Jeff Powell Tells the Story of The World's Most Expensive Record
2024 ж. 23 Сәу.
114 822 Рет қаралды
Jeff Powell, a Memphis-based mastering engineer, was recommended by Gavin Lurssen for a project with T-Bone Burnett aimed at preserving the sound of fresh-cut lacquer records. Despite initial challenges, including noise issues, they successfully recorded Bob Dylan performing classic songs and auctioned off the unique record for $1.78 million at Christie's, marking it as the most expensive record ever sold.
In the early 80s I worked for KM records in Burbank and later IAM in Irvine. I actually was a record press operator, and my good friend did the metal work for the masters and mothers. We were chasing the dream of audiophile vinyl records. We put out many titles for Nautilus, Saraband, CBS Mastersound, several using some half speed mastering techniques. I believe we were putting out a pretty great product, but as in all things timing is everything, and with the introduction of CDs we were doomed. So very fun to hear this story and know there are people out there still chasing the dream. Thank you!
Thank you for the half-speed masters (from several mentioned companies) I tried to collect as many of these sonic masterpieces (only one at a time as I could afford). I only collected a few before CDs showed up & killed my vinyl collection.
May you never hear Amanda McBroom in this lifetime again!
@shotgun Thank you. I own a few pieces of your handiwork, Nautilus test pressings and such. Sounds amazing and thank you! How many TP would you make if an album?
loved hearing this story. My dad owned a studio back in the ‘60s and cut vinyl records on a lathe. In fact, the studio was my first home as I lived there for the first 2 weeks of my life until my parents bought their first house. I’ve always loved audio production and was thrilled to hear this fantastic story. I will send to my Dad who will love it as well. Thanks so much for sharing, Jeff. I could listen to your stories all day, sir.
Jeff is an amazing engineer and producer, his skills go way beyond mastering vinyl, he's part of the great Memphis pedigree that extends all the way back.
If you don't know, Jeff has some of the very best ears and best heart of anybody in the business!
This is a very subjective statement and subject matter.
Hey Jeff! 34 years have come and gone, great to see (or hear) that you're doing awesome!
Fascinating story. Thank you so much for sharing. That was fifteen minutes of my time very well spent. I'll watch that again at least once more, likely twice. Thanks.
Jeff Powell, you make us proud.
Outstanding video. Always great to hear this kind of behind the scenes technical processes.
I enjoyed this very much. I used to work at Wakefield MFG in PHX AZ in the early 80's,.It is still the best job I ever had. Grinder/Labels/Automatic Press Operator
Fascinating video and story! Just some thoughts on lacquer preparation for any plating and some general thoughts and our observations as based on pressd records which could perhaps apply to lacquers, illustrated below as food for thought... In our study and in understanding where water droplets are larger than record grooves, and where PVC has the same electrical charge as pvc plastic, repelling water, t would be interesting to try the Kirmuss process on a cut lacquer before any plating. We see water used as a pre rinse. Perhaps our restoration process on a lacquer could be beneficial. Very interesting all your results. Your detailed and well organized process and discoveries. Really impressive! In the thought process... food for thought and for investigaion, we have indeed discovered outgassing of records and caught in a record sleeve for weeks or multiple decades, this creates a film as you noted. In our studies, our process removes this film. The needle now discovers the detail hidden by this film. Having not played a lacquer, just records, known where the heat of the needle can see dust fused into surfaced pressing oil as discovered by the Shure Brothers, creating more pops, pop creation can be avoided by using a 10 micron diameter brush before any play. Of course from a pressed record our process removes approximately 0.9 microns of this release agent. I would assume this practice could perhaps apply to the lacquer as well. No pressing oil per say in a lacquer. More study needed as your lathe is doing the cut. Am very curious as to what if anything as to any film surfaces during the cutting. This said, I would assume where heat generated at the point of contact with the needle in playing a lacquer could perhaps create a pop perhaps by way of heating of the lacquer at the point of contact. Just hypothesizing at this point. In combination with the blast of nitrogen air, perhaps our process could help before any plating. Lots of variables. FYi; I picked up some lacquers at the Electric Recording Company in the UK. Hmmm, time permitting it would be interesting to experiment. In pressed records discovered where records should be played once per day per side. Allowing the plasticizer to do its job and return the groove to its rest or pressed position for best sound reproduction. The needle creates heat at the point of contact with the pressed record's groovened, . As just mentioned, wise to always use a 10 micron brush before play to remove dust. As lacquers are cut and not pressed, something to look at as to repeated same day play of a lacquer. More investigation.... Playing records sees the stylus pick up contaminants. In playing records a needle cleaner is suggested. I am sure where in playing a lacquer where a safe wet needle cleaner was usd before any play, and where 10 micron diameter parastatic felt brush was used. The above illustrated as common good practice based on our studies of pressed records. In stacking lacquers for shipping, noted the care. Paper spacers are problematic due to their manufacture. Dusty. Very impressed with your video!!!!!
