Master, Mastering and Cutting (S6 E7) – Finale

Welcome to the Sounds On Vinyl show, brought to you by BoozeHound Entertainment.

In this final show of the season (and last with Soren), we talk about a little more fun stuff from last week before diving into the mastering and cutting process for creating vinyl records, including some of the great mastering and cutting engineers.

Time Stamps

00:00 – Intro

02:28 – Gary Moore Frankenstein (Redux)

03:55 – What a Vinyl Puck (AKA Biscuit) looks like

05:25 – Splatter Vinyl Pellets

06:00 – Rolling Stones – Satanic Majestic Rituals, and how you know the difference between mono & stereo

08:50 – Mastering and Cutting Intro (what it is, and why it’s important)

12:58 – Led Zeppelin II – the holy grail that is the Bob Ludwig master (and how you know if you have/find one)

20:47 – Thin Lizzy – Johnny The Fox “RL Cut”

21:20 – Rush – Moving Pictures “RL Cut”

22:38 – Kiss – Alive “RL Cut”

23:33 – AC/DC – Back In Black “RL Cut”

24:30 – The Mastering Engineering’s job of deciding how much music to put on each side

26:06 – Half-Speed Masters

27:31 – Genesis Half-Speed Master cut at Abbey Road Studio

28:20 – George Peckham “AKA Pokey”

29:00 – A “3 Sided Album” on a single vinyl record – What? How do you do that? The story is groovy!

30:51 – Deep Purple – Burn (Pokey Cut)

31:00 – Deep Purple – Made In Japan (”Pecko Duck” cut)

31:38 – Thin Lizzy – Bad Reputation – “GK Master Disk”

33:06 – The Who – Who’s Next – UK First Pressing (”Bilbo Cut”)

34:46 – Led Zeppelin III – Aleister Crowley quote written in the dead wax

35:38 – Opeth – Black Water Park – Re-Issue’s homage to the great mastering engineers

36:55 – Kiss – Dynasty – “Tone Cut” (UK) vs. “Finsson Cut” (Scandinavia)

39:04 – Justification of having multiple copies, is there really a difference between all these different versions?

42:45 – Dire Straits – “Kevin Gray Cut”

46:00 – The “Big Finale”, Winners of the Code Electro splatter vinyl giveaway

50:48 – The End, Good-Bye’s

52:12 – How to get Soren’s book

53:15 – Outro

Links

Credits

Hosts:

Intro & Outro:

Thank you for listening! We love you! Keep Rockin’!

Copyright BoozeHound Entertainment & BoozeHound Music. All Rights Reserved. Music courtesy Shot Glass Records, a BoozeHound Company.

Some links may be affiliate links. We may get a small commission if you sign up or purchase using our link. This is just one way you can help support the show.

Transcript
Speaker:

Boo Town Entertainment proudly presents Sounds on Vinyl, the show that celebrates collecting and listening to vinyl.

Speaker:

And now here are your hosts, Mike, Phil and Thorin.

Speaker:

Hey, welcome to the soundson Vinyl Show.

Speaker:

My name is Phil Boyer, and always for this season, I've got two Vikings with me.

Speaker:

We've got Mike and we've got Soren.

Speaker:

Guys, how the hell is it going over there? Oh, it's going good.

Speaker:

The weather is warm here in the Southern parts of Sweden and in the Southern parts of the Danish people.

Speaker:

That's him right over there.

Speaker:

That's you.

Speaker:

What have you been drinking, Mike? Out of my Horn, but I left it alone.

Speaker:

It's a family show.

Speaker:

I can't shake my phone right now.

Speaker:

Okay, moving along.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

Today we are talking about we're talking about Master of Puppets.

Speaker:

No, that's not right.

Speaker:

What are we talking about, Soren? We're talking about yeah.

Speaker:

Today we're going to talk about some very important aspects of the sound of vinyl records.

Speaker:

Not sounds on vinyl.

Speaker:

But yeah, we are talking about sound on vinyl, but we are talking about how sound is created on a vinyl and how important that process is to prepare a sound for actually going onto a record after it's been recorded in the studio.

Speaker:

And we're going to show some examples of how you can actually spot on a record.

Speaker:

Who cut an album? Who cut the master? You won't be able to tell that on all records, but you will on some.

Speaker:

And we're going to show some examples and what to look for and what these inscriptions mean.

Speaker:

Some of them, yeah.

Speaker:

Since the last show, this is important.

Speaker:

Do you remember on the last show, I show you the Frankenstein, the Gary Moore album that was mixed up.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Tell you what, it's probably about three months ago since I bought this, and I came home and I realized that it was a Frankenstein.

Speaker:

Well, during Easter, I went back to the store just to check on used records, and I found the other Frankenstein.

Speaker:

Incredible.

Speaker:

So I've actually now got a complete US pressing.

Speaker:

And I'll show you with the Mirage.

Speaker:

Oh, labeled awesome.

Speaker:

And now I've got the other German pressing.

