In addition to the Ampex duplicator, there were a few reel-to-reel devices 
made for this purpose.  Pentax and V-M (Voice of Music) were two rather 
cheesy ones.  Some industrial duplicators used the latter- EAV (Educational 
Audio Video- Mack Ferris) had one of these- I can't recall which of the two- 
in his NY loft.  (He used a name that escapes me before going into video.)

Haydn Society and Urania used Dubbings, Julie Koennen's (sp?) operation, as 
did others- he was quite busy.

Livingston was somehow tied up with the Concert Hall family- the Josefowitz 
operation.  Cook, Atlantic and Livingston were also involved.  I think. 
Livingston also made tone arms and similar equipment- the also manufactured 
one of the forked arms needed to play Cook's stereo records.  I have a 
Bechet using Cook's inside and outside left and right channel pressings 
issued by Atlantic.  I think they were in River Edge NJ and I once visited 
them.

Bob Angus who wrote- and quite well- for Tape or Tape Recording magazine (a 
consumer publication) and may still be with us knew more about this than I. 
I expect a look at a run of those will fill in some info.

In the early 60s I wrote one of my American Record Guide columns about the 
Broadcasting Foundation of America which had a big operation editing and 
distributing overseas classical radio programs, particularly from national 
radios, for  distribution to US radio stations.  They used various machines 
in banks to make their reel to reel copies, either real or double speed, I 
can't recall.  A friend did their weekly maintenance work about midnight and 
I often visited with him at BFA wile he did his alignments and other tasks. 
I remember special machines to play back the powder-based Agfa, Telefunken 
and similar products,  I think some came in from the Soviet Union- I'd have 
to reread the article.  Remember "Music from Germany?"  "Hello and How Do 
You Do."

Library of Congress had a bank of Apex duplicators so they could distribute 
the Coolidge Concerts.  Apparently, they were a bear to maintain.  The late 
Bob Carneal had many anecdotes about using them.

Eventually, Ampex operated its own tape duplicating facility and did a lot 
of the work for many of the majors.  etc.

If anybody still cares.

Steve Smolian


-----Original Message----- 
From: Tom Fine
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 9:50 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Livingston and early Atlantic 2-track "binaural" 
reels

Hi Steve:

Atlantic's tapes seem to be the connector between Livingston and Cook. They 
are featured in both
catalogs. Was Livingston more a duplicating operation than a recording 
operation? I have a
Livingston-branded tape of Lenny Herman "mightiest little band in the land." 
I think they were
basically a hotel-bar band in the NYC area. Livingston also put out tapes 
under their own brand of
Bill Thomson playing a Hammond organ.

So who was behind Livingston, and how did they connect to Cook and Atlantic? 
Were they one of the
early self-made duplicating operations? The earliest documentation I've seen 
of a tape duplication
operation was in a 1952 Radio & TV News article, about a setup in NY using 
Ampex 300's modified in a
way that was strikingly similar to what Ampex ended up doing with their 3200 
duplicator system two
years later.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "carlstephen koto" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 8:55 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Livingston and early Atlantic 2-track "binaural" 
reels


Hey Tom,

A quick check of a couple of my binaural tapes reveals the following text on 
the back of the boxes;

"A Binaural tape of The Atlantic Tape Library
duplicated and distributed exclusively by
Livingston Electronic Corporation"

The 2 tapes I checked;
Paul Barbarin and his New Orleans Jazz is listed in the Atlantic Records 
discography as lp # 1253
New Orleans Jazz by Wilbur de Paris and his Rampart Street Ramblers is 
listed as lp# 1208

I'm not sure about the dates for the Wilbur de Paris but according to the 
All Music Guide, the
Barbarin was recorded in 1955 for Atlantic.

steve koto
On Nov 15, 2012, at 2:51 PM, Tom Fine wrote:

> What was the story with Livingston and Atlantic and their early 2-track 
> reels? The Atlantic titles were listed in both the Livingston and Cook 
> catalogs that were included with Livingston and Cook reels. Did Emory Cook 
> make all of these recordings?
>
> -- Tom Fine