Saturday, October 19, 5:00 pm — 7:00 pm (Room 1E09)
Abstract:
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a
new market emerged for ultra-high fidelity recordings. Once cutting and
playback of the stereo LP were brought up to high quality levels, buyers
of this new super-realistic format wanted ever more "absolute" sound
quality. The notion emerged, first with Everest Records, a small
independent record label in Queens, to use 35mm magnetic film as the
recording and mastering medium. 35mm had distinct advantages over tape
formulations and machines of that time—lower noise floor, less wow and
flutter, higher absolute levels before saturation, almost no crosstalk
or print-through, etc. Everest Records made a splash with the first 35mm
LP masters not connected to motion-picture soundtracks but quickly
faltered as a business. The unique set of recording equipment and the
Everest studio remained intact and was used to make commercially
successful 35mm records for Mercury, Command, Cameo-Parkway, and Project
3. The fad faded by the mid-60s as tape machines and tape formulations
improved, and the high cost of working with 35mm magnetic film became
unsustainable. The original Everest equipment survived to be used in the
Mercury Living Presence remasters for CD. Just recently, the original
Everest 35mm recordings have been reissued in new high-resolution
digital remasters. This presentation will trace the history of 35mm
magnetic recording, the brief but high-profile fad of 35mm-based LPs,
and the after-life of those original recordings. We will also look at
the unique set of hardware used to make the vast majority of the 35mm
LPs. The presentation will be augmented with plenty of audio examples
from the original recordings.
Sunday, October 20, 1:00 pm — 2:00 pm (Room 1E14)
Abstract:
Digital Transfer of The Armando Leça Folk Music Collection
Nadja Wallaszkovits will discuss the restoration, transfer, and
digitization of a unique collection of folk music recorded during
1939-1940 in the rural areas and mountain villages of Portugal by the
folklorist Armando Leça, in collaboration with National Radio (Emissora
Nacional). Her presentation will open with a short introduction of this
important field research project, which resulted in the first known
collection of recordings documenting rural musical practices from nearly
all regions of Portugal. Thereafter, she will present a historical
overview of early magnetic tape developments and the birth of audio tape
recorder technology, focusing on the characteristics of the individual
tape machine used by Armando Leça. The problems of carrier handling,
restoration, and transfer of these valuable original tapes will be
discussed, along with the judicial use of signal enhancement during the
playback process.
Jim Webb discusses his pick of "12 Microphones that Changed History". A detailed writeup of Jim's picks is here.
Pictures of Les Paul's console and "Octopus" in 1958.
A profile of Fine Recording Studios in New York City. Plus, the history of Bob Fine's recording truck, used to make Mercury Living Presence classical recordings.
A look at Emory Cook, stereo recording pioneer and inventor, and his operations in Connecticut.
The memoirs of Victor recording engineers Harry and Raymond Sooey, covering the history of early 20th Century recording technology and techniques.
A 4-part interview with legendary jazz engineer Rudy Van Gelder.
The website of TapeOp Magazine contains many articles and interviews about the craft of recording.
Reeves Sound Studios NYC (1933 – 197X)
UCSB's massive Edison cylinder archive and transfer project
The in-house newsletter from Bill Putnam's empire in its heyday
"Classic Tracks" articles from Mix magazine
Interview with Sigma Sound Studios founder Joe Tarsia
Technical conference paper based on the massive collection of tapes that Joe left to Drexel University
2014-06-03, update 2014-07-11
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