Speaker:

So actually, I saved the world of two Frankenstein's.

Speaker:

Oh, it is nice.

Speaker:

Or people in Denmark don't listen to Gary Moore.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

I think they listened to Still Got the Blues, but that's incredible.

Speaker:

It is.

Speaker:

I was so disappointed when I got home at first, but now I'm a happy guy.

Speaker:

Happy guy.

Speaker:

Oh, good for you.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

I'm going to show you I talked about also how they press vinyl in the last episode, and I mentioned something called a puck, which is the one which is the lump of vinyl that you put in the pressing machine.

Speaker:

Well, I've actually got a puck here.

Speaker:

It's also called a biscuit.

Speaker:

Some people call it a biscuit, a pump or a biscuit.

Speaker:

It's the same thing.

Speaker:

Lakefield for American Friends.

Speaker:

I cannot.

Speaker:

I don't know what that would be.

Speaker:

An ounces.

Speaker:

Sorry.

Speaker:

But if you say a vinyl album today, most of them are 180 grams.

Speaker:

Well, this is eight point 11oz.

Speaker:

Come again? There you go.

Speaker:

Eight point 11oz.

Speaker:

Eight point 11oz of vinyl.

Speaker:

Now, you don't see never underestimate Google, you never see vinyl records with a hype sticker that says eight.

Speaker:

What was it again? Eight point eleven.

Speaker:

Eight point 11oz.

Speaker:

You always see 180 grams, right? Yes.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

But never mind.

Speaker:

This is a park used for a standard record today.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

So this is what they look like.

Speaker:

And I also mentioned about how they do how they make splatter vinyls.

Speaker:

Well, this is a bag of vinyl pellets, very small, like small gravel.

Speaker:

Gravel.

Speaker:

What they do is when this is hot, when these are melted into a puck, it's still hot and sticky.

Speaker:

And they will just put it in a box with other pellets and go like this and the pellets will stick.

Speaker:

So it was just a way to just explain what I was talking about on the last show, if that was a bit strange.

Speaker:

So, yeah, a park.

Speaker:

Cool.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

Another thing I forgot to show I have the record on my desk on the last show, but I forgot this is a Rolling Stones album, the Satanic Majestic Rituals.

Speaker:

It was their attempt to do Sergeant Pepper album.

Speaker:

It kind of failed a bit.

Speaker:

But Michael, you'll be pleased to know that the song 2000 man is on this album.

Speaker:

Oh, my God.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

But the reason I actually show you this is because this came out at a time when mono recordings were most of albums were recorded in mono and cut in mono.

Speaker:

But stereo was gradually getting more popular because as people started buying stereo systems for their homes and all that, they had to do stereo versions of the albums, too.

Speaker:

So many albums from that day were released both in mono and stereo, and some of them were just compatible.

Speaker:

So whatever you had, they would sound good.

Speaker:

But a way to tell when you were out in the record store, you can actually see here that there's a color code here and the color is actually stuck to the inside the inner sleeve.

Speaker:

So they didn't have to make different covers for mono and stereo.

Speaker:

They can just do a color code.

Speaker:

And if it's blue, it's stereo.

Speaker:

And if it was red, it's mono.

Speaker:

That was a way of when the record is shrink wrapped in the record store.

Speaker:

You could actually just look on the back side here and see if it's a mono or stereo release you're holding.

Speaker:

So there was just a little fun thing.

Speaker:

You'll see these on late 60s pressings, mainly these UK Decker releases, but you come across them now and then out there.

Speaker:

It was just a little fun thing.

Speaker:

Is that a sticker or is that actually part of the cover.

Speaker:

Put it on the floor.

Speaker:

No, it's actually a hole.

Speaker:

It's a hole that's punched.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

So it's a see through, and you can actually just be able to see.

Speaker:

Got you.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

The blue color from the in sleep.

Speaker:

Fun thing.

Speaker:

I don't have any red ones.

Speaker:

Otherwise, I would have shown you one.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

Today's subject is mastering and cutting.

Speaker:

Many people will not understand how important mastering an album is and how important cutting an album is, but it's very important.

Speaker:

I'll tell you why.

Speaker:

Because when a band is in a studio, maybe an album like Less Zeppelin, two, that's recorded in six or seven, eight Studios around the world while they were on tour.

Speaker:

And every studio will have different equipment, a different setup, maybe using different microphones.

Speaker:

They might use different guitars or drums or whatever.

Speaker:

So mastering is actually a way of making the sound harmonic.

Speaker:

It's a kind of way to harmonize the sound so that it sounds like it was recorded in the same room or same place or even the same time.

Speaker:

For instance, if you sing into a microphone, you will probably hear sometimes you will hear T and s sounds when you sing.

Speaker:

And those small sounds that we make, or maybe a plethora hitting the strings in the wrong way.

Speaker:

All of these small imperfections, they use the mastering process to get rid of all that.

Speaker:

So it actually sounds like they will get rid of small mistakes and all that.

Speaker:

So mastering is really important for an album to harmonize the sound and actually punch up the sound, because it's also in the mastering process that the baseline sound volume is set, because there's a huge difference in listening to a recording in a recording studio and then actually putting that sound onto a record.

Speaker:

That's a huge process, actually.

Speaker:

And the process starts with mastering.

Speaker:

So when the mastering is done, you end up with a master tape from the studio.

Speaker:

And in the old days, today, everything is recorded on hard drives and whatnot.

Speaker:

But in the old days, it was an analog tape, and the mastering process was actually when the album is mixed, it was time for the mastering.

Speaker:

So the mastering tape, the master tape was the actual finished product from the studio.

Speaker:

And that had to be okayed by the band, by the artist or by the record company.

Speaker:

They listen to it and say, okay, this is it.

Speaker:

All the hard work we've done in the studio.

Speaker:

This is the actual finished product.

Speaker:

Now, a master tape is, let's say it's actually the closest that you can get to the sound that was in the studio.

Speaker:

But again, to be able to put that sound onto a record, that's another process.

Speaker:

And what I explained about pressing plants and mastering Studios and everything in the previous episodes, the master tape will be copied into several copies and distributed to various pressing plants.

Speaker:

Because when you have to press 1 million copies of an album like you did very normal in the 70s.

Speaker:

There was no way that one pressing client could do all of this.

Speaker:

So they have to have different pressing clients working at the same time.

Speaker:

So the cutting of the master album would usually be done at the same place that mastered the audio.

Speaker:

So I have an example, and this is I'm going to start because it will make sense.

Speaker:

It will make sense.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

This is, of course, Led Zeppelin, too.

Speaker:

And I'm such a nerd that I put a little sticker here.

Speaker:

It says USRL.

Speaker:

And I'll explain what that means because this is considered the Holy grail of Led Zeppelin albums because it was mastered by a guy called Bob Ludwig, who works for Sterling Sound, which was a mastering studio in Los Angeles.

Speaker:

Now, Led Zeppelin, this is a year after the debut album from Led Zeppelin came out, and they were getting really big in America.

Speaker:

So the Atlantic Records, the record company, said, okay, now we're going to go all in on the next let's settle in album.

Speaker:

Let's make it sound incredibly good.

Speaker:

So they asked Bob Ludwig to cut the first master disk of the album.

Speaker:

Bob Lubric is both a mastering engineer doing the audio, and then he is also a cutting engineer, so he can cut records as well.

Speaker:

So he was asked to cut the first batch of separate albums.

Speaker:

His name is Bob Ludwig, and Bob is always short for Robert.

Speaker:

So his initials is RL.

Speaker:

Robert Ludwig.

Speaker:

When he cut records, he used to put his initials in the Runout group because mastering engineers were almost never credited on the record sleeve.

Speaker:

So you won't be able to read anywhere that Bob Ludwig mastered this record.

Speaker:

And that was very common for mastering engineers.

Speaker:

They were never credited for the work.

Speaker:

So somebody started writing their initials or name or tag or something in the dead wax just to sort of say, this is my work, a bit like a Carpenter or whatever.

Speaker:

So Bob Ludwig kicked the first version of the Zeppelin album, added his RL initials in the dead wax.

Speaker:

And then it was pressed.

Speaker:

They did a test lesson first in the studio, and everything was fine.

Speaker:

They said, this sounds really good.

Speaker:

Let's press it.

Speaker:

So they did.

Speaker:

They pressed a number of albums.

Speaker:

But then the President of Atlantic Records, his name was Ahmed Ertigan.

Speaker:

His daughter got a copy of the album, and she apparently played the album in her room, and suddenly she yelled at her dad, saying, there's something wrong with the album.

Speaker:

And he came in and the dynamics.

Speaker:

And now I'm getting into what mastering actually means, because if you listen to an album that sounds incredibly good and lots of bass, lots of power, this is actually something that's done in the mastering process.

Speaker:

So she played the album and the arm, you know, the tone arm, just fell off the album, it just sprang off.

Speaker:

I don't know what the exact word is, but it did because the sound was so massive.

Speaker:

Of course, it was a very cheap record player.

Speaker:

It was one of those plastic record players, I think, but it actually made the arm fall off.

Speaker:

So the President there Mediterranean.

Speaker:

He went ballistic and ordered all the copies to be withdrawn and ordered a recut of the album.

Speaker:

So he actually sacked Bob Ludwig for not doing his job properly.

Speaker:

And they got another guy in to do a remaster of the album.

Speaker:

And then it was released again.

Speaker:

But this time it was also us.

Speaker:

But it says GP.

Speaker:

And that was a guy called George Piro who did the Recart.

Speaker:

So if you look at these, they look exactly the same and they are.

Speaker:

For most part, the only way to tell is to look for the initials Bubble, initials in the dead wax.

Speaker:

And if it says RL, you know it's the right one to have.

Speaker:

But if you take the other one and it says at GP, it means it was cut by George Pirro at Atlantic Studios.

Speaker:

So that's a way to tell.

Speaker:

And of course, because of that story, because of Bob Lubric's involvement, and because of what the album could do to cheap record players, it's just become one of those.

Speaker:

It's just one of those Holy grails today because a lot of people will seek out this exact copy.

Speaker:

I'm one of those people.

Speaker:

You're one of them.

Speaker:

It's on my bucket list.

Speaker:

They didn't press that many of them because it was withdrawn very quickly.

Speaker:

But they are out there and you will find them if you really dig.

Speaker:

I don't know the exact value.

Speaker:

It's one of those things that the RLC is actually a lot more expensive in the States than here in Europe, because I've seen a few of them out digging and they're not very expensive.

Speaker:

They're not more expensive than other copies of The Settlement, too.

Speaker:

But I think maybe it's because the sellers don't know what they're actually selling.

Speaker:

I think that's probably the best explanation.

Speaker:

You've listened to this album, so you get to experience Bubble Outweicks Monstering.

Speaker:

So what's the difference? According to you, I would say that the George Bureau is no slouch.

Speaker:

It sounds really good as well, but it sounds heavier and there's more depth, more dynamics to the Bob Ludwig mix.

Speaker:

Definitely.

Speaker:

It's not like you're blown away.

Speaker:

Maybe my ears are just not good enough, but I recently did.

Speaker:

I was out doing a vinyl talk in a Highfive shop not long ago and they had $100,000 equipment.

Speaker:

It was the wildest thing I've ever seen.

Speaker:

And we actually played the R rail at full volume.

Speaker:

And that was amazing.

Speaker:

The better equipment you have, the more you'll get out of record, of course, but that just sounded awesome.

Speaker:

Let me tell you, it sounds good in my own stereo, definitely.

Speaker:

But listening to an incredibly expensive set up, high Fi set up and huge beakers.

Speaker:

It was amazing.

Speaker:

But it's a great cut.

Speaker:

Definitely a great cut and worth seeking out.

Speaker:

And if you find it, buy it.

Speaker:

Yes, I will.

Speaker:

It's the only advice I can give.

Speaker:

Now, some people will collect Bob Lubric cuts only.

Speaker:

I mean, if they see an RL inscribed in the dead wax and you'll see that on many records, it doesn't mean that all of them sound as good as let's settle in two.

Speaker:

But it just means that he also did it.

Speaker:

He also caught the album.

Speaker:

And I have a few the St, Lacy, Johnny the Fox.

Speaker:

The US pressing is also an oral card.

Speaker:

Oh, let's see Rush for you regardless.

Speaker:

Oh, my God.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Because if you open the gate for the Rush cover here, you'll actually see that it must be by Bob Ludwig.

Speaker:

It actually says here in the credits.

Speaker:

But this, of course, from 81 up in the 70s, they started actually doing this, writing the credits of who mastered it.

Speaker:

But in the 60s, nobody bothered about it.

Speaker:

And that's why they started adding their own initials to the dead wax.

Speaker:

This is actually a Scandinavian pressing, but it has already in the dead wax.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

He was involved in doing with the Swedish prison plans.

Speaker:

And this is sent over the lacquers, right? Yeah.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

Stampers from the US were sent to Europe and pressed here.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

In a Scandinavian pressing.

Speaker:

And you got something for me? You got something for me? No.

Speaker:

Oh, there you go.

Speaker:

This is also an RL card.

Speaker:

This is the best sounding version.

Speaker:

I have four different versions of this album, both from the 70s, one German and I have some reissues.

Speaker:

This is incredible.

Speaker:

It doesn't mean that you can actually tell the difference.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

So you are pressing.

Speaker:

This is the first edition.

Speaker:

I think it's even better than the Japanese one.

Speaker:

Do you have it? Oh, yes, of course.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

Good man.

Speaker:

I'm tipping over my PC.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

Another one we showed last week was maybe a couple of shows back was back in black.

Speaker:

The US version is also an Rs card.

Speaker:

And as you probably know, this sounds incredible.

Speaker:

Lots of dynamics, very clear separation of the instruments.

Speaker:

You can really hear what's being played.

Speaker:

And all that is actually done in the mastering process.

Speaker:

A bad mastering can fuck up any record and a bad cut can fuck up a good mastering.

Speaker:

Do you know what I mean? Yeah.

Speaker:

So it's really important.

Speaker:

So the way it was recorded and produced in the studio, if the mastering guy is not able to do a good job and the cutting engineer is not able to do a good job, it can actually ruin a perfectly good album.

Speaker:

Now, decoding engineers task is not just to press a button and then have a coffee and wait until the cutting machine, the lathe is finished because his job is actually to work out exactly how long is one side going to be? I mean, how much music are we going to put on into one side? And a few minutes can actually make a huge difference.

Speaker:

the most optimal amount of minutes is actually about around 18 minutes to get the optimal sound of a record.

