How to grow the R2R catalogues??
- Thread starter NMMark1962
- Start date
Thanks for the links. I've been in contact with Volker at analog-audio and hopefully people will be able to meet him at Axpona Chicago.
Greg, have your heard the abcrecord tapes?
Hi Myles, No I just ran across these two sites and I haven't received any tapes from them yet.
Obviously I talk to people all the time about tapes and tape decks and I am always surprised when people say...
"There isn't much, if anything, available at those sites that I am interested in"
Sometimes I will play tapes from those sites all day long at the shows and people seem to like them quite a bit. The Opus 3 Sampler tapes are a no brainer and there are just a bunch of tapes from that group of companies that are quite nice.
Also I might add that ebay can be an interesting source to acquire Master Tape copies, I think I have seen almost anything on there, Dark Side of the Moon, Beatles, Stones, Jazz, Classical whatever.
Of course one must use proper judgement when buying from Ebay and check out the source and know exactly what you are buying.
Now with that said I have bought what was advertised as "Safety Masters" or such things and have gotten some nice tapes. Recently I got a Beethoven's 1st symphony, an actual master tape of Martin Breeze that is great and even a nice live Led Zeppelin.
Obviously I talk to people all the time about tapes and tape decks and I am always surprised when people say...
"There isn't much, if anything, available at those sites that I am interested in"
Sometimes I will play tapes from those sites all day long at the shows and people seem to like them quite a bit. The Opus 3 Sampler tapes are a no brainer and there are just a bunch of tapes from that group of companies that are quite nice.
Also I might add that ebay can be an interesting source to acquire Master Tape copies, I think I have seen almost anything on there, Dark Side of the Moon, Beatles, Stones, Jazz, Classical whatever.
Of course one must use proper judgement when buying from Ebay and check out the source and know exactly what you are buying.
Now with that said I have bought what was advertised as "Safety Masters" or such things and have gotten some nice tapes. Recently I got a Beethoven's 1st symphony, an actual master tape of Martin Breeze that is great and even a nice live Led Zeppelin.
Why are you surprised? It seemed to me that 75-80% was classical so if you don't listen to much classical then what's left is slim pickens. I realize it is unfair to compare this to vinyl, but I can go to any vinyl site and find 50 records that I want or own.
One of the recordings I am interested in is Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue. However, it doesn't seem like it is available.
As I said, there are several Tape Project recordings I am going to buy, but I have heard that people have had to wait several months, if not more, to get copies.
Cafe Blue is available on tape last I saw. Have it here.
I agree it would certainly be great to have more rock on tape but the issue is cost. Thus most of the software is limited to jazz and classical.
I tried to find Cafe Blue on their web site but it isn't listed as an available format.
I don't need rock. Just give me some reels from the Blue Note catalog.
Hmmmm...this was all that I could find.
http://www.premonitionrecords.com/productdetail.php?p=106
You might drop them or Jonathan Horwich@International Phonograph (whose doing the copying) a line and see if Cafe Blue is still in their catalog.
http://www.premonitionrecords.com/productdetail.php?p=106
You might drop them or Jonathan Horwich@International Phonograph (whose doing the copying) a line and see if Cafe Blue is still in their catalog.
#1-Record labels DON'T WANT to give out their irreplaceable master tapes and especially to anyone they don't know. See why Sterling, Gray, etc. master which LPs for Chad. Or why Grundman remastered the RCAs. Companies would much rather just send you a digital copy. Do you think the Beatles send out the original tapes?No you get some safety copy they created. And who knows the quality of that safety copy????
#2-Royalty fees.
#3-Record labels demand a ridiculous, no hideous amount of money up front.
As I stated before, the companies that present the best possibility for releasing tapes are those that own their own music eg. someone say like Opus 3 or Groove Note. Now too bad we could't get Proprius interested too!
So if the funding for accessing a copy of a desired master tape and releasing it on Open Reel Tape in some configuration isn't so straight for ward due to the kind of money the record labels wants to make and the uncertainty of such a venture then you have to think in other solutions or ways around it.
Solutions would include
- getting some philanthropist fellow to come along paying the bills until it becomes a viable venture.
- or have said philanthropist buy an artists catalogue with the intention of issuing it on 7'' 1/4 7.5 2 track stereo as about 47-48 minutes will fit 1,5mil tape on a std small hub 7'' reel. And also 10.5'' 1/4 15ips 2 track stereo, for just the higher speed.
Or circumventing the old catalogue, in favour of creating a new one:
- invest some time and efforts in recording some acts local to you with the intention of making a small run or interested parties. Making a CD-R appetizer and having people order 1:1 copies in the format they want, from the formats you can offer. With a simple web presence, and email to order and using PayPal or such for payment you can keep a very small production running.