This is amazing. I have several records cut by Jeff and they all sound terrific.
So cool Jeff! Man, I envy you being at Sam's place. So much history and vibe. Thanks for sharing the background on this!
I had heard about that when it sold. Love knowing the back story. Thank you for sharing
Wonderful story sir! Thank you for putting this up for viewing!
Great story - thanks for keeping music alive.
Awesome story bro. Thats going to the pub for a story with a beer. Seriously. Mates will love it. 👍
I'm so jealous of his job. So interesting and you can see the knowledge oozing out of him. This guy is a problem solver.
What a cool project to be a part of! I would love to hear that master....
Nice one Steve. I love the new kitchen, especially all the new appliances. Looking forward to the new bathroom going in on Monday. The Gong People are very happy with the wolf pelts too.
Very great show. Thanks...
awesome video glad I found your channel
Some people just like the sound of vinyl, i luv the sound, i like all the imperfections 😊i luv the aesthetics of all the ole equipment 😁
Great, interesting story. I enjoy hearing the type of things that go on BTS.
Congrats Jeff!! Proud of you Bro!!
Woah! Cool project! I remember Nelson Pass telling me about how he built the amplifiers for somebody´s lathe but I hadn't thought about how much the lathe influenced the sound -- duh! It would be cool to use the test-tone record to build a digital filter, modeling the characteristics of lathe.
Tip: look up 'vinyl simulators'.
Fantastic story. Thank you.
Such a cool story.
Hell of a story! Somehow I knew Bob wasn't coming to the studio though. Lol. 1.8 Million for one disc of one song? Bananas.
I had a really great conversation with Jeff about mastering from digital cutting vinyl a couple of years back, it was very illuminating! He was in the middle of remastering Blonde on Blonde and other Dylan gems. He’s a very knowledgeable guy and really really nice. For all you people getting vinyl mastered from your digital files bring the volume down 20:db. And don’t brick wall it!
Fascinating.
Thanks for the video keeps me inspired I listen to records everyday I've been collecting since I was little kid I'm 69 years old back in the late '70s my friend found a Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon album it was in a box a wooden box with a sliding drawer sort of like the one in your on the video it was a Pink Floyd Master disc I've never seen another one I was told it was only a dozen made have you heard of this he sold it at record show for $400 I was back in 1981 I've never seen another one and I can't find any information online very interesting it sounded fantastic we played it it had a pamphlet about how it was made and who made it I don't remember that details but he bought it from a guy in New York have a great day
Thank you
I thought for sure The World’s Most Expensive Record (s) had to be the gold plated ones that went on Voyagers 1 & 2. Who would have thought…
My mom's voice is on those records. soundcloud.com/nasa/golden-record-polish-greeting
@@dangerousmusic What an honor! Imagine an alien race finding this disc and figuring it out perhaps millions of years from now. Her voice rings out in eternity.
I had the same thought!
WOWZA!
@@dangerousmusicthat’s amazing!
Touching the record with greasy fingers is a big no no.
What a great story, thanks for sharing. I wonder what kind of price a Voyager Golden Record would bring today if one was available.
Hi Jeff - We met at ARDENT many years ago when I worked with the great John Fry (RIP) in getting them an SSL console. This was a fabulous story and it was great to hear it from you! Cheers - Don
Love this story!!!!
Chris makes great stuff ! Hey Marek !! Rock on, 🤘 Brothers !!
fantastic story and very interesting.
