Topic: Idiots Guide to Recording / Making 78 Shellac Records These Days?

[Shovel]

If somebody had a big empty room and a blank check (I don't, but what if) and wanted to figure out how to start from scratch ...

What would you need to start a 78 rpm music studio?  Even without looking at it in terms of profitability or efficiency, does the equipment even exist anymore in good enough condition?

ARE there any 78 type studios anywhere these days? 

Would it be possible to do set something up 100% in house? 

It seems I read that Tom Waits put out a 78 that sounded like vinyl and not shellac?

How did Crumb put out his 78s in the 70's, on equipment that doesn't exist anymore?  Equipment that's still set up somewhere?  Does Bussard still have his equipment from Fonotone?

I've done a lot of recording on computer and to a degree in 'studios', but I have absolutely no idea whether this is an impossible task or something that wouldn't be all that hard in the long run.

I'm not sure I even know enough to ask the right questions, but maybe some folks here know something about it and could offer some insight?

Thanks..

[Gumbo]

here's another discussion that mentions the Tom Waits 78. I'm guessing it's not that different from the Pye Nixa 78s that came out in the uk in the late 50s.

http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=8486.msg69507#msg69507
EDIT I tried to add a 78 rpm tag to that discussion (and this one) but they don't seem to have worked

here's Lewis Durham talking about his studio setup for Evangelist Records
http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/studio-guide-kitty-daisy-lewis
Evangelist recently put out 78s by Pokey LaFarge and Blind Boy Paxton which I'm pretty sure aren't shellac but were analogue all the way.

[Rivers]

Re tags, there's a minimum length for a tag, and I knew we had one already going. So I looked up the tag index and tagged it '78 rpm'. Also moved the topic to Super Electrical Recordings since it's discussing recording technology and it will be easier to find.

[Westside Ryan]

There is some interesting info here: http://gieskes.nl/gramophonerecorder/ I don't know if it would be of any help though?

[Westside Ryan]

Retro mechanical record player/cutter!
Just found this: http://www.japantrendshop.com/gakken-premium-gramophone-p-796.html
Looks like it could be fun to mess around with!

[sustaireblues]

Very cool looking gizmo!
Okay, who's going to bite the bullet and check it out for us? 

Joe

[blueshome]

There are still some disc cutters around which pop up on the second hand market occasionally but they require a lot of expertise and maintenance to keep going and rigging especially to record direct - the purest form. Use an RCA44 or similar and  all valve (tube) electronics unless you want to record acoustically through horn....... .

Geting somewhere to make a master would be possible but obtaining the right blend of "shellac" to produce the disc would be difficult I think, as would somewhere to press it..

The modern vinyl 78's will had been recorded to tape and transferred to disc in the same way as any other modern disc..

So, you've made your shellac 78, are you then going to play back on an old Victrola? The only way if you want to get the original sound.

However, the recording engineers of the 20's and 30's were geniuses when it came to setting up a room and placing mics (no they didn't set RJ up in the corner to sound better - it doesn't work in my experience), hence the listenable sounds we can still hear today despite the crudeness of the recording technology.

[davek]

There is a group doing this now, called the 78 Project. Probably not shellac either, but direct to disk I believe. See:
http://the78project.com/ or:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/the78project/the-78-project-feature-length-documentary-film/posts
I was hipped to this when Roseanne Cash and her hubby John Leventhal were recorded by these folks. There is video available, search youtube.

Dave