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Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops question)
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Lennick" <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 11:25 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops question)
Matter of fact I'm just listening to Tabor on what may be a first
pressing. Major breakup on the drums and tuttis about 5 minutes
in..cleaner with a .7 mil stylus (I first tried a 1-mil). Very clean
pressing, no surface noise.
dl
Tom Fine wrote:
Well, to each their own. The critics did not agree with you in most
cases. The Mercury mono reissue CD's sold very well worldwide and are now
available again as a 4 or 5CD (forgot which) set, all the Kubeliks. I
personally greatly prefer the CD's to the original LPs (which we have
excellent-condition copies of). Again, everyone's entitled to an opinion.
I'll grant you that the master tapes were over 40 years old in 1996, but
it was amazing how they played back OK. The LPs noisy surface may mask
some of the limitations of tape, machine and microphone.
If the "Tabor" is what I heard, we have very different opinions. I heard
all sorts of digital artifacts, obvious tape degradation and a
non-realistic stereo pickup. But again, to each their own.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Abrams"
<steveabrams@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 10:18 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops
question)
What I am saying is that the Mercury Living Presence CD issued in 1996
of "Ma Vlast" does not sound good. I remember the LPs sounding better
though I only had them on a cheap reissue in the UK on the Wing label.
The stereo issue of "Tabor" that I know came out last year on Music &
Arts and was restored by Mark Obert-Thorne. It sounds much better than
the mono version.
Steve Abrams
----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Fine"
<tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 3:02 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops
question)
Hi Steve:
Thanks for the RCA clarification. It was the same set of sessions I
thought but different works.
Yes, Bert Whyte was permitted by Mercury to bring his 2-track
Magnecorder and place a pair of U-47 mics at the Kubelik session. Some
of the tapes were issued on a small label CD in recent years and sound
terrible to my ears. Could be the tape is deteriorated, could be the
playback or transfer equipment wasn't good. Could be the engineer
didn't properly line up the staggered tracks, etc. They definitely
over-used digital noise-zapping tools so there are digi-artifacts
galore. I imagine the tapes sounded better when they were new and
played back on that Magnecorder.
Bert's tapes were a personal experiment. Never intended for release.
Not particularly praised or lauded by the professionals involved in the
session. In fairness to Bert, this was pioneering in many respects, as
was his pioneering use of magnetic film recording for Everest. Bert
wrote a really nice column for Radio & TV News in 1956 about the day he
was invited to the studio to hear the first Mercury 3-track tapes that
were ready for release. He was treated to a full-monty 3-speaker
extravaganza.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Abrams"
<steveabrams@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 8:18 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops
question)
Not quite. The Munch Damnation of Faust in February 1954 was recorded
in stereo but only issued in mono. Something happened to the stereo
tapes. The Reiner recordings of Heldenleben and Salome's dance were
recorded on March 6th. Zarathustra came two days later on the 8th.
However - and you should be able to shed some light on this - some
stereo recordings were made by Bert Whyte at the December 1952
sessions of the Chicago Symphony recording Ma Vlast under Kubelik.
'Tabor' recorded on December 6th has recently been issued on Music and
Arts in a transfer by Obert-Thorne. The very unpleasant overload
distortion on the Mercury Living Presence mono set, very evident on
the CD issue, is not evident in the stereo version.
Steve Abrams
----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Fine"
<tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 12:10 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops
question)
I'd be interested to know what's on them and who released them. I do
not believe you'll find that they are in fact 2T stereo. They are
likely half-track (2-sided) mono. If they are stereo, it would be
very interesting to know who put them out as in 1952 only a few
people were experimenting with 2-channel stereo recording of music.
No major labels yet, although I believe RCA started making 2T masters
in 1954 or even 1953 -- I think Zarathustra with Reiner was the first
2T session.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Palmer"
<vdalhart@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 12:29 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops
question)
I bought my first 2 track tapes for my reel recorder/player in
the Base Exchange in Sidi-Slimane, Morocco in 1952. I still have a
couple of them in fact. Jack
----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Fine"
<tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 9:40 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops
question)
Ampex developed their own, was developed by Leon Wortman in NY and
detailed in a 1951 Radio & TV News article. Wortman's line made
full-track or half-track tapes. Commercial half-track tapes were
available as early as 1951 or 1952, but there was only a very small
consumer market for reel to reel machines at that point. > Because
this was a new format sold at a premium price, a lot of QC
attention was paid by the reputable companies in this era, so the
net quality is very high. Akin to what happened when stereo LPs
came along.
.
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