Rca Victor Manufacture & Recording of Vinyl Records (1956)

Synopsis

This 1956 education film explains the process of making vinyl records. It is a Jam Handy Picture and presented by RCA Victor. The record process being followed is for Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, recorded by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The film opens with a woman wearing a coordinating 1950s skirt, sweater, neck scarf, and pearl bracelet. She places a record in her RCA high fidelity cabinet record player and the music plays (:26- 1:54 ). The history of making that record follows. The music is first recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts. An RCA Victor recording light blinks. The music is recorded using both stereophonic and monaural equipment; shown is a room with various high-fidelity recording equipment. Initially, RCA used RT-21 quarter-inch tape recorders wired to mono mixers, with Neumann U-47 cardioid and M-49/50 omnidirectional microphones before switching to an Ampex 300-3 one-half inch machine ( 1:55 - 3:27 ). The film switches multiple times between the orchestra, the console, the magnetic tape recorder, and the speakers. Eventually the final recording is approved ( 3:28 - 6:53 ). The sound tape is transferred to a lacquer master disc, which is first inspected. The disc is attached to the turntable and the specifics set ( 6:54 - 8:35 ). The playing time determines the number of grooves per inch. A diagram is used to explain this ( 8:36 - 8:58 ). A test cut to determine the groove width is checked through a microscope before the…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

24 minutes

Language

English

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage