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No noise and perfect reproduction are "We chose the X-80 because it's a
expected from a digital recorder. But natural extension of the analog record-
the performance of the Mitsubishi X-80 ing system." It uses 1/4 inch tape. It
digital recorder at Fantasy Studios has a traditional open reel format. And
is why you should investigate owning it's the only digital machine that's
this one. designed for good old razor blade
As you've already heard, digital is mechanical editing.
big news. In fact, Roy Segal compares But what Roy likes best about the
digital with the introduction of magnetic X-80 is this: "When you consider the
tape, and the advent of the transistor. quality, the reliability and the price
And that's pretty good company. of this machine, it's totally cost effective:'
Roy puts it this way. "Digital will When Fantasy Studios produces
supplant analog, period. It's simply a a digital master on the X -80, the record
question of when. Recently, I AB'd the companies can make disc lacquers
Mitsubishi X-80 in my own studio and directly from it, and make as many first
for me the time is now:' generation analog masters as they
No wonder. With a 35 db increase require. The end product sounds better.
in S/N ratio, the total absence of hiss "In a little over a year, It sells better. And the artists come
and added noise, and an uncanny we've made 24 albums direct back to Fantasy Studios.
ability to reproduce the dynamics of Call or write us for more information.
original performance, the Mitsubishi from digital. And like anything Because as Roy Segal told us, "...the
X -80 comes about as close to perfection else, a proven track record is Mitsubishi X-80 not only sounds good,
as our greatest minds can take us. it's good for business :'
But there's more to this machine the best reason to buy!'
than meets the ears, and that's why we Roy Segal
went to a man who has been in the Executive Vice President MITSUBISHI
DIGITAL AUDIO SYSTEMS
audio engineering business for 34 years. Fantasy Studios
800 -631 -5377 (Outside New Jersey)
Roy Segal did not accept any compensation for this endorsement. 20' -981 -1414 (Within New Jersey)
RANGE Swintek IO
db replies: Tektronix 23
REDUCTION At the 1960 convention of the Audio Telex 39
Engineering Society. Mr. Schnepse anger TOA 7
received the Society's Emile Berliner UREI 27
IN Award J"or Outstanding Development Vistar 42
in the Field of .4 udio Engineering. The
Circle 13 on Reader Sertiec Card award was presented "...M recognition
of his contributions to fine- groove
recording. While with the Columbia
co
www.americanradiohistory.com
JOHN EARGLE
o
1
gain. Sound impinging on a microphone
is reradiated at a level corresponding to
(A) SIDE VIEW
a reflection from a surface less absorp-
tive than the actual boundary. In this
't
way. the room becomes more live and
reverberant. Let us work out an example.
Assume we have a space with the fol-
In genera spring reveres on't ave e
.
lowing characteristics: L = 50m; W =
best reputation in the world. Their bassy 30m; H = 15m and To = 1.25 sec.
"twang- is only a rough approximation of
natural room acoustics. That's a pity because Working back from the Eyring reverb-
it means that many people will dismiss this eration time equation, we can solve for
exceptional product as Just another spring the average absorption coefficient, 8
reverb". And its not. In this extraordinary
design Craig Anderton uses double springs. & = I- exp( -.161x',.57) (I)
but much more importantly 'hot rod's" the In this equation, V is the room volume
transducers so that the muddy sound typical in meters', S is the total surface area in
of most springs is replaced with the bright
meters', and Tis the reverberation time. (B) PLAN VIEW
clarity associated with expensive studio
plate systems. Entering the values yields & = 0.4 for the
Kit consists of circuit board. instructions. room.
all electronic parts and two reverb spring We can now calculate the room con-
units. User must provide power to 15 v) I i9 stant, R, as follows:
0.4
and mounting (reverb units are typically 104d13-SPL acoustic
mounted away from the console).
R= S &.(1 -Fs) (2) watts
CHARGE TO VISA OR MC TOLL-FREE Solving this equation yields R = 3600
-800- 654 -8657 9AMtoSPMCST MON-FRI
1
meters -. (C) TYPICAL CHANNEL (one of 100)
DIRECT INQUIRIES TO
Let us now calculate the reverberant
RNA Electronics, Inc.
r sound pressure level in this room if a ACOUSTIC POWER SPL P' METER (free field)
i
1
Ild
Oept 1020 W WJShue Br Oklahoma City 06 73116 405 843 -9626 sound source is delivering 25 acoustical 1.0 watt 109dB (whole space)
watts, the peak acoustical power output 1.0 watt 112dB (half space)
Send the 6740 REVERB KIT $59.95 plus 0.5 watt 109dB (half space)
shipping (S3) enclosed or charged. of a symphony orchestra (1): 0.4 watt 108 dB (half space)
Send Free Catalog 4r, = 126 +10/og(14 R) (3)
I name (D) CHART FOR ADJUSTING LEVELS
In this equation, W is the acoustical
Iaddress power in watts. Solving: L.,r, = 126 + Figure 1. Details of Philips system for
co city state zip 1 101og(25 3600) = 104 dB -SPL amplifying sound fields.
('h.,./, /6 on Reader Service Card
Why Beyer mics represent a viable alternative
to the usual choices in Broadcast.
Until recently, film and Electret condenser lavalier Broadcast engineers choose the
broadcast engineers thought only mics like SONY'S ECM -50 have E -V RE20 for many vocal announcing
Sennheiser and Neumann made proven useful for on- camera miking situations because of its wide
high -quality condenser microphone situations because of their reduced frequency response (45-18,000 Hz)*
systems. Now the Beyer MCM Series size. And while many of these mics and smooth sound. Beyer Dynamic's
offers the same German excellence offer good performance in a compact M 260 also provides the extended
in design and construction, the same size, the Beyer MCE5 also provides frequency response (50- 18,000 Hz)
kinds of accessories (windscreens, extended frequency response (20 to and warmth required for critical
pistol grips, shock mounts) and 20,000 Hz) and durability in an even vocal applications with one distinct
facilities for 12V and 48V "phantom" smaller format (diameter: 7 mm / advantage: its reduced size. Its
powering. length: 23 mm). compact and efficient ribbon element
And since the MCM Series studio To optimize its compatibility captures the warmth traditionally
condenser mic is part of a system with a variety of broadcast and film provided by this type of mic. And
which combines power modules and applications, the tiny black MCE5 is because it is considerably smaller
different mic capsules (long shotgun, available in different configurations than a mic with a large moving -
short shotgun, unidirectional, omni- for powering interface and includes a coil diaphragm, the M 260 provides
directional and figure eight), you system with accessories like a natural, balanced sound image in
get more microphone potential for windscreens, expansion mounts etc. a portable format that won't obscure
dollar output. At Beyer Dynamic's ultra -modem copy or take up valuable space in
Like all Beyer microphones, the manufacturing facility in West the studio.
MCM Series is a truly professional Germany, we hand -build virtually all The Beyer M 260 has its own
instrument system suited to of our microphones in the most custom -designed ribbon element to
the widest range of applications evolved state of fine German optimize the mic's performance
in Broadcast /Film and Video engineering. based on its Broadcast applications.
post -production.
Documeman,m.upp,"ong specific comparative chums available upon request. Beyer Dynamic, Inc. 5.05 Bums Avenue, Hicksville, New York 11801 (516) 915.8000
o
SI-3 S2-4
S_'-4
181 PLAN VIEW
Only Swintek
GIVES YOU A CHOICE
in wireless microphone systems
TELECOMMUNICATIONS DIVISION
1180 ASTER AVENUE, UNIT J / SUNNYVALE. CA 94086
(408)249. 5594 /TELEX 172 -150 SWINTEK SUVL
The new Studer A810 points mum system flexibility, the A810
the way to the future; now even has a fully digital control system
two -channel 1/4" stereo record- for both the tape transport func-
ers may be perfectly synchroniz- tions and audio electronic align-
ed. Precise SMPTE time code ment. And, for the first time in
synchronization and maximum the history of audio recording
crosstalk rejection are attained equipment, the A810 offers com-
by separating time code heads plete data exchange to peripher-
from audio heads, and by using a al equipment via serial interface.
microprocessor -controlled de- The bus -compatible A810 is
lay. Studer has finally solved the ideally suited to complex auto-
problem of synchronizing stereo mation tasks, and the A810's flex-
machines! ible modular concept allows sim-
Until now SMPTE -code synchro- ple, cost -effective changeover to
nizing of video -audio, film- audio, specialized configurations.
or audio -audio has been restrict- We'll be glad to send you more
ed to multi -channel machines. information on the analog and
But such linkups pose no prob- digital capabilities of Studer's
lem for Studer's A810 time code new A810 - the audio recorder
recorders. Designed for maxi- with a grip on the future.
STUDER
Studer Revox America. Inc. 1425 Elm Hill Pike. Nashville. TN 37210 (615) 254 -5651
Offices: Los Angeles (213) 780 -4234 New York (212) 255 -4462 Dallas (214) 760 -8647 Canada: Studer Revox Canada. Ltd.
UM=
out that the maximum gain such a system spaces. The pattern of early reflections
can handle without adverse effects is was adequate. but the reverberation time
given by: was simply not long enough. During the
Gainm.. = (n + 50)i 50, sixties. a large ensemble of Helmholtz
where n is the number of channels. resonators was installed above the ceil-
The greater the number of channels, ing. Each resonator housed a micro-
the lower the gain at which each one has phone, which responded only to the indi-
to work, and the less the tendency for the vidual tuning frequency of the resonator.
aggregate system to ring, or resonate, at The microphone was fed to an amplifier
Model PS -1 particular frequencies. In short, the room
and system will behave more like an
and then to a loudspeaker. In short.
each channel amplified only one fre-
The 1'SI is a power line cundiliouing unit acoustically live space. Of course, there quency. providing a moderate increase
designed to pruter t audio equipment from must be adequate electrical power to in reverberation time for that frequency.
high voltage transients and RI' interference.
drive each channel to the maximum There are 172 such channels covering the
Three neon lamps indicate relative phasing frequency range from about 60 Hz to
of the line. neutral and ground connections. level expected of it, depending on the
A lati ling rel: helps to avoid amp speaker kind of musical activity to be performed about 700 Hz. FlUCR1i 3 shows the im-
damage due to power up transients generated
in the room. plementation of the system (2).
of te temporary loss of power. Ask your
loyal mush dealer for more details. Philips also points out that as little di-
rect sound as possible from the stage
Linear & Digital should enter the microphones, since the -ir
Systems, Inc. intent of the approach is only to amplify
the diffuse reverberant field of the room.
Loudspeaker Microphone in
Helmholtz
48 Marco Lane, Centerville. OH
resonator
45459 (5131439 1758 of 172 channels
SOUND FIELD MODELLING 1
fined" Weighted Curves may be employed the house. Acoustical feedback can be a (B) TYPICAL PERFORMANCE OF AN ASSISTED
ROM User Curves Available. problem if care is not taken here. RESONANCE SYSTEM
In laying out such a system, the de- Figure 3. Assisted resonance.
signer chooses a target acoustical space The reason for using Helmholtz reson-
and then simulates its early sound field ators is simply for system stability and
characteristics as well as the onset of' re- ensuring that the channels will not inter-
verberation. As with the previous ex- act with each other.
MODEL 30 ample. the more loudspeakers there are.
Affordable at just $1,895.00 driven at low levels, the more natural the CONCLUSIONS
effect is likely to be. Since time delays. We have seen how electroacoustical
GOLD LINE which are the essential cues determining
the size of a room, are in the hands of the
techniques can be used to simulate nat-
ural reverberant fields. In the future. we
P.O. Box 115 West Redding, CT 06896 designer. some remarkable illusions are will probably see more such applications
(203) 938 -2588 possible using such a system as this. as the cost of digital signal processing
Typically. a space can be made to seem continues to drop and as more engineers
SEND FOR COMPLETE LITERATURE: much larger than it really is by using ini- and architects are called upon to design
tial delays characteristic of much larger more flexible performance spaces.
NAME rooms.
REFERENCES
COMPANY
The advent of digital reverberation I. Philips Product Bulletin: Multi -channel
devices has greatly simplified the imple- Reterberation System (published by Audio -
STREET mentation of systems like these- since cideo System group).
CITY they can provide, in a single package, the 2. P. H. Parkin. "Assisted Resonance." pp.
necessary early reflections as well as the 169 -179. Auditorium Acuusrke (Applied Sci-
STATE ZIP
reverberant field simulation. The better ence Ltd.. London. 1975).
Circle /9 un Reader Servire Card
The Problem Solvers:
Articulated Array `' Loudspeakers by Bose:
L J
Technical
Data Sheets
Covered by patent nghts Issued and/or pending.
Speaker designs are trademarks of Bose Corpora:
"Copyright 1982 Bose Corporation.
_1717.S.LL'
Better sound through research.
www.americanradiohistory.com
KEN POHLMANN
someone might argue that he has been form of notation was devised by the Ger-
making recordings for fifty years without man philosopher and mathematician
knowing what a Function is. it must be Leibnitz who developed calculus simul-
GARNER INDUSTRIES, INC. pointed out that neither the equipment taneously and independently of Newton;
4200 No. 48th St., Lincoln, Nebraska 68504 apparently there was some kind of fad
r-
nor the understanding which created it
Phone (402) 464 -5911 could hase existed unless Newton had or something.
been there first. All of it was conceived.
designed and implemented by people AS THE MICROPHONE FALLS...
www.americanradiohistory.com
culations a short time apart, say at I and is 4.9 x or in general. 9.8r meters per
212. tance. given varying speed. we know that
1.1 seconds. The distance travelled dur- second. Thus we prove that speed is pro- an object with varying speed travels dif-
ing that interval would be 4.9(1.1)2- portional to time. In the earlier case, at a ferent distances during equal incre-
4.9(1)2 = 5.93 4.9 = 1.03 meters. So. an time of I second, the actual speed is 9.8 ments of time during its motion. With-
estimate of its speed would be 1.03. 10.1. meters per second: our early estimates out infinitesimal calculus the solution
or 10.3 meters per second. But, that is were high because the intervals were not to the problem can only be approxi-
actually the average speed during the in- infinitesimal: they were too large. Most mated. If an object is moving at r3 meters
terval from to 1.1 seconds. A shorter
I importantly. we have developed a gen- per second, it initially had a speed of zero
interval would be more accurate. From I eral method to derive the speed of any and thus it moved at least zero meters. At
second to 1.01 second, the distance trav- object, even one with a formula of mo- the end of 2 seconds. when its speed is
elled is 0.0985 meters and the average tion different than 4.9r'. That method 8 meters per second. it will have moved at
speed is 9.85 meters per second. Obvi- is differentiation. We say that the first most 8x2 or 16 meters. thus the total
ously a general solution, rather than derivative of the distance function, 4.9r', distance it moves in 2 seconds is some-
specific time -interval approximations. yields the velocity function, which is 9.8t. where between zero and 16 meters. As
is required. Newton's brilliant idea Moreover, the second derivative of the far as it goes. that is a valid guess. but not
dawns on us -- let's employ infinitesi- distance function is the acceleration func- an especially precise one. As in the case
mally small intervals! tion. I hus for a tree -falling microphone of the falling microphone. we gain ac-
9.8 meters per second is the constant ac- curacy by considering a greater number
IT MUST BE MAGIC celeration due to gravity; more than of shorter intervals because the speed will
Let's examine a time interval from ri enough force to dent a windscreen. This vary less over a shorter period of time. If
seconds to 12 seconds, which has a dura- analysis has been rather informal New- we divide the time interval of 2 seconds
tion of 12 -ti seconds. the distance the ton became rich and famous by bravely into 4 intervals. we can add together the
microphone falls is 4.9r -4.9r ¡ meters and stating the theorem which everyone else estimates of indk idual distances trav-
the speed at the end of the interval is: had hitherto informally wondered about. elled to find the total distance travelled.
