A Trip Down Memory Lane

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When I was a young man over 50 years ago, music was records. You would go to any store and buy a record and take it home and enjoy the music whenever you wished.

But soon the typical record disappeared and was replaced by other forms. So music recordings today are produced very differently then those early days.

50 years ago there were special records that existed. You would not normally find them in most record stores. They were called Direct to Disc Recordings.

This was a very special form of recording. It was almost like you were in a music studio listening to the recording being made. You could close your eyes and pinpoint to the exact location of each artist as they played a song. You could hear the scratching of their fingers on the instruments as they played the music. It was as close to being there as when the song was being recorded.

I have heard that this type of recording is coming back, so I thought I would go and explore to see if they have come back from the dead.

I went on a search yesterday to Bloomington, Indiana to find out if they have begun to produce Direct-to-Disc records again. There was a record store about a block from the center of town. They had thousands of records. But they all seemed like the normal type of records. Perhaps the internet can bring me closer.

How would I know if a record is direct-to-record recorded? Do they place a label on it or something?

Does the system playing the record need a specific setup, or will any record player provide the experience?

Also, I just bought some Bose ear buds that come with a setting for immersion. It gives me the impression that the music is around me rather than in my ears. Maybe those would be similar to the direct-to-record experience. They're called QuietComfort Ultra with model numbers 441408 (case), 408L (left), & 408R (right).

Generally they are identified as
Limited Edition - Direct To Disc Recording
or Original Master Recording
or Direct Disc Recording Limited Edition

Apparently these are still being produced.

As one of the very few studios worldwide, we offer direct-to-disc recordings where the audio is recorded directly on lacquer disc. This lacquer disc is not only the recording media but also the master that is used to make stampers for industrial vinyl pressing. A direct-to-disc recording is something very special and can be performed as a vinyl-exclusive production or in combination with a CD production. Is it suitable for all genres, such as jazz, rock or classical and can take place with or without an audience. We record direct-to-disc at the studio, at the Meistersaal or even as an on-site recording. At Emil Berliner Studios, direct-to-disc recordings are 100% analog and made in real time without extra transfers between microphone and cutting stylus.

Direct-to-disc is an exceptional procedure, not only in terms of technology, but also musically: the musicians are compelled to record in one take without the possibility of post-production. Each side of the later record is recorded in real time and without interruption.

Source: A moment of perfection

This video describes a little bit about Direct-to-Disc recordings.

Direct-to-disk recording are back.

Last edited by jimmy m on 18 Apr 2025, 6:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I believe Jack White's Third Man Records outfit did or does some direct to vinyl recordings of their artists.

You might be right.

Now I remember. There was one other component to this story. It is called Surround Sound. I remember learning about it in the 1970s. To put it simply:

Direct-to-Disk + Surround Sound = Nirvana

According to Wikipedia Nirvana is the goal of many Buddhist paths, and leads to the soteriological release from dukkha ('suffering') and rebirths in saṃsāra.

By combining these two systems of music together, one created a perfect sound media. Songs exploded into a 3-dimensional music experience.



This type of device became available in the 1970s and I bought a 5 piece set of different types of speakers. I bought a set and combined it with Direct-to-Disc recordings and the world of music exploded around me. I sat in a room of musicians making music. I could close my eyes and I could reach out and touch each one as they performed. And this all occurred in one room of my house.

Here is an example of the cutting of a direct to disk recording.

Direct-to-Disc Session at Leesta Vall Sound Recordings

(Many of these recordings are showing up in muted state.
If so just click on the unmute to listen.)

Last edited by jimmy m on 22 Apr 2025, 10:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

(Many of these recordings are showing up in muted state.
If so just click on the unmute to listen.)

The Tricksters

This tale is not complete unless I explain the tricksters.

What is a trickster? The internet provides the following definition:

a dishonest person who defrauds others by trickery

So let me tell the story of the tricksters. This happened during the mid 1970s. I was a young man and I was working and was earning money. I decided to use this new wealth to buy a music system. Some of these audio systems were very expensive at the time and contained many working elements, such as amps and pre-amps and an array of audio equipment that could cost well over $2,000 in the 1970s. (This cost would be equivalent to around $20,000 today.)

So I would walk into elite audio stores in California and begin my search to buy the best audio system available at the time. But there were tricksters at play. Some worked in these stores and they knew the audio quality of direct-to-disc recordings. They had several examples in their stores. So when a young kid would walk in and ask about buying a great audio system, they would laugh and take me into a back room with a cheap, poorly designed set of audio equipment and try to sell me a piece of junk. All they needed to do was place a direct-to-disc record on the record player and play a song.

That is how I learned about direct-to-disc recordings.

Well, I arrived at the tail end of the age of Direct-to-Disc recordings. They stopped selling records and went to a different media for music. It did not have the quality of what Direct-to-Disc provided but for most people, they did not know.

But then my hearing began to be destroyed. Perhaps it was going to very loud music concerts. But I think it was also due to another type of hearing loss. I was working and I was traveling by airlines. Some were long distant flights. The aircraft uses compression when you fly at high altitudes. What nobody told me was that flying when you had a cold could cause hearing loss.

I was sick and took a long distant flight. My ears began to hurt as we gained altitude. But then when we came down at the end of the flight, my ears were extremely painful. And when we landed, I had lost my hearing in both ears. I couldn't hear a word they said. I went home and went to sleep. A day or two later, one of my ears recovered and a few days later the other one came back. I think these are the two problems (very loud music, airline flights when your ears are blocked) that resulted in my inability to perceive beautiful music again.