The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

blacknwhite · Joined: 24 Apr 2008 Posts: 113

Just received in the mail, the book & DVD offered by Highland Labs, both entitled "Disk Recording". Was pointed to them in a PM from one of the forum users. Didn't notice any reviews anywhere online so decided to post one.

PRODUCTS:

DVD: "Disk Recording 1925-1975" http://www.highlandlab.com/diskrecordingdvd.htm, $25 w/ shipping.

BOOK: "Disk Recording 1930-1960" http://www.highlandlab.com/diskrecording.htm, also $25 w/ shipping.

SHORT REVIEW: Superb, visually & informationally, both book & DVD. They're sort of like a matched pair. A bit of overlap but great info in both.

CONTENTS, DVD: Besides a history of recorded sound, shows as the web page says, demo's of cutting with 1930s-1960s(70s?) Westrex cutters. You see the cutter cutting while you hear the sound from the feedback coils of those cutters with feedback, then you hear playback through a pickup and amplifier of the same era, designed to complement that cutterhead. Also, shows disassembled versions of several cutterheads and details of their mechanics; of particular interest I found was detailed description of construction of the various versions of the Westrex 45-degree stereo cutter. A skilled metalworker could make a repro. So begin my aspirations of a new hobby, metalworking & machining. 45 min.

DVD SCREENCAPS:

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CONTENTS, BOOK: A man's attempt to give an overview, "for hobbyists and professionals", of his life experience and amassed technical info on disk cutting, 1930-1960, within just 88 pages. Lots of great pictures. Lots of PRACTICAL IDEAS that you can use for cutting; great common sense workarounds to various shortcomings of different less-than-perfect record cutting equipment which will have you repeatedly saying, "I gotta try that". Tons of super cool ads for lathes. I had NO IDEA there were so many various small companies making odd-ball semi-pro and pro lathes. 88 pages; wish it was longer, but well worth the $25 with shipping.

Just sent the owner of Highland Labs a thank-you email for making this stuff available...

- Bob

cuttercollector · Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 317 Location: San Jose, CA

Barry Brose is quite a treasure of knowledge in this field and one heck of a nice guy. He is in my genreal area so we have had a few chats. I will have to get the DVD. I have the book. Bob (Robert) Morrison book with Barry is quite the treasure too. I regret not having met Bob who has since passed away. Both of them probably have forgotten more than most people know about disc sound, film sound, old microphones etc. Both were active with many of the San Francisco Bay area radio stations. Bob also narrated the Ampex test tapes.
They did a 2 volume video seried on old microphones too which I think is still available.

JayDC · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 2:37 am Post subject:

I think I might purchase this..

grooveguy · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 52

I had the privilege of knowing Bob Morrison for about 25 years prior to his passing. A really great guy who really did know just about all there was to know about disc recording, microphones, magnetic recording, old cars and similar interesting topics. I miss the guy a lot and can't recommend this book enough.