(4.9f:2-4.9r:0; (12-ti). He said: "I he nth derivative of x" is nxn During the first y2 second interval, its
Simplifying: for any positive integer rt." least speed is zero and its greatest speed is
It should be remembered that in our %x meters per second. Thus the least dis-
4.9[(1. -r,) (t2- ti)]
expressions for the first derivative, the tance it could have travelled is zero, and
4.9[(12 + tl )(t2 -h) (12 -ti)].
value of rl approached a limit of 12; how- the greatest distance is 1, 16 meters. Simi-
We obtain a speed of: larly calculating the distances in each of
ever it could never actually equal 12 be-
4.9(ri + 12). cause during a zero time interval from the tour intervals, and adding all the
Now watch closely. this is the part where h to 12 the microphone would move a terms, we find the least distance is: O +
the rabbit comes out of the hat as the zero distance and a calculation of the 1, 16 +I 2 + 27 16 = 36 16 meters and the
interval gets smaller and smaller, h gets speed quotient would be meaningless. greatest distance is: I 16 + 12 + 27 16 +
closer and closer to II, and the quotient ap- Remember Zenti s paradoxes? If not, 8 2 = 100 16 meters for 2 seconds,
proaches 4.9(t2 + '2): therefore, the speed stick around. which is a better estimate than our first
of the falling microphone after t seconds Now the converse --how to find dis- approximation of 0 to 16 meters. Divid-
N
tb
UJ
www.americanradiohistory.com
"The Electro-Voice
Sentry 500 is
a monitor by design:'
Greg Silsby talks
about the New
Sentry 500
studio monitor...
Everyone expects a studio monitor system to
provide a means of quality control over
audio in production.
True, other audio test equipment can
supply you with valuable data. But that data
by itself is incomplete and only displayed in
visual form.
Only a true studio monitor speaker
system can deliver an accurate indication of
audio quality in ...audio! After all, this is
the language of the trained ear and doesn't
require a complex interpretation process.
complete confidence in quality. Acoustic E-V components in the Sentry 500: the
I believe the Electro -Voice Sentry 500
"Time Coherence" (the synchronous arrival Sentry 500 will deliver 96dB at one meter
Studio Monitor System will meet your every
of acoustic wave fronts from both high and with only one watt and yet will handle
expectation.
low -frequency drivers) has been maintained 100 watts continuous program material with
What's a "studio monitor?" through careful crossover design and 6 dB of headroom. That's 400 watts on peaks!
The term "studio monitor" is often a driver positioning. The same Super -Dome' /Director combina-
misnomer. It's easy to tack a label on a box tion which maintains uniform dispersion of
Constant Directivity
and call it a "studio monitor" without in- linear response out to 18kHz also handles a
The Sentry 500 is a Constant Directivity full 25 watts of program power or 5 times
cluding the best precision engineering avail-
System. henefitting from years of E -V expe-
able, and careful attention to application the power handling capacity of most "high
rience in the design and application of con- powered" tweeters. After all, tweeters
design. Too often, these all -important
stant directivity devices. Utilizing a unique should convert electrical energy to acous-
considerations are traded -off for such
E -V exclusive high -frequency "Director ", the
marketing reasons as high cosmetic appeal. tical energy -not to smoke and fire.
Sentry 500 provides essentially uniform cov- The Sentry 500 is another no- nonsense
a particular type of popular sound, and low
erage over a 110° angle from 250 Hz on up Electro-Voice Sentry design with the incredi-
component manufacturing cost. While all of
to 10kHz and 60° dispersion from 10kHz ble performance and credible price you've
this may translate into high profit margins
clear out to 18,000Hz! And it does this learned to expect from EV. I'd like to tell
for the manufacturer it does nothing to pro-
on both the vertical and horizontal axes. you the rest of the Sentry 500 story and
duce a reliable standard for audio testing
This means the "sweet spot" once a tightly send you the complete Engineering Data
and evaluation.
restricted area large enough for only one set Sheet. Write to me: Greg Silsby. Market
Linear frequency response of ears, has been broadened to allow accu- Development Manager/Professional Markets,
'I'he Sentry 500 follows the well - rate monitoring by the engineer, producer,
Electro- Voice. Inc., 600 Cecil Street,
established Electro -Voice tradition of com- and talent -all at the same time. That's what
Buchanan, Michigan 49107.
bining the most advanced engineering and we call Constant Directivity.
manufacturing technology available. The
A monitor by design
Sentry 500 has been carefully thought -out nc
To qualify as a truly accurate test device,
and built to meet the specific needs of the o
a monitor speaker system must faithfully re- .Market now c' nt Manager,
audio professional. Like the smaller Sentry Profession! Markets
produce the wide dynamic range required by
100A, the Sentry 500 provides linear re-
today's music and current digital recording B
sponse throughout its range (40-18,000Hz Q
techniques. and do it with low distortion.
± 3dB). In fact, because the two systems
share this linearity. program material may he
This is no problem for the Sentry 500 which Elecfrol/oice
mixed on one, sweetened on the other, with
combines the high efficiency of an optimally - SOUND IN ACTION
tuned Thiele -aligned cabinet to the brute
power handling of Electro -Voice Sentry com-
Name
Company
Address
City
State /Zip
www.americanradiohistory.com
One of 24 Reasons
WhyYou Should Buy
The Dolby SP Series.
The Dolby SP Series provides up to 24
tracks of Dolby A -type noise reduction
in only 121/4" of rack space. Each
channel features a plug -in Cat. No. 230
carrier card containing controls, LED
display, interface circuitry, and a plug -in
Cat. No.22 NR module.
Clipping indicator
www.americanradiohistory.com
BARRY BLESSER
Onward with the saga of building a would allow us to present a formal With a subroutine format the equivalent
digital filter with a programmable cal- method of interrelating these but the sequence becomes
culator. Since we are continuing from point of the discussion is to present a
the last set of articles. we suggest that you
dig out the last two months for reference
and review, In the last article. we had
laboratory rather than mathematics ap-
proach. Hence, we will therefore continue
with example.
SBR D -LBL D
tation if one is willing to sacrifice speed. main program goes to the routine in only CLEARED. Hence. it is like a flip -flop. One
We are only left to deal with the coeffi- one location and it returns to one loca- might also create a flag register. This
cients. tion. Symbolically this is shown as would mean taking an unused register
CHARACTERIZATION and defining numeric values for the two
The filter's characteristics can be repre- cases of interest. For example. sE r might
sented in several different ways. We could LBLD be defined as non -zero and CLEAR as 0.
simply list the coefficients; we could show GOTO D Let us use the real Et.AG method. The
the transient response to an impulse or LBL D' subroutine then becomes the following:
step: or we can give the frequency re- LBL D S name of subrou-
1`
i--
l
-
only expect to run this code once before
place would have resulted in an error.
the filter, this should really be the very
beginning of the program. Since the
This kind of thinking is often called
"structured" programming. We must not
- -; :y
:
i: E y -
Label A is a natural beginning, let us _ '_ `-1- !
take a simple approach because a large '_ :T' t'i
the iterations are internally controlled. As we mentioned in the previous ar- _ 1 : 22 IN"."
The user will only enter the program at ticle. good programming practice re-
--4 ID 6 _TF
our new A which contains the initializa- quires that we test sections. To test the
tion. We now have the following: initialization routine. we do not need the _ _ _E _E _ - _
11_ -1T
main program A' and could replace it _
LBL A S new beginning of
main program with a stop (R S); however, we do need
the subroutine E. An interesting test
. i. ÿ
,
r-.
..
-.
SET Flag 1 S indicates to gener- ,.1I_ 111E lE
ator program that would be to place dummy numbers in
Regs 10 through 20. The initialization
Srnrratnr .uhrourine !,r creating an inry.uA.
this is the begin- nr=rrn/ value /.
ning. routine should clear those from IO
IO S initial pointer
through 19 but not the data in Reg 20
number since it is not part of the delay line. A 104 76 LBL
ST 0 S place in Reg O, the
complete listing to date is shown below. .'D5 _ 4 _
D- pointer Because we have placed the main routine i D6
LBL lnx S local label for iter-
A' after the initialization routine A. we
do not have to use a GOTO A' since the D7 01 01
ation to clear de- 19 _
lay line flow will just fall into A'. D:_
O S number to be
Notice that as we modify the code and Oqi -i1 i
- - _BL
S use pointer to _
clear a memory regardless of the actual locations of .= 19
SBR E. The Label allows the calculator
,
register.
OP 20 S increment D-
pointer
to find it regardless of its actual location.
This is called position independent cod-
_ =F
E? 1
O S select Reg 0 in ing. A more direct form might have been ç i
-
SBR E S test for modulo location 132. This is position dependent i
92 R T N
end of line code since SBR E must then begin at this
IO S number for com- point. -1- -E- -
parison to follow
119 00 0
x-t
TEST CASE 4 /rrrnarire generator suhrnurine (replace,
S place in t- register
place D- pointer We are now ready to run a real test ahove)./in crewing u .rep input
RC 0 S
N case. Let us take a filter with the follow- beginning at r= l oh la/Ile I.
N in X- register
N2
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able among 600, 150 TM 500. These two
and 50 ohms. And when plug -ins share the con - order and expedite Measure
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LEN FELDMAN
VIEGN [I rmage2
Recently, db Publisher Larry Zide and tion and particle types. audio, video and In order to achieve the magnetic and
I were invited, along with other members even computer tapes are really very much electrical properties expected of today's
of the consumer and professional audio the same. [hey all consist ofa plastic base tapes, oxide particles and binder ma-
press, to visit the huge chemical complex and a magnetic coating: a binder blended terial must be blended homogeneously.
known as BASF. in West Germany. Dur- with microscopic -sized magnetizable This is done in a milling room, where
ing our visit to Ludwigshafen (a town on pigments. These days. the base is a poly- batteries of slowly turning ball and tube
the opposite bank of the Rhine from ester film. (I can remember when it was mills produce a thoroughly mixed disper-
Mannheim), two things became appar- an acetate or even a paper base, which sion of the oxide within the binder.
ent to all of us. First, we all take for gives you some idea of nn age.) The mag- Flit RI I shows a portion of one such
granted the availability of magnetic re- netic pigments are primarily made of iron milling room. In order to achieve the de-
cording tape without giving much oxide or chromium dioxide, while the sired yualit of oxide dispersion, such
thought to where it comes from and how binders tend to vary in composition. technical factors as the diameter of the
it's made. Secondly, magnetic tape pro- BASF. we learned. produces its own milling balls, milling time. viscosity of the
vides another bond between audio and iron oxide and chromium dioxide for oxide, binder and sohents. outside tem-
video; without it neither technology magnetic tapes. Very few so- called tape perature and e% en, at times, the order in
would exist. manufacturers actually do this. Most hich the components are introduced to
With that in mind, I thought you might buy the oxides from chemical concerns the mixture. all play an important part.
find it interesting to hear about how tape such as BASF. Dupont and others. The
is actually made from the raw materials oxide particles are shaped like tiny nee- THE CRITICAL COATING
that go into it to the finished audio or dles: their lengths ranging from 0.3 to 1.0 PROCESS
video tape product as the processes microns. depending upon the type of Once the magnetic oxide dispersion is
were explained to us on this recent trip. oxide. Their diameter is generally less ready. it stored in large ats and is con-
is
Aside from minor changes in formula- than 0. l micron. tinuously agitated. using nitrogen as pro-
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tective gas until it is released under pres-
sure through fine filters into stainless
steel pipes. The pipes lead the material
to the machine that will coat the disper-
sion onto the tensilized polyester plastic
film. The coating operation itself is an
extremely critical one and is carried out
under dust -free conditions. In liquid
form. the dispersion is considerably
thicker than it will be after it solidifies or
dries, at which time it will range in thick-
ness from 3 to 22 microns. depending
upon the type of tape and its application.
Given such dimensions, it's easy to under-
stand that dust particles (even those
measuring a mere thousandth of a milli-
meter) imbedded in the dispersion during
coating would have the effect of a large
spot of non -magnetic material.
The coating machines must therefore
operate in a clean -room environment
which is sealed off from the rest of the
plant. During our visit, we could only
observe what was going on in the coating
rooms through panes of glass which Figure 4. An overall view of a complete
sealed us, and the rest of the factory, out slitting station.
of this critical area. A portion of one
coating room can be seen in FIGURE 2. persion is still wet. it is passed beneath
a strong magnet which orients each
This room, which is maintained at closely
regulated climatic conditions, can only needle -like magnetic particle in the same
be entered through an air lock. Prior to direction; the direction in which the sheet
actual coating, the plastic film which of tape is moving. This achieves what is
serves as the base material is cleaned known as a "magnetic preference" di-
again to remove any foreign particles that rection and improves the electro-acoustic
may have clung to it during its manu- quality (in the case of audio tapes) con-
facture or storage prior to use. siderably, according to BASF.
During the coating process itself, the The coating containing the wet sol-
moving film passes under a coating head vents is then passed through a dryer
which deposits a thin layer of dispersion. which is located directly beyond the
Evenness of coating thickness within coating head. To enhance the drying
close tolerances is what distinguishes process, the coated film travels over
high quality tapes from lesser grades. A guide rolls several times the actual length
perfectly even coating, we learned, de- of the dryer. Solvents released during
pends as much on the exact positioning this drying process are passed through
of the rollers over which the plastic film activated charcoal and are recycled.
travels as on a heavy, vibration -free base When the tape emerges from the dryer it
is subjected to pressure and heat rollers
for the coating head. Figure 5. Close -up view of tape slitting
Immediately after the coating has which smooth and polish the coated sur- operation.
taken place, and while the deposited dis- face. This polishing is extremely impor-
tant in insuring best possible magnetic At this stage of the manufacturing
and mechanical contact between tape process, in addition to the tests which
and tape heads. The coated film then were made during oxide production. dis-
passes a counter and an electro-acousti- persion, milling and coating. electro-
cal pre- tester and it is next wound into a acoustical and mechanical quality con-
roll known as a butt roll. FIGURE 3 shows trol procedures and tests are introduced
a butt roll being wound as the tape to qualify the tapes for sale in the various
emerges from the drying tunnel. categories for which they are produced.
Next, the butt rolls are slit into re- After all the criteria for frequency
quired tape widths with an accuracy of range, maximum output level, harmonic
one hundredth of a millimeter. What we distortion, sensitivity, signal -to -noise
have come to call "half inch" video tape ratio and print through, tape thickness
is actually somewhat narrower than and the quality of slit edges are met, the
that, when slit to the precise interna- tapes are released for final processing. In
tional standard of 12.65 millimeters. the case of video tapes, several additional
That works out to an English measure- characteristics have to be checked, such
ment of 0.498 inches. So- called 1/4-inch as video signal-to -noise ratio, dropouts
audio tape, if precision slit per existing per given length of tape (this is extremely
standards, measures 6.3 millimeters in important in checking computer tape as
metric terms. which corresponds to well). chrominance and radio frequency
0.248 inches and cassette-tape is slit to a output.
metric measure of 3.81 millimeters. The final phase of the actual manufac-
Figure 3. This machine is winding a butt which corresponds to 0.150 inches. Vari- turing process is loading. In the loading
roll from coated tape as it emerges from ous aspects of the precision slitting op- rooms, large pancakes of wound tape are
co
N the drying tunnel. eration are shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. automatically spooled into video or
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Figure 6. The London Philharmonic con-
ducted by Thomas Beecham at the historic
1936 magnetic tape recording. The hall,
still in existence, seats under 1,000.
audio cassette housings or onto conven-
225 W per Channel
tional open- reels. In the case of audio
compact cassettes. the finished loaded
In Only Three Rack Spaces.
cassettes move on to yet another testing
station where they are tested automatic-
ally for the screws fastening the housing.
The UREI 6300.
And, 750 watts in mono! That makes Electronically, the 6300 is also built
shell measurements, correctness of coat-
the UREI 6300 the most powerful ampli- to UREI quality standards, to provide
ing, presence of all required parts, action extremely clean and transparent sound.
fier of its class. More important than
of the pressure spring. and proper tape its compact size is its clean sound... Hear the UREI 6300 at your professional
torque. Cassettes and reels that pass in fact, you could compare the sound to sound dealer today, or contact UREI for
these inspection points move on a con- the most esoteric audiophile amplifier. more information.
veyor to be labeled and packaged. But, the 6300 is built to give the same per-
FINAL STATISTICAL OC formance day after day, night after night.
There still remains one important step
The 6300 was designed for the rigors o
of the working sound professional. The
in the entire process that must be per-
formed before the packaged. finished lots
rugged chassis and extruded front panel
make the 6300 extremely roadable and
LJG From One Pro to Another
can be released for shipment. After pack- United Recording Electronics Indus:' cs
the continuously variable fan helps a URC Company
aging. a prescribed number of units are assure reliable operation. A totally mod- 8460 San Fernando Road
statistically sampled for another com- ular chassis assures fast, easy service in Sun Valley. California 91352
plete round of tests. case of difficulty with this rugged and (213) 767-1000 Telex: 65 -1389 UREI SNVY
I suspect that having seen what it takes
reliable amplifier. Canada: E.S. Gould Marketing. Montreal
to produce a high -quality reel of audio or
video tape, those of us who visited the
BASF facilities are likely to have just a
little more respect for that next reel or
cassette of tape we absent- mindedly un-
wrap and pop onto our video or audio
recorders, whether in a studio or broad-
cast environment or on a home machine.
As you may already know. BASF
invented magnetic audio tape way back
in 1934. In 1936. the London Philhar-
monic Symphony was recorded in the
private concert hall which is located on
the grounds of the BASF facilities in
Ludwigshafen (the concert hall is still
used for various cultural events and for
the benefit of BASF employees and their
families). We heard that tape recording
played back in that very concert hall and
were given a cassette dub of part of the
performance. Listening to the scratchy.
distorted performance of Mozart's 39th
symphony (DC was still used to bias tape;
we Americans can claim credit for intro-
ducing high -frequency bias even if tape
itself was a European invention). I could
not help thinking just how far we --and
magnetic tape -have come in the forty - N
six years since that concert took place. v
dEOO Tk,
Looking Ahead,
or, Another Year Has Gone Down the Tubes
I t ENDING ON YOUR Hoop. you might want to alienated many frequent flyers to the point of deliberately
cross orie or the other of those catchy little avoiding any flight number that began with "PA" (that's
phrases off the top of the page. For here it is Pan Am. not Public Address). The company was in big
December again -time for the optimists to be trouble. and did something about it. Unlike Detroit. they
looking ahead to an exciting new year. while the didn't blame the rising price of fuel. the .Japanese.
pessimists spend their time cataloging all that was wrong Reaganomics. or the stars. They looked a little closer to
with the old one. home. and got back in touch with reality and their
Certainly. 1982 will not be remembered as one of the customers. No doubt they've still got a long way to go.
truly great years. unless you get off on depressing but at least they're no longer destroying themselves from
statistics. The unemployment rate seems to show every within. a la Braniff.
sign of catching up with the interest rate. and for those Meanwhile. hack here on the ground. how many audio
with money left to spend. everything seems to cost more pros blame all their woes on forces beyond control?
and be worth less. Before we're accused of being "out of touch" ourselves
However. there are signs that all might not be lost. As Yes. we are aware that times are bad. But they're not (yet)
mentioned last month. the mood at the recent AES so bad that we have no control over them. We may not
convention was optimistic. Not wildly so. but at least have as much control as we'd like. but then. we probably
people weren't hanging themselves in the bathrooms. never did. It's just that when times were better. we could
And although a single AES show is not really a all afford to he a little more casual about things.
barometer of the coming economic climate here in Nowadays. we've got to pay a little more attention to
Audioland. perhaps it is at least a sign that we may not all staying on the road. and a little less to enjoying the
drown before the storm is over. scenery.
Nevertheless, some of us may have to change course In the recording studio. that may mean looking beyond
slightly in order to stay afloat. For many of us. the megabuck album production for other ways to pay
professional audio has long been synonymous with the the rent. For the manufacturer. it may mean expanding
record business, and the emerging "everything else" of the product line into other market areas. For all of us. it
audio has been ignored. Of course. the tendency to ignore means keeping alert to changing times.
change is not unique to audio. Many companies grow up Record labels no longer speculate huge budgets on all
doing things a certain way, and eventually develop a those not -quite- ready -for -prime -time acts. Studio
"we've a/ays done it this way"mentality. When the times owners no longer go out and buy one of everything. just
change. the company policy doesn't. Another company for the hell of it. And anyone who has been makinga nice
comes along with a new approach. and the cycle repeats. living as an exclusive caterer to the Fantasyland crowd is
Some companies get the message others don't. Take a in big trouble.
look at Detroit (our favorite whipping boy). The auto Some economists tell us that all of this had is really
makers .dill haven't figured out that the market for good. They advise us that because of the prevailing
motorized trash cans has dried up. We sometimes wonder economic weather. we must either shape up or go out of
how many auto moguls will go down the tubes blaming business. For those who survive the storm. no doubt this
everyone but themselves for the trouble they're in. will turn out to have been good advice. But for those who
It doesn't have to be so. Take a look at our -until don't ...?
recently second- favorite airline. Pan Am. (Our first was Here at db. we're planning to stay afloat. What about
co
N "anyone else.") The line's dependably rotten service you'' .JM W
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ART SHIFRIN
NOW THAT TV and the movies have re-discovered "good have been a surprise to anyone in the film business. It starred Al
sound." synchronizers have become the pivot on Jolson. who at that time was a "hot property." It was based on a
which the audio -video production link hinges. But successful broadway show which had starred George Jesse].
no matter who makes them. they seem to be replete who declined to play the film role because he thought it would
with Murphy factors and Achilles heels. A few hi-tech buzz flop. But it didn't. because it worked on breakthrough
words will help mollify frustrated producers and studio technology developed by Western Electric and its spinoff
managers with impressive sounding explanations for these operation. The Bell Telephone Laboratories. The process was
malfunctions. These include: "errant bits "; "missing bits ", called "Vitaphone." a trademark now relegated to Warner
"invalid code "; and "poor retrieval." Brothers cartoons.
If you have ever had to justify a ruined editing session or Vitaphone's release had occurred more than one year before.
useless master, it might be a consolation that this has been going It's first public use was in a documentary film shown at The
on for much longer than you'd probably guess. It predates AT &T Exhibit at The World's Fair in Philadelphia. In "The
SMPTE time code, television, and even The Jazz Singer. For Birth Of The Telephone." Dr. Thomas Watson described his
before all of these there was Thomas A. Edison's "K inetophone." work with Alexander Graham Bell on developing the telephone
Most video and film productions strive to reproduce picture fifty years before. Movie buffs might be interested to know that
and sound in synchronism. Typically, the playback of audio Henry Fonda neither looked nor sounded like the original!
and video is from a single medium. This is convenient, because Then again. neither did Don Ameche....
if someone has finally succeeded in getting the sound and Vitaphone's first theatrical release was on August 6. 1926.
picture together in the first place, then there's a good chance The debut program consisted of the silent feature "Don Juan,"
that they'll stay that way when played back! However, for many and lip- synchronous short subjects. The feature itself had post -
production considerations, it's rare that the picture and sound scored M & E (music and sound effects) provided by a
are secured simultaneously. They are usually recorded on symphony orchestra. At that time. there were already
different, incompatible media which somehow have to interlock technically successful sound -on -film systems available. These
to one another. Once this is done, they can then be copied onto included Lee DeForest's "Phonofilm "; Theodore Case's
the final, composite form. "Movietone "; and even one by Western Electric/ Bell Labs. All
Well, there was once a time when there was no such of them recorded variable-density tracks. For various reasons,
composite format available. This meant that anyone trying to Warners, the first licensee, deemed none as practical as a 16-
coordinate recorded sound and picture had to simultaneously inch slow -speed version of the ordinary phonograph record. Of
operate and regulate two different, hopefully interlocked course, a Vitaphone track couldn't be edited, but that was
media. The problems and frustrations of this challenge delayed considered to be an acceptable trade-off at the time.
the introduction of practical sound motion pictures for years Although the idea of synchronizing discs to films was not
after the paying public and people in the film business seemed to new, Vitaphone benefitted from the latest advances in
be willing to embrace them. electronic recording and playback. Loudspeakers could now
Forget about the usual documentaries and public relations deliver sufficiently loud and clear sound to an audience, even in
releases which concern the development of talking pictures. I'm the gigantic auditoria of those days. Also, the recording and
tired of hearing that The Jazz Singer was the first sound film. playback drives had synchronous and servo motors, so they
There were several "films- with -sound" that pre -dated it. How- were accurate. Vitaphone's predecessors were not so fortunate.
ever, it was the first feature film in which electronically recorded Prior to the advent of electronic recording (in which a
and reproduced lip -sync was achieved. The sound came from microphone transduces sound vibrations into electricity),
33 -' a rpm direct -cut discs which were played on turntables recording was done in several ways. All were replete with noise,
which were geared to their corresponding projectors. distortion, and harmonic resonances. The most common was
by sheer, brute mechanical force. A recording horn would
VITA PI-4 ONE collect sounds and concentrate them at its narrow end which
The success of The Jazz Singer in October, 1927 should not was terminated with a diaphragm. A cutting stylus made lateral,
vertical, or "compatible" grooves (which often weren't) which
contained gross limitations. Playback was by an analogous but
opposite method. The phonograph to which "Little Nipper" has
Art Shifrin
is Northeast Regional Sa /es Manager of been listening so attentively all these years operates on this
°
co Thomson -CSF. principle.
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systems it had sold. When they finally released "Diamond
Discs" in 1913. these thick, vertically -cut records were superior
to other conventional types. But they never achieved a
significant market share because they were incompatible with
most playback systems. Does this seem familiar? Even the
Edison cylinders were meaningfully improved but their sales
continued to dwindle. Edison ceased all recording and
manufacturing in October 1929. Your guess is as good as mine if
this had any causal, or symptomatic connection with the crash
of the stock market during that month!
THE KINETOPHONE
Edison's cylinder enjoyed brief and little known glory as part
of a synchronous "Kinetophone" sound film system shortly
before World War I. It was the result ofa collaboration between
the Edison Company and an independent inventor, Daniel
Higham. In February, 1908 H igham had proposed by letter that
Figure 1. The author's electronic cylinder reproducing he be employed by Edison to "perfect "talking pictures. He held
system, con figured for Kinetophone playback. The patents for a mechanical loudspeaking amplifier which could
tach is on the right end of the drive shaft, mounted on ostensibly generate sufficiently loud volume in typical theatres
top of the preamp. A standard cylinder and its container of that era. The system worked by generating friction between a
are at the left, for size perspective. rubber shoe and amber wheel which interconnected a playback
stylus with a loudspeaking horn.
The system shown to the press in December. 1912 recorded
cylinders and shot film simultaneously. It was also supposed to
OTHER EFFORTS reproduce them in synchronism. Virtually everything seemed to
Even prior to Edison's development of the phonograph, conspire to cause Kinetophone's technical and business failures.
other recording methods had been tried, if not perfected. These factors included: the basic design, a calamitous fire at
In the late I850s. Leon Scott de Martinville could record but Edison's West Orange complex, World War I. and the culinary
not play back variable -area patterns on lampblack- treated tastes of rats which hung around Kinetophone equipment!
paper. Bell and Tainter tried to record and playback variable - The fire destroyed the film building in December. 1914. It
density ink tracks on glass discs in the 1880s. Poulsen recorded evidently consumed most of the documents, films. and
and played hack magnetically on his "Telegraphone." Elias Reis recordings which pertained to Kinetophone. For many years.
had patents for magnetically recording on discs. Several no one pursued the strategy of simply asking about any
inventors including Reis were able to record and play back on surviving Kinetophone materials at The Edison National
film. They included Ernst Ruhmer and Eugene Lauste. Their Historic Site in West Orange, New Jersey. There I encountered
methods used string galvanometers driven by telephone Dr. Edward J. Pershey. The Site's Supervisory Curator. His
transducers to modulate light patterns to photograph variable - enthusiastic reaction to my inquiries has resulted in uncovering
density- and -area tracks. There was even a system called a significant amounts of information and artifacts.
"manometric flame." It used an acetylene flame modulated by The Kinetophone "soundtracks" were made on unusually
magnetic fields generated by telephone repeaters. Density large wax cylinders. 71/2-in. long and 41/4-in. in diameter. Typical
tracks could thus he recorded through an optical slit. consumer cylinders were 4 -in. long and 2 -in. in diameter. and
Hopefully. nitrate film was not used in the latter! Selenium cells rotated at 120 rpm. The grooves were cut vertically at a pitch of
were used to play hack these recordings without the benefits of 100 per inch. They were recorded acoustically from a horn
electronic playback amplification. This was because DeForest which was generally placed further from the performers than
had licensed his "Audion" (the first triode) to Western Electric was usual for recording sessions of that time. The wax masters
for telephonic. and other uses. Even if other inventors had were played on a pantograph equipped with a "Highamo-
known about the "Audion" and could understand it, they could phonic" (my term to honor Mr. Higham) amplfier so that they
not have had access to the patents without a license from produced copies which were louder than the originals. The
Western Electric. Its primary concern at the time was long - copies were dusted with plumbago (finely pulverized graphite)
distance telephony. so that they could he electroplated. The resulting tubular molds
Therefore. since phonograph grooves were the most reliable contained inverted grooves on their inside surfaces. The
means of recording and playback. virtually all pre -Vitaphone exteriors were reinforced with steel shells. Pre -cut tubes of
talking pictures involved discs or cylinders. In 1921 I). W. celluloid would be steam pressed in these molds, so that the
Griffith produced and released the feature "Dream Street." It material would extrude into the metal grooves. Upon cooling.
contained lip -synchronous scenes, including a prologue spoken the celluloid records would shrink sufficiently so that they could
by the director. The sound was on discs which ran at about 80 he removed. The positive prints would then have plaster -of-
rpm. The recordings were cut and played back acoustically. The paris cores formed within them. They were bored out so that
system was designed by one Orlando Kellum. Synchroniza- their internal taper accommodated the mandrels on the
tion was evidently accurate, but the recordings were poor. The "K inetophonographs."
recording horns had to be located very close to the performers. The recorders were evidently spring driven. Their drive shafts
so only tight shots could be made. had pulleys through which a synchronizing belt was connected
As early as the 1890s. Edison (or his staff) began working on to a camera, which was evidently DC driven. The shooting
combining motion pictures and the phonograph. At first, as recording would he preceded by the clapping of coconut shells.
with other inventors such as Oscar Messter, films would be shot This was the slate used for negative cutting, and cueing for
to complement existing records, or vice -versa. Following the playback. The slate frames were replaced by black. Of course.
early phonograph marketing strategy. Edison released coin the sync slap was retained at the head of each recording.
operated "talking ki net oscopes" prior to 1896. These were fifty - The playback system was even stranger. The reproducing
foot film loops, accompanied by wax cylinders heard through phonograph was equipped with a second stage of Highamo-
ear tubes. phonic amplification. It differed from the one used in the
The disc soon predominated the phonograph industry, and pantograph because instead of being connected to a cutting
C.)
the Edison company was relegated to producing software for stylus, it drove a large reproducing horn. According to original
Figure 2. The Kinetophone Studio on Decatur Avenue in
the Bronx. The arrow points to the synchronizing cord
which leads to the left side of the recording phonograph.
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Is your ad in the magazine with the largest circulation?
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db is the 1
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August. 1981 to install the unit resulted in finding their twenty -
two records. Claes N. Cnattingius, the Director of the Gram -
maphone Department of Sveriges Riksradiu, has also signifi-
cantly contributed to my research about the Kinetophone.
