SH Spotlight How records are made: RCA Command Performance 1942 & "Living Stereo" 1956. MUST SEE!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Dec 27, 2005.

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  1. sacsongs

    sacsongs Senior Member

    Location:
    St. Louis , MO
    Gotta love those old William Ganz documentaries. Fantastic
     
  2. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    Yeah, the bit where they pass the wax blank through a slot in the wall, had me saying in Tom Servo's voice "You have to be careful around those mastering engineers, one of them could take your arm clean off!"
     
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  3. pool_of_tears

    pool_of_tears Searching For Simplicity

    Location:
    Midwest
    Never saw this thread until just now. Very cool stuff.

    Thanks Steve.
     
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  4. Thank you, Mr. Hoffman! Love these old, super informative video documentaries. I'm enjoying them a lot.
     
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  5. Naughty Chord

    Naughty Chord Hole in my Socrates

    Location:
    Sub-Tropo Texas
    Glad I watched these. Very educational.

    Money quote from the second film "Sound And The Story (1956)"...
     
  6. EasterEverywhere

    EasterEverywhere Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    No wonder,this is fascinating.There are lots of newer films out there on the web of the making and pressing of vinyl,but this may be the only one from the 78 era.The number of steps they went through back then was incredible.Everybody recognize Nathaniel Shilikrit as the conductor?
    [​IMG]

    How about the radio with the Magic Brain record changer?
    [​IMG]
     
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  7. EasterEverywhere

    EasterEverywhere Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    I have one of these RCA Stereo-Orthophonic consolettes from 1959.It came with an optional external speaker.Does anyone,by any chance have one I could buy?I realize I can use any old external speaker,but I would like to get an original one.
     
  8. apileocole

    apileocole Lush Life Gort

    Please inqure in the classifieds forum.
     
  9. Larry Mc

    Larry Mc Forum Dude

    Wow, there was a lot of hard, manual labor involved in making a record. What a cool little documentary that Command Performance is. I had to keep reloading it for some reason, but I saw the whole movie, it was a treat.
    Thanks for sharing these movies Steve, I'll watch the other one a little later.:)
     
  10. EasterEverywhere

    EasterEverywhere Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    Finally found the correct model a few weeks ago fairly reasonably on ebay.

    Now if I could get somebody to work on it.
     
  11. apileocole

    apileocole Lush Life Gort

    Quite a find, congrats. :)

    Please inquire in the audio hardware forum. :D
     
  12. snorker

    snorker Big Daddy

    That's so helpful in understanding the process...thanks! Question: Is the run-out information that's on the record etched/stamped into the mother (or mold as RCA called it)?
     
  13. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Sorry, I misunderstood your question.

    No, it's written, stamped on the soft lacquer and transferred over just like everything else when turned into metal.
     
  14. snorker

    snorker Big Daddy

    That makes sense. However, what is happening when you see a subsequent pressing with earlier information crossed out? For example, I have the recent Nirvana Nevermind, which seems to reuse the master from the earlier ORG issue, cut by Bernie Grundman...the ORG is just crossed out on the more recent issue and new numbers added.
     
  15. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    That's on the part, either the mother or master. We in our biz call it "Institutional Memory Mutilation."
     
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  16. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Reopened by request.
     
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  17. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Didn't the conductor on that "Command Performance" rendition of the "Blue Danube Waltz" later go on, a few years from when originally made, to an executive position at Columbia Masterworks? I got his name once, but have since forgotten . . .

    Oh, and a clearer video of this film was put up . . .


    EDIT: Oh, I've since found out. Charles O'Connell. A&R for Victor Red Seal from 1930-44, then musical director at Columbia Masterworks 1944-47, later author of several books.
    [​IMG]
    He actually "supervised" the Minneapolis Symphony's 1935 recording (conducted by Eugene Ormandy) of the "Blue Danube Waltz."
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2021
  18. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    And another of "The Sound And The Story":
     
  19. johnwilliamhunte

    johnwilliamhunte In the land of Gods and Monsters

    I really enjoyed watching these films, thank you for posting them :).
     
  20. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    You're welcome!
     
  21. Wayne T

    Wayne T Active Member

    Location:
    NC
    Thanks for posting! That was extremely enlightening, especially for an ol’ fart like me who grew up in the vinyl era. Is there a thread that discusses and compares the reproduction of sound from vinyl using the piezoelectric effect vs from CD using laser technology? You’d think that dragging a tiny crystal across uneven plastic grooves would provide a less authentic reproduction than merely modulating a light beam with pits but then I’m no expert.
     
  22. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    THank you. I could not find "Command Performance" from the oldest (2005) links in his thread.
     
  23. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    That was one reason why I put up those links - that and the one for The Sound And The Story. The other is these are supposed to be in higher quality (i.e. 480p rather than 240p or something).
     
  24. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    Is that cocaine at 12:44?
     
  25. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    :thumbsup:

    No more objectionable surface noises! Who on SHF wouldn't want a magic brain of their own?
     
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