Speaker:

But sometimes they will press 22 minutes, 23 minutes on one side.

Speaker:

And that actually is a challenge to most pressing engineers because they have to then adjust a lot of things in the sound and the dynamics to make it, to actually make all those minutes fit onto one side, because it matters how how wide the groove is.

Speaker:

It matters how much base you're putting on, because all those aspects will influence the nature of the group.

Speaker:

So the more minutes, the more you have to actually compress and squeeze the sound to be able to fit it in.

Speaker:

And all that is a mastering engineer's task.

Speaker:

What am I going to show you next? Oh, yeah.

Speaker:

There's another thing that you might also encounter if you heard of of the half speed Masters.

Speaker:

Have you heard that expression? Because normally the cutting length is actually going as fast as a record will be played, so it cuts at the same speed that the record is played.

Speaker:

So it takes about 1820 minutes to cut one side of an album when the music is playing and all that.

Speaker:

But if you do a half speed master, you are actually having the speed on the cutting machine and also on the music plane, because when you cut at half speed, some people say that the lathe will be more precise in cutting.

Speaker:

And some people say that it makes a record sound better because if it's cut at half speed and you then play it at normal speed, everything will sound fine.

Speaker:

It's just when they cut it that the music is played at half speed and the machine is evolving at half speed.

Speaker:

But half speed Masters, sometimes this is the Genesis selling England by the Pound release from a few years back.

Speaker:

And it says here, half speed mastering.

Speaker:

This is something that record companies usually want to market and reissue use, that is half speed mastered.

Speaker:

And sometimes you will see in the dead wax, it says half speed mastered by somebody.

Speaker:

This was cut at Abbey Road in the UK by a cutting engineer.

Speaker:

There no, it doesn't say who it was.

Speaker:

I can't remember.

Speaker:

It doesn't matter anyway.

Speaker:

But hubspeed Masters are usually something that's marketed heavily by the record companies.

Speaker:

Now another legend in the world of cutting engineers.

Speaker:

No, he's still alive, but he was very active in the 70s, a guy called George Peckham, also known as Porky, that was his nickname.

Speaker:

But he used to cut a lot of records for the big Seventies artists in the UK.

Speaker:

We're talking, let's say the purple Uri heap, you name it.

Speaker:

He used to cut records for all those guys.

Speaker:

And now we're getting back to Monty Python.

Speaker:

I've mentioned them a few times on the show, but I got to mention this because this is so special.

Speaker:

Now, Monty Python was going to do an album called Matching Tie in Handkerchief.

Speaker:

Looks like this in.

Speaker:

And they said, we want to do a three sided album, the first single album with three sides.

Speaker:

And how do you do that? Well, Pork came up with the answer, because on one side, he actually managed to cut two separate groups right next to each other.

Speaker:

This album has two lead in grooves.

Speaker:

So depending on where you put the needle, it will sound different.

Speaker:

So there are actually two.

Speaker:

Well, in total, it's about 18 minutes.

Speaker:

I think 1819 minutes like a normal record.

Speaker:

But when you have two groups next to each other, you'll have like, nine minutes, maybe per group.

Speaker:

But it's so difficult to see that you only experience it.

Speaker:

Let's say you play the album and you accidentally touch your record player, so the needle will jump in the next groove over to the next group, you'll actually hear something completely different.

Speaker:

So this is the first album with three sides, and that was Porky.

Speaker:

Who got that? And you will see Porky's initials for his name.

Speaker:

You will never see his real name.

Speaker:

He will always be called Porky.

Speaker:

He might ride PECO.

Speaker:

He might write a Porky Prime, cut, whatever, anything that remotely sounds like cookie, you'll know, it's him.

Speaker:

And he also cut the Purple Burn album, the UK release.

Speaker:

I've got a made in Japan also with Porky.

Speaker:

I think one of the sites says PECO Duck.

Speaker:

So, yeah, there's a lot of crazy stuff, but if you see that in the dead wax, you know who cut it.

Speaker:

And you usually find it on UK releases because he worked in the UK.

Speaker:

So if you find it on an American pressing, say, or Scandinavian pressing or whatever it means, of course, that the stampers or the master that was cut was shipped outside the UK and then processed into records.

Speaker:

So, yeah, another one I'm going to show you is Finn Lizzie's Bad Reputation.

Speaker:

Oh, man.

Speaker:

This is the US pressing.

Speaker:

And if you take this out, I don't think you'll be able to see this, but down here, it says Master Disk, and it says GK.

Speaker:

And now this is a guy called Gilbert Kong who worked for Master Disk.

Speaker:

So you will also find RL cuts with Master Disk RL.

Speaker:

So this was actually a colleague to Bob Ludwig called Gilbert Kong.

Speaker:

Bob Ludwig used to work both for a company called Sterling Sound and then later on Master Disk.

Speaker:

So that's why you'll see Master Disk RL or Sterling RL, but it's the same car.

