Re: [ARSCLIST] Stereo records.

[Scott Phillips <scottp@xxxxxxxxx>]

I was around Criteria Studios in Miami in the -80's as chief maintenance
engineer. I recall that our disk mastering consoles did have variable
low end 'crossovers' that could be set to combine to mono at whatever
frequency you wanted. It was never used on tapes made in our studio, but
outside tapes sometimes did because of poor recording/mixing engineering
or phase shift from inexpensive mixers in the record process. If you
didn't watch out, you'd cut a master that had low end that either
couldn't be tracked by a consumer grade turntable, or wouldn't allow you
to cut at decent levels or playing time. 
I agree, mixing/mastering without a scope around is not a good idea, and
even back in the '-70's' every recording studio and mastering room I was
involved with used one at virtually all times.

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Olhsson
Sent: Saturday, June 17, 2006 10:18 AM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Stereo records.

phillip holmes <insuranceman@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>Many mastering engineers would sum the low bass to mono.  The good ones

>also have an oscilloscope to look out for hot out of phase signals.

I'd like to correct this because I see it turning into a common
misconception about how vinyl records were mastered.

I have attended numerous mastering sessions with the handful of
engineers who accounted for 90% of the titles on the Billboard charts
between 1970 and 1990. I can't remember a single instance that this
technique was employed. Yes, Neumann mastering consoles had a switch
that sums the low-end at several frequencies however this doesn't mean
that people used it very often. Also stock Neumann mastering consoles
didn't have a very good reputation for sound quality so in many cases
all of the active circuitry had been replaced. Finally, virtually
everybody mixing and mastering major label releases had a scope running
by 1970 and most of us still use one every day.

The reason we made "hot" 45s in the '60s was exactly the same reason we
are seeing "hot" CDs today.

The biggest challenge to every record company has always been getting
records into the stores and then getting people into those stores to buy
them. This almost always entails a series of meetings where the first 15
to thirty seconds of a large stack of new releases gets played and
immediately added to the "keepers" or tossed in the wastebasket. Levels
that are "too low" relative to the competition put your record at a huge
disadvantage in this process.


--
Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control Over 40
years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
615.385.8051    http://www.hyperback.com