[78-L] Fwd: Fwd: [ARSCLIST] Columbia tape adoption

Sat Aug 2 08:47:54 PDT 2014

Maybe someone who is on ARSC can forward this. I have once again been removed from the ARSC list. 

db

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dave Burnham <burnhamd at rogers.com>
> Date: August 2, 2014 at 11:42:42 AM EDT
> To: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <ARSCLIST at LISTSERV.LOC.GOV>
> Subject: Fwd: [78-L] Fwd: [ARSCLIST] Columbia tape adoption
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca.invalid>
>> Date: August 2, 2014 at 11:36:06 AM EDT
>> To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Fwd: [ARSCLIST] Columbia tape adoption
>> Reply-To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>> 
>> 
>> My understanding is that the first Ampex recorders went to the Crosby show and 
>> to Apollo Records (article about Mullin in Billboard, decades ago). The first 
>> time Columbia used tape has long been acknowledged as "I Can Hear It Now" in 
>> 1948 and the tape editor was Joel Tall, whose name appears in the 78 edition 
>> but not on the lp. (He also put his name on the edit block.) South Pacific was 
>> backed up on tape but that tape was not used until a CD issue, which sounded 
>> bloody awful. Speed flux, distortion, and that edit in "Carefully Taught" (if 
>> it appears in this issue, there were a number of them on CD). The 45 issue was 
>> dubbed direct from the lacquers..you can hear a clunk before the music on 
>> several sides! And that was well after the lp had been out.
>> 
>> dl
>> 
>>> On 8/2/2014 11:25 AM, Dave Burnham wrote:
>>> 
>>> I'm forwarding this to 78L so dl will see it. He has some knowledge about this recording.
>>> 
>>> db
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>> 
>>>> From: Dennis Rooney<dennisdrooney at GMAIL.COM>
>>>> Date: August 1, 2014 at 11:03:45 AM EDT
>>>> To: ARSCLIST at LISTSERV.LOC.GOV
>>>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Columbia tape adoption
>>>> Reply-To: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List<ARSCLIST at LISTSERV.LOC.GOV>
>>>> 
>>>> It's possible tape was rolled at the sessions. The tapes used for the first
>>>> CD issue were copies from lacquer masters made for Lp mastering. If there
>>>> were original tape parts, they would have been filed under the matrix
>>>> number and wound on 10.5in reels (until late 1951, all recording was made
>>>> in segments corresponding to 78rpm discs. It was because the contracts were
>>>> written in those terms. Victor did the same thing (the "Tinker Toy"
>>>> masters) at the time. At the time of the first CD issue, the original tape
>>>> parts were not readily searchable in the Sony archives. Without access to
>>>> original documents or the first CD issue, I am stating an educated guess,
>>>> so if there is contrary information in the booklet I will stand corrected;
>>>> otherwise, my scenario seems the most plausible.
>>>> 
>>>> DDR
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 10:47 AM, Stewart Gooderman<DrSFG at att.net> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Wasn't the Original Cast Recording of South Pacific recorded both on
>>>>> acetates and magnetic tape in April 1949, the tape version being used for
>>>>> the 1st CD release?
>>>>> 
>>>>> DrG
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Jul 31, 2014, at 10:13 AM, Dennis Rooney<dennisdrooney at GMAIL.COM>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> It is true that Columbia began master recording on 17.5 and 16" lacquer
>>>>>> discs commencing in 1939. The last Masterworks sessions recorded at 78rpm
>>>>>> were in 1940.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Whoever claims that Columbia began mastering on magnetic tape "by
>>>>> mid-1947"
>>>>>> is completely incorrect. There are no seasons for which tape parts exist
>>>>>> prior to late 1949, and backup discs continued to be cut until 1951. My
>>>>>> assertion is based on extensive personal exploration of surviving
>>>>> Columbia
>>>>>> masters and parts. Tape originals did not enter into Lp production until
>>>>>> late 1949. The lp and xlp matrices for Lps were second or third
>>>>> generation
>>>>>> copies from disc originals.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> DDR
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 7:45 AM, Carl Pultz<cpultz at earthlink.net>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> The question of Columbia Records' adoption of new technologies came up
>>>>> here
>>>>>>> recently. By coincidence, I came across a memoir of the development of
>>>>> LP
>>>>>>> by
>>>>>>> Edward Wallerstein. According to this, the company had started
>>>>> recording to
>>>>>>> 33rpm 16" vinyl discs in the late 30s, which later helped them to create
>>>>>>> quiet masters for LP. But, additionally, they were early into tape:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> "Columbia also had an advantage in that we were the first people in the
>>>>>>> U.S.
>>>>>>> to use tape for master recording. [Adrian] Murphy was one of the first
>>>>> to
>>>>>>> see a German Magnetophon tape recorder in newly liberated Luxemburg
>>>>> after
>>>>>>> the war. He quickly packed it up and shipped it back to CBS. Not long
>>>>>>> thereafter both EMI and Ampex came out with machines, and we immediately
>>>>>>> placed an order for both. By mid-1947, we were using them and had
>>>>>>> discontinued direct disc cutting. The Ampex proved to be the better
>>>>>>> machine,
>>>>>>> so we sent the EMI machines back. Of the originally issued LPs about 40%
>>>>>>> were from tape originals."
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Interesting essay, though how reliable I'm not sure. (For instance, how
>>>>>>> much
>>>>>>> mag tape was available in mid-47? I think Mullin was still hording
>>>>> scraps
>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>> BASF at that time.) It has probably appeared elsewhere, but I found it
>>>>>>> here:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> http://www.musicinthemail.com/audiohistoryLP.html via
>>>>>>> http://wallyheider.com/wordpress/
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Carl Pultz
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Alembic Productions
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> 1006 Langer Way
>>>>>> Delray Beach, FL 33483
>>>>>> 212.874.9626
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> 1006 Langer Way
>>>> Delray Beach, FL 33483
>>>> 212.874.9626
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