What I am saying is that the Mercury Living Presence CD issued in 1996 of "Ma Vlast" does not sound good. I remember the LPs sounding better though I only had them on a cheap reissue in the UK on the Wing label. The stereo issue of "Tabor" that I know came out last year on Music & Arts and was restored by Mark Obert-Thorne. It sounds much better than the mono version. Steve Abrams ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Fine" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 3:02 PM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops question) > Hi Steve: > > Thanks for the RCA clarification. It was the same set of sessions I > thought but different works. > > Yes, Bert Whyte was permitted by Mercury to bring his 2-track Magnecorder > and place a pair of U-47 mics at the Kubelik session. Some of the tapes > were issued on a small label CD in recent years and sound terrible to my > ears. Could be the tape is deteriorated, could be the playback or transfer > equipment wasn't good. Could be the engineer didn't properly line up the > staggered tracks, etc. They definitely over-used digital noise-zapping > tools so there are digi-artifacts galore. I imagine the tapes sounded > better when they were new and played back on that Magnecorder. > > Bert's tapes were a personal experiment. Never intended for release. Not > particularly praised or lauded by the professionals involved in the > session. In fairness to Bert, this was pioneering in many respects, as was > his pioneering use of magnetic film recording for Everest. Bert wrote a > really nice column for Radio & TV News in 1956 about the day he was > invited to the studio to hear the first Mercury 3-track tapes that were > ready for release. He was treated to a full-monty 3-speaker extravaganza. > > -- Tom Fine > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Steve Abrams" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 8:18 AM > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops > question) > > >> Not quite. The Munch Damnation of Faust in February 1954 was recorded in >> stereo but only issued in mono. Something happened to the stereo tapes. >> The Reiner recordings of Heldenleben and Salome's dance were recorded on >> March 6th. Zarathustra came two days later on the 8th. However - and >> you should be able to shed some light on this - some stereo recordings >> were made by Bert Whyte at the December 1952 sessions of the Chicago >> Symphony recording Ma Vlast under Kubelik. 'Tabor' recorded on December >> 6th has recently been issued on Music and Arts in a transfer by >> Obert-Thorne. The very unpleasant overload distortion on the Mercury >> Living Presence mono set, very evident on the CD issue, is not evident in >> the stereo version. >> >> Steve Abrams >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Tom Fine" <[log in to unmask]> >> To: <[log in to unmask]> >> Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 12:10 PM >> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops >> question) >> >> >>> I'd be interested to know what's on them and who released them. I do not >>> believe you'll find that they are in fact 2T stereo. They are likely >>> half-track (2-sided) mono. If they are stereo, it would be very >>> interesting to know who put them out as in 1952 only a few people were >>> experimenting with 2-channel stereo recording of music. No major labels >>> yet, although I believe RCA started making 2T masters in 1954 or even >>> 1953 -- I think Zarathustra with Reiner was the first 2T session. >>> >>> -- Tom Fine >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: "Jack Palmer" <[log in to unmask]> >>> To: <[log in to unmask]> >>> Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 12:29 AM >>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops >>> question) >>> >>> >>>> I bought my first 2 track tapes for my reel recorder/player in the >>>> Base Exchange in Sidi-Slimane, Morocco in 1952. I still have a couple >>>> of them in fact. Jack >>>> >>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>> From: "Tom Fine" <[log in to unmask]> >>>> To: <[log in to unmask]> >>>> Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 9:40 AM >>>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops >>>> question) >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>> Ampex developed their own, was developed by Leon Wortman in NY and >>>>> detailed in a 1951 Radio & TV News article. Wortman's line made >>>>> full-track or half-track tapes. Commercial half-track tapes were >>>>> available as early as 1951 or 1952, but there was only a very small >>>>> consumer market for reel to reel machines at that point. > Because >>>>> this was a new format sold at a premium price, a lot of QC attention >>>>> was paid by the reputable companies in this era, so the net quality is >>>>> very high. Akin to what happened when stereo LPs came along. >>>> . >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> No virus found in this incoming message. >>> Checked by AVG Free Edition. >>> Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 269.0.0/751 - Release Date: >>> 07/04/2007 22:57 >>> >>> >> > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 269.0.0/751 - Release Date: 07/04/2007 > 22:57 > >