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Re: [ARSCLIST] Losing New Master Recordings



Don't assume the record label was fastidious about getting the master tape back as soon as the vinyl was mastered. This was a chronic problem as the NYC studio business considated and rapidly changed in the 1970's. A place would be closing down and tapes would get dumpstered because the record companies wouldn't come get them. I know first-hand of a carload of tapes saved from a dumpster, several masters and several alternative mixes and a bunch of session tapes. Back at the time, no Internet, so expensive long-distance calls to record companies netted zilch. Fast forward to this decade. All of a sudden it's easier to track down the vault guys (as opposed to the stuffed shirts in the executive offices) and they turn out to be _very_ eager to get back those tapes. All tapes returned successfully, including several masters which means the older CD reissues were made from safeties or worse.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Sam" <jsam.audio@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 3:08 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Losing New Master Recordings



On Fri, Apr 24, 2009 at 7:56 AM, David Seubert <seubert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The article doesn't say, but I would guess that only the 2 track masters
were lost in the bankruptcy of the pressing plant. Their use of the word
master makes it sound like a catastrophe, which it probably isn't. So they
have to remaster/remix the original multitrack masters? Is that how this
works?


If the loss was at the pressing plant, wouldn't it only be the loss of the original lacquer/mother/stamper/etc.? I'm assuming the 2-track mix-down tapes are still around somewhere. A day of re-cutting is not that big of a loss, relatively speaking.

And especially not that much of a (financial!) loss when vinyl's
getting substantially more money per unit than it did in the 90s
despite the same amount of units shipped.  RIAA stats:
http://76.74.24.142/1D212C0E-408B-F730-65A0-C0F5871C369D.pdf. (yes,
I'm aware Matador is not RIAA)

On Fri, Apr 24, 2009 at 8:44 AM, Richard L. Hess
<arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I can loan them my Yo La Tengo CDs if they really need something to
make LPs from...

The all-analogue folks wouldn't buy that. The only analog-to-analog copies I've done have been for an outfit like this that was offering vinyl--no digital allowed.

Indie-rock fans that buy vinyl, for the most part, do not not care about releases being AAA (or sound quality at all when they buy 7" 33 RPM discs like they're Honus Wagner cards). They're in it for the fashion, retro, chic, etc. angle. I'm aware this is a gross generalization, but that's my experience after years being around that scene on two coasts.



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