The Holy Grail of Master Tapes?

Dear Bruce,

Please convince them to release -even if very limited numbers of- tape copies for us. I would love to get some. Tell them, this comes from a guy in Turkey!

I remember talking to Zane Kesey (son of Ken Kesey) and getting some vhs copies of their old trips where mountain girl was on too. This was more than 20 years ago, the videos were from the sixties... I am very happy to see they are still going "furthur"

I am not an original dead head as I am young for that but I loved their music, their trips and all the beauty and colors they brought into my life.
 
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Another interesting tape in the collection..... a Mickey Hart project never released. Seems the studio didn't like it and with the passing of Bruce Lee, the project was scrubbed!
 

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Hello Sir,

You probably already answered this in other threads, but I’m curious…

Digitizing at DSD4 implies a Merging converter. Is that the case? What will you use for transcoding to LPCM?
 
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That's terrific Bruce! What a fun project!
 
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omasciarotte said:
Hello Sir,

You probably already answered this in other threads, but I’m curious…

Digitizing at DSD4 implies a Merging converter. Is that the case? What will you use for transcoding to LPCM?
Click to expand...

Yes, using the Merging Horus for capture at DSD256. I will be using Merging's own Hepta Converter for PCM conversion
 
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Bruce B said:
Short Version..
I am Honored and extremely humbled to have been chosen by the Jerry Garcia Family to transfer/master Jerry's Tape Library!

Long Version.
About 4 months ago, dminches asked me if I could transfer some master tapes for someone. I said sure, of course. A few weeks go by and a fellow by the name of Joe , said he has some friends that have about 30 Master Tapes they wanted digitized for archival. We agreed on a price and logistics and I didn't hear from him for about a month. Then I get a call and follow-up email saying "Mountain Girl" and "Sunshine" agree to have you transfer their tapes. Me, never being a "Dead Head" or really getting into the Grateful Dead, still didn't catch on. Then I got to searching.... who is "Mountain Girl" and "Sunshine".... the plot thickens!

I then get an email from Sunshine that she wanted to hand deliver the tapes in a couple of weeks and would I be available. Of course I would. We made arrangements last Monday to meet for the delivery and spend the afternoon together. We started unloading the SUV and 30 turned into 130 Master Tapes!! WOW... (and they're not done)! The wife and I took her to lunch and just listened to her stories. Fascinating....

This project will take me a few months to complete and Sunshine asked me to start creating a buzz.... So this is the first I've said anything. I've already completed a few tapes and they are spectacular. Very well preserved. Most are Scotch 207, so no SSS. Many thanks to dminches and to Ki Choi for helping make sure I had everything covered on the tape side. This is a journey folks and probably the highlight of my musical career...!

View attachment 132656View attachment 132657View attachment 132655View attachment 132654View attachment 132653
Click to expand...
Looks like MOTU but I would assume you’d use ProTools?
 
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Atmasphere said:
This might be a stupid question, but you are baking the tapes prior to transfer, right?
Click to expand...

I don't think any of the tapes were on stock known to have SSS so they wouldn't need to be baked.
 
dminches said:
I don't think any of the tapes were on stock known to have SSS so they wouldn't need to be baked.
Click to expand...
Anything on polyester is a shedding risk. Acetate is the only tape that doesn't shed due to storage.

Polyester allows a water molecules to bond to it, reducing the ability of the magnetic substrate to adhere to the polyester. Baking purges the moisture. When storing the tape I usually put a packet of silica-gel in the plastic bag with the tape to control humidity.
 
Atmasphere said:
Anything on polyester is a shedding risk. Acetate is the only tape that doesn't shed due to storage.

Polyester allows a water molecules to bond to it, reducing the ability of the magnetic substrate to adhere to the polyester. Baking purges the moisture. When storing the tape I usually put a packet of silica-gel in the plastic bag with the tape to control humidity.
Click to expand...

I have never done that nor had issues. Either way, I think the tapes were all old Scotch which I believe are acetate.
 
Jackl3y said:
Looks like MOTU but I would assume you’d use ProTools?
Click to expand...

No..... ProTools is not a very good DAW. Used it for years... I have been using Pyramix for about 12yr. now and has never failed. ProTools does not do DSD or high sample rate recording/editing.
 
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cwinston said:
Any chance you can give us a list of what those tapes are? Or just a few?
Click to expand...

Well if you zoom in on the photos I posted you will find there are quite a few Dead live performances and studio takes.... Also you can see there are numerous projects that Jerry was involved in like "Old and In the Way" and "New Riders of the Purple Sage".
 
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