Speaker:

Okay, moving.

Speaker:

Where was Master Disk located? I mean, Sterling was New York, right? Sterling was New York.

Speaker:

And I think Monster Disc was Los Angeles.

Speaker:

I think so, yeah.

Speaker:

And that's probably why they worked east and West Coast in the US to cover the whole market, because there were many pressing plants in the New York area, many on the West Coast.

Speaker:

So that's probably why they had more mastering Studios doing cuttings.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

Now, the next one I'm going to show you is Who's Next by The Who.

Speaker:

And this was released in 71 on Track Records.

Speaker:

This is a UK first pressing.

Speaker:

Now, if you look at the database here, you'll see the name Bilbo written.

Speaker:

And we're in Lord of the Rings territory here.

Speaker:

But Bilbo was a guy called Dennis Blackham, also UK cutting engineer, and he used to tag his work with Bilbo all the time.

Speaker:

So you might see.

Speaker:

Yeah, you'll see Bilbo, maybe you'll see some different words next to Bilbo or something.

Speaker:

But if you see Bilbo, you know it's Dennis Blackham.

Speaker:

So it's a fun way to actually track a record to the beginning, to the origin.

Speaker:

Who did this, who was the engineer behind this? And again, I'm going to take the Carpenter metaphor because it's nice to know that it was a person who did it and not just some machine or a robot.

Speaker:

It was actually a real person who had to make choices.

Speaker:

And that's why records are so fun, because in the whole process of making an album and recording music, people are involved.

Speaker:

And also, of course, in the cutting of an album, nothing is what you say.

Speaker:

Everything has to be decided how something should sound and the quality assurance and all that is people.

Speaker:

Very fun.

Speaker:

Cool.

Speaker:

The first UK edition of Led Zeppelin.

Speaker:

Three.

Speaker:

I don't have one of those, but if you look in the dead wax, you will see the words.

Speaker:

And I've written them down because I can't remember.

Speaker:

It says, do what thou wilt.

Speaker:

And on the next site B, it says So Mo be it.

Speaker:

That was actually written in the Deadbox.

Speaker:

And that was a quote from Alistair Crowley.

Speaker:

That Jimmy Page.

Speaker:

He was a huge fan of that.

Speaker:

I don't know what was Alistair Crowley.

Speaker:

What did you call it? Was it wizard, a widow, some Satanic? I don't know what it was.

Speaker:

Some guy wished a weirdo Satanic dude.

Speaker:

Yeah, let's just say that.

Speaker:

But that was a quote for him.

Speaker:

But the cool thing, this is one of my favorite elements.

Speaker:

Opec Blackwater Park.

Speaker:

Now, this is a reissue on music, on vinyl, a reissue that came out in 2010.

Speaker:

I think it's a double album.

Speaker:

But the funny thing is, as a homage to cutting engineers and to let sapling three, you'll actually find on site A, it says, do what thou wilt.

Speaker:

B, it says So mode, be it.

Speaker:

And on site three, it says PECO Duck.

Speaker:

And on site four, it says Bilbo.

Speaker:

Oh, man.

Speaker:

And you got to know this stuff to actually get it.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

So when you look at that, you say, what the hell is this? But if you know the backstory, because they are, of course, OPEC are vinyl fans themselves and they're really vinyl nerds.

Speaker:

So putting these salutes, or whatever you call them in the dead wax, it just shows you how nerdy they are.

Speaker:

But now you know the story and what it means and why they're there.

Speaker:

But it's a good fun.

Speaker:

Cool.

Speaker:

You won't find it on the original Blackwater Park release.

Speaker:

It's only on the reissue here, but it's a fun thing.

Speaker:

Cool.

Speaker:

Now.

Speaker:

Oh, Mike.

Speaker:

Oh, yeah, there you go.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

Have two copies of this.

Speaker:

One is a UK release from 82.

Speaker:

And the other one is a Norwegian Scandinavian cutting.

Speaker:

Absolutely the same album, same music.

Speaker:

But of course with different labels, because the UK one looked like this.

Speaker:

I think also the American looked like this.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

And if you look at the dead wax here, it says Tone, tone.

Speaker:

And that's a guy called Tony Bridge who did this cut in the UK.

Speaker:

But if you look at the Norwegian one, it says Finsen, written with handwriting.

Speaker:

And this, of course, has the Casablanca labels.

Speaker:

I don't know if the light is a bit dodgy, but.

Speaker:

Okay, but it says Vincent here, down here, you won't be able to see it, so it won't matter.

Speaker:

But two different records released at the same time.

Speaker:

No, two of the same records.

Speaker:

That was what I meant to say.

Speaker:

Released at the same time.

Speaker:

But cut in two different countries by two different people.

Speaker:

So it's not the same.

Speaker:

It's not exactly the same sound you'll get on these two albums, because the sound is whatever the cutting is an interpretation in a way, of the mastered sound, if you know what I mean.

Speaker:

But Eva Finsen, who got this, he worked in Oslo at Rosenberg Studios in Oslo.

Speaker:

I mean, almost every Norwegian pressing from the 80s and onwards, he did.

Speaker:

So you're either looking for his surname written or just an F.

Speaker:

If you see an F in the dead wax, you'll know it's in Vincent.

Speaker:

It's called Legend.

Speaker:

Let's see.

Speaker:

Do you have any questions? Because I'll just see what I have.

Speaker:

I'm thinking this gives justification for having multiple copies, different copies of the same record, because they're all a little bit different sound.

Speaker:

Oh, you're helping out.

Speaker:

I'm feeling.

Speaker:

So I've landed now feel so included, I can justify all my 15 copies of Kiss Alive.

Speaker:

I can just.

Speaker:

there is a difference when you listen to a great sounding monster from my favorite is, of course, Robert Lawdwick, but also Bernie Grand, who was fantastic.

Speaker:

And the Studios.

Speaker:

I mean, I bought a cut from the original Mazel tape, a burn that was rereleased from, like, 2018 from the Abbey Road Studios.

Speaker:

And that sounds so amazing.

Speaker:

It's not completely different, but there is more depth to it.

Speaker:

And you can hear all the separations.

Speaker:

If you're listening in headphones and so forth, then I just love that album.

Speaker:

It's funny, because I think one of the main challenges that cutting an album for cutting engineers, one of the main challenges is they have to cut a record that's going to sound good on a cheap system as well as a million dollar system.

Speaker:

And I'm sure most of them will do the best work they can.

Speaker:

But unfortunately, most people won't be able to hear how good an album actually can sound because people play on really crappy stereos.

Speaker:

I know.

Speaker:

And it must be very unsatisfying in a way of educating yourself for years and learning all the tricks and be an incredible mastering engineer.

Speaker:

And then just know that people will listen on their iPhone headphones or on a very cheap stereo because they will never actually hear the potential of a really good album.

Speaker:

But that's just the world.

Speaker:

I think that's just the way it is.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Maybe now when we talk about it.

Speaker:

Maybe now when we talk about it, then we show these records.

Speaker:

Yeah, of course we are.

Speaker:

Vinyl influencers.

Speaker:

I like that label.

Speaker:

Yeah, I'm going to use that.

Speaker:

I'm a vinyl influencer.

Speaker:

Crown out loud.

Speaker:

Awesome.

Speaker:

Well, the final thing I'm going to show you, I think.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

Is the final thing before we draw the names to the winners for the contest.

Speaker:

We know you've been waiting for that.

Speaker:

Now I'm going to show you this is the first Dire Straits album killer album in so many ways.

Speaker:

I love this so much.

Speaker:

A record label called Original Masters.

Speaker:

They're called the Mobile Fidelity.

Speaker:

If you want to splash out $100 for an album, this is what you need to get because they're quite expensive.

Speaker:

But for most part, even if it's a reissue, let's say this came out a couple of years ago, but it was recorded in 78, I think 77 and 78.

Speaker:

I'm not really sure.

Speaker:

But this record company will always seek out the best Masters, the best audio source available, maybe even the actual first generation master takes.

Speaker:

So you will get those audio source available, and then they will only use top of the class mastering cutting engineers, and everything is just quality all the way through.

Speaker:

And not all pressing plants are allowed to do pressings for these, you're going to be specially picked out.

Speaker:

You have to pass a test and all that to be able to press these records.

Speaker:

This was cut by a guy called Kevin Gray, and he's one of those rock stars in the cutting world of cutting engineers.

Speaker:

So you can get T shirts with his name and all that.

Speaker:

Oh, for real? No, I'm just joking, Mike.

Speaker:

Okay, there we go.

Speaker:

But you will actually, again, if you own a really good system with good speakers and all that, this just sounds incredible, really.

Speaker:

It's so good, so detailed, so dynamic, and just a great sounding record.

Speaker:

Now, I've never heard a bad sounding guy straight records because they are recorded and produced so well that you'd be hard pressed to find a really bad cut of a dash rate album.

Speaker:

But this is one of the absolute top ones to go for.

Speaker:

And of course, a monstering engineer has merchandise, for crying out loud.

Speaker:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker:

Would you be surprised if it wasn't American? Would you be surprised? I'm sorry, Phil, but would you be surprised that the motherfucker had some.

Speaker:

I'm a big fucking rock star.

Speaker:

I'm a monster.

Speaker:

I got a T shirt with my name on it.

Speaker:

Would you be surprised, Soren? No.

Speaker:

Me neither.

Speaker:

No.

Speaker:

I'll buy into that shit.

Speaker:

Absolutely.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

Are we doing it? Big finale.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

Drumroll.

Speaker:

Here you go.

Speaker:

That was a real mastering engineer, Phil.

Speaker:

I have my own merch, too, by the way.

Speaker:

So for those of you who don't know what the heck we're talking about, we had one of Soren's buddies who is a musician, is into the electro music genre.

Speaker:

His name is Code Electro.

Speaker:

Or at least his artist name is Code Electro.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

And he was giving away three albums, and you needed to go to our Facebook page and answer a simple question.

Speaker:

And what was the question, Soren? Do you want it? Do you want it? And Lo and behold, a shitload of you wanted his album.

Speaker:

They knew the answer.

Speaker:

Yeah, they knew the answer.

Speaker:

I got three names here right in front of me.

Speaker:

And I'm just going to go in no particular order.

Speaker:

The first one is Henrik Moburg VAS.

Speaker:

Henrik.

Speaker:

Henrik.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

And then we got Derek Lasky.

Speaker:

Derek Lasky.

Speaker:

Congratulations.

Speaker:

chiluga.

Speaker:

Cool.

Speaker:

So that's the three.

Speaker:

There you go.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

Good work.

Speaker:

You see? There we go.

Speaker:

Too much bill soon.

Speaker:

These guys are wearing merchandise, too.

Speaker:

Enough with their plots, man.

Speaker:

We're recording this, but this will go live on a Thursday.

Speaker:

If I say today, I mean Thursday when this goes live.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

But you will be contacted by P.

Speaker:

M.

Speaker:

By one of us either, Michael Me.

Speaker:

And we just need your address so that we can ship out the records to you.

Speaker:

And they will probably be shipped out next week.

Speaker:

During next week.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

And for you that listened without the confusion, it's today because when you listen to this, it is today, it is Thursday.

Speaker:

And you listen to this show because it gets released on a Thursday.

Speaker:

So we'll contact you unless you're.

Speaker:

Hijacked.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

Bootleg dated on vinyl exclusively for you.

Speaker:

Maybe you never know.

Speaker:

Excellent.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

Thank you.

Speaker:

To everyone who knew the answer.

Speaker:

Yeah, that was great.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Oh, and a special thanks to Colonel, for crying out loud.

Speaker:

Absolutely.

Speaker:

Thank you so much.

Speaker:

Thank you for being part of the soundson Vinyl podcast.

Speaker:

A cool thing would be when the winners receive their price okay.

Speaker:

It will be great if they post a picture with them and the album or just the album spinning on the page.

Speaker:

Oh, that would be great.

Speaker:

Let us know that it has received his final business.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

That would be awesome.

Speaker:

And maybe if you post it on Instagram, make sure to tag code electro and sounds and vinyl too.

Speaker:

They'll that'd be nice.

Speaker:

Really nice.

Speaker:

Maybe we'll get three Tags.

Speaker:

It's not incredible.

Speaker:

Oh, man.

Speaker:

That would be something there.

Speaker:

Cool.

Speaker:

Good.

Speaker:

So that's it.

Speaker:

That's it.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

That's it.

Speaker:

That's the last episode for the season.

Speaker:

It's our last one was Soren and that's it.

Speaker:

It's very sad.

Speaker:

It's happy because we had the giveaway but now we're sad because it's the last episode with Soren.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Thank you so much, my buddy.

Speaker:

Thank you so much.

Speaker:

It's been great.

Speaker:

Thank you.

Speaker:

This was awesome.

Speaker:

The whole season was epic.

Speaker:

I just got to say thank you to you two guys, of course, but also to all the people who watched it on YouTube, listened in on the podcast and it's been incredible.

Speaker:

I've had so much cool feedback from people.

Speaker:

I'm not saying around the world.

Speaker:

It sounds a bit big.

Speaker:

My friends have commented that it was fun.

Speaker:

It was good fun.

Speaker:

Very good.

Speaker:

So you're printing merch now? All right.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Going on the road.

Speaker:

What are you talking about? That well, speaking of merch, you got a book.

Speaker:

So tell everybody where they can get a copy of your book.

Speaker:

Yeah, I mean if you want a copy of the book and of course still it's in Danish.

Speaker:

So sorry about that.

Speaker:

But maybe you'll be able to enjoy the book despite you not being able to read English.

Speaker:

But if you want a copy of the book, Just go to my Instagram page, aldombinoon or my Facebook page which is also called aldombun altombinyl and just P and me.

Speaker:

I can ship everywhere and I still have a few copies left here at home so I can do it very quickly.

Speaker:

We could put a link in the description field.

Speaker:

We'll put a link in the description so people will find it easy.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Alright.

Speaker:

It's been a huge pleasure, guys.

Speaker:

So much fun.

Speaker:

And for us yes.

Speaker:

Great.

Speaker:

It's been awesome.

Speaker:

Nerdy stuff as hell but it's all good fun.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

And until next time, later.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

Keep your eye out for info on season seven.

Speaker:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

Season seven.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

Until then, later.

Speaker:

This has been found on vinyl.

Speaker:

For extended show notes, playlists videos and episode collections, visit Soundonvinyl.com sound on vinyl is produced by boothound entertainment in cooperation with boothound music.

Leave a Reply