[Dixielandjazz] Some Capital Records history (1950s-1960s)

[David M Richoux]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampex

> During the early 1950s Ampex began marketing one- and two-track  
> machines using ¼" tape. The line soon expanded into three- and four- 
> track models using ½" tape. In the early 1950's Ampex moved to 934  
> Charter St. Redwood City, California. Ampex acquired Orradio  
> Industries in 1959, which became the Ampex Magnetic Tape Division,  
> headquartered in Opelika, Alabama. This made Ampex a manufacturer of  
> both recorders and tape. By the end of that decade Ampex products  
> were much in demand by top recording studios worldwide. In 1959, no  
> longer involved in producing radio shows, Crosby sold his interest  
> in the Ampex Corporation, having played a crucial role in  
> underwriting a technology that changed the broadcasting industry.

> Ampex built a handful of multitrack machines during the late 1950s  
> that could record as many as eight tracks on 1 inch tape. Les Paul  
> came up with the original idea for a stacked head multitrack  
> recorder in 1953. After being turned down by Westrex he took the  
> idea to Ampex. The project was overseen byRoss Snyder, Ampex manager  
> of special products. In order for the multitrack recorder to work  
> Snyder invented Sel-Sync process to use the some tracks on the  
> record head to act as playback heads while using other tracks on the  
> head are used for recording. This allows the newly recorded material  
> to be in sync with the existing recorded tracks[8]. The first of  
> these machines cost $10,000 and was installed in Les Paul's home  
> recording studio by David Sarser.[9][10]

The "Crosby" reference is to Bing - he had a lot ($$) to do with the  
development of the audio tape recorder!

We still sometimes use 1/4 inch tape at KFJC ( because it works well  
enough and it is cheap ) but mostly use computers for audio recording  
and editing now.

Dave Richoux

On Mar 2, 2010, at 1:25 PM, M J (Mike) Logsdon wrote:

>>>> If the edit was questionable they would hang on to the small  
>>>> piece of tape that had been removed and used the white tape and  
>>>> leave it hanging from the console.  By the end of the session the  
>>>> floor would be filled with brown tape.<<<
>
> Sounds reasonable to me, as I've done such things at a local radio  
> station back in the 80s.  I just never would have expected a major  
> studio to use something so small.
>