----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Cox" <doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>I did a King Oliver disc for Naxos a few years ago and was surprised to find that the Gennetts were better recorded than many of the OKehs. Anyone who knows both labels will probably have had the same expectations as I did.On 03/06/07, Steven C. Barr(x) wrote:It depends on the nature of the inaccuracy.The applicable question here is not too hard to define...though difficult to answer! "Is it possible, using a recording of admitted (but not accurately defined) sonic inaccuracy, to recreate using digital methods an accurate recreation of EXACTLY what was recorded using earlier inaccurate methods?!"
Equalisation problems can be solved quite easily. Nowadays, many clicks
and some crackle can be removed digitally. Intermodulation distortion would be very hard to correct. Resonances are
hard, as they vary with level.
Bad microphone placement, especially close micing, would be very hard to
correct unless multi-track tapes exist with the outputs from each mic
kept separate. (Which is not usual in the 1950s).
You can't correct a problem until you have analysed it, identified it
and studied it. Recordings have many different and independent faults.
Remember that these Gennett phonorecords were recorded acoustically... which means the frequency response was essentially defined by now- unknown details of the recording horn, as well as the minimal bandwidth inherent in the acoustic-recording process...
Steven C. Barr