The system I designed circumvents the playback problems
inherent in acoustical reproducers. It does not have the speed
fluctuations of the spring- driven motors. It avoids the liabilities
of trying to mike a playback horn. The system accommodates
the multiplicity of lengths. speeds. diameters. and groove
pitches of the various kinds of cyciinders which were made. It
even tracks them at half speed. so that severely warped records
can be played without pickups bottoming to the cylinders'
surfaces. It was therefore rather easy to further modify the
system so that the Kinetophone records could be played. These
changes included fabricating an appropriate mandrel. and
adding a tach generator to the drive shaft. A 60 Hz control
signal is thus generated and accounts for any phase shift from
the drive motor, belt, and pulley. The control frequency is
recorded separately on the master tape. It is ultimately used to
resolve the tape to a perforated magnetic recording film. or
Figure 4. Before finding the film and sound for The Edison
time -coded submaster.
Minstrels, the author incorrectly deduced that this was
a meeting of the Kinetophone executive committee.
The audio is processed with some unusual techniques. First.
styli made to my specifications by Stanton Magnetics and
Expert Pickups Ltd. track the records. The pickups are
talk fell behind the picture." Edison blamed the sync slip on the Stanton 500 whose two outputs are oppositely phased. The two
equipment operators! outputs of the Stanton 310 preamp are mixed so that a maximal
Knowing that most histories of The Cinema are virtually noise null of the non -vertical noise is obtained. These settings
oblivious to Kinetophone, it could easily be guessed that the are often not at unity gain. since the grooves were often not cut
system was not extensively distributed. But papers found at The on truly vertical planes. The audio is taped with linear phono
Site revealed plans for world -wide marketing. The deals preamplification. using no compensation. It is ultimately
covered the U.S., the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Russia. processed through a variety of equalizers, transient noise
Austria-Hungary, Germany. Poland. Japan. India. and suppressors, compressor /limiters, and filters. Most of the
Scandanavia. Some of the contracts had war cancellation Kinetophone cylinders from The Site are so warped that half-
clauses. speed transferring was necessary.
A combined tally of the holdings at The Edison Site and at The films had to be transferred to videotape so that they
The Swedish Radio Company -where twenty-two Kineto- could be readily reproduced and hopefully, synchronized. At
phone cylinders were identified last year --total to forty the time that this phase of the experiments was being
different sound components and seven different reels of film. Of undertaken, I enjoyed a very special relationship with The
these.' six subjects have corresponding sound and picture. Their Sound Shop and Reeves Teletape divisions of Reeves
contents support some of the memoranda found at The Site. Communications. I had done free -lance production work there
They also reveal surprises. Photographs of the Kinetophone and my clients, Thames Television, had been very pleased with
studio on Decatur Avenue in The Bronx readily explains the the results. Knowing much about the Reeves operation and
severe echoes heard in some of the recordings. The ceilings were extensive technical experience with film, I decided that this
high and the walls were wooden. One memo discussed the need unusual work should be done at their East 44 Street studios in
for a new studio with canvas treatments to prevent this Manhattan. Sound Shop Vice President Walter Willumstad
problem. The records contain varying types of echoes, so was instrumental in coordinating the challenging sessions
perhaps the existing studio had been modified, or a new one which followed.
built.
At least two of the productions were featurettes. Cylinders
for parts one and five of The Deaf Mute, a military drama by
v/7
Rupert Hughes. survive at The Site. It's a play about a
Confederate spy who masquerades as a peddler in a Union
Army Camp. All of the action occurs in front of a tent whose
flaps are tied open. The recording quality is amazingly clear and
completely without echoes. Even the clucking of a chicken
carried in the peddler's basket is clearly audible. Probably made
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theatrical synchronous sound film! Cylinders for parts one. t(41, a rvyY
two, and four of another multi -reel production Die Puppe (The
Puppet) are in the collection in Stockholm.
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ago. This was in response to a personal whim. which was later c-;.6,4A rvwrw.r.t.(jq
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Dictaphone cylinders made by The Department Of The Navy in
kwN7,076
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be sold and delivered. One went to The Rogers and
Hammerstein Archives Of Recorded Sound at Lincoln Center.
The other went to The Swedish Radio Company. Both have Figure 5. Miller Reese Hutchinson's memo to Edison about
vch significant collections of cylinders. My trip to Stockholm in the synchronizer problems.
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www.americanradiohistory.com
Fortunately, none of the Kinetophone reels are original cal horn, "stretch printing," and picture editing. The results
nitrates. If they were. they'd probably be brown gelatinous were even then, unnecessarily bad since vertical electrical phono
blobs by now. They're all safety -base 16 mm and 35 mm copies pickups were available at that time. I was determined that these
with various problems. One is a fine -grain master dupe and new efforts would circumvent such degradations, and do justice
notwithstanding jitter. has startling clarity for a sixty -nine year to the aspirations of Edison, Higham and Hutchinsort.
old film. New prints were made by Karl Malkames, who Once the speed corrected video master was completed, we
specializes in contending with old, distressed motion picture tried to match the sound to the picture. Two easily identifiable
film. sync points were selected near the beginning and end of the first
Back timing the pictures to the sound indicated that the films subject. These occur when a speaker strikes a table with a gavel.
should run at approximately 16 frames per second. The and when someone drops a whiskey bottle. Both are seen and
engineering budget did not permit the time to modify the RCA heard. With the video matched to the audio at the first sync
FR 16 telecine to servo to any non -standard speed. so we point, they were run interlocked. The sync held rather steadily:
decided to make the master transfer at the standard 24 fps. the sound was behind the picture by only 20 video frames after
Senior Supervising Colorist Gerry Keller achieved significant five minutes! We were disappointed but not surprised at the
improvement in the pictures' qualities. imperfect sync. Yet, considering the original method of
The color corrected one inch type "C" video tape masters production, this degree of accuracy we realized. was a pleasant
were then dubbed in a vari-speed mode to the equivalent of 16 surprise. Jerry Neumann. the Editor with whom I was working.
fps. This was done b controlling an Ampex VPR -2B with a
Lexicon 1200 Time Co- mpressor. The 1200 is well known for its
remarkable ability to change an audio track's speed. while
retaining its original pitch. In this application. it was used as a
precise. programmable external reference oscillator for the
VPR's capstan servo. It enabled us to exactly program the
required video speed. This had to be done in two steps, because
the 1200's limit of speed change is 25 percent, and we required a
one -third speed reduction.
Some blurring of movement became noticeable at the
conclusion of this procedure. There are several explanations for
this. One is that when film is transferred to NTSC (the U.S.
Standard) video, some fields (two fields comprise one video
frame) are selectively duplicated. This is done because it is
necessary to stretch the 24 film frames of one second, to the
television scanning rate of 30 fps. Also, the pick -up tubes in
even the best video film cameras (in this case, an RCA TK 29)
introduce an image lag. This occurs because it takes the tubes
(one each for the green, red, and blue channels) a certain
amount of time to "forget" a previous image. Both of these
factors become exaggerated when tape playback is significantly
slowed down. Finally, the films generate less smooth
"persistence of vision" because having been shot at 16 fps. their
frames were each exposed 50 percent longer than those shot at
today's standard speed of 24. The results however, are blatantly
better than the traditional, primitive methods of either running
films of their vintage too fast, or "stretch printing" them. The
latter method entails duplicating alternate frames so that the
elapsed running time is correct. Because of the duplicated
frames, the "persistence of vision" disintegrates and the motion
becomes stroboscopic. If these Kinetophone films had been
processed in either of these two ways (as silent films often
regrettably are). then the sound could not have been
Figure 7. Thomas A. Edison, about the time of the
Kinetophone project.
helped to conceptualize the procedure by which we finally
corrected the sync. We'd partially emulate the original
Kinetophone projection concept by further modifying the speed
of the video. The picture was once again dubbed so that it would
be .I percent (one tenth of one percent) shorter than the audio.
This is the smallest mathematical factor of speed change which
can be programmed into the Lexicon 1200: The audio was again
cued to the first sync point and run interlocked to the picture.
When the sync began to slip, the audio was pulled up by editing
out brief. unmodulated sections of the soundtrack. This way. no
recorded sounds or frames of film were cut out. The five
Bachelors, a humo'rous account of an initiation into a men's
club, was thus synthronized. Only five pullups had to be done,
Figure 6. The Kinetophone amplifying pantograph. The each only about one sixth of a second long and completely
master was played on the upper mandrel with the pickup at
undetectable. This could very well be the earliest surviving
"6 O'Clock." Notice the wax cuttings all over the assembly.
synchronous sound film, because papers at The Site indicate
that it was produced in late 1912!
synchronized. or run at its natural speed. Interestingly, about The second experiment was much more difficult to do.
fifty and thirty years ago, two different film re- release because most of it drifted so quickly that phrase -by- phrase
companies crudely reprocessed some Kinetophone films. Their correction was necessary. The same technique was applied, and
co
M methods included using microphone pickups from an acousti- the results are particularly gratifying. This is because the subject
www.americanradiohistory.com
was Reel One of The Deaf Mute. the precocious five reel, on- from these masters new less noisy and non -warped positives
location production. could be injection molded. Funding, and perhaps even an
The sync drifts which we encountered bore out the institutional affiliation are necessary so that this, and other
complaining memos found at The Site. Apparently, the planned work can be continued and done properly.
4110
Figure 8. A Vitaphone set up showing the projector. turntable. and amplifier. Edward B.
Craft. vice -president of Bell Telephone Labs. is holding the soundtrack record.
This is a still from The Voice of the Screen, a four reel explanatory production presented
at the New York Electrical Society in October. 1926.
synchronizer between the camera and recorder never worked
properly. Only if they had built a direct. mechanically
interlocked playback system could they have recognized the
differences between those problems which arose during
production. and those which occurred during projection. phis
was ex idently not done. But they did try to address the problem
with a more sophisticated method of synchronization. By April
1913. about midway in the four month engagement of the
Kinetophone program at The Colonial. the Chief Engineer of
the Kinetophone project. Miller Reese Hutchinson. was work-
ing on an electrical synthesizer which made too much environ-
mental noise. We base not yet found any description or
schematics, and don't even know if it was ever used theatrically.
Homes er. memos and photographs indicate that at least one
was built and being evaluated. At least one other contemporary
factor is probably also causing some of the sync problems. Most
of the cylinders are so warped, that even when turned at a
constant speed, their surface velocities necessarily change Figure 9. A non -synchronous soundtrack disc pressed
continually. by G & T for Oscar Messter's Biophon, circa 1906.
At this writing, two of the films have been transferred to Photograph courtesy of Ray Wile.
videotape. These, and the remaining reels have severe picture Oh yes. what about the rats? When you're next talking to
problems whose correction would he very expensive. More your friendly tech- support person from your favorite
research and development is necessary. The search for other synchronizer company, think about a memo from Mr.
surviving materials must he continued. Metal molds for some of Hutchinson to Mr. Edison and try to top it: the rats liked tocat
the Kinetophone records survive at The Site. Theoretically, the synchronizer cords!
w
V
RALPH HODGES
IAM HERE in beautiful downtown Burbank, wherever that has emerged from the studios since Walt's death that has not
to pick up the evolutionary threads of the Disney film
is. been forgettable. Fantasia. now over forty years old. probably
Fantasia (or Music Appreciation 101. as we used to call remains at least as novel and audacious as any original release
it). will do this by visiting and asking intelligent ques-
1 the studio will put forth this year. And audacious it was, daring
tions of the Disney studios, wherever they are. The only likely to be a dialogue-less movie, daring to flaunt well over an hour of
site is plainly a gravel quarry, walled in by a motley array of "artsy" music in the tace of the matinee crowd. daring to go
barriers to keep offensive sights and sounds from the sur- farther than anyone had in sound production and reproduction.
rounding neighborhood. I chance it anyway, and predictably and, yes, daring to scare the living daylights out of my sister
encounter rocks -plastic rocks that I seem to remember from to make its point -a most un- Disneylike trait in recent years.
a particularly stirring moment of The Swiss Family Robinson. In my conversations with sound production and support
It's the right place, but the wrong entrance. people. I find no one who was in any way close to the original
At the right entrance I ask whether all this deliberate ano- Fantasia of 1938. So we're left with just the knowledge in gen-
nymity is an attempt to foil the attentions of the curious and eral circulation: that it grew from a short subject ( The Sorcerer's.
crazy. The reply is a guarded "Yes. that's probably the idea." Apprentice) into a full- length feature: that sound recording
The guardedness strikes me immediately. The question was evi- commenced with a pick -up orchestra in Hollywood, but was
dently not phrased in accordance with the Disney world view. largely carried out with Stokowski's Philadelphia Orchestra in
which exalts (but not forcefully) good will, tolerance, the de- the Academy of Music: that the recording was (incredibly!)
cent side of life, and the child that continues to live within the done optically on eight tracks (nine if you include a click track
man. Still. I Ileetingl recall that the satanic monster from used by the Disney artists in preparing the picture). and that
Fùmasia's "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence gave my little the picture was shown whenever possible with a tour -track
sister nightmares for weeks. But that is hardly fair. It didn't optical format spanning the entire width of a separate 35 -mm
bother me: even bought the record.
1 film that required its own "semi" projector and special sound
head for reproduction. Three tracks were audio for left, center
FANTASIA ET AL and right behind -screen speakers. The fourth carried multiple
What strikes me shortly after is the faintest tinge of some- control tones that gain-rode the feeds to multiple theatre
thing like quiet desperation. The place is clearly given over to loudspeakers in such a way as to introduce sound -source
hard work, accounts of all kinds are strictly kept, and repri- shifts as desired, and to maintain S N with a reasonable dyna-
mands are probably not hard to come by. t suspect you toe the mic range. To switch on and off surround speakers. the sound-
line if you want to participate in Disney's activities, but what track film was notched.
does this monastic devotion lead to! By critical consent, no film Fantasia is often called the first stereophonic motion picture.
but it wasn't really. It was pan -potted multi -track (there being
no pan pots in the film industry at the time. Disney had to de-
Ralph Hodges is a freelance writer /editor working out sign one and have it built), and was probably mono as often as
ecoi of theSan Francisco bar area. not. Certainly during recording the greatest attempts were
www.americanradiohistory.com
made to acoustically isolate each orchestral choir and its
microphone from its brethren, a then -unfamiliar arrangement
that reportedly caused much trouble with ensemble.
TELEX. MAGNECORD,
Figure 1. Disney technicians proposed -and patented
this con figuration of electronics for reproducing "Fan-
- TELEX COMMUNICATIONS. INC.
9600 *kitsch Ave So Mwreapoes MN 55420 US
reeN1e le 9onpa,te 0114e 711 Centre Aftaees vans Nast 93153 Le Blanc Mesh France
tasia" in showcase theatres. Like the loudspeaker array of
C.3
Figure Z it was probably never realized in all its glory. CD
geles, wherever that is. to find out what l can about the sonic
collage that became the soundtrack for Tron. Disney's latest
release and a somewhat incoherent epic securely grounded in
electronic faddism and the enduring values of truth. justice
and the good. solid buck. Knowing that Frank Serafine (Sera-
fine EX). who made all the picture's noises, did not also write its
screenplay. I am inclined to give him every benefit of the doubt.
He rewards my positive attitude with revelation heaped upon
revelation. until I am reeling.
Serafine. who has himself discussed his techniques for "Elec -
tronic Sound Assembly" in these pages (May 1981). notes that
if Fantasia was the first soundtrack to pass through production
and post production in digital form, Tron :v sound was virtually
a comparable first for multi -track tape. His top -of- the -head
estimate is that Disney probably saved $25.000 in 35 -mm mag-
netic -film transfers as a result, cut down on scads of post -
production time, and got freshly minted live ( "organic ") and
synthesized sounds as a bonus.
Instead of the sprocket holes and picture frames of film.
Serafine's operation runs on SMPTE time code linking the
sound on audio tape and the picture on video tape. The same
/
code, recorded on all effects tapes in his -inch library, marks
the locations of sounds for ready retrieval. The library's "card
catalog" consists of computer files indexed for such categories
as the sound itself, where and when recorded, reel number.
track number, clock number, generic type of sound, visual
correlate of the sound. and so on. Punching in a particular cate-
gory sifts through the files and displays the applicable entries.
The reel number takes you right to the desired y, -inch reel,
and time code to the desired spot on the reel.
