correction
Mary Howe was a composer. But I think Mary Howard produced one of her early LPs.
> On Jul 1, 2019, at 5:41 PM, Charles Amirkhanian <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> No. Mary Howe was a composer. But I think Mary Howe produced one of her early LPs.
>
>> On Jul 1, 2019, at 5:06 PM, Paul Stamler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Was Mary Howard the same person as Mary Howe?
>>
>> Peace,
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>> On 7/1/2019 6:38 PM, Thomas Stern wrote:
>>> AUDIO RECORD February, 1948
>>> VOL. 4, NO. 2
>>> Published monthly by Audio Devices, Inc.,
>>> 444 Madison Avenue, New York City, in the
>>> interests of better sound recording.
>>>
>>> Don Plunkett, Chief Engineer of Mary Howard Recordings, adjusts one of the mikes in the
>>> spacious New York studio while an artist sits at the piano waiting patiently for Mary Howard's
>>> cue to begin. Inset: Recording's own, Mary Howard. Photos by Murniy Laden and Kdward O'zera
>>>
>>> The War Gave Mary Howard Her Big Chance to
>>> Make Good in Recording; She Did ??? And How!
>>>
>>> Before the War, many jobs in American industry were con-
>>> sidered "man-sized" positions and therefore . . . for men only. But
>>> the War and its tremendous drain on manpower soon gave the female
>>>
>>> a chance to "strut her scuff." And one such
>>> lady, who took full advantage of this op-
>>> portunity to prove that it wasn't strictly a
>>> man's world after all, was Miss Mary
>>> Howard, daughter of a well-to-do New
>>> England family.
>>>
>>> Mary Howard had a flair for good music
>>> and records particularly intrigued her. To
>>> satisfy her curiosity, she bought a record-
>>> ing machine and started on her own trial-
>>> and-error course in record cutting. Miss
>>> Howard's interest in recording steadily
>>> grew ??? and so did her recording equip-
>>> ment. And then . . .
>>>
>>> Mary Howard came to New York in
>>> 1940 and immediately applied for an engi-
>>> neer's job at NBC. As girls weren't being
>>> hired for that sort of an assignment, Mary
>>> Howard had to be content with a secre-
>>> tary's position in the engineering depart-
>>> ment. Then, her big break came. NBC, los-
>>> ing man after man to the armed forces,
>>> (Continued on Page 4)
>>> War Gave Mary Howard Chance to
>>> Make Good in Recording; She Did
>>>
>>> (Continued from Page 1 )
>>>
>>> decided the comely secretary deserved a
>>> chance to cut a disc and be paid for doing
>>> it. Mary was a big leaguer from thi" start
>>> and in no time at all, the trade looi J on
>>> her as a master recording engineer.
>>>
>>> Her work at NBC gave Mary Hc-vard
>>> ideas ??? big ideas of opening her jwn
>>> recording studio. And just to prove shc
>>> wasn't day dreaming, Mary Hov^ard in-
>>> vites you to visit her studio (Mary Howard
>>> Recordings) at 37 East 49th Street in New
>>> York any day you wish.
>>>
>>> Since Miss Howard set up her own
>>> "shop", a little over two years ago, many
>>> of the biggest names in radio have used her
>>> facilities. Such outstanding personalities as
>>> Alex Templeton, Eddie Duchin, Ethel
>>> Waters, Fred 'waring, and many others,
>>> have come to Mary Howard Recordings be-
>>> cause they knew that this Howard woman,
>>> when it came to making recordings, was
>>> "perfection on parade."
>>>
>>> Mary Howard Recordings functions
>>> primarily as a recording service and its
>>> operations, besides cutting instantaneous
>>> masters, includes line and air checks of all
>>> descriptions, studio recording and slidefilm
>>> work. In the last year Mary Howard
>>> Recordings released their own commercial
>>> records. The Herman Chittison Trio, Ethel
>>> Waters, Lucille Turner and Dale Belmont
>>> are a few of the artists who made recordings
>>> under the MHR label. And, like the thou-
>>> sands of other recording companies, Mary
>>> Howard Recordings is waiting patiently
>>> for the Petrillo ban to be lifted so they can
>>> 'get going' again.
>>>
>>> Cutting equipment in Mary Howard
>>> Recordings, according to Chief Engineer
>>> Don Plunkett, Mary Howard's able assis-
>>> tant, consists of: 'Van Eps and Allied Cut-
>>> ting Lathes, Presto 1-D Heads driven by
>>> Langevin 101 -A Amplifiers. "Our mixing
>>> equipm.ent," Mr. Plunkett explained, "is
>>> interchangeable by means of patching. Our
>>> Preamps and Our Program Amps arc
>>> Langevin. Re-recording equipment at
>>> MHR," Mr. Plunkett said, "consists of
>>> Allied Transcription Tables and Picker-
>>> ing Reproducing Equipment, which have
>>> served us most efficiently of all pickups we
>>> have tried. This combination ??? Allied TT's
>>> and Pickering Pickups ??? we find the most
>>> flexible for composite recording."
>>>
>>> Audio Record asked both Miss Howard
>>> and Mr. Plunkett what their particular
>>> techniques were ??? what they did to insure
>>> good recordings. To this query. Miss
>>> Howard replied: "We are of the opinion
>>> that a compact, consolidated recording and
>>> control room, combined adjacent to and
>>> visible to the studio is the best method of
>>> recording. With this setup a recording tech-
>>> nician can actually 'ride gain' but what
>>> is more important can see what actual level
>>> is imposed on the disc. We feel," Miss
>>>
>>> Howard continued, "that the term 'riding
>>> gain' is a poor description of the operation
>>> involved. The more dynamics achieved in
>>> a fidelity recording, even if the frequency
>>> response is limited, the more the sound
>>> originating in the studio will be approxi-
>>> mated. We feel that too much emphasis
>>> can be put on the word 'fidelity' and that
>>> some of the pre-emphasized and over em-
>>> phasized high frequencies often result in a
>>> sound unpleasant to the ear, which after
>>> all is the final judge."
>>>
>>> "Dynamic fidelity of course," Mr. Plun-
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> kett h sti^ned to add, "is closely allied with
>>> surface noise and care must be taken with
>>> selection of styli and discs so that low level
>>> prssag ????? v.'ill not 'ce marred by surface
>>> noise.
>>>
>>> "And then too," the chief engineer went
>>> on, "recording quality must be checked
>>> constantly and the best check is immediate
>>> playback. This is, unfortunately, quite
>>> often ignored by many studios, or discour-
>>> aged by companies as a waste of time."
>>>
>>> "Yes, and," Miss Howard, eager to get
>>> back into the discussion added, "recording
>>> information about cutting characteristics,
>>> recording head designs, styli and quality of
>>> response equipment is easily obtained.
>>> These all enter into the final results. Un-
>>> fortunately, the interest and ingenuity of
>>> the recordist has often been overlooked.
>>> Recording," she continued, "is not a dull
>>> craft at all if engaged in all its technical
>>> phases. There seems to be a prevalence in
>>> large organizations for specialization ???
>>> cutting technicians, studio technicians,
>>> maintenance, etc. ??? which often results in
>>> poor recording because of lack of interest
>>> or information in all phases of the record-
>>> ing operation. If interest and enthusiasm
>>> were carried all the way through the re-
>>> cording organization, and management,
>>> perhaps time might be found to raise the
>>> general recording standards in America.
>>>
>>> "We have tried," she concluded, "to
>>> incorporate these methods (?) in our opera-
>>> tion and have had success ... or some such
>>> thing."
>>>
>>>> From what Audio Record has been able to learn, that 'some such thing,' Miss
>>> Howard refers to, spells success all right
>>> . . and with a capital 'S'.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steven Smolian
>>> Sent: Monday, July 1, 2019 6:47 PM
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Female producers?
>>>
>>> Probably the first was Mary Howe who also had her own record company and was a composer as well. Her "Stars" was recorded on 78, Kindler, I believe.
>>>
>>> Steve Smolian
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Marie O'Connell
>>> Sent: Monday, July 01, 2019 6:32 PM
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Female producers?
>>>
>>> Tom Fine's mother - Wilma Cozart Fine might be in the list - http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/wilma-cozart-fine-the-muse-of-mercury/
>>> Marie
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jul 2, 2019 at 10:09 AM Donald Tait < [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Perhaps Jane Friedman (or Friedmann) at Columbia/Epic? She helped
>>>> me at Columbia's New York headquarters in 1976 when I was doing some
>>>> research about Bruno Walter's Columbia records. But I could be wrong about it.
>>>> Don Tait
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Paul Stamler <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> To: ARSCLIST <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> Sent: Mon, Jul 1, 2019 4:34 pm
>>>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Female producers?
>>>>
>>>> Hi folks:
>>>>
>>>> Anyone know who the first female record producers were? I'm not aware
>>>> of anyone before classical producer Teresa Sterne at Nonesuch in the
>>>> 1960s, but if there was someone else (either in classical or
>>>> vernacular), I'd like to know about her.
>>>>
>>>> Peace,
>>>> Paul
>>>>
>>>> ---
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>>>>
>
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