Tape Trail

Early stereo recording

99.17.90.152


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Here's an auction (not mine) of a 2-track Atlantic/Livingston release of one of the earliest modern stereo recordings. In 1952, Emory Cook was asked by Atlantic to record several Wilbur De Paris dixieland sessions in New York. These were presumably done on Cook's Magnecord rigged with staggered half-track heads - one flipped upside down - using a microphone spacing of about 12". One of these sessions, Rampart Street Ramblers, was released in 1952 on the Atlantic label as a dual-track "binaural" record for playback using the Cook-designed arm with two parallel cartridges. A 2-track tape version was then released by Livingston around 1956. Ii have both the record and the tape: the sound is quite good, varying somewhat from track to track, suggesting that Cook was experimenting with microphone placement and the acoustics in Carnegie Hall. It's an interesting - and historic - recording.

Edits: 01/23/16

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