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Thanks to both Tom and Mike. My last question is were the magnetic film recording electronics as sophisticated as those used in dedicated music recorders? I see that of course the width and thickness were obvious advantages but did the film audio chain have as much "High Fidelity" characteristics as those machines dedicated to audio only? I imagine they did but as I only did a limited amount of film sync work in college my familiarity with the record/reproduce machines is very rudimentary at best. Was Magna-Cord the company that made most of that stuff? AA Tom Fine wrote: > Hi Aaron: > > Standard speed for 35mm is approximately 18IPS. Mercury (and most > others but not all others) typically recorded taped sessions at 15IPS. > I know some early RCA mono was definitely 30IPS but I'm not sure they > did any 3-tracks other than 15IPS. Vanguard recorded directly to > 2-track and I have some LPs that specifically state they ran their > tape at 30IPS. I'm not sure of others, except that I own an old > Columbia Ampex 300 transport and it ran at 15IPS top speed. > > The big advantage to 35mm was not the (slightly) faster speed. That > might have been the least advantageous difference. The main advantages > were little to no print-thru due to very thick magnetic stock (as > compared to 1.5 mil non-backcoat tape of the time), wider tracks, much > wider separation bands (not that crosstalk should be a big problem > with a properly-aligned 1/2" 3-track), and very good speed stability > with the better transports of the day. The wider tracks and thicker > oxide, along with the slightly faster speed, resulted in a very low > noise floor compared to any tape formulation of the day. The main > disadvantages were cost, cost, cost and a few other details. > > -- Tom Fine > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Aaron Levinson" > <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2009 12:02 PM > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] 35mm music-album masters made at Spectra-Sound > in L.A.??? > > >> Tom- >> >> I have a copy of The Nut Cracker with Dorati and The London Symphony, >> it is a Mercury Living Presence 35mm Mag recording. They mention >> wider, thicker and faster in the notes but what were the specifics? >> >> Did it run faster than 30 ips? >> >> AA >> >> >> Tom Fine wrote: >>> Hi All: >>> >>> Another listmember kindly pointed me to a Billboard article from >>> June 3, 1967 - "Spectra-Sound Films' Records" - indicates L.A.-based >>> Spectra-Sound studio was offering 10- and 12-track 35mm capability >>> (not clear if it was on single custom-format machines or via machine >>> rooms of 3- and 6-track standard-format machines) for music-album >>> production. >>> >>> Does anyone know of any albums recorded at this studio with the >>> "tracking" medium being 35mm? I couldn't find any among my Project 3 >>> albums from that time period. As far as I know, by 1967, only >>> Project 3 was regularly using 35mm mag-film for record-album >>> production. Command Classics made 35mm recordings in Pittsburgh in >>> the spring of 1967 and the spring of 1968, but Command's regular >>> flow of pop albums at this time were exclusively or almost >>> exclusively done on tape. >>> >>> Anyway, any info on Spectra-Sound's use of 35mm to record >>> music-albums would be appreciated. As far as I knew until this >>> article, the only west coast studios to make 35mm albums were United >>> and Radio Recorders, both for Mercury's short-lived f35d series. >>> >>> -- Tom Fine >>> >> >