Mastering Engineer Dave Gardner & Audio Archivist Catherine Vericolli discuss the preservation of the Westbound Records audio catalogue, including the masters of legendary recordings by Funkadelic, The Counts, Ohio Players & more.
Topics Include:
- Dave Gardner (mastering engineer) and Catherine Vericoli (archivist) introduce their specialized roles
- Mastering serves as link between creative process and manufacturing standards
- Catherine transfers analog tapes to highest possible digital quality preservation
- Physical restoration work includes extensive mold and splice remediation tasks
- Much archival work involves "audio archaeology" detective work with clues
- Working backwards from incomplete information when documentation is missing completely
- Common assumption that old records were always done "the right way"
- Reality reveals beloved records often weren't made using proper methods
- Got rare access to examine entire Westbound Records collection together
- Westbound Records started late 1960s by distributor Armin Bolodian in Detroit
- Detroit-based independent label achieved regional success with multiple hit records
- Funkadelic, Ohio Players, Detroit Emeralds were among their major successful acts
- Complete catalog reissue approach rather than cherry-picking just popular hits
- Assets moved between multiple locations over decades, not everything returned
- Found various generations and copies of tapes for each release
- Maggot Brain original masters were believed to be permanently missing
- Discovery of missing masters hidden in completely unmarked white archive boxes
- Original tape playback speeds rarely match speeds of vinyl releases
- Spent entire week meticulously fine-tuning correct playback speeds for accuracy
- Academic ethnomusicologist confirmed musical key was wrong on commercial releases
- Many recent European reissues contain fundamentally inaccurate speed and sound
- Double 45 RPM format avoids sonic compromises required for long sides
- 27-minute album sides on 33 RPM required major audio quality sacrifices
- All-analog cutting process preserves original sound character without digital conversion
- Unreleased material exists primarily in unprocessed multitrack tape format only
- Dennis Coffey played guitar on many more Funkadelic recordings than known
- Analog tape degradation accelerating rapidly, especially problematic for digital formats
- Cultural preservation mission drives their passionate collaborative archival restoration work
- Asset paranoia and trust issues affect access to important historical recordings
- Primary motivation remains saving irreplaceable music for all future generations
High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide
