That from a company that did fantastic work in their studios, and
high-quality classical location recording. This echoes the situation with
Columbia; often amazing productions were excessively compromised in disc
mastering.

What was it about the corporate cultures or shop floor realities in these
American companies that caused this division? I've had the notion that in
the early days, there was more unity of purpose, where all steps along the
production chain were engaged in proving the quality of microgroove and
stereo. Eventually, maybe because of the shear growth in volume of work or a
sense of the mastering departments being second-class citizens in the
engineering hierarchies, mastering became just overhead rather than an
element in the creative process.

If so, why or how did the English companies maintain a higher standard? Were
they driven by different estimations of the demands of their market, or was
it more something internal to the company cultures that supported better
craftsmanship?

There may be a historical element, too. Before tape, the lathe operator was
a part of the session, right there with the artists. After, they were off in
the back rooms, anonymous workers. Had to hurt if you started in the studios
in 1940 and ended in the basement in 1980. Some of this dark spirit seems to
have carried over into CD mastering.
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Donald Clarke
Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2013 8:09 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Bass less reissues from England,U.S. Record club
versions

On Jul 13, 2013, at 3:13 PM, Steven Smolian wrote:

At one point I was working on a classical reissue project that had to be
mastered, by contract, by the Capitol engineering staff in the U.S. What I
sent out and what I got back were quite different- less bass from Capitol
and more compression.

============

In 1989 I leased a classical recording made in 1970 from EMI in London for
release on CD. There had been a digital transfer, issued on an Angel LP in
the USA, but not on CD, and I asked EMI to find that so I wouldn't have to
pay for a new transfer. They faxed Hollywood and back came a transfer of
some old safety copy or something: unusable. They told me in London that no
matter what they asked for from Capitol it was never right. We made a new
transfer in the basement at Abbey Road.

Donald Clarke