There's nothing here to take your breath away until you Figure 3. The amazing "Fantasia" optical soundtrack, with
contrast it with the usual Hollywood procedure as described the sound head designed to play it.
by Serafine. "I know of enormous effects libraries that spend
one third of their time just locating the sound called for amongst
all the reels of 1/4-inch tape. When they find it. they put in a little it to put it on 35 mag. Maybe a day or two later you get your
piece of paper tape to mark it. and then the transfer guy gets copy. You line it up with the other elements on your bench.
which can handle only three units at a time, with the result that
2,298,618 Oct. 13, 1942. you hear only three elements at a time out of maybe fifty that
will go into the final mix. It's archaic."
With his Tascam 85 -16, Serafine can hear up to fifteen ele-
ments at a time (track 16 carries the ubiquitous time code) at
his pleasure. once the elements are dubbed from y, -inch. On
their way through the transfer. the elements routinely encoun-
tered analog. digital and computerized signal processing,
various forms of delay. reverb, phasing and flanging. and (a
great favorite especially for dialogue) the EXR Exciter Ill. For
example, each of the three motorcycles had three tracks solely
dedicated to it. for a total of nine tracks. Two of the three were
used to "split off and do reverb and perspective -type things
with." The remaining six tracks might accommodate great
changes in picture perspective. other thoughts on how to add
dimension to synthesizer sound ( "The hardest thing." says
Serafine), and other effects (crashes, explosions), perhaps with
some actual stereo present or injected if Serafine thought the
effect unquestionably benefitted from it.
As for the content of the elements: "We built up the basic
cycle sound using the Prophet 5 and Moog synthesizers, layer-
ing on related elements as called for to respect the perspective
of the picture. But all the fly -bys were real motorcycles (Sun-
day- afternoon drag racers miked with crossed Electro-Voice
1,01zi,4M E. GAR,rY 1
www.americanradiohistory.com
For some scenes there were as many as lour units (I6 -track
reels), plus additional effects elements that were often already
waiting on 35 -mm magnetic film up above. Mike Hinkier, the
principal dubbing engineer, could not be sure just how many
separate but simultaneous elements were being handled at any
one bad moment. Sixty or so seems a conservative guess. But in
any case, this was when Serafinc's multi -track tapes at last be-
came mag films for the final mix.
The mix, although employing Dolby noise reduction
throughout, was something of a throwback to pre -Dolhy times,
when all six magnetic tracks of a 70 -mm release print were at
lull- range, driving five behind -screen speakers with dis-
crete information. (The Dolby scheme for 6 -track is full -range
for only three behind -screen speakers, relegating the two
.
of the Fairlight ('M I. manipulate them in real time, and often TRON II?
bring them into sy nc faster than if I were trying to program an Seraline mentions that he is presently acquiring a small ar-
edit. I could also play material backwards with case. doing senal of digital recording equipment. including the Sony
such things as turning high- impact sounds into suction sounds." I'CM -F I. ostensibly a consumer product. "Yeah. but it's so
good, and it's an ideal location machine.- .1 he idea is that the
THE BIG MIX
video tracks of the associated \'C'R will take the audio, while
Belpre going to the dubbing theatre in the (.ion`s Gate studio the audio tracks will handle that of SCI I' I time code. Frank
I
complex upstairs. 7irut'% assembled elements were transferred also talks briefly. about using something like the l'('M -I'I as the
again. to an Ampex -inch 16 -track (matching the Lion's Gate
I
master recorder for his whole operation. staking it seem like
machine) that was sla%ed to the % -inch v ideo tape of the picture. he plans to carry his elements, two at a time. up to Lion's Gate
for transfer to 35 -mm dummies. Well. why not? And in any case.
the l'CM -F whuuk/ he an ideal location recorder. and no waste
I
of money.
There is also some talk about LaserDiscs as permanent im-
mediate-access effects libraries. Frank mentions that (.ion's
Gate intends to acquire a bank of about fifteen players. to ren-
der such hypothetical libraries suitable for dubbing-theatre
work. The idea seems most attractive. but neither of us can
decide where the discs themselves might come front at this
time.
The real irony. I suppose. is that Frank Serafïne. has ing
taken motion- picture sound production about as close to
multi -track tape techniques as it's ever been, is already headed
in something of an opposite direction. As he points out. film-
makers know magnetic film, and some will probably always
stick w ith magnetic film. But then again, producers are always
looking for more cost- ethectise ways of doing things, and
sound quality has been on their minds of late as well. Some 01
t he younger people in the business are definitely contingaround.
It
l hev'd better come around before Trent however, or it
Figure 5. Then as now, the Stokowski seen on the screen may he that all they'll lind where Frank Seraline was for /i'un /
was not conducting for the orchestra. but for the camera. will he a cloud of dust.
JOHN BORWICK
THESE DAYS of heavy specialisation, from high-school niques peculiar to their medium. and very little cross- fertiliza-
onwards most operational sound engineers are happy tion seems to take place.
enough to work away at the specific aspect they know best. It has been pretty much the same with sound equipment de-
For some db readers, this may mean the busy confines of signers and manufacturers -until recently. Now I can see many
the recording studio. Others, in film and theatre sound, tend instances where designers of mixing consoles. for example. are
similarly to occupy themselves with the problems and tech- going out of their way to study the special needs of film and
theatre engineers instead of merely offering them re- jigged
sound -studio consoles.
One British firm which has been landing a number of pres-
ANALOG PROBLEMS? tige design commissions in a wide range of sound applications
lately is Technical Projects. a group within Theatre Projects
Services. Ltd. Knowing that they had recently designed a
uniquely versatile console for Pinewood Film Studios. I con-
tacted their chief designer. Sam Wise. and was not a little bit
surprised when he suggested that we meet up at first at the new
Barbican Centre in the City of London- but he had good
reason.
British readers will know all about the Barbican Centre for
Arts and Conferences. After all. it has been slowly rising up
(since work began in 1971) from the rubble of a badly- bombed
35 -acre area not far from St. Paul's Cathedral. British taxpayers
will also have felt the impact of the 140 million pounds (about
$250.000 US) so far spent. though they have indeed gotten
quite a lot for their money.
l he Centre includes the magnificent Barbican Hall. seating
VOLTAGE 2.026 and providing a permanent home for the London Sym-
PROGRAMMABLE phony Orchestra. as well as being solidly booked out from its
official opening on March 3rd of this year. by artists ranging
ACTIVE FILTERS from Stephan Grappelli to the Grenadier Guards. There is also
the Barbican Theatre, seating 1.166 and acting as the new base
Filters: HP -LP -BP tor the Royal Shakespeare Company. And. The Pit is a small
Attenuators: L -Pad lin /log 200 -scat studio theatre for experimental productions. There
Oscillators: Low distortion sin /cos are three small cinemas, a 15.000 square -foot Art Gallery, an
open -air Sculpture Court. a new Lending Library, two Trade
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and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which has its
own 400-seat Music Hall, 300 -seat theatre, and numerous re-
565 to $ 140 hearsal and teaching studios.
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Sam Wise's reason for meeting me at the Barbican Centre
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soon became apparent. as he conducted me up- and -over the
N
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John llortvic k is db's European ediror.
C ire/e 33 on Reader Service Card
www.americanradiohistory.com
Figure 1. The new console in Pinewood's Theatre 2.
has a racked power amplifiers dri% ing a network of installed and Manual & the Magnetic Tape Reproducer
mobile loudspeakers. The main reinforcement loudspeaker Calibrator.
arrays comprise multiple horns and bass bins, suspended over
the proscenium arch, and supplemented as necessary by port- Phone for fast delivery or free catalog.
able units on stage. I o give some idea of the complexity of
theatre sound installations in general, and of ultra -modern de-
signs in particular. there are additional low -level drivers re-
cessed into the walls all ;lung both sides of t he auditorium.
L nusually. t he architects ha%e eliminated seat aisles completely.
so that there is a separate door for audience entry at both ends
of ma/ row. Iechnical Projects had to design a recessed
oro
STANDARD TAPE LABORATORY, INC.
speaker enclosure to go into the narrow wall space at every. 26120 EDEN LANDING ROAD se_ .- .... .
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--
capable of offsetting as determined by trial mixing runs.
IMiMI1.¡':f:i:f1::l
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Mfi MI MI Oh al The final mixdown will usually contain separate tracks for
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7. Ca.
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t. dialogue, music, and effects (recorded on three separate 35mm
magnetic film machines in sync). and with subsequent remix-
ing to suit the distributors' requirements in terms of release -
print format (mono, stereo. etc.). Up to seven channels will be
:.ry ÿ._
: '
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needed for a modern spectacular, where there will be five
F:
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° E.,F: F
_!. ..! _.;.F. _. '.I ..F' .lFF- PPi F
E:.= speakers arranged behind the screen, and others in a left -
Fp ¡¡ FF: right distribution in the auditorium.
Such audio complexities arise from the need for the sounds
to line up with the more-critical visual images. and the need for
subtle panning of sounds to be laced with chosen amounts of
crosstalk to match the changing width of the s isual image.
The console provides for 60 channels. divided between three
,L,n'.L'L'
wood's chief dubbing mixer Gordon McCallum and his team
:. dictated the console functions and ergonomics. FIGURE 2 shows
. a batch of channel module strips which are superficially very
much like those on a conventional desk. There are differences,
however. For example. inputs are line-level only. Microphones
Figure 2. Views of the input modules. are seldom used in the film- dubbing situations. and so a patch-
able row of six microphone inputs on the jackfield is all that is
needed.
Next down from the input sensitivity switch is a phase -
Without memory. source-to- speaker routing would have reverse switch, and buttons to make the source insertion points
needed about 850 snitching pushbuttons. but the microcom- either pre- or post -equaliser. The normal pre -fade listening
puter can store 199 cues and the sound engineer can set these by (PFL) facility has been made more elaborate. to cope with for-
using a handy calculator-type keypad. LEI) illumination of the eign- language dubbing requirements where clean feeds of
input output pushbuttons allows the engineer to over-ride the music and effects tracks to the monitors may need to be avail-
memory or check the current preset state or the next cue. able at the same time as original dialogue tracks are muted. and
1-or the stage manager and his team. Technical Projects the second language dubbed in in -sync.
designed a special modular communications centre on a 19- Six numbered routing buttons select the chosen reverb de-
inch rack. I he system includes a tour -channel intercom, a vice. with pre- post -fader switch and reverb-send level control.
complex paging system. and a European -type cue -light sys-
tem. to pros ide flexible two -a
paging. the unit is able to
Then comes a top cut (low -pass) filter control, with selectable
5 dB frequencies from 1.5 kHz to 15 kHz. and the main equal-
sense when any satellite position is trying to gain access to the izer comprising three parametric sections having a very wide
sy stem. Based on eight priority lei els. each with multiple access
range of width (Q) characteristics. Care was taken to make the
points, it can allow the caller to speak, to route his audio as level. frequency and width controls independent of each
required. and to indicate to other locations (via LEDs) that the other, and to use a constant -percentage bandwidth law so that
s stem is in use. I he signalling system enables anyone using an the effects will sound consistent in width at any frequency. The
access point to know m hether the system is already in use. and graduated site and height of the three boost cut. frequency and
mhether their call has been successful. Background music or
shim relay feeds are muted as appropriate.
Priorit routing is determined by cord patching. and can be
expanded to any number of users. I he tour- channel intercom
can leed a number of loudspeaker locations as mell as belt -
pack headset users. and the cue -light system is patchable to
enable the stage manager's cue key layout to he sensibly ar-
ranged: quite an installation.
A subsidiary of
Atlantic Research Corporation
2100 Reston Avenue
Reston, VA 22091
I-03) 620 -53(X) Telex 90 -1941
POWER
%.Y JOYSTICK
CONTROL STATUS PA
Figure 5. Diagram of Technical Projects' Multipan joystick
unit.
PROGRAM SETUP
www.americanradiohistory.com
The Needle Knows
Even when your ears no tape-induced level varia- A consistency that lets you
can't tell the difference, your tions from one reel of 456 to forget the tape and concen-
VU meters can. another or within a single reel. trate on the job.
Which is why we test every No other brand of tape
reel of our 2" Grand Master undergoes such rigorous test-
Ampex Corporation, Magnetic Tape Division
456 Studio Mastering Tape ing. And as a result no other 401 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063
end -to-end and edge -to-edge. brand offers you the reliable (415) 367 -4463
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www.americanradiohistory.com
BRUCE MALLION
Countdown to the
21st Century
Things can get rather hectic for the audio crew as air date
approaches, as Ed Greene can no doubt attest to.
A
EPCOT Center is a new 27.000 acre part of Walt Disney LT PRE -PRODUCTION meetings and planning ses-
World in Florida devoted to an Experimental Prototype sions had been going on for weeks. the actual
Community Of Tomorrow. /'rom which the acronym is derived. production of the EPCOT special "The Beginning
Pan ol'the project is Future World. a complex of .six buildings of The 21st Century" began 25 days before air date
that includes the wor /d :s first geodesic .sphere, the 180 fool with pre -record sessions held in Hollywood's Group IV
diameter "Spaceship Earth. " the Land Pavilion covering .six Studios. The pre -record sessions were done the same as any
acres. and the KOrl(I of Motion exhibit which is 60 feet high and other recording session and the studio set -up is shown in
-12O feet in diameter. Another parr of the project is the World FIGURE I. It was a typical television orchestra of 31 musicians
Showcase with representative samplings ,from different playing some really outstanding music directed by Ian Fraser.
countries showing their architecture. restaurants with authentic with arrangements principally by Bill Byers. It was laid down on
lio,d. and a circlevision fila. Conceived by Disney helure his a 24-track in a very traditional fashion. The tape was not noise -
death 16 years ago. the project explores the future of man on reduced. It was recorded at +5 above 185 nanowebers meter.
this planet in ternis ulfood. energy, travel. communications. which Greene finds is a nice area to work in when not using
and social structure. The EPCOT Center opened to the public Dolby. The tape used was 3M 250 at 15 ips which turned out
October 1. 1982. to be a happy combination with these levels. (Ed's standard
To celebrate the opening. the Disney organization produced header format calls for zero -level tones at 700 Hz. 10 kHz. 100
a one-hour musical .spectacular with host and principal star Hz. and 700 H7 again.)
Danny Aove. Drew Barrymore of E.7: fame. musicians Marie
Drums
Osmond and Roy Clark, astronaut Alan Shepherd. writer Alex
Haley. TI' personality Eric Severeid. robots S /CO and
S.11 i RT I. the West Point Glee Club. the 450 member All-
America Marching Band. and numerous others. The show was
produced and directed during the month of October by Gan
Smith and Dwight 'Ionian of Smith- llemion Productions.
well known for their spectaculars and recipient of many Emmr
awards. Producer fOr Disney was Ron .bliziker. The credit list is
lengthy. but the significant audio credits must include: Chief
audio engineer !mixer Ed Greene. of Greene. Crowe & Co.;
Group /l' Studios of Hollywood. Pre - record and post -score:
United Western Studios of Hollywood. Choir overdub:
Complete Post. lnr. of Hollywood. Post-production editing.
.sweetening: and Disney's Studio 1). Final mixdown to release
master.
