Klarinet Archive - Posting 000423.txt from 1997/10

From: HatNYC62@-----.com
Subj: Recordings
Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 01:51:21 -0400

I never suggested that splicing wasn't done before digital came along, it
most certainly was. However, in the analog days, good splices were an art in
themselves, and the folks who could do it well were highly prized
specialists.

Today, anyone can do his/her own splicing with a pc and a minimum of
equipment right at home. I know several people who do it and it's not that
difficult. One used to have to pay a tape cutter a high hourly wage to get an
analog performance spliced together. Now it's easy and fairly simple to have
a zillion splices done, even for a small budget or private label. That's the
difference I meant. I didn't mean the Philadelphia Orchestra, which would
have had access to the best tape-cutters available back in the 60s.

As for old clarinet recordings, I belive there are a few splices in the
Marcellus Mozart, but certainly not very many. Szell hated splicing things
together and if you listen carefully to Cleveland recordings you can hear the
ones that exist (usually) and there just aren't that many. Now, even "live"
recordings have many splices in them, from different concerts and then patch
sessions.

Anything recorded before 1950 is unlikely to have any splices in it other
than the mandatory side-changes every 4 1/2 minutes or so. That way you know
that the performances were "real" not pasted together pieces of a puzzle.