Re: [ARSCLIST] Slides and inconvenient media (was spin it again)

["Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Cox" <doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > 2) stereophony
> > mono recordings made with one omnidirectional microphone and in a
> > reasonable hall will have depth - there are many 78s that display
> > this. 
> 
> That was what I had in mind. Unfortunately, the effect is easily lost in
> a bad or over-processed transfer, and in early digital recordings.
> 
The effect is primarily a result of the recording venue having been
acoustically "live"...that is, NOT "padded" to prevent any echo, which
was regarded as unwanted on many recordings. Our brains can define a
lot of "relative location" information using echoes...after all, those
of our ancestors who couldn't figure out "where the bear was" usually
didn't survive and thus reproduce!

As usual, I'll refer readers to the Waring's Pennsylvanians' recording
of "Freshie"...which was recorded in a west-coast studio which was
(unusually, for Victor!) very acoustically "live!" When I first heard
this, my initial impression was "This sounds like it's in stereo...!"

I've often wondered why nobody at Victor noticed the striking difference...

Steven C. Barr