylinder is the speed and simplicity of the process,”
> explains
> producer and artist Marcone. “You just basically position your musicians
> around
> the recording horn, get them to play the song as loudly as they can, and
> you’re
> done. My upcoming EP, Wax Cylinders From The Flood, took only 17 minutes to
> record.”
>
> Jordan Mitchell, one of Catherine North’s in-house engineers and member of
> indie band The Rest, is also a fan of the wax cylinder approach. “After
> doing
> an A/B comparison between wax cylinder and digital recording, I was
> completely
> sold,” explains Jordan. “Our band is super excited about the sonic
> possibilities.”
>
>
> Though wax cylinder playback machines aren’t currently available on the
> market,
> Tristan expects this to change soon. “Since there’s nothing left to repair
> at
> the studio, I’ve been able to devote more time to designing my TM-1200 Wax
> Cylinder USB Phonograph,” adds Tristan. “This device will provide an easy
> way
> for music lovers to transfer their wax cylinder collection to MP3 format.
> We’re
> hoping to start shipping units to retail by June 2011.”
>
> "Finding NOS Edison cylinder blanks has been a challenge," explains Michael
> Chambers of Catherine North Studios.
>
> Michael Chambers admits that the transition to wax cylinder hasn’t been
> easy.
> “Finding enough blank recording media to meet the growing demand from our
> clients has been a real challenge,” explains Michael. “NOS Edison cylinder
> blanks are really hard to find. But it’s worth the hassle, given the
> quality of
> the final product. You just can’t match those pure wax tones.”
>
> In-house engineers Dan Hosh and Patrick Sirrs agree. “I can’t wait to get
> into
> the studio to record to wax cylinder,” explains Hosh, whose own band 1951
> expects to release some exclusive wax cylinder recordings soon. “The
> artists we
> work with are just chomping at the bit to ‘cut some wax,’” adds Patrick.
>
> Even Catherine North’s student intern, Sean Thompson, is excited about the
> shift to wax cylinder. “One of the first things I had to do here was test
> every
> single cable in the studio. Man, what a hassle… wax cylinder is really
> going to
> simplify things around here.”
>
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