My vote for best reproduction of sound is a master played at 15ips on a reel to reel like the one behind him. Maybe that’s why it is there.
I just watched producer/recording engineer Cookie Marenco of Blue Coast Recordings raving about the sound of analog tape. She (and others) is a big fan of DSD (Direct Stream Digital) as the best-sounding format for distribution. I wanted to ask her if she's ever considered releasing reel-to-reels of albums for rich audiophiles who buy hor-rodded tape decks to play a few dozen expensive vintage and modern tapes.
Talk about being systematic and methodical. ✌️👌✌️
Great story Jeff, I remember you well from the TapeOP conferences. I sold loads of 2" tape to T-Bone over the years. I hope this one was tracked to tape. Hope all is well with you.
Jeff, this is a great new development. Did it still retain full frequency bandwidth?
Video also can be packaged with the 10" now and prove provenance of the piece. Burnett has excellent explication of what the intention of this project is.
Crazy story
An interesting and entertaining story, told by a smart and obviously talented guy!
Why not just record it to high-resolution digital and then press as many copies as you want?
Very interesting!
Curious is the coating took off and is widely used? Your mother was my music teacher in BG, btw.
I'd love to know more about specific equipment choices for the recording process as well as was it recorded direct to disc? Also what was the playback system, cartridge, preamp the entire system?
Hey Chris; I don't have that intel, but I can tell you what Jeff's signal chain consists of. That is an up and coming video. (Whenever we can get'r done between designing gear!)
Great story!
very cool!
$1.78 million?! Wow, somebody sure has money for blowing in the wind...
Jeff cut my record back in 2018 for Rhygin Records. What is the industry doing about the lacquer manufacturing only being done by one producer in Japan?
when did this happen?? sorry if i missed it... what year??
Wow.
Wow. Epic. Kinda makes you step back.. and say "How can we put a price on that? Especially THAT price? ANY price...?" Humbling, I guess is the word I'm searching for.
Did you make a copy for yourself?
It's a Trent Reznor's analog alter-ego, Rent Treznor.
But how much did it cost to make?
Exactly. Felt like clickbait
There's no way the recording session itself cost as much as super producer Trevor Horn's "Slave to the Rhythm" single for Grace jones, which cost £800,000 40 years ago. The mastering cost of cutting the one record is wrapped up with the cost of developing T-Bone Walker's Ionic Original special disc coating. Presumably the cost per record made will decrease now they've made one. I can't find any recent information about it; back in 2022 T-Bone talked about releasing more one-off or limited edition physical records with the magic coating.
"This is not the most expensive record in the world... This is just a tribute"
Riggs Goo goo
WooTang
Cool story.
I wonder how many songs they recorded..?
This is a very cool video but what about Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’. This album was recorded in secret over six years and has the unique characteristic of having only one copy ever produced. It was sold at auction in 2015 for a staggering $2 million1. This sale included specific contractual terms, making it not just the most expensive record but also one of the most exclusive music releases ever. AH BUT IT WAS A CD NOT A RECORD.. ok so still true for vinyl I guess right. I wonder how much the record on voyager cost?? As an actual gold record apparently it cost $18,000 to produce but I got hunch it would sell for quite a bit at auction if anyone ever recovered it. The reel to reel masters of it sold for half a million so the original disk would probably cost more, maybe even priceless.
We should have said "single". If memory serves, the Wu-Tang set included a Dangerous Music SOURCE.
Wu-Tang would like to have a word.
You're right- should have said "single". And if memory serves, there was a Dangerous Music SOURCE included in that kit for playback!
How much of that 1.8 did you get?
The best sounding vinyl, hands down, is DBX Disc.
“App-her-‘rate’- us“. Rate the rat, mate. Memphis-speak. This interview was 2022
apparatus (apəˈreɪtəs) dictionary pronunciation. The rat only exists in parts of the US. No rats in the UK!
@@AnalogueGround The pronunciation is wrong. There aren’t any rats in Alberta, Canada by the way. There are brown rats in the UK
Sounds like you need to get the "bunny suits" they wear in the clean rooms at Intel! LOL
So maybe a dumb question...but...what happened with the "coating" that was being created?
After all the testing, they finally created a cocktail that worked. Is that your question? You can hit us direct at support@dangerousmusic.com.