This article chronicles the audio production for the EPCOT
special and the way it nas assembled during a month ol'virtually
continuous activity. The progress is noted by countdown slates
prior to the show's air slate. Control room
Bruce Mallion is a freelance recording engineer and Figure 1. Group IV Studio in Hollywood as con figured
tee nical irriter. for orchestral pre- record sessions.
www.americanradiohistory.com
25 AND COUNTING...
Pre- record sessions occupied the evenings of Countdown extended West -coast commitment.) They decided that although
Days 25 and 24. after which Greene made a rough mix and they would have enjoyed the physical comforts 'of the motor
cassette dupes for the producers and the show's star Danny home. it simply didn't provide enough space for five operating
Kaye. Kaye had sat in on the pre- record sessions and ran people and the equipment they needed for this show.
through his vocals, which were recorded on a separate track of The video facility used for this part of the EPCOT special was
the 24 -track master for later use as guide vocals at the time of actually the Digicam division of Greene-Crowe, operated by
the shoot. The masters were edited in show sequence and all Winikoff, who is a partner in the company. Greene -
segments were striped with drop frame SMPTE time code. Crowe; Digicam is designed for highly mobile small systems
Following this. tracks 19 -24 of the edited master were dubbed to shoots than can happen anyv, here in the world. An interesting
a second 24 -track tape that would be used the next day as a "Oh. by- the -way" to the equipment trailer was that it had an air
choir overdub master. conditioner that would keep the temperature down at about
On Countdown Day 23 the choral overdubs were recorded 10 °F. and a compressor that doubled as an earthquake
with a 12-voice choir at United Western and following this the generator. shaking the trailer unmercifully. So they shut off the
masters were taken to Complete Post Production where a rough air conditioner and suffered with the heat for the first couple of
mix was made. days. Finally. they scrounged a couple of window air
Countdown Day. 22 was spent finishing the pre-mix. At this conditioners and fitted them into one of the door areas and were
session. a mix to a four -track tape was made with guide vocals able to cool the trailer that way. They actually built an
on track I, choir on track 2. orchestra on track 3. and the audio audio video trailer right there on location. This is not at all
master tape's SMPTE code on track 4. This four -track tape uncommon in the business. Probably half the shows Greene is
would he used to play hack for cues from the remote truck. involved with are done in this fashion as opposed to studio
which would not have the capability to play back the 24 -track productions. They use small systems. small cameras. and
session master. essentially produce the show in film or movie style, sometimes
Meanwhile. the crew was busily collecting the audio with power (in this case they had power available most of the
equipment that would he used for the location recording work time) and sometimes without. in which case Ed runs the
at EPCOT- Florida. I his included equipment check -out. equipment off a little Honda generator.
packing. and preparing for the unexpected. One of the The audio and video equipment set -up in the trailer is
uncertainties of this location job was that the production crew illustrated in FIGURES 2 -4. For audio. Ed has his own
would not have the luxury of operating from the fully equipped Auditronics Io-8 console with a long umbilical cord. This went
I
Greene- Crowe & Co. remote truck. but would operate with out to the floor to receive the seven or eight microphone inputs.
minimal equipment from a remote van they would outfit when three or four wireless mies. and a couple of ambient mics. The
they arrived at the location. reason for needing the Auditronics 110 -8 with its 24 inputs and
Countdown Day 21 was spent traveling from Los Angeles to 8 mixing buses for that few microphones is that there was a
the EPCOT center and setting up the remote recording facility. requirement on several occasions to provide a wide variety of
Supervising this activity was .loe Kendall. Greene -Crowe's key feeds back to the scene. In addition to handling live
man in making sure that remotes like this happen without a microphones. Ed had to be able to play back from a four -track
flaw. He acts as the crew boss on the floor and coordinates the recorder containing the pre -recorded studio material. a second
set -up, cabling and check out so that by the time cameras are four -track containing the production sound he was taping on
positioned and set -up. audio is ready to go. He was assisted at location. and any of three videotape machines. The four-tracks
F.PCOT by some terrific Disney people who helped in every way are Otani MX -5050s that Greene -Crowe has modified to he
possible to get what was needed and coordinate with the central resolved by time code. They have built their own travel cases for
computer room that runs EPCOT. When Ed Greene. Gene them so they can be shipped without disconnecting the
C owe and Keith Winikoff (Ed's equivalent on the.video side) electronics from the transport.
ar ived, they found they had two options. There was a 20 -odd- A second four -track was used to record live vocals and
foot refrigeration van trailer available and they could either use dialogue. The reason for the second machine was that they were
that or a 20-foot Winnebago motor home. (Greene -Crowe's recording in locations with very high ambient noise levels. Ed
own mobile production center was unavailable, due to an didn't feel he could successfully handle the on- location dialogue
MASTER UREI
MON. DOLBYS MON.
TIME -CODE LIMITERS
SPKR. (4) SPKR
Adams -Smith (3)
Production seating
dialogue mies fed to the recording four -track Otari. the main
production mix that went to the three VTRs. the isolated
ambient track that went to the VTRs, and the RFIFB (Radio
Frequency Interrupt Fold -Back. a little ear -piece that Ian
Fraser wore so he could hear Danny Kaye's vocal when he
accompanied him on the piano). There was also a PA fold-back
that was available on a portable basis throughout the shoot.
The director's stage announce went through all those systems so
Director Dwight Hemion could talk to the performers.
Greene tried to record as much live ambience right on the
spot as he could so as to save time in post- production. A
combination of shot -gun mies and fish -poles was used for this.
The multiple RF mies used for the primary pickup were omnis,
so most of the desired ambience came along automatically. The
main concern in handling ambience on a show like this is to be
able to hear what you're seeing and not hear what you're not
Figure 3. Ed Greene records location audio at the seeing. Occasionally, there are extraneous noises like airplanes
Auditronics 110 -8 topped by Dolbys and UREI limiters flying over and you do your best to wait those out. The
and flanked by two Otari MX- 5050s.
Auditronics 10-8 was connected by an umbilical to the cart
1
www.americanradiohistory.com
SM PIE time code. The 24 -track master was brought along just accurate tinting and sequencing of all the program segments.
in case any kind of a mix or overdubbing had to he done Another interesting use of electronics was for ship -to -shore
on location. Underneath the Magic Kingdom. Disney's Studio recording where Danny Kaye speaks to the land -based cameras
I) has 24 -track capability. so any needed multi -track work from one of the boats that cruise about the World Shossease
could be done there. Studio I) is part of extensive audio and Lagoon. Here. tsso -slay communication was by ssay of radio
video facilties at Disney World. directed by Tom Durell. He and mks with Kaye hearing through the RFIFB. \ part of Roy
his staff literally worked day and night to assist in this ('lark's group was also shot from land while touring in a boat.
production. earning Greene's personal and professional By the end of Saturday. October 9 or Day 14 before the
respect. program's air date most of the scenes are shot.
13 DAYS TO GO
20 AND COUNTING...
Staff and crew returned home to Los Angeles on Countdown
Countdown Day 20 concluded with survey trips to all the Day 13 with the master video tapes and audio tapes consisting
shooting locations by hot h audio and video crews to check out of the 24 -track pre -recorded orchestra and chorus. the four -
logistics. Countdown Days I9 through 14 consisted of shooting track dialogue tapes and live vocals recorded in the field. all
the many hits with Danny Kaye and cast, as sell as groups of striped with time -code. These are brought to the editing facility.
foreign students. Most of this seas standard from an audio point Complete Post. On Countdown Day. 12. director Dwight
of kw. but a couple of hits required departures from the plan Hemion and producer Gary Smith go into video post -
or made full use of state -of- the -art techniques and hardware. production and start to edit their show.
One of the more complicated hits ssas for a scene where When this is finished. on Countdown Day 8. Ed Greene starts
I)anrts Kaye as singing a song live to Drew Barrymore. ['here
N%
the audio sweetening and finishing on that portion of the show
ssas already a recorded music track for that. but it was a quiet
(about 40 minutes of material). This begins with a lay-down
song and not in very strict tempo. and Kaye felt that he would he
from the edited video master to a 4 -inch video cassette that he
too restricted by a fixed music track. In place of that. he asked can use as a working copy. and a new 24 -track tape that he then
that a lise piano he brought to the location that only he ssould assembles as a sweetening master. '[his will have time code on
hear. Audio would record that live. record his vocal live, and track 24, the video tape's audio on tracks 21 and.22, and he will
replace the piano later on with the pre%iously recorded build on this tape the finished mixed music with vocals isolated,
orchestra tracks (which is what was actually done in post - choir. lead singer. the finished mixed dialogue from the location
scoring). l hat was a hit of a challenge. The location pianist was four -track. and whatever sound effects are needed. This
Ian Fraser. t he music director of the slims. and he provided off - material is assigned to about fifteen tracks of the sweetening
camera accompaniment to I)anny as he sang. using a Yamaha master. This is the easy part.
electric piano that only Danny could hear by means of the [hen conies the post -scoring session. Phis ins olyes going
RFII- B. hack to the same pre -record studio. setting up the orchestra the
Greene remarked upon the unique talents of this musician. same way. and adding all the intros and bridges and hits and
" [o me, Ian Fraser is the epitome of the ideal musk director for pieces that could not have been done in pre- record because the
this kind of a shoss," said Ed. "because he pays incredible precise timing of the various scenes was not known. This is
attention to the many details that are necessary to make the essential) "scoring to picture." much as it is done in film -
production seem smooth and effortless when you hear it. If you industry practice and is an extremely laborious and time
listen to a show like this before we add the post -score music. consuming task (one ten -hour session) ins ofying some 20 or 25
you'll note that what conies off the pre-record sessions seems segments all scored. played and recorded to fit precisely into the
like disconnected hits and pieces. What Fraser added on existing time slots in the show.
location and in post -score made the music seem to flow as a In the post -scoring session. Ed plays hack the video cassette
continuous whole" working copy. the 24 -track ssseetening master he made in post-
Another technically interesting piece of business ssas a song product ion. a nd makes yet another 24 -track master containing
called "Showcase of the World" in which Danny Kaye goes all the post -score music. his tape has the same time code and
I
from one country to another Canada. England. France. track assignments as the ssseetening master. Then he goes hack
Mexico, China in four to ten -second leaps. This one song ssas to the post -production facility and mixes all those music tracks
shot over a two -day span on Days 7 and 16. The trick here was
I
into the ssseetening master reel. By Countdown Day 5. he has all
to keep track of all the hits and pieces. Ed had the capability in the audio for the first 40 minutes of a one-hour show on a single
the truck of playing hack the recorded tracks resolved. taking 24 -track master. as yet unmixed. It remains now to return to
the time code from the pre -record audio tape and inserting it ìPCOT in Florida on Countdown Day 4. shoot a segment
into the user -hit area of the master video and audio time code. featuring Marie Osmond. and the finale with Danny. Kaye
This would make it possible for editor Andy ?.all to display the conducting the 450 piece All-American College Marching Band
time-of-day SM P I I' code to make sure he had t he proper lake.
and then edit with the information in the user -hit code to insure Ed Greene on equipment selection
'1'm aniused at hose many people ask me. rW hat 'syour
favorite tape recorder'!'. or 'What's your favorite
console?'. as though I knew some magic combination of
black boxes that would insure success. Mc stock answer
is that my favorite console is the console l'en sitting
behind at that moment. no matter whose it is or buss
puny channels it has. Sure maybe I'd like to hase
something else. but that's not the point. [he important
consideration is ss het her l'm able to do a credible job svith
the equipment asailable. For example most of the
location audio for this Disney special is being recorded
un my. own Auditronics 110 -8 location hoard ss hich was
bought for just this type of application where we don't
have a large truck, but do have more than "suitcase" or
"battery only" capability. It is serial number 001 and has
over a million miles on it and many trips around the
ssorld. It has always worked when it conies off the air-
Figure 6. Looking over Roy Clark's shoulder at the crew plane, and to me as a ssorking professional, that's most
shooting him for the EPCOT special while floating on important."
a boat in the World Showcase Lagoon.
and the West Point Glee Club, and mix the audio for the entire 8. AKG 452 (with Right Overhead
show. IO dB pad)
9. Direct feed Electric bass 5
4 DAYS AND COUNTING... 10. Sony ECM -50 Acoustic bass 5
With lour dads ¡ent :lining before the show airs. the schedule 11. AKG 414 (with Acoustic piano 6
gets hectic. Ed gets off a plane in Florida at 4:00 in the afternoon 10 dB pad)
and by 6:30 is at the hoard recording Marie Osmond's vocal to a 12. AKG 414 (with Acoustic piano 6
tour -track work tape. which was finished by about 2:30 in the IO dB pad)
morning. Marie would lip -sync to this vocal for the shoot the 13. Conductor's mike
next day. By 6:00 that same morning he was out in the field 14. (from Sub -mix I ) Electronic keyboards 7
setting up a remote video truck rented from TCS in Pittsburgh. 15. (from Sub -mix 2) Guitars 8
This particular unit was chosen to permit final'ideo editing of 16. (from Sub -mix 3) Percussion 9
the last two segments on location of the master that would air 17. (from Sub -mix 4) High woodwinds I0
ship to New York for broadcast three days later. 18. (from Sub -mix 5) Low woodwinds II
While tided shot the Marie Osmond piece. Fd took his 24- 19. Sony C -37 French horn 12
track audio master down to Studio I) at Disne World and 20. Sony C -37 Trombones and 2 I 13
mixed the first 40 minutes of the show. this was Sel -Sync mix 21. Sony C -37 Trombones 3 and 4 13
to two open tracks of the 24 -track tape. Greene made it a stereo 22. Neumann U-47 trumpets 14
mix more for his own pleasure than anything else. as the final 25. Shure SM -81 Violins and I 2 15
release would. of course. he mono. It was now less than 72 hours 26. Shure SM -8I Violins 3 and 4 15
to airing. but Ed was fatigued so he slept from 6:00 to midnight. 27. Shure SM -81 Violins 5 and 6 15
and from then until 6:00 in the morning of Day 2 finished 28. Shure SM -81 Violins 7 and 8 15
mixing the first 40 minutes of the show. By this time the Marie 29. Shure SM -8I Violas and 2 I 16
segment from the precious d:n's shoot had been x ideo edited. so 30. Crown PY M Cellos 1 and 2 17
he laid that picture and sound into the master. 31. AKG 452 (with Harp 18
The nest actitity was shooting the finale with the glee club 10 dB pad)
and starching band. Because of the physical problems in 23. AKG C-24 (one Vocal I 19
recording that lice. it was decided to pre -record that segment element only)
also. By around I:00 in the afternoon of Countdow n Day 2. Fd 24. Neumann U -87 Vocal 2 20
had overdubbed the starching hand on to the basic rhythm Left Monitor Mix 21
track. w hich to his surprise and pleasure recorded quite well Right Monitor Mix
with a pair of P7_M microphones sitting on a brick all in Click track 73
F. P('(.) s American Pat ilion. this was overdubbed on the
I
SMPTE Tinte Code 24
same tour-track ()tari used before. on a tape that had the pre-
recorded orchestra on it plus a time -code track. leas ing one
open track for the hand. and one for the 100 -voice glee club. Group IV Sub -mix Input Assignments for
Pre -rec ord Session
The next piece of business was one of the most interesting
from an equipment point of sieve. Tom Durell of Disney had Input Microphone Instrument Soh -mi.r
rigged up an ordinary golf cart to support three cameras. Ed I. E -V RE-15 Celeste I
stacked on to this assemblage his tour -track and tom's rather 2, E -V RE -I5 Celeste 2
hefty sound system and drove to a spectacular setting at 3. Direct feed Fender Rhodes 1
Conununicore where there's a big fountain in front of the 4. Direct teed ARP Omni 1
geodesic sphere know n as "Spaceship Fart h." This scene was to 5. Direct teed Prophet 1
be a night spot with choreography combining both choir and I. Sony C -37 Electric guitar
hand with Danny Kaye conducting to the pre -recorded track. 2. Shure SM -57 Acoustic guitar, banjo
It recorded the lise sound also. using several ambient I. Sennheiser 421U Percussion I 3
microphones. and the combination of the pre-record and lise 2. Sennheiser 4211 Percussion 2 3
sound was used in final mix to achieve the massed sound used to 3. Sennheiser 421 L Percussion 3 3
end the show. 4. Sennheiser 421 L Percussion 4 3
By now it is less than 48 hours before airing. Greene went 5. Sennheiser 421 U Percussion 5 3
hack to Studio I) underneath the Magic Kingdom to mix 6. Neumann L -67 Timpani 3
Marie's segment. which took until after midnight. Video hadn't I. Shure SM -57 High woodwinds 2 4
finished editing the finale vet, so audio laid out for some well 2. Shure SM -57 High woodwinds 3 4
deserted rest. this gate Ed the following morning to finish the I. Shure SM -57 Low woodwinds I 5
audio mixing for a noon screening on Countdown Day by I
2. Shure SM -57 Low woodwinds 4 5
Dann Kaye and the Disney staff. A few changes were 3. Shure SM -57 Low woodwinds 5 5
requested at the screening. mainly enhancement of the choir in
AIR DATE
the finale. Since the finale was not only recorded in the field but
mixed in the field, some of the tools (ireene would normally use On Day 0. the date of the broadcast. the last piece of
in post- production were not as aitaHe. such as FQ. echo,
htuincss was unique for a show of this type. and that was to
Harmoniier, etc. But in the three hours remaining before the prepare for the live minute that would open the show. This was
tape had to ship to New York. he was able to enhance the hand fairly simple compared to the rest of the show as it featured only
and choir sound considerably and meet the shipping deadline. Danny Kaye dialogue picked up by radio mies (there were two
Group IV Trident A Main Console Input /Output in case one failed: neither did!) and one ambience mie used to
Assignments for Pre -record Session pick up the sound of crowds and hands playing for the opening
Input Microphone Instrument Output celebration going on in the background. This was mixed and fed
direct to a Disney satellite located on the premises.
