Transition from mono to stereo

[AfricaBrass]

I wasn't around when stereo was first introduced and I'm interested in finding out when the transition to stereo occured.

I know Blue Note first released stereo recordings in 1959 with the 4000 series, but what about the other labels? When did they release their first stereo lps?

Thanks!

[jazzbo]

Started happening as far as I can tell in the jazz field around 1957 through 1958, though mono was still the major thing for a long time, and mono records were still released for a decade or longer. I know that there are some stereo jazz recordings (Tristano/Konitz)(recorded but not necessarily released in stereo at the time) as early as 1955. Most of the majors seem to have hit upon it in 1957 . . . ? Columbia did some beautiful beautiful beautiful stereo stuff in 1957 and 1958. . . .

Edited March 15, 2005 by jazzbo

[rostasi]

I wasn't around when stereo was first introduced and I'm interested in finding out when the transition to stereo occured.

I know Blue Note first released stereo recordings in 1959 with the 4000 series, but what about the other labels? When did they release their first stereo lps?

Thanks!

Experiments began in the early 30's - i think in '34 there was a recording made of Beecham conducting Mozart's Jupiter,

but I don't think stereo broke into the commercial market until right after the war (Decca, I think, in '45?)

Edited March 15, 2005 by rostasi

[Stefan Wood]

Stereo made headway in the mid 50's with recordings from RCA and Mercury, though they were initially sold well on reel to reel tape, then vinyl. 1958 is the key year for many initial stereo releases on vinyl.

[Daniel A]

Nice page (can't judge the accuracy, though):

* I Can’t Keep Up With All The Formats *

[AfricaBrass]

Thanks for all your help!

:rsmile:

[Daniel A]

As far as jazz recordings are concerned, I don't think there's anything before this (1956), and from what I can remember in this case the stereo master was concieved long afterwards by mixing together two entirely separate recordings.

Edited March 15, 2005 by Daniel A

[jazzbo]

The earliest real tape stereo I know of in jazz is the live material recorded at the Chinese restaurant of Konitz with Tristano that appeared in the Mosaic set. Beautiful sound too! 1955!

[kenny weir]

I picked up a cheap copy, on Candid, of the Bud Shank album Live At The Haig a few months' back.

Not only is this gerat music - it's in stereo, recorded in 1956.

The liner notes claim the tracks to be "pre-stereo stereo".

I'm not sure how true that is, but for what seems to have been an impromptu recording with two microphones in the audience, the sound is not only stereo but it's bloody amazing!

Edited March 15, 2005 by kenny weir

[Harold_Z]

I vaugely remember something about one of the Wilbur De Paris Atlantics being among the first or THE first stereo Jazz record.

I think 1957 was the year that Stereo lps first became available.

Edited March 16, 2005 by Harold_Z

[GA Russell]

In 1969 mono was phased out, replaced with a stereo "compatible" with mono record players. This was much like the phase-out of LPs. The stores quit stocking them, so the buyer didn't have any choice.

[Bill Nelson]

In 1969, buyers didn't have a choice to buy mono LPs because they weren't being made (unless you copped mono DJ copies thru 1972). For just a few more years into the 70's, you might score DJ singles with one side mono (usually a 'fold-down' from the stereo master).

There's probably some indie labels which persevered with the mono format in the early 70's, but '69 is the cut-off year when the majors declared mono dead.

[Stereojack]

I vaugely remember something about one of the Wilbur De Paris Atlantics being among the first or THE first stereo Jazz record.

Tom Dowd at Atlantic was one of the first engineers to experiment with stereo. He was recording in stereo as early as 1955, although the company probably didn't release anything in stereo that early. Several companies were releasing stereo recordings on reel-to-reel tape starting around 1956. The first stereo LP's came out in 1957.

Rudy Van Gelder first recorded in stereo in 1957. Since he was the engineer for just about everything on Blue Note, Prestige, & Savoy at the time, these labels began to release stereo LP's the following year. Many companies were experimenting with stereo early on, although the stereo masters stayed in the can for many years. A few instances I can think of:

Nat King Cole - Love Is the Thing (rec. 1956)

Miles Davis - Miles Ahead (1957)

Recently I discovered a 1954 Cal Tjader date that is in stereo, but don't know the circumstances.

jack

[brownie]

In 1969 mono was phased out, replaced with a stereo "compatible" with mono record players. This was much like the phase-out of LPs. The stores quit stocking them, so the buyer didn't have any choice.

I have been mourning monos ever since

I still remember the frustration of acquiring mono copies in the late sixties!