- offer artists to help with facilities to make demos using tape for recording and making CD-R for the artist to send out and copies of the tapes to people like us. Such ventures could lead to securing a live date for recording for exclusive issue on open reel tape.
- yes, creating a new catalogue independent of record labels means creating a record label yourself....
-Mikkel
Much of what you have suggested has already been done. In terms of new labels, Ed Pong in Toronto has created UltraAnalogue Recordings, where he does fine recordings of young artists in his home studio, on excellent equipment with great sound. All the releases are on R2R 15ips 2 track. They are around $225US for each album (around 30 minutes each). I'm sure he is keeping his day job. Bob Attiyeh has his label Yarlung Records and has created a non-profit where you can donate to help subsidize the cost. He releases vinyl albums and R2R, again 15ips 2 track. His tape releases were all recorded by him in local Los Angeles venues and bought in sets of 4 are less than $200 each. Jonathan Horwich similarly records mostly jazz, including performances he has done both recently and many years ago, again in 15ips 2 track. He does offer some releases as direct dubs of the master tapes, more expense and limited.
Of course, with someone's label, you get the artists and type of music that s/he likes (in Ed's case all classical chamber music, for Bob a mixture of classical and others, Joanathan is jazz).
Others releasing R2R are licensing existing master tapes (like Tape Project, Lutz Precision) or are the source (like Opus3).
I am not a big jazz fan, but am a charter subscriber to Tape Project to support them and be introduced to new (for me) music. I also have bought just about all of the releases of Ed and Bob, and many from Jonathan, Opus3 and Volker Lange (Lutz Precision). I'm sure I have spent as much as a new Honda Fit on prerecorded tapes over the past four or five years.
The way high quality R2R is done, I am of the belief that it will never be a profitable venture. The raw material, equiment and real time production means either having very expensive inventory or making each tape to order, or in small batches. We owe a lot to the Tape Project people (Dan, Paul and Romo) for reviving the format (actually creating the 15ips 2 track format for most of us at the consumer level), and then providing enough material that convinced many of us to take the plunge into buying or restoring tape machines that could play 15ips 2 track in CCIR equalization. This provided the market for Ed, Bob, Jonathan, Volker, and Kevin to sell their tapes. Also Greg Beron has taken the lead from Dan Schmalle and Bottlehead/Tape Project in providing high quality restored machines to play the tapes.
I frankly don't see any market for 7" 7.5ips 4 track tapes, not at any price that is significantly cheaper than the 15ips 2 track tapes. First the penalty in sound quality is very significant. Second, unless one goes back to the high speed mass production of tapes, the economy of scale is not there. Here is a place for a kickstarter venture - see how many would be interested in a Barclay-Crocker type of product.
I don't know what Chad Kassem's licensing agreement for his Blue Note and other jazz albums is. Whether it includes making tape copies of the running masters (usually copies of the original masters with some judicious editing and equalization) or not. The retail for Chad would certainly have to be many times the hirez download price.
Larry
Of course, with someone's label, you get the artists and type of music that s/he likes (in Ed's case all classical chamber music, for Bob a mixture of classical and others, Joanathan is jazz).
Others releasing R2R are licensing existing master tapes (like Tape Project, Lutz Precision) or are the source (like Opus3).
I am not a big jazz fan, but am a charter subscriber to Tape Project to support them and be introduced to new (for me) music. I also have bought just about all of the releases of Ed and Bob, and many from Jonathan, Opus3 and Volker Lange (Lutz Precision). I'm sure I have spent as much as a new Honda Fit on prerecorded tapes over the past four or five years.
The way high quality R2R is done, I am of the belief that it will never be a profitable venture. The raw material, equiment and real time production means either having very expensive inventory or making each tape to order, or in small batches. We owe a lot to the Tape Project people (Dan, Paul and Romo) for reviving the format (actually creating the 15ips 2 track format for most of us at the consumer level), and then providing enough material that convinced many of us to take the plunge into buying or restoring tape machines that could play 15ips 2 track in CCIR equalization. This provided the market for Ed, Bob, Jonathan, Volker, and Kevin to sell their tapes. Also Greg Beron has taken the lead from Dan Schmalle and Bottlehead/Tape Project in providing high quality restored machines to play the tapes.
I frankly don't see any market for 7" 7.5ips 4 track tapes, not at any price that is significantly cheaper than the 15ips 2 track tapes. First the penalty in sound quality is very significant. Second, unless one goes back to the high speed mass production of tapes, the economy of scale is not there. Here is a place for a kickstarter venture - see how many would be interested in a Barclay-Crocker type of product.
I don't know what Chad Kassem's licensing agreement for his Blue Note and other jazz albums is. Whether it includes making tape copies of the running masters (usually copies of the original masters with some judicious editing and equalization) or not. The retail for Chad would certainly have to be many times the hirez download price.
Larry
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