[78-L] Speaking of Pearl..was Re: Pearl CD bronzing on "Music From The New York Stage" vol. one: 1890-1908

[David Lennick]

I supplied Roger with a transfer of the RCA Gielgud lp set..I'm not sure if I 
was credited or even thanked (I certainly wasn't paid). Hey, early Pearl CDs 
were ridiculous when it came to production values or quality of original discs 
used, to the point where it was a joke for years. I didn't even submit my early 
masters for digital de-noising since they didn't want anything other than 
clicks removed with a razor blade. There's an Ambrose CD they did (on Flapper, 
I guess) where the first 10 tracks were transferred by one person and the 
remainder by someone else, with a drastic change in quality. There was at least 
one disc (either a McCormack or a Chaliapin) where tracks weren't always 
separated. The two sides of the Coward-Lawrence Private Lives Love Scene are 
reversed, and so it goes.

dl

On 7/1/2012 12:09 PM, victrola78s at aol.com wrote:
>
> I ordered all of the Gielgud titles on Amazon, which means I'm getting them from all different vendors&  at varying prices that are all over the map. I don't think I'm aware of any "normal" US retailers that are selling these as new. Which Gielgud "Hamlet" was yours? The Pearl set credits Roger Beardsley "produced and transferred by"&  the Naxos set credits "Remastered by" Ward Marston&  "Source tapes from" Richard Bebb. I'll presume you meant the Pearl(which isn't really a "set" as it is a single CD). And it's been eight years since I bought any Naxos titles new at Border's, since they are now closed. No new Naxos for me since 2004, though the stuff I'm getting from Amazon vendors are still shrink-wrapped. So they're evidently NOS. Not so with the "Music From The New York Stage" sets, they were all sans wrappers. And I always look for your name on these things, as well as Graham's, so I will have some confidence of a decent transfer:). Also those of Seth Winner, Roger Bea
rds
>   ley, Ward Marston. There was one Pearl, however, that had transfers all over the map. That was the "McCormack in American Song" CD on Pearl. It seemed like a contest-"Hey kids! Fire up your Webcor reel-to-reels&  dupe that 78! Send it to us&  we'll make a silk purse out of your sow's ear!" Apparently sourced from numerous collectors who all had different ideas about EQ&  playback methods. Still, I didn't have most of the Victor or HMV originals, so...
>
> Dennis "ungrateful swine" Forkel
>
> "Speaking of Pearl (and that Gielgud Hamlet, which was done from my copy), are
> any of those titles still being sold at full price anywhere? The label has been
> inactive for years (and I'd like to reuse my masters).
>
> dl"
>