[rostasi]

Tom Dowd at Atlantic was one of the first engineers to experiment with stereo. He was recording in stereo as early as 1955, although the company probably didn't release anything in stereo that early. Several companies were releasing stereo recordings on reel-to-reel tape starting around 1956. The first stereo LP's came out in 1957.

Stereophonic Sound

1932 - March 12 Stokowski recorded his first stereo disc, Scriabin's "Poem of Fire" for Bell Labs in Philadelphia using vinyl rather than shellac, with the dynamic range extended to 60 db and response to 10,000 hz. The master disc was gold-coated by vacuum-sputtering. At first, for the Scriabin recording March 12, Bell had recorded two separate grooves for each channel, but later Arthur Keller in the patent #2,114,471 described the 45/45 method in one groove. The patent application was not filed until 1936 because Bell did not see an immediate commercial application of the method. Keller was unaware of Blumlein until the 1950s when his 45/45 system was re-invented by Westrex.

1933 - April 27 Stereoscopic sound was transmitted to the National Academy of Sciences and many invited guests at Constitution Hall, Washington. Transmission was over wire lines from the Academy of Music in Philadelphia and three channels were used with microphones respectively at left, center and right of the orchestra stage and loud speakers in similar positions in Constitution Hall. The orchestra in Philadelphia was conducted by Alexander Smallens while Dr. Stokowski in Washington manipulated the controls so as to enhance the music in accordance with his own views.

1934 - Jan. 19 Alan Blumlein recorded Thomas Beecham at the Abbey Road Studio in stereo, conducting Mozart's "Jupiter Symphony" with a vertical-lateral technique using a stylus to vibrated in 2 directions, first recording one channel of sound in a groove laterally and then recording another channel of sound in the same groove vertically.

1940 - Harvey Fletcher and Stokowski made another stereophonic demonstration at Carnegie Hall April 9 and 10, with recorded stereo music from a three-channel system using sound on film with a frequency range of 30 to 15,000 cps and a volume range of 120 decibels. A 4th track was used as a loudness playback control track. The New York Times reported April 10 "Sound Waves 'Rock' Carnegie Hall As Enhanced Music' Is Played" and "The loudest sounds ever created crashed and echoed through venerable Carnegie Hall last night as a specially invited audience listened, spellbound, and at times not a little terrified."

1945 - Decca's early stereo LPs used a Teldec/Neumann Stereo cutter to record one channel lateral and another vertical, each on the opposite wall of a groove; but the dual tracks could not be reproduced with heavy mono pickups on the turntables and record players.

1949 - General Motors asked Magnecord to make a stereo tape recorder to improve spatial analysis of automobile noise. Magnecord modified its PT-6 tape recorder that had been introduced in May 1948 at the National Association of Broadcasters show. This modified recorder was introduced at the 1949 Audio Fair in New York with two record/play heads 1.5 inches apart, each with its own amplifier.

1951 - Emory Cook made the first stereo recordings of railroad trains in the field for the LP titled "Rail Dynamics" demonstrated at the 1951 Audio Fair in New York.

[Stereojack]

I stand corrected. Dowd certainly was not the first. RCA made several experimental recordings in the early 1930's, the most famous of which are the Duke Ellington medleys recorded in 1932, formerly issued on Everybody's (LP) and Natasha (CD). The best sounding versions can currently be heard on the Ellington Centennial box. Film companies were making stereo recordings in the 1940's, and some of the music has been issued in stereo on CD. I'm thinking of a series that comes from MGM musicals with Fred Astaire & others.

As far as a practical application to commercial recordings, Dowd is an important pioneer in the field.

[rostasi]

As far as a practical application to commercial recordings, Dowd is an important pioneer in the field.

Dowd was incredible - a great loss... -_-

[AfricaBrass]

As far as a practical application to commercial recordings, Dowd is an important pioneer in the field.

Dowd was incredible - a great loss... -_-

I never knew about Dowd's contribution until I saw that recent film about him.

Wow!

Thanks again for all the information!

[Bluerein]

I remember hearing a stereo recording of the Berliner Philharmoniker during the war on which you could hear the bombs falling. No joking! So that must be around 1944 I guess. Not the first I know but it sounded good.

[AfricaBrass]

I remember hearing a stereo recording of the Berliner Philharmoniker during the war on which you could hear the bombs falling. No joking! So that must be around 1944 I guess. Not the first I know but it sounded good.

Wow! That must be an amazing recording. I'd love to hear that.