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Author Topic: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?  (Read 6720 times)

3rd 4thT

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How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« on: October 07, 2009, 08:23:00 AM »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOWs8ZrhUDw
Artur Rubinstein, RCA Studios, Los Angeles, 1948.

I see one mic and a ready light, but the engineer is riding two rotary pots. If you freeze frame at :48, you can see the closeup of his hands.

What are we looking at here, besides a very spare recording console?

Thanks,
3rd&4thT
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MDM,

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2009, 08:33:45 AM »

pretty neat!

looks like a big ribbon mic in the back, and some kind of omni mic (small ball) closer-up?

actually similar to what's done today, but in stereo and with condensers

today maybe they'd probably add a couple of mics even closer..

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3rd 4thT

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2009, 09:17:37 AM »

MDM, wrote on Wed, 07 October 2009 08:33

pretty neat!

looks like a big ribbon mic in the back, and some kind of omni mic (small ball) closer-up?

actually similar to what's done today, but in stereo and with condensers

today maybe they'd probably add a couple of mics even closer..




That ready light looks like a mic until they switch it on again at :38.

I still haven't gotten over that console.

Cheers,
3rd&4thT
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compasspnt

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2009, 09:44:53 AM »

My favourite things are the clock, that table for the hat, and announcing the artist/take number for playback.

Quite sure there was the one RCA 44 mic only.

The engineer probably had one mic input level pot, and then perhaps monitor level or output level for the other hand.

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3rd 4thT

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2009, 09:53:01 AM »

compasspnt wrote on Wed, 07 October 2009 09:44

My favourite things are the clock, that table for the hat, and announcing the artist/take number for playback.

Quite sure there was the one RCA 44 mic only.

The engineer probably had one mic input level pot, and then perhaps monitor level or output level for the other hand.



Yeah, I had wondered if one was input and one was output. I believe by the late 40's, RCA had a limiter in place. Would varying input and output be necessary for overload protection, or some kind of tonal variation?

I've got the recording that came out of this session, and it sure sounds like one mic.

Perhaps the engineer was just showing off for the benefit of (at the request of) 20th Century Fox.

Cheers,
3rd&4thT
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PRobb

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2009, 10:24:24 AM »

Interesting. We do hear the engineer say "roll tape", but all we see is a lathe. 1948 is very early for tape. I wonder if the tape was for studio playback but they made the records from the disk.
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JimmyJ

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2009, 10:43:47 AM »

Keep in mind that this was a "movie" about making a recording and any mic placement, knob twisting, spoken lines and lathe shots could simply be art directed and edited in.  The console might even be a prop (can't see a talkback / slate mic).
Jimmy J
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MDM,

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2009, 10:48:54 AM »

OK then, ONE mic..

I think Rubenstein was recorded to tape, as I recall an article which talked about the many edits.

not sure if this is regarding 1948, but it could be.

part of the charm of those records is that it was just one ribbon.

Interesting to note how far away the mic, yet how defined the sound is relatively speaking...
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CHANCE

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #8 on: October 07, 2009, 10:58:30 AM »

A lot of early recordings were direct to disc
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PRobb

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #9 on: October 07, 2009, 11:04:22 AM »

CHANCE wrote on Wed, 07 October 2009 10:58

A lot of early recordings were direct to disc

Before the introduction of tape, all records were direct to disk. It was the only game in town.
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3rd 4thT

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #10 on: October 07, 2009, 04:05:36 PM »

Tape in the U.S. was brand new but had been adopted immediately by all the majors, so "roll tape" is not an anachronism. But the release vehicle was still 78's only, so the lathe footage you see is cutting the master for disc duplication. That's where the editing is misleading, telescoping the time between session and release.

However it was a real session at the RCA studios for a real recording. I don't believe the mic, console, or room configuration was faked for what is basically a glorified newsreel.

Cheers,
3rd&4thT
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compasspnt

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #11 on: October 07, 2009, 04:20:14 PM »

I wonder how the movie meeting went later that evening...
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3rd 4thT

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #12 on: October 07, 2009, 04:36:28 PM »

compasspnt wrote on Wed, 07 October 2009 16:20

I wonder how the movie meeting went later that evening...


I think he turned them down when they insisted he play a boogie-woogie duet with Jose Iturbi, then accompany Judy Canova in some swinging Schubert.

Cheers,
3rd&4thT
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PRobb

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #13 on: October 07, 2009, 04:43:41 PM »

the Ampex 200 was introduced in 1948, so RCA having tape was right on the cutting edge of technology.
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Mike Cleaver

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Re: How did RCA record Artur Rubinstein in 1948?
« Reply #14 on: October 07, 2009, 06:53:44 PM »

Hard to tell from the video but the ONE mic over the piano is either an RCA 44B or a KU3A.
Both were available in '48, the KU3A having been just introduced.
The "ball thing" in front of and to the right of the piano is the "recording" light bulb in a floor lamp stand.
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