Did Pathé vertical and lateral records use the same masters?

Discussions on Records, Recording, & Artists
Post Reply
User avatar
pughphonos
Victor III
Posts: 771
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:35 pm
Personal Text: Ms. Pugh
Location: Homewood, Illinois, USA

Did Pathé vertical and lateral records use the same masters?

Post by pughphonos »

Hi all,
I'm the new owner of a Pathé Actuelle "Sheraton" phonograph and can now play both Pathé vertical and lateral-cut records. As far as I understand (could be wrong) in the 1920s Pathé issued many of its titles in both formats--one format had "0" before the number while the other did not. So, how was this "doubling up" accomplished from the same recording sessions? Two recording horns? Or dubbing from one to the other? OR did Pathé pay the artists to create multiple recordings, one for vertical and one for lateral? Please advise. Thanks!

Ralph
"You must serve music, because music is so enormous and can envelop you into such a state of perpetual anxiety and torture--but it is our first and main duty"
-- Maria Callas, 1968 interview.

User avatar
OrthoSean
Victor V
Posts: 2912
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:33 pm
Location: Near NY's Capital

Re: Did Pathé vertical and lateral records use the same mast

Post by OrthoSean »

Pathé recorded on cylinder masters and dubbed them to discs, vertical and lateral. They abandoned this process right around the switch to electrical recording in 1927. More info here, a great resource and a site full of fascinating information:

http://78records.wordpress.com/2012/08/ ... r-masters/

Sean

User avatar
pughphonos
Victor III
Posts: 771
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:35 pm
Personal Text: Ms. Pugh
Location: Homewood, Illinois, USA

Re: Did Pathé vertical and lateral records use the same mast

Post by pughphonos »

Sean, that makes sense! I had read that Pathé used cylinder masters, but I didn't realize that that continued until 1927 and that they served as the basis for both the vertical and lateral disc releases.

Thanks for the web site info!

Ralph
"You must serve music, because music is so enormous and can envelop you into such a state of perpetual anxiety and torture--but it is our first and main duty"
-- Maria Callas, 1968 interview.

Post Reply