[Gary Eickmeier]

Audio_Empire wrote:
On Tuesday, February 5, 2013 7:18:37 AM UTC-8, Gary Eickmeier wrote:
I just played my new copy of Marty Paich's "The Picasso of Big
Bands" CD,

and it was stereo and it was terrific. Recorded in 1957, but must
have been

recorded in stereo or multitrack, could have possibly been released
on tape

as well as LP, but I believe LP went stereo in 1958. Anyway, it is
good

stereo, not artificial and not ping pong. Recommended.



Gary Eickmeier


In 1957, Stereo almost always meant two-track. Some recording
companies were doing three track (Mercury's Bob Fine, and RCA
Victor's Lewis Leyton & John Pfiffer come to mind here) by having
their Ampex 300 and 350 tape transports modified with three-track
erase, record and playback heads. Multi-track - as we know it, didn't
come along until the 1960's. This is one reason why RCA Living Stereo
and Mercury Living Presence recordings from the mid-fifties to mid
sixties are still in great demand on vinyl as well as CD, SACD, and
high-resolution downloads.

Most of these early stereo recordings were made with spaced
omnidirectional mikes lined up in front of the ensemble; one on the
right, one in the center, and one on the left. This was at least
partially done, originally, so that the center mike could yield the
master tape for the monaural LP release (most record companies, in
stereo's early days, put out dual inventory of most titles. One in
Stereo, and one in mono.
There was usually a $1.00 difference between the mono edition and the
stereo edition at retail.

I'm not sure what your point is with this. Of course early stereo was two
channel. It still is! All I was saying is that I was buying stereo tapes
well before 1958. These were reel to reel, first on two track, then the big
innovation, 4 track tapes, which could be turned over and a second side
played. Most of these tapes were 7 ips, but some cheapies were realeased at
3 3/4 ips.

The tradeoff between LP and tape was tape hiss vs record groove noise. But I
sure remember some of us arguing whether a stereo LP was possible. Well, it
was. I remember the big thing for the modern family in the fifties was a
stereo console, with the record player in a well under a lid, the amplifiers
under another, and a place for the discs in the center space below.

Gary Eickmeier