@@dangerousmusic Yes. It made me wonder because, there is a company that makes a record cleaning machine...Kirmuss. One of his big things is that his cleaner takes the "coating" off the vinyl so it plays in a purer form (that's my paraphrase). I was wondering if that's the coating he was talking about.
@@dobieprime Unrelated. They are dealing with a vinyl record vs. a lacquer master. Completely different materials.
@@dangerousmusic Understand...I should have caught that...:) Loved the video though. :)
@@dangerousmusic So is this coating now being used regularly or was this only for the one-off ?
WOW! 🤟
Right. When old analog wants to play in the digital space… Remember making a pretty good recording in 1982 with a cassette recorder and a headphone! 12 year old me understood enough to question if a headphone could also be a microphone, and it did! I had the headphone right next to the speaker and the band said it was the best live recording they ever heard.
Are those multi kilobuck turntables/arm / cartridges operate at the same tolerances as the primary cutting lathe ?
Ok, I understand your point ..but then why spend more on a record player than a Crosley ..and yet we’re in a world of $50k Linn 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️ I confess I have an LP12 ☕️
I think he means throw your hat in the ring.
So what is the best way to clean a vinyl? Anyone
Acetone
Audiophiles disagree. Ideally you never have to clean, because you use an anti-static brush every time you play the record and never touch the grooves. If a record gets dirty there are all kinds of record cleaning liquids and sprays and some very expensive record cleaning machines that vacuum the solution off, as well as ultrasonic record cleaners that claim to vibrate particles of dirt out of the grooves. There's controversy over whether you want to remove any protective chemicals/coating originally on the vinyl surface, leave it, or lay down a new anti-static or anti-friction coating. The promise of T-Bone Walker's Ionic Original coating is it will eliminate any damage from the stylus playing the record.
Jeez, and here I always thought those UHQR pressings were expensive, lol.
Maybe the most expensive record sold, NOT the most expensive record made!
Who bought it?
Wu Tang has an album that sold for 2 million.
That is correct! But this was a single. If memory serves, that Wu-Tang bundle shipped with a Dangerous Music SOURCE for playback.
If you want to know how much it was worth it’s all in the last 30 seconds.
Cool story, I guess... I was surprised when it was over--so, it must have been pretty good-HaHa - Amazing stuff-- ThankYou for sharing.
Wow, what a gem of a story. And so little views 😭
Views don’t really matter, those that need to see it will at some point
Why don't they just digitally record the fresh cut lacquer record and sell it? Even if I could get my hands on the best pressed record, my cheapish equipment would never reproduce the best representation of that recording. But, I'm sure the equipment used to test and analyze the playback before pressing would be amazing to listen to.... you could give that experience to everyone... the DAC, Amp, and speakers being the only limitation.
Just wait until In Spite Of All The Danger acetate goes to auction
I thought it was going to be the gold record on Voyager 1.
awesome video; but, uh, chief is spelled chIEf, not chEIf. ;)
CHELF?
@@diracfluxwhat are they teaching in schools now a days?!
Wonder if Jeff can do 78rpm...?
Beach boys good vibrations
What was the point of this record? The recording still came off a Digital Computer. Is this Secret Coating available commercial use?
An expensive art project maybe?
How much did the L.P. on the Voyager cost?😜🎶🎶👽🎶🎶 Play On
$18,000 according to Science Friday.
Captioneer needs a spell-check: 5:41 - 'Cheif' should be 'Chief'. 6:08 'Enginneer' should be 'Engineer'.
They don't mention though how much it cost for 3 years of endless pressings, having 5 labs do experimental coatings, etc. I wonder if they ended up losing money even though t they sold it for 1.8 million.
You're telling me there exists a way to turn lacquers into durable, listenable records by coating them?
I have hearing loss and tenitis so spending big bucks on high fidelity is wasted money for me. I like nice, but I try not to get too carried away. Protect your hearing people. His job depends on it.
This aggression will not stand man… 😂
Wow I need a job
Bin it..
Luckily now we have Simulathe, right? ;)
My biggest flex is telling people how little i paid.
The buyer will not play the record. He will talk about it and visit it in the safe deposit box, and then sell it when Bob passes.