SH Spotlight Bob Furmanek's research leading up to the first year of stereo records. It is fantastic reading..

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Jan 7, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    No idea. I would assume dumped. Some early tape stuff ended up at Everest holdings in the 1980s..
     
  2. Splungeworthy

    Splungeworthy Forum Rezidentura

    This is how I feel when I learn something new here. Thanks Steve!
    [​IMG]
     
  3. thrivingonariff

    thrivingonariff Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
  4. stereoguy

    stereoguy Its Gotta Be True Stereo!

    Location:
    NYC
    Bobs site was incredible. I'm super into the days of wine and roses and early stereo so it was a big treat for me.

    Love that Ampex 612 stereo tape machine with speakers....high class for 1958!!
     
    Tommyboy and McLover like this.
  5. Bob Furmanek

    Bob Furmanek Forum Resident

    Thanks for all your kind words.

    One of the biggest challenges was finding first pressing covers. Most of them required a LOT of TLC in Photoshop to clean them up!
     
    Tommyboy and lukpac like this.
  6. ibanez_ax

    ibanez_ax Forum Resident

    Great stuff. I'm glad I'm retired and will have time to read it all. ;)
     
  7. ibanez_ax

    ibanez_ax Forum Resident

    Wings?
     
    marka and aoxomoxoa like this.
  8. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    No, still a virgin.
     
    aoxomoxoa and ibanez_ax like this.
  9. Bob Furmanek

    Bob Furmanek Forum Resident

    That happy gent is the legendary Bert Whyte in the equally-legendary Fine Recording Truck.

    My dear friend Bob Eberenz had the signs from that truck in his garage. He saved them when it was getting scrapped!
     
    McLover, DRM and Steve Hoffman like this.
  10. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    That little tape recorder looks so cool. He had two, one mono and the other stereo, right? Or was the second machine a back up?
     
  11. Bob Furmanek

    Bob Furmanek Forum Resident

    Not entirely sure, it looks like a back-up.
     
  12. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Tom Fine would know.
     
  13. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur!

    Location:
    Lotus Land
    Mildly off-topic, but in case anyone cares: Lots of things originally released on the Somerset label were later reissued and credited to 101 Strings. One of the albums listed in the article, "Edmond de Luca's Safari," was recently released on CD (with hideous cover art) as a 101 Strings album. It is a very good orchestral exotica record.
     
  14. stereoguy

    stereoguy Its Gotta Be True Stereo!

    Location:
    NYC

    I would think that the second machine is connected to the recording electronics as well, , so when the first reel is about to run out, he could start the second reel , and not lose any program material. All he'd have to do is a splice later. He wouldnt want to be changing reels in the middle of a song because the tape ran out. Then after the second reel was started, he'd take the top reel off and replace it with a fresh reel of tape for when the bottom reel ran out.
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2018
    DRM and Bob Furmanek like this.
  15. lpfreak1170

    lpfreak1170 Senior Member

    Location:
    Marion, AR
    Looks like my tomorrow is now planned.
     
    DRM likes this.
  16. Bob Furmanek

    Bob Furmanek Forum Resident

  17. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Steve, I'm glad to see you're still doing these now and again. Essential reading - thanks for these!
     
  18. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    "Born To Dance" from 1936, MGM, had some things recorded in "multi-channel".

    Born to Dance - Wikipedia

    youtube.com/watch?v=cbyOCKU16gI
     
  19. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

    [​IMG]
     
    Gardo likes this.
  20. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

  21. Bob Furmanek

    Bob Furmanek Forum Resident

    The MGM sessions for BORN TO DANCE (and other films in that period) were very basic two-channel recordings for the purpose of mixing and balance.

    What Stokowski did on the Universal film took that concept to an entirely new level with nine channels covering the orchestra. That was unprecedented at the time.
     
  22. ubertrout

    ubertrout Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    There's a pretty exhaustive discussion of the Fine/Mercury recording process here. Sounds like at the time it was a mono and a stereo until they got a 3-track machine in 1955: A Fine Art: The Mercury Living Presence Recordings
     
    thrivingonariff likes this.
  23. ubertrout

    ubertrout Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    The first RCA stereo tape, Reiner conducts Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra, was released on SACD at a very reasonable price, coupled with Ein Heldenleben, recorded in stereo that same year. It's fading out of print but copies are still only about $20 shipped.

    [​IMG]
     
    DRM likes this.
  24. Jeff Kent

    Jeff Kent Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Kisco, NY
    I sent this to my Dad who is 76. Here's his response.

    "That is so COOL! I remember when you got one channel of the stereo in the AM radio and one channel on the FM radio. I built an FM radio in 1958 . Stereo FM was not yet available but it had a place where you could add the electronics for that whenever they started broadcasting that way. It was called multiplex."
     
    DRM, Tommyboy and Bob Furmanek like this.
  25. Bob Furmanek

    Bob Furmanek Forum Resident

    That's great, Jeff! So glad that it brought back some nice memories for your dad.

    Those must have been exciting times for an audiophile.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine