[78-L] Binaural, duophonic, etc.

[Steve Williams]

--Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:37:35 -0700 (PDT)
--From: DAVID BURNHAM <burnhamd at rogers.com>
--Subject: [78-L] Blumlein

--Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:04:41 -0400
--From: Jeff Sultanof <jeffsultanof at gmail.com>
--Subject: Re: [78-L] Binaural, duophonic, etc.

--Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:26:35 -0400
> From: Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com>
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Binaural, duophonic, etc.

--Not to get picky, but the wasn't the DeParis Atlantic? I distinctly
remember
--seeing a copy of it at some point.

--You mean Atlantic, don't you?  If so, I have this too, along with a real
single groove ----stereo issue of the recordings that Atlantic issued in the
late 50s.

Yes sorry, I frequently confuse black label Atlantic with Black label
Mercury in my mind.  I have it in my hand now, BINAURAL.. Atlantic Records
BIN 1208.  White front with green and blue graphics surrounded by a black
border on the top and left.  It's the "First in Atlantic's Binaural Disc
Series.."  The Wikipedia article mentions 50 or so titles having been
released, but the Rampart Street Ramblers session is the only one anyone
seems to have.  I didn't know there was a 1950's V-cut stereo release of the
session, I'd LOVE to stumble upon that!.. In fact I've yet to hear proper
playback of this great jazz recording at all. I do believe it's been
released on CD; the only trouble is reading the marketing blurbs and trying
to figure out which CD I actually need to find. Recording dates are rarely
mentioned, just personnel and titles.  The earliest multitrack session done
to a contemporary LP in my collection, a 1958 red label stereo Atlantic, is
of Emma Barrett, recorded at Radio recorders in Hollywood in early 1955.
This was in one of several boxes of New Orleans records that I obtained from
Joe Showler.  That session I KNOW is on CD. Again if I've misremembered the
label it's because I've recently moved and a lot of my records are still
packed..

The arm this guy had was a true twin arm branching out from a single pivot,
not the "Outrigger" type mentioned in the Wikipedia article..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook_Records  The fellow was 40, still living
at home in his Mother's house right on Hurontario St. Below Burnhamthorpe in
Mississauga. I was there to look at a vintage round tube black and white TV
he was selling (yes, actually selling..)  He said he paid $20 for the arm at
a flea market "because it was so weird.." I remember it as being in a box
with a green or yellow cover (Cook's trademark colour was yellow) and "Cook"
emblazoned on the side.  It had a manual and mounting template as well as a
booklet on the history of stereo, with the Cook method as being the
ultimate. I knew about the Emory Cook method but hadn't yet found the
DeParis Atlantic, which I stumbled upon at a flea market myself for a dollar
just a year after this, otherwise I would have tried even harder to persuade
the guy to sell this "pretty trinket" to me. I too wonder how phasing was
maintained, and whether the cutting lathe used a radial arm.  

I have a contemporary article on the earliest demonstration of CDs.  The
decoder was in two racks of equipment! They weren't yet using dithering
(introduction of random noise to the least-significant bit so as to mask
stairstepping) so the audio sounded quite mechanical or buzzy to some
listeners. ...Only one DA chip was used in early consumer decks because the
chip was so darned expensive..

Steve Williams  ..

On Thu, Apr 21, 2011 at 2:40 PM, Steve Williams
<jazzhunter at collector.org>wrote:

> I have the 1952 Mercury Wilbur DeParis Cook "Binaural" LP, and wonder how
> on
> earth anyone expected to get proper results using a twin spiral.  (Many
> many
> years ago I stumbled upon a hoarder-of-anything who happened to have a NIB
> Cook arm among his detritus.  I begged and pleaded to get it from him, who
> didn't even know what it was, to no avail.)  

Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:08:01 -0400
From: Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com>
Subject: Re: [78-L] Binaural, duophonic, etc.
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Message-ID: <4DB08EA1.20509 at mbiel.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

On 4/21/2011 2:40 PM, Steve Williams wrote:

--David mentioned that coincidental pair systems of miking give no time 
--displacement clues to the brain, only level differences.  The brain 
--needs both for binaural (using the modern meaning of the word.)  (I 
--think we are losing a lot of our audience here with all this geekiness!!)

>   (Many many
> years ago I stumbled upon a hoarder-of-anything who happened to have a NIB
> Cook arm among his detritus.  I begged and pleaded to get it from him, who
> didn't even know what it was, to no avail.)

--That is closer than I have ever gotten to a Cook binaural arm.


>   But regardless, having two
> channels is just the start of the equation; most critical is that accurate
> timing of the two channels is necessary to maintain accurate phasing to
> preserve the imaging used by the ear to judge direction and distance of
the
> source.  All early forms of record-playback equipment, except multitrack
> film, could not preserve that accuracy.

--I would really like to have a cook arm to see how much the phasing would 
--be affected by the traxcking era that must occur with that arm.  I would 
--assume that Cook cut his masters with a normal straight-line lathe which 
--would maintain accurate syncing of the two tracks ONLY if played back on 
--a similar straight-line arm like a Rabco -- and no dual head arm like 
--that was ever made.  Of course it IS possible that Cook had a special 
--RADIAL cutting arm with the two cutting heads which would match the 
--tracking era of the playback arm.  I've never seen anybody discuss this, 
--especially Cook.


> Even early CD players which used
> only one DA convertor were anathema to Golden ears who could detect the
> timing error introduced between the two channels.

--Most people don't realize that there is only one digital stream on CDs 
--with the samples of the left and right tracks interlaced.

>   Staggered-head tape
> machines were getting there, but still fussy, until finally stacked audio
> heads and single-track record cutting were developed.

Right.  There can be spacing irregularities between the two heads, and 
tape stretching or shrinkage will also mess it up.

>   I guess the Decca
> vertical-Horizontal matrixed method of cutting was similar to the Blumlein
> matrixed mic pickups, and FM radio with the AM sideband subcarrier
providing
> the difference signal to the FM summed channel.
>
> Steve Williams..
>

Both Blumlein and Western Electric experimented with vertical-lateral 
single groove stereo.  I believe -- but do not know for sure -- that it 
can be played back with a standard 45-45 stereo cartridge.  I don't 
remmber how these different companies experimented with having the two 
directions being the discrete left and right signals, or which had the 
lateral be the sum of both with the vertical being the difference.  I'd 
have to pull out a whole bunch of books and articles to remember all of 
this!
Pearl had sold pressings made from Blumlein masters, but I was not able 
to buy some in time.  Anybody here have them?

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com