Matter of fact I'm just listening to Tabor on what may be a first pressing. Major breakup on the drums and tuttis about 5 minutes in..cleaner with a .7 mil stylus (I first tried a 1-mil). Very clean pressing, no surface noise. dl Tom Fine wrote: > Well, to each their own. The critics did not agree with you in most > cases. The Mercury mono reissue CD's sold very well worldwide and are > now available again as a 4 or 5CD (forgot which) set, all the Kubeliks. > I personally greatly prefer the CD's to the original LPs (which we have > excellent-condition copies of). Again, everyone's entitled to an > opinion. I'll grant you that the master tapes were over 40 years old in > 1996, but it was amazing how they played back OK. The LPs noisy surface > may mask some of the limitations of tape, machine and microphone. > > If the "Tabor" is what I heard, we have very different opinions. I heard > all sorts of digital artifacts, obvious tape degradation and a > non-realistic stereo pickup. But again, to each their own. > > -- Tom Fine > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Abrams" > <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 10:18 AM > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] commerical reels history (was Boston Pops question) > > >> 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 >>> >>> >> >