On 11/02/2012, Alex Steyermark wrote:

> Thank you for your encouragement! We are always amazed that our 70+
> year-old Prestos work as well as they do. We have three, although
> we've had to combine parts from two of them into one very good
> machine. Which means we have two well-matched machines, and the third
> which we are fixing up to get as good as the others. Each recording is
> still a bit of a fraught process, and a huge sigh of relief is felt in
> the room when we finish cutting a record. On the other hand, that is a
> vital part of the experience, and we're always impressed with the
> intensity of focus that the artists put into the performance. They
> become very aware that there is no opportunity for punching in or any
> kind of mix fixes. It makes for a truthful performance, something that
> the artists themselves seem to find very moving when they hear their
> records played back for them. And our Prestos, portable as they are,
> certainly make for a good workout when we lug them around!
>
>
A good mono mic can work very well, but Lomax's later recordings with a
pair of ribbon mics are in my opinion even better.



Have you heard any of the mono recordings made in Africa by Hugh Tracy?
He hand-held his mic so that he could bring it nearer to whichever
musician he wanted to emphasize at different points in the song. It
shouldn't work but it does.

The CD reissues are on the SWP records label

http://www.swp-records.com

Regards
--
Don Cox
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