Jazz Record Restorer John R.T. Davies Dies - Page 7

Could you talk about your work as a sound engineer?

Discussion of recording methods, equalisation, cross-overs could occupy an entire second book. To talk about my work as a sound engineer might be difficult; ask a centipede in which order it moves its legs and it will inevitably fall over!

What recommendations do you have about styli?

Some of your questions are perennials such as dimensions and shapes of styli appropriate to particular makes of record. There ARE NO useful RULES although there may be a few guiding generalities; experiment must be the order of each day and experience and perception will indicate direction. There seems to have been no standardisation in the creation of cutting styli until after WW2 and, even then, variables of accident as well as particle adhesion, material (of both cutter and matrix) and temperature will affect a finished groove to be encountered by the tracing stylus. So where do we start? Even two pressings of ostensibly the same recording may be needful of differing treatment. Discussion of the advantages of shapes and cants would require a whole chapter!

What are your feelings on how 78s should be transferred?

In transfer and reproduction of the modulation content of a gramophone record groove, the variable information must needs be tailored to the peculiarities of the subsequent processing. Choices must be made concerning not only the programme but also the character of the attendant noise. . . and their subsequent separation for clarification of the former and reduction of the latter whether by quantification or simple perception. All of this will give rise to style. . . and each engineer has his own. . . he may seek substantial noise reduction at the expense of (instrumental) separation and peripheral "air" or he may colour tonality to alter the perceived spatial position of noise at the expense of realism; he may ignore the noise element in favour of realism, separation and "life". . . or any of these and others in combination. Just as you might read a scathing review of a current stage production while knowing that your own opinion is usually unlike that of the reviewer and see and enjoy the performance, so record-buyers will favour the style of a sound engineer over that of another. My own style is based in the presentation of maximum feasible information. . . and let the recipient have the choice. . . !

What are some of your favorite methods of cleaning?
Part and parcel of transfer must be preparatory work--whether simple (or not-so-simple) cleaning or physical repair. . . another three chapters! Generally, repairs should be durable but not irreversible. Generally, dry and clean is preferable to application of unguents and lubricants--many of which will change the nature of the original surface material and cause insidious and premature destruction.

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