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Re: [ARSCLIST] Dawn of digital -- more info provided and more needed
Hi Michael:
According to this:
http://www.mp3.com/albums/113749/summary.html
11/28/77 was the release date.
It's also clear from the image that it says Denon PCM.
So I'd give this credit as the first U.S. made commercial digital recording.
Here's the developing chronology:
1970 -- Denon begins making PCM recordings with equipment developed by NHK and Denon. The album
"Something" by Jiroh Inagaki and Steve Marcus, Denon 7003-NCB, released in 1970, is likely the first
commercial digital recording.
1972 -- Denon uses its own DN-023R system to record the Smetana Quartet doing Mozart works in April.
The resulting LP: Supraphon, Denon OX 7008 ND / NCC 8501 N.
1976 -- Soundstream makes a test recording at the Santa Fe Opera recording session, but this
recording is not used to make the resulting New World Records LP. This is the early, prototype
version of the Soundstream system.
1977 -- August -- Virgil Fox records a pair of direct-to-disk albums in California for Crystal Clear
Records. Soundstream's first-generation system is also used to record the session, as another test
recording. The original issue of these two albums is direct-to-disk but the Soundstream recordings
are issued later as "The Digital Fox" volumes 1 and 2, and later on a single CD.
1977 -- November -- Archie Shepp "On Green Dolphin Street" is either recorded or released. Based on
previous research, I would guess it was recorded at this time and released a short time afterward,
or recorded a short time before November. Denon's second-generation PCM system was used and the
studio was likely Sound Ideas, NY. Jim McCurdy was the engineer. It is very likely -- based on
research current as of today -- that this is the first intended-for-release digital commercial
recording made in the U.S.
1978 -- April -- The improved Soundstream system (50khz sampling rate, 16-bit) is used to record
Fred Fennell and the Cleveland Winds for Telarc. Called "The Bass Drum Heard 'Round the World", this
is perhaps the first commercial digital recording to capture the attention of the mainstream press.
But it is likely not the first U.S. commercial digital recording.
1978 -- date to be determined -- the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is recorded at Sound 80 in
Minneapolis on the prototype version of the 3M digital system. Although the digital recording was
supposed to be a test, made in conjunction with a direct-to-disk session, first-hand reports
indicate the digital recorded was judged superior and used as the master for the released LP. Other
participants in the session reported problems with the direct-to-disk system, rendering the digital
recording the only usable master.
The rest, as they say, is history.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Fitzgerald" <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2007 6:41 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Dawn of digital -- more info provided and more needed
Archie Shepp: Ballads For Trane (1984 CD issue 35C38-7264) has no mention of digital recording.
Recorded May 7, 1977 at Long View Farm Recording Studio, North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Engineer
Jesse Henderson. There is no "PCM Digital Recording" as there are on other later Denon CDs, nor
any "DDD". So I believe this is not of interest in this case.
Later digitally recorded Denon CDs were done at Sound Ideas Studio, NYC with Jim McCurdy as
engineer. For example, Tommy Flanagan & Kenny Barron: Together (1984 CD issue 38C38-7263),
recorded December 6, 1978.
So, On Green Dolphin Street, the other Shepp record, would fit the description much better. It was
recorded November 28, 1977 which sounds like "end of 1977" to me.
Mike
mike at jazzdiscography.com
www.jazzdiscography.com