I. E -VRE -20 Bass drum For audio mixer Ed Greene. the show not over at this point.
2. Shure SM -57 Snare drum
as there will he further post -production in preparing ditlerent
3. Shure SM -57 High hat
mixed versions of the production for international distribution. But
4. Shure SM -57 High tom
left & it's now air day. October 23. 1982. and with the ('BS network
5. Shure SM -57 Middle tom
right prime -tinte release of "The Beginning of the 2Ist Century." the
6. Sennheiser 42I U Low tom
to 3 Disney EPCOI Center is officially opened to the national
N 7. AKG 452 (with Left overhead
audience.
a 10 dB pad)
and 4
LOW FREQUENCY SPEAKERS
Altec Lansing has announced the include three extended low frequency dissipation. The I2 -in. 3127 pairs high
introduction of a nett generation of low models: the 12 -in. 3124. 15 -in. 3154 and ef)iciency and compact enclosure sire
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tion with the matching 8000 Series voice -coil geometry of the 3000 Series cubic -foot 8182 enclosure.
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the new line is engineered for a specific diaphragm's linear motion. and boosts tfir :.1 bee Lansing
sound application. 1 he six new woofers power handling through increased het- ('iule 37 on Reader Service Card
MINIATURE ATTENUATOR
The 439 Miniature Attenuator has
been redesigned to prov ide higher
a
frequency range (I)C -I500 MHD). At-
tenuation range is 0 -101 dB in dB
I
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Bearsville Studios, Bearsville. New console with 32 inputs. Studer A80 structed adjacent to the control room.
York. have announced the completion of Multitrack and 2 track, B67 2 ,track. In addition, Bearsville Studios offer a
a new control room for their Studio B. UREI 813A monitoring, and outboard different recording environment with
According to Studio Manager Griff EMT 251. Studio A. which, with its 65 -ft. x 40 -ft.
McRee, the new room, acoustically To accompany the changes in the floor space and 30-ft. ceiling, is one of the
designed by George Augspurger (who control room. Studio B itself has been largest rooms on the east coast.
also designed Cherokee and Sigma remodeled to include movable panels on McRee reports that David Kershen-
Studios), features a top -of -the -line the walls which offer the option of baum is currently working in Studio B,
complement of analog recording equip- reflective or absorptive surfaces. A completing production on Randy Van -
v+
ment, including a Neve 8068 recording producers lounge has also been con- warmer's next LP. m
Hapi penhp
Walter Rauffer, vice president of audio video combinations. The edit to create sophisticated effects.
Engineering at Movielab Video. Inc.. rooms handle up to four tracks of 1/2-inch Audio and video time compression is
having anticipated the onset of stereo in audio, which can be interfaced into video another feature made possible by
cable and broadcasting. designed Movie- edit sessions. The film -to -tape area can Eventide's "Time Squeeze." which
lab's two editingand twocolor- correction playback up to four tracks of 35 mm Mag permits changes in a tape's running time
suites with state -of- the -art stereo - tape. or two tracks of 16 mm. For without changing audio pitch or picture
capable equipment. Each suite provides dubbing, the entire plant can switch both quality. Both audio and video length are
AudioArts 16- channel mixing consoles left and right tracks of audio, and also adjusted from -inch video tape in a one-
I
with stereo paragraphicequalizersand /- video. All areas have Dolby systems for pass, single -dub process controlled by
inch MCI four -track mixing. -in.. I -in., and Quad. Digital echo, an computer.
The facility is unique because of its audio time-delay device, can also be used
o
m
www.americanradiohistory.com
Eppe1 ge,
Some Shure Things with several unique percussion concepts. recording company. has acquired an
The Shure SM57 t'nidirectional including Pearl Drum's Vari -Pitch MCI -equipped 32 -foot remote recording
Dynamic Microphone has long been feature. van. Soviet technicians are using the van
known as a versatile and reliable mic for May EA ( Electro- Acoustical) Drums. for broadcast and recording of' popular.
sound reinforcement applications. Its offered as an option by Slingerland, classical and ethnic music.
reputation has been further enhanced utilize a slightly modified SM57 cartridge The customized trailer %son immediate
recently as several music and sound mounted inside the drum. The micro- approval when it was exhibited and
manufacturers hale taken advantage of phone cartridge can he rotated 180 demonstrated in Russia recently. "We
the SM57's loss- frequency response and degrees through the use of an external came to Moscow for an exhibit and
presence peak by using SM57 cartridges tuning knob. allowing the user to adjust demonstration." said Lutz H. Meyer.
as integral parts of their own design. the sound to his particular needs. MCI Sony's vice president of marketing.
One such company is Legend Ampli- Frank Zappa is using the system in his "and the Soviet engineers did not even let
fiers, an East Syracuse. New York -based current tour to enhance the work of the unit go hone. They negotiated the
manufacturer that nowoffersan optional. drummer Chad Wackerman. deal on the spot."
built -in microphone system for their The van is equipped with a 24 -track
musical instrument amps. This enables MCI recorder and MCI multi -track
the user to connect the speaker output of console in addition to two M('I stereo
New Survey of Recording mix -down recorders.
the amplifier directly into his sound
system's mixing hoard. I.egend amps
Studio Equipment Use The acoustically treated van was
.5 major independent survey of
%kith the "factory- miked" option feature designed and built in Great Britain by
an SM57 cartridge hard -wired to the
recording studio equipment usage has Clyde Electronics, Ltd. in conjunction
selected M('1 /Sony as the leading with M('I Sony. The interior features an
hack of the amp's cabinet. there, the user
professional multi -track brand for the overhead signal processor hay which
finds an KI.R connector and an on off
sixth consecutive year. The survey. permits installation of outboard gear
published by Billboard Magazine. ranks without cluttering the mixing desk area.
MCI Sony number one in market Carpeting has been treated to reduce
position among manufacturers of full static charges. The van includesa kitchen
professional multi -track recorders and and roost for installation of video
consoles. recording and monitoring equipment.
The ranking is part of Billboard's On the home front. equipment by
newly published "1982 -83 International MCI Sony has been selected by Syracuse
Recording Equipment and Studio Direc- University Archives for the Thomas A.
tory." Based on responses from more Edison Re- recording laboratory, the
than 6(X) studios, the survey indicates world's first facility exclusively devoted
what percentage of studios use each to the preservation and restoration of
major brand of sound equipment and recorded sound. Six MCI recorders and
lists total market share for each brand. an MCI automated mixing console have
In the 16- track -and -up recorder been installed in the new facility.
category. 40.7 percent of all studios Founded in 1963. the Syracuse t'niser-
reported using MCI Sony equipment. sity Archives is the largest private
and MCI Sony's market share was 34.1 repository of its kind in the U.S.. housing
percent. In the 16- track- and -up console more than 250.0(0 sound recordings of
category. 18 percent of all studios are various types. The nest addition. to he
using MCI Sony and MCI Sony's officially dedicated this tall. is designed
A Shure SM57 cartridge fitted into a market share is 14.9 percent. specially for a rchis al transcription of
May EA drum from Slingerland. In all four tabulations MCI Sony was early cylinders and disks as well as later
the leader among fully professional tape recordings. The building includes a
brands. TEA(' /Tascam, which manu- studio. t wo control rooms. a record
switch, permitting direct connection with factures semi -professional studio gear. storage area. reception catalog area. an
the mixing board and quick engagement ranked higher in the 16- track -and -up audio equipment display room. a lecture
or disengagement of the microphone. console rating. mini theatre room. a record cleaning area
Another manufacturer that has taken workshop and general office space.
advantage of the SM57 is RMI(Hunting- MCI /Sony -At Home Among projects already undertaken
ton Beach. CA). a company headed up by and Abroad by the facility is a major Edison cylinder
Randy May. May is a well -known studio M ulti -track recording equipment from restoration effort. and the transfer to
drummer who doubles as a designer and MCI /Son' is going "on the road" in the tape of a rare cylinder collection of
inventor. In past years he has come up Soviet l' nion. Melodica. the Soviet state Polynesian folk music.
www.americanradiohistory.com
INDEX 1982 Graham. Bill and Churchill, Randy.
ZAP -Zero Acoustic Phase Can-
and workshops. Nov., 1982, p. 38.
Rettinger, Michael. Cost -Efficient
cellation. Nov.. 1982. p. 36. Sound Insulation. Aug.. 1982.
Hammar. Peter and Ososke, Don. p. 35.
INDEX BY AUTHOR The Birth of the German Mag- Schneider. Wolf. The Paramount
Agnello, Anthony and Clayton, netophon Tape Recorder. March. Theatre's New Sound System.
Mark. Digital Audio Processing
The Next Step. Oct.. 1982. p. 46.
- 1982. p. 47.
Harvey. Robert. The Venerable
Aug.. 1982. p. 40.
Sherman. Howard. A Regional
Allen. Murray. Audio Distortion on 604. Aug.. 1982. p. 26. Studio on the Rise. May. 1982.
Both Sides of the Glass. Oct., 1982. Ha). Thomas M. Studio Powering p. 26.
p. 40. and Grounding Techniques. Nov.. Sherman, Howard. Riding the New
Ashley, J. Robert. Audio Conversa- 1982. p. 26. Waves. July. 1982, p. 28.
tions- -Church P.A. Sound Sys- Hodges. Ralph. Noise Reduction: Shifri:n, Art. Time Code and Mr.
tems. Part I. Feb.. 1982. p. 38. Where to Next? July, 1982. p. 34. Edison. Dec.. 1982. p. 26.
Ashley, .1. Robert. Audio Conversa- Hodges. Ralph. The Wonderful Waldstein, Mark B. Broadcast Man-
tions Church P.A. Systems. Sound World of Walt Disney. ufacturers Survey. April. 1982.
Part Il. March. 1982. p. 44. Dec.. 1982. p. 38. p. 39.
Beard. Dale. Techniques for Hum Holmes. David. Sigma's New Con - Waldstein. Mark B. Microphone
and Noise Reduction. Sept.. 1982. sole...Or Sphere Meets Sigma. Roundup. June. 1982. p. 46.
p. 47. Jan.. 1982. p. 34. Watson, Alan. An Advanced Micro-
Berkowitz, Robert. The FFT: Big - Keene, Sherman. The Soundstream phone Evaluation Technique in
Time Mathematics Comes to Digital Music Computer: Record- Use at Electro- Voice. June. 1982.
Audio. Aug.. 1982. p. 44. ing. Editing and Beyond. Sept.. p. 38.
Berkovitz, Robert. The FFT: Big - 1982, p. 34. Woram, John M. Broadcasting and
Time Mathematics Comes to Kothen, Bill and Bauerle, Dick. The Recording in Ecuador. April. 1982.
Audio. Part I1. Sept.. 1982. p. 52. Construction of Select Sound p. 44.
Borwick. John. A Visit to Studer- Studio. May, 1982, p. 40. Woram, John M. Sound System
Reyox. Jan.. 1982. p. 24. Koziol. Richard. Remote Recording Design the Altec Way. Oct.. 1982.
Borwick, John. Sound Engineering Overseas: Anticipating the Un- p. 58.
for Theatre and Film. Dec.. 1982. expected. March. 1982. p. 34. Woram, John M. The NAB Conven-
p. 42. Koziol. Richard and D'Alessio. tion. June. 1982. p. 42.
Borwick, John. The 71st AES Con- Alfred W. To Build the Impossible Woram, John M. The NAB Conven-
vention. ,Tune. 1982. p. 24. Dream: A Sound- Insulated Per- tion. Part 11. July. 1982. p. 44.
Bourne. Kenneth M. Professional formance Studio Comes to the Woram, John M. The New World of
Wireless Microphones Simplify Big Apple. Sept.. 1982, p. 44. Digital Audio. Jul. 1982. p. 38.
Sound System Design. Feb.. 1982. Larson. Bruce. Flux- Frequency Woram, John M. The 72nd AES
p. 43. Measurements: A Means for Veri- Convention: The Exhibits. Nov..
Branwell, Nigel. Selective Limiting. fying Alignment Tape Accuracy. 1982. p. 42.
April. 1982. p. 52. Jan.. 1982. p. 40. INDEX BY TITLE
Branwell, Nigel. The Calrec Sound - t.obb, William. New Sound in the An Advanced Microphone Evalua-
field Microphone. June. 1982. Round: The Greatest Show on tion Technique in Use at Electro-
p. 41. Earth Goes Omni. Oct.. 1982. Voice. Alan Watson. June. 1982.
Brosious, Hamilton. Recording p. 52. p. 38.
Studio Rentals Or You Don't Lowig, Robert. The Ribbon Micro- An Overview of Sound Reinforce-
Have to Own California to Enjoy
It. Oct.. 1982. p. 55.
Chan. Curtis. The Sony PCM -3324 A Primer for the Recording Engi-
-
phone Revisited. June. 1982. p. 39.
Margolis, Carry. Broadcast Audio
ment. John Eargle. Feb.. 1982. p. 26.
Audio Conversations- Church P.A.
Sound Systems. Part I. J. Robert
Digital Recording System. May. neer. April, 1982. p. 54. Ashley. Feb.. 1982. p. 38.
1982. p. 46. Matthews. William C. Church Sound Audio Conversations- Church P.A.
('hikers, Richard. A Postscript on at One Hundred -Five dB -SPL. Systems. Part II. J. Robert Ashley.
British Audio. March. 1982. p. 43. Feb.. 1982. p. 32. March. 1982. p. 44.
Clegg. Almon. Report From Japan. Matthews. William C. Custom Audio Distortion on Both Sides of
March. 1982. p. 41. Equalization: A Science and an The Class. Murray Allen. Oct..
Coencas,.Joseph. New York's Center Art. Aug.. 1982. p. 36. 1982. p. 40.
For the Media Arts Adds a School Phelan. John. MS Without Pain. Birth of the German Magnetophon
of Audio Arts. Sept.. 1982. p. 57. .lune. 1982. p. 36. Tape Recorder. The. Peter Ham-
Eargle. John. An Overvie of Sound Pohlmann. Ken. Criteria Recording mar and Don Ososke. March. 1982.
Reinforcement. Feb.. 1982. p. 26. Studios: The New East Wing. p. 47.
Gordon. Jack K. Monitoring Pro- May. 1982. p. 32. Broadcast Audio -A Primer for the
gram Levels. Part I1. Jan.. 1982. Pohlmann. Ken. The 72nd AES Recording Engineer. Garry Mar-
N
(.O p. 46. Convention: Technical Sessions golis. April. 1982. p. 54.
Broadcasting and Recording in Enjoy It. Hamilton Brosious. BROADCAST AUDIO
Ecuador. John M. Woram. April. Oct.. 1982. p. 55. Broadcast Audio -A
Primer for the
1982. p. 44. Regional Studio on the Rise, A. Recording Engineer. Garry Mar-
Broadcast Manufacturers Survey. Howard Sherman. May. 1982. golis. April. 1982. p. 54.
