Quote:
Originally Posted by Mgrenwick
Hello all. I was wondering if someone can shed some light on "master tapes".
For instance, when Pink Floyd was in the studio in 1978/79 working on The Wall what all was produced? In my mind all the EQ etc is imprinted at the time of recording and what you end up with in a master of the complete album. Or do they have tape of all the tracks without any processing? Do they even have the master tape, and if so, is it still in good condition? I'm just trying to get my head around how we go from a 1979 UK 1st pressing from the original tape to the pressings coming out today.
Thanks!
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Well, big question. PF recorded at Abbey Road in those years. I don't know for certain, but I suspect the master tape was 2" 24 track tape. What type of Eq'ing was applied at the time the masters were made we'll probably never know without inside info from the original recording engineers.
As to the condition,... bear in mind that there is only 1 true master and probably a couple of safety copies of the original master tape.
FWIW, Jon Anderson (of Yes and Vangelis fame) is interviewed in the current Stereophile magazine. In the interview he speaks of some old tapes that he made many years ago with a few other artists. He was asked recently about their whereabouts which he produced from his garage and sent them on to the studio. There they were properly baked and according to Jon, sounded fabulous after nearly 30 years of less than ideal storage conditions.
So, while magnetic tape is fragile, it's also quite durable. Every studio that recorded direct to tape had its own magic formula to apply. Some hit it spot on and some missed it by a mile.