Roots Archives Forum

I would guess that much of the engineering is done by Barnabas as he did a whole lot of work for Youth Promotion and Sugar during those days.

Rootsman wrote:I was told their was no master tape to this recording......

I've just taken delivery this morning and on the back of what Rootsman says above I'm intrigued to know what the sound quality is going to be like. I will let you know tomorrow.

Please do Your Comments Would Be Appreciated

black-roots wrote:Please do Your Comments Would Be Appreciated

Yes, of course. Not a problem.

kalcidis@oslo wrote:I would guess that much of the engineering is done by Barnabas as he did a whole lot of work for Youth Promotion and Sugar during those days.

As did Peter Chemist.

Some of the riddims are Sugar's own, recorded in the U.K., others were Riddim tracks borrowed / leased from Ranking Joe.

I've got the Jah Guidance press of the showcase album you speak of. It is an original US press of the same album pressed on Black roots label from the early 80's. Sound quality is superb - Mine came in a black sleeve. Quite sure that these were mixed down by Peter chemist - he was a great engineer that never over used the sound effects, but still threw in a nice echo and reverb here and there.

> was told their was no master tape to this recording, I >dont really know the vinyl recording process, but I >understand a process was used where the first print >vinyl becomes the master rather than using master >tapes ??

>Perhaps someone can explain the process I refer too.

There used to be a process called "direct to disc", where the recording would be cut direct to an acetate, and then a stamper cut from the acetate for mass production of the album.
This meant the band actually recorded the entire LP side all at once, including pausing and staying silent between songs. Very much like a live performance. This process meant that there was no recording tape used, and the mix was direct from the floor. No post-production is possible, you have to get it right the first time. And if you make a mistake, you have to start all over again on a new disc.

But this can't be what they were talking about with Sugar's Dancehall Showcase, because there are dub versions following the vocal version of the track.

Therefore there *HAD* to be taped used. Digital hard-drive technology wasn't available at the time, so tape is the only option.

What they likely meant was that they lost the two-track tape that had the mixed-down versions from the multi-track master tape, and therefore they had to cut the re-issue from an original vinyl version.

I hope this helps.

Do you know any albums that has been cut this way?

K

Not in the reggae world, no. The first I had heard of was by a Canadian rock band called "Rough Trade" in 1976.

Here is a page with a bit more info on the process

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Direct_to_disc_recording

This direct to disc (acetate) proces was very common for cutting dubplates (before DAT's,computers & recordable cd's), perhaps the Dancehal showcase is a collection of Sugar Minott dubplates recorded in such a fashion.