Similar things happened at Decca for the first London LPs - see John
Culshaw's "Putting The Record Straight" for an account of the dubbing
sessions. The tape machine arrived in fairly short order, I believe, but
was used initially for joining up 78 dubs. The first BTR-1 to be used
for anything else at Decca sat outside the canteen with a label asking
anybody passing to thread a tape and press record if the red light above
it was on. Haddy's distaste for early tape is well known...
On 31/07/2014 18:13, Dennis Rooney wrote:
> It is true that Columbia began master recording on 17.5 and 16" lacquer
> discs commencing in 1939. The last Masterworks sessions recorded at 78rpm
> were in 1940.
>
> Whoever claims that Columbia began mastering on magnetic tape "by mid-1947"
> is completely incorrect. There are no seasons for which tape parts exist
> prior to late 1949, and backup discs continued to be cut until 1951. My
> assertion is based on extensive personal exploration of surviving Columbia
> masters and parts. Tape originals did not enter into Lp production until
> late 1949. The lp and xlp matrices for Lps were second or third generation
> copies from disc originals.
>
> DDR
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 7:45 AM, Carl Pultz <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> The question of Columbia Records' adoption of new technologies came up here
>> recently. By coincidence, I came across a memoir of the development of LP
>> by
>> Edward Wallerstein. According to this, the company had started recording to
>> 33rpm 16" vinyl discs in the late 30s, which later helped them to create
>> quiet masters for LP. But, additionally, they were early into tape:
>>
>>
>>
>> "Columbia also had an advantage in that we were the first people in the
>> U.S.
>> to use tape for master recording. [Adrian] Murphy was one of the first to
>> see a German Magnetophon tape recorder in newly liberated Luxemburg after
>> the war. He quickly packed it up and shipped it back to CBS. Not long
>> thereafter both EMI and Ampex came out with machines, and we immediately
>> placed an order for both. By mid-1947, we were using them and had
>> discontinued direct disc cutting. The Ampex proved to be the better
>> machine,
>> so we sent the EMI machines back. Of the originally issued LPs about 40%
>> were from tape originals."
>>
>>
>>
>> Interesting essay, though how reliable I'm not sure. (For instance, how
>> much
>> mag tape was available in mid-47? I think Mullin was still hording scraps
>> of
>> BASF at that time.) It has probably appeared elsewhere, but I found it
>> here:
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.musicinthemail.com/audiohistoryLP.html via
>> http://wallyheider.com/wordpress/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Carl Pultz
>>
>> Alembic Productions
>>
>
>
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