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Command Classic 35MM master's??

bighairydude

bighairydude

Active Member
Is this just a gimmick to sell records or is it a viable recording method? I picked of a copy of Pictures at an Exhibition and wonder what I might expect as far as sound quality. The vinyl is mint and after a thorough cleaning I will give it a listen. I saw some others with this on the jacket but this is the only one i wanted. Thanks for any insight....
 
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I've got one by Doc Severinson - as I remember, it sounds pretty good but I've wondered also about the merits of this type of recording and whether they are actually high-quality pressings.

Alan
 
I've got a LP from a 35mm master too -- it's a Mercury Living Presence of "Favorite Balalaika Music" recorded behind the iron curtain (you know, back when there was one).

I guess 35mm film magnetic strips are used? I guess the question is why that would be better than professional multi track tape decks...
 
The problem with Command was that most of the performances were pretty mediocre.

But there are some good Mercs that use this method. They top titles sell for good prices in the original pressings.
 
I just found an Everest LP that was mastered in 35mm amongst a pile of LPs I got thru Freecycle... Parsifal - Wagner
 
The pictures at an exhbiiton did not impress me at all....my favorite is the everst 1961 version.

The sonics of the command are really nice, but like others have said, the technology makes the performance sound horrible.

BTW, I have the Parsifal LP and the Balalika LP...I have played neither....yet.
 
If you want a good Pictures, get the Leibowitz on RCA VCS-2659, 'The Power of the Orchestra'. The Chesky reissue of this title is also quite good.
 
shimniok said:
I've got a LP from a 35mm master too -- it's a Mercury Living Presence of "Favorite Balalaika Music" recorded behind the iron curtain (you know, back when there was one).

I guess 35mm film magnetic strips are used? I guess the question is why that would be better than professional multi track tape decks...
Click to expand...

In 1962, when that particular recording was made, that 3-channel machine
WAS top-of-the-line professional equipment. Mercury put out a brochure
along with a CD sampler when they reissued a number of titles on CD in
the late nineties, it gives a lot of interesting details regarding their
recordings.
 
electroking said:
In 1962, when that particular recording was made, that 3-channel machine
WAS top-of-the-line professional equipment. Mercury put out a brochure
along with a CD sampler when they reissued a number of titles on CD in
the late nineties, it gives a lot of interesting details regarding their
recordings.
Click to expand...


But no matter how good it was, it couldn't do anything for the balalaika music.
 
vinyl1 said:
But no matter how good it was, it couldn't do anything for the balalaika music.
Click to expand...

Cannot comment on this, this is one of the few Mercury titles I have
never listened to. But give me the Respighi Ancient Dances and Airs
conducted by Dorati (1958) any day!
 
electroking said:
Cannot comment on this, this is one of the few Mercury titles I have
never listened to. But give me the Respighi Ancient Dances and Airs
conducted by Dorati (1958) any day!
Click to expand...

Not a 35MM title of course, but a fine record that stayed in print for a long time. You might also want to try The Birds on Mercury. Unfortunately, they didn't do Church Windows during the stereo era - but the mono Merc of that is awesome.
 
I have several Command Classic 35MM, they vary from disk to disk,(like everything else) the actual pressings were kinda passable though a few recordings were stunning. I have a Sibelius disk that is on par with the best audio I have ever heard.
 
electroking said:
In 1962, when that particular recording was made, that 3-channel machine
WAS top-of-the-line professional equipment.
Click to expand...

Not saying it wasn't professional and top of the line.

I was curious from a technical point of view what makes the 35mm format better than the tape format of the time. Ie, some technical reason that it has, say, less wow/flutter? Higher ips? :dunno:
 
35 mm film is higher speed--90 feet per minute=18 ips. The tracks were somewhat wider than those of two track or three track tape machines. And it was sprocket driven.

The large film reels held about 22 minutes' worth of it, and each (so I understand) cost about as much as 15 reels of regular tape! Also, the large Westrex machines weren't designed for all the starts and stops tape machines could tolerate; apparently their use in recording, editing and mastering was very hard on them.
 
By coincidence I played a Mercury living Presence LP of a Rachmaninoff conducted by Dorati and it was also recorded originally on 35 MM film. The album itself is in excellent condition and sounded excellent in every respect. No background noise, great soundstage.
 
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