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Roger


�
Would 1953-54 be about the last that they were used?

Roger


�



________________________________
 From: [Richard A  Kaplan] <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Sunday, October 7, 2012 6:56 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Howard Scott Dies
 
Hi Dennis,

How long was it until tape rendered the 16-inch lacquers obsolete? For� 
example, when the Philadelphia Orchestra resumed recording in April, 1949 after 
the strike, would those recordings have been mastered on tape, or was tape 
used� as a backup for the discs for some time? I believe that was the case 
in� Europe.

Rich Kaplan


In a message dated 10/7/2012 1:46:54 P.M. Central Daylight Time,� 
[log in to unmask] writes:

Dear� Tom,

Of course Columbia and CBS engineers knew of developments in� magnetic tape;
however, in keeping with their general conservative attitude� about
innovations, they were not convinced that tape offered comparable� audio
quality to disc, as well as mechanical reliability. Dub-editing was� well
understood in broadcasting and the Columbia engineers were experienced� in
it. Tape waited until 1949 to begin to be used as a mastering medium� at
Columbia. That decision may seem perplexing to you but there it is.� In
1947-48 when Howard's team made the first 100 Lp masters� disc-to-disc,
their technique produced superior results, particularly� respecting s/n, to
what would have been achieved� disc-to-tape.

DDR



On Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 1:18 PM, Tom� Fine 
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> I don't understand� something about the obit and the story of the LP dawn
> that it� told.
>
> Jack Mullin was out west in 1947 holding demonstrations� and using his
> Magnetophones with the Bing Crosby radio program. The� concept of magnetic
> tape was well known in the broadcast world. In� fact, the Edward R. Murrow
> album "I Can Hear It Now" was produced� using tape editing and the 78RPM
> album includes a lengthy production� note describing this newfangled (at 
CBS
> News) editing� technique.
>
> So none of this trickled over to Bridgeport CT?� They really were doing
> disk-to-disk dubs in 1948? Why??? The Ampex 200� came out that year, the
> 200A soon afterward. Surely Bill Paley's� empire could afford a few tape
> machines. Closer to Bridgeport,� Fairchild was making tape machines by 
1948
> and perhaps earlier (I� don't have a clear timeframe as to when Fairchild
> first produced� magnetic recorders, but a 1948 article about Reeves 
Studios
> in NYC� shows Fairchild's "new" tape machines in service and one is 
pictured
>� on the magazine cover).
>
> So again, why the complex machinations� of disk-to-disk dubbing? BTW, RIP
> Howard Scott and he did indeed come� up with an ingenius if hardest way
> possible to solve the problem of� matching up the 78RPM sides.
>
> Ironically, the man who INVENTED� the magnetic tape splicing block, at
> least the US iteration of the� concept, was CBS News producer/editor Joel
> Tall� (EdiTall).
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> PS -- Mullin wasn't the� only guy to bring a working Magnetophone home. 
The
> BBC captured some� of them and did detailed dissections, and Col. Ranger
> brought home at� least one. My bet is Fairchild's engineers got their 
hands
> on one very� soon after the war or else how could their development keep a
> similar� pace to Mullin/Ampex? There were at least dozens of Magetophones
> made� during WWII, if not hundreds, perhaps more. The whole story of
>� disk-dubbing for the new LP medium would make more sense if Columbia� had
> been a little company not connected to a broadcast network and not� 
located
> in what was then the East Coast industrial corridor. I'm not� doubting the
> disk-dubbing happened, I just have trouble believing no� one at Columbia
> knew about tape or had access to tape machines before� the dawn of the LP.
> And if they knew and had access, why would they do� a complex disk-to-disk
> dubbing method?
>
> ----- Original� Message ----- From: "Dennis Rooney" <
>� [log in to unmask]>
> To:� <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2012 11:43� AM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Howard Scott� Dies
>
>
>� Howard's death is no surprise. He was� failing for some time. 
Nevertheless,
>> his contribution to the birth� of the Lp makes him one of the important
>> players in the success of� Columbia Masterworks and worthy of 
remembrance.
>> He liked to tell� the story of moving a cot into a studio where he could
>>� nap
>> in between supervising dub editing lacquer cuts into Lp� masters, and it
>> was
>> all true, including having to� re-make a majority of what had been 
produced
>> after technical� problems in manufacturing caused them all to be 
scrapped.
>> Despite� that setback, he and his engineering team began again and met
>>� their
>> deadline in time for the spring 1948 launch of the new� format.
>>
>> In the decade before 1961 he supervised many� of the Masterworks 
recordings
>> that allowed Columbia to lead the� U.S. market. I have a photo of Howard
>> auditioning a test pressing� sometime in the early fifties. He is young,
>> balding and clean� shaven, attired in a dress shirt and tie. Like his
>> mentor, Goddard� Lieberson, he set great store by dressing well. I worked
>>� on
>> many recordings that he supervised when they were reissued on� CD, and
>> admired his preparation and disciplined� approach.
>>
>> What isn't mentioned in that NY TIMES obit� is that he was born Shapiro
>> but,
>> according to the� assimilationist impulse of his day, changed it to Scott
>>� in
>> the late forties. It was a privilege to have known him.� *Requiescat in
>> pace*
>> .
>>
>>� DDR
>>
>> On Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 11:03 AM, David Lewis� <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>� http://www.nytimes.com/2012/**10/07/arts/music/howard-h-**
>>>� 
scott-a-developer-of-the-lp-**dies-at-92.html?_r=1<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/arts/music/howard-h-scott-a-developer-of-the-lp-dies-at-92.htm
l?_r=1>
>>>
>>>� Funny, he was mentioned here not long ago.
>>>
>>>� Uncle Dave� Lewis
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>� --
>> Dennis D. Rooney
>> 303 W. 66th Street,� 9HE
>> New York, NY 10023
>>� 212.874.9626
>>
>>


-- 
Dennis D. Rooney
303� W. 66th Street, 9HE
New York, NY� 10023
212.874.9626