Mark B. Waldstein. April. 1982. p. 26. Broadcast Manufacturers Survey.
p. 39. Remote Recording Overseas: Antic- Mark B. Waldstein. April. 1982.
('alrec Soundfield Microphone, The. ipating the Unexpected. Richard p. 39.
Nigel Branwell. June. 1982. p. 41. Koziol. March. 1982, p. 34. To Build the Impossible Dream: A
Church Sound at One Hundred -Five Report From Japan. Almon Clegg. Sound -Insulated Performance Stu-
dB -SPI.. William C. Matthews. March, 1982. p. 41. dio Comes to the Big Apple. Richard
Feb.. 1982. p. 32. Ribbon Microphone Revisited, The. Koziol and Alfred W, D'Alessio.
Construction of Select Sound Studio, Robert Lowig. June. 1982. p. 39. Sept.. 1982. p. 44.
The. Bill Kothenand Dick Bauerle. Riding the New Waves. Howard CONSOLES
May. 1982. p. 40. Sherman. July, 1982. p. 28. Sigma's New ('onsole,..Or Sphere
Cost -Efficient Sound Insulation. Selective Limiting. Nigel Branwell. Meets Sigma. David Holmes. Jan..
Michael Rettinger. Aug.. 1982, April, 1982. p. 52.
1982. p. 34.
p. 35. 70th AES Convention, The. Feb..
Criteria Recording Studios: The 1982. p. 51. CONVENTION REPORTS
New East Wing. Ken Pohlmann. 71st AES Convention, The. John NAB Convention, The. John M.
May. 1982. p. 32. Borwick. June. 1982. p. 24. Woram. June. 1982. p. 42.
Digital Audio Processing -The Next 72nd A ES Convention: The Exhibits. NAB Convention Report, Part I1.
Step. Anthony Agnello and Mark .lohn M. Woram. Nov.. 1982. p. 42. ,lohn M. Woram. July. 1982. p. 44.
Clayton. Oct.. 1982. p. 46. 72nd AES Convention: Technical New World of Digital Audio, The.
FFT. The: Big -Time Mathematics Sessions and Workshops. Ken John M. Woram..luly. 1982. p. 38.
Comes to Audio. Robert Berko - Pohlmann. Nov.. 1982. p. 42. 71st AES Convention. The. .lohn
v t z Aug.. 1982. p. 44.
i . Sigma's New Console...Or Sphere Borwick..) une. 1982. p. 24.
FFT, The: Big-Time Mathematics Meets Sigma. David Holmes. 72nd AES Convention: The Exhibits.
Comes to Audio, l'art I1. Robert ,Ian.. 1982. p. 34. John M. Woram. Nov.. 1982. p. 42.
Berkovitz. Sept.. 1982. p. 52. Sony PCM -3324 Digital Recording 72nd AES Convention: Technical
Flux -Frequency Measurements: A System. The. Curtis Chan. May, Sessions and Workshops. Ken
Means for Verifying Alignment 1982. p. 46.
Pohlmann. Nov.. 1982. p. 38.
Tape Accuracy. Bruce Larson. Sound Engineering for Theatre and DI(ìfhAL AUDIO
.Ian.. 1982. p. 40. Film. John Borwick. Dec.. 1982. Digital Audio Processing -The Next
Mic Museum. The..1une. 1982. p. 28. p. 42. Step. Anthony Agnello and Mark
Microphone Roundup. Mark B. Soundstream Digital Music Com- Clayton. Oct.. 1982. p. 46.
Waldstein. June. 1982. p. 46. puter, The: Recording. Editing and New World of Digital Audio, The.
Monitoring Program Levels, l'art I1. Beyond. Sherman Keene. Sept.. John M. Woram. July. 1982. p. 38.
Jack K. Gordon..lan.. 1982, p. 46. 1982. p. 34. Sony PCM-3324 Digital Recording
MS Without Pain. John Phelan. Sound System Design the Altec Way. System, The. Curtis ('han. May.
June. 1982. p. 36. John M. Woram. Oct.. 1982. p. 58. 1982. p. 46.
NAB Convention, The. John M. Studio Powering and Grounding Soundstream Digital Music Com-
Woram..I une. 1982. p. 36. Techniques. Thomas M. Hay. puter. The Recording, Editing and
NAB Convention, The -Part I1. Nov.. 1982. p. 26. Beyond. Sherman Keene. Sept..
.lohn M. Woram..Iuly. 1982. p.44. Techniques for Hum and Noise 1982. p. 34.
New Sound in the Round: The Reduction. Dale Beard. Sept.. HISTORICAL.
Greatest Show on Earth Goes 1982. p. 47. Birth of the German Magnetophon
Omni. William Lobb. Oct.. 1982. Time ('ode and Mr. Edison. Art Tape Recorder. The. Peter Hammar
p. 52. Shifrin. Dec.. 1982. p. 26. and Don Ososke. March. 1982.
New York's ('enter for the Media To Build the Impossible Dream: A p. 47.
Arts Adds a School of Audio Arts. Sound -Insulated Performance Time Code and Mr. Edison. Art
Joseph Coencas. Sept.. 1982. p. 57. Studio Comes to the Big Apple. Shifrin. Dec.. 1982. p. 26.
Noise Reduction Update. July. 1982. Richard Koziol and Alfred W.
p. 35.
INTERNATIONAL. AUDIO
D'A lessio. Sept.. 1982, p. 44.
Noise Reduction: Where to Next? Broadcasting and Recording in Ecua-
Wonderful Sound World of Disney,
Ralph Hodges. July. 1982. p. 34. dor..lohn M. Woram. April. 1982.
The. Ralph Hodges. Dec.. 1982.
p. 44.
Paramount Theatre's New Sound p. 38.
System. The. Wolf Schneider. Postscript on British Audio, A. Richard
ZAP-Zero Acoustic Phase Can-
('hil ers. March. 1982. p. 43.
Aug.. 1982. p. 40. cellation. Bill Graham and Randy
Remote Recording Overseas: Antici-
Churchill. Nov., 1982. p. 36.
Postscripton British Audio, A. pating the Unexpected. Richard
Richard Chilvers. March. 1982. INDEX BY SUBJECT Koziol, March. 1982. p. 34.
p. 43. APPLICATION NOI -ES Report From Japan. Almon Clegg.
Professional Wireless Microphones Techniques for Hum and Noise March. 1982. p. 41.
Simplify Sound System Design. Reduction. Dale Beard. Sept.. 1982. Visit to Studer- Reyox, A. .lohn
Kenneth M. Bourne. Feb.. 1982. p. 47. Borwick. Jan., 1982. p. 24.
p. 43. ZAP -Zero Acoustic Phase Cancella- LOUDSPEAKERS
Recording Studio Rentals -Or- tion. Bill Graham and Randy Venerable 604, The. Robert Harvey. rn
w
You Don't Have to Own Florida to Churchill. Nov.. 1982. p. 36. Aug.. 1982. p. 26.
www.americanradiohistory.com
MICROPHONES Construction of Select Sound Studio, Compression Drivers. March 1982.
The. Bill Kothen and Dick Bauerle. p. 10.
An Advanced Microphone Evalua- May. 1982. p. 40. Dividing Networks. Aug.. 1982. p. 19.
tion Technique in Use at Electro- Criteria Recording Studios: The New High -Frequency Horns and Acoustic
Voice. Alan Watson. June. 1982. East Wing. Ken Pohlmann. May. I.enses: Part I. April. 1982. p. 28.
p. 38. 1982, p. 32. High -Frequency Horns and Acoustic
('alrec Soundfield Microphone Sys- Regional Studio on the Rise, A. Lenses: Part II. May. 1982. p. 20.
tem, The. Nigel Branwell. June. Howard Sherman. May. 1982. p. 26. Low- Frequency Systems, Part I. June.
1982. p. 41. 1982. p. 16.
Microphone Roundup. Mark B. TESTS AM) MEASUREMENTS Ported Low- Frequency Systems in
Waldstein. June, 1982. p. 46. FFT: Big-Time Mathematics Comes Sound Reinforcement. July. 1982.
MS Without Pain. John Phelan. June. to Audio, Part. I. Robert Berkovitz. p. 10.
1982. p. 36. Aug.. 1982. p. 44. Sound Fields. Part 1. Oct.. 1982. p. 20.
Professional Wireless Microphones FFT: Big -Time Mathematics Comes Sound Fields, Part 2. Nov.. 1982. p. 20.
Simplify' Sound System Design. to Audio, Part II. Robert Berkovitz. Sound Fields. Part 3. Dec.. 1982. p. 8
Kenneth M. Boume. Feb., 1982, Sept.. 1982. p. 52.
p. 43. Flux- Frequency Measurements: A
Ribbon Microphone Revisited, The. Means for Verifying Alignment Tape
Robert Lowig. June. 1982. p. 39. Accuracy. Bruce Larson. ,Jan.. 1982. Low- Frequency Systems. Part 1. June.
p. 40.
MISCELLANEOUS 1982. p. 16.
Cost- Efficient Sound Insulation. Monitoring Program Levels, Part II. Ported Low -Frequency Systems in
Michael Rettinger. Aug.. 1982. p.35. Jack K. Gordon. Jan.. 1982. p. 46. Sound Reinforcement. July. 1982.
New York's ('enter for the Media Arts Techniques for Hum and Noise Re- p. 10.
Adds a School of Audio Arts. Sept.. duction. Dale Beard. Sept.. 1982. Sound Fields. Part 1. Oct.. 1982. p. 20.
p. 47.
1982. p. 57.
Recording Studio Rentals -Or -You VIDEO AND FILM
Don't Have to Own Florida to Sound Engineering for Theatre and LEN FELDMAN
Enjoy It. Oct.. 1982. p. 55. Film. John Borwick. Dec.. 1982, AM Stereo -The Beginning or the
Riding the New Waves. Howard p. 42. End. .1 une. 1982. p. 10.
Sherman. July. 1982. p. 28. Wonderful Sound World of Walt A New Approach to Post -Production
Disney, The. Ralph Hodges. Dec.. Audio For Video. Oct.. 1982. p. 30.
SIGNAI. PROCESSING Another David & Goliath Scenario.
1982. p. 38
Custom Equalization: A Science and
April. 1982. p. 24.
an Art. \\ illiam C. Matthews.
Aug.. 1982, p. 36. INDEX BY COLUMNIST Audio For Video -A Period of
Transition. May. 1982. p. 8.
Digital Audio Processing-The Next BARRY BI.ESSER Digital Audio Via the l'ideo Route.
Step. Anthony Agnello and Mark Building an Audio Processor. May.
March, 1982. p. 28.
Clayton. Oct.. 1982, p. 46. 1982. p. 16.
Fitting PCM Audio Into the NTS('
Noise Reduction -Where to Next? Digital Filter Design: Part I. Sept.. VCR Format. .Ian.. 1982. p. 16.
Ralph Hodges. .l uly. 1982. p. 34. 1982. p. 12.
Is Audio For Video Going Digital or
Selective Limiting. Nigel Branwell. Digital Filters: Part II. Oct.. 1982.
FM? Nov.. 1982. p. 14.
April. 1982. p. 52. p. 12.
Pro Video Borrows Consumer Tape
SOUND REINFORCEMENT Digital Filters: Part III. Nov.. 1982.
For New VTR Format. Sept.. 1982.
An Overview of Sound Reinforce- p. 8.
p. 24.
ment. John Eargle. Feb., 1982. Digital Filters: Part IV. Dec.. 1982.
Tape -Another Common Denomi-
p. 26. p. 20.
nator Between Audio and Video.
Audio Conversations -Church P.A. Digital Filters: Corruption. Aug.. Dec.. 1982. p. 25.
Sound Systems, Part I. J. Robert 1982. p. 10.
The "Right to Tape" Movement. Feb..
Ashley. Feb.. 1982. p. 38. Digital Filters: The Basic Types. July. 1982. p. 10.
Audio Conversations- Church P.A. 1982. p. 18.
Who's Afraid of Stereo TV ?July. 1982.
Systems, Part II. J. Robert Ashley. Digital Signal Processing: A New p. 24.
March. 1982, p. 44. Beginning. .June. 1982. p. 12.
Flip-Flop Issues. March. 1982. p. 18. KEN POHLMANN
Church Sound at One Hundred -Five Babylonian Astonomy and Digital
dB -SPI.. William C. Matthews. Flipping and Flopping. Feb.. 1982.
p. 18.
Filters. Sept.. 1982. p. 18.
Feb.. 1982. p. 32.
High Level Architecture. April. 1982. Doppelgangers. May. 1982. p. 12.
New Sound in the Round: The Doppelgangers Again. June. 1982.
Greatest Show on Earth Goes Omni. p. 10.
p. 20.
William Lobb. Oct., 1982. p. 52. It's Not Where You Are, But How You
Got There. Jan., 1982. p. 10. Infinitesimal Calculus. Dec.. 1982.
Paramount Theatre's New Sound p. 14.
System, The. Wolf Schneider. Aug., NORMAN H. CROWHURST Insomnia Distortion. Nov.. 1982. p. 22.
1982. p. 40. Engineering Problem Solving. March. My Lunch With Beverly. Aug.. 1982.
Sound System Design the Altec Way. 1982. p. 24.
p. 16.
John M. Woram. Oct.. 1982. p. 58. Parameters & Viewpoints. Feb.. 1982. The Audioprocessor. July. 1982. p. 14.
STUDIOS p. 14.
The Problem of Audio Uncertainty.
Audio Distortion on Both Sides of JOHN EARGLE April. 1982. p. 16.
the Glass. Murray Allen. Oct.. 1982. Combining HF and LF Elements. The Sal -Mar Construction. Oct.. 1982.
P. 40. Sept., 1982. p. 30. p. 26.
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Knowledge is the key to The most powerful audio- ALL THESE USES: For technical details ask for:
unequalled audio equalisation
and Klark- Teknik's DN60 Audio
- analyser on the market today -
and because it is microprocessor-
Tape recorder alignment
Room acoustical analysis
Our DN60/RT60 Data Sheet.
Our DN30/30 Data Sheet.
Spectrum Analyser is a rack - based, not only accurately Microphone/loudspeaker design
mounted, laboratory standard monitoring the full audio band and testing
instrument that provides instantly from 25Hz to 20KHz but also Reverberation checks
usable information for an offering three memories plus a Continuous system quality
enormous range of applications. peak hold memory. control
With continuous measurement Options include X/Y plotter,
Audio components research and
and display of signal levels at 30 dot matrix printer, the matched development
points across a broad audio Fast semi-automatic production
RT60 Reverberation Decay
spectrum from 25Hz to 20KHz, this testing
cost -effective microprocessor- Analyser and a calibrated Selective noise level checks and
based analyser adds new standards
measuring microphone. environmental analysis
of accuracy to the audio It is a tough but compact Quality assurance for VTR audio
professional's vocabulary. rack-mounted instrument with channels
For easy equalisation, the 30
measurement frequencies of the
DN60 exactly match the control
easy operation and superb 'lights -
out' readability, and it is tested
rigorously to Klark- Teknik's usual
Broadcast programme quality
monitoring
Music content analysis and level
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sound 4(Y('/l('('
frequencies of our latest two- high standards, with a long bum-in monitoring
channel DN30/30 equaliser. Add
period to ensure maximum Level optimisation in disc
the inexpensive RT60 reliability on the road and in the cutting Klark-Teknik Electronics Inc.
Reverberation Analyser to studio. 262a Eastern Parkway, Farmingdale, NV 11735, USA.
untangle structural reflections. Telephone: (5161249 -3660
Result: exact knowledge permits Omnimedia Corporation Limited
exact adjustment of response 9653 Cate de Liesse/Dorval, Quebec H9P 1A3, Canada.
levels for total control of sound Telephone: (514) 636 9971
consistency. DN60 has got the
features you need, because it is: Manufactured by Klark-Teknik Research Limited, England.
Circle 45 an Reader Service Card
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60
REVERBERATION