# Uncovered Test Pressings from 1940's; Need Help Identifying



## Bobfrog (Sep 26, 2017)

Hi, 
When my father passed some time back, he left me his record collection. A few days ago, while going through the 78s, I found some test pressings from the mid to late 1940's; all apparently from RCA/NBC studios.

Since I can't find any information on the net regarding these sessions, or pressings, I was wondering if anyone could help me identify them.

Link to photos: https://postimg.org/gallery/1md99m2uy/

Once that's done, I can auction them off to someone who will treasure them as my father once did.

Thanks,

Bob


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## Bobfrog (Sep 26, 2017)

Sorry, the previous link left out the Toscanini Test Pressings

Here's the revised link: https://postimg.org/gallery/1vsqz4s8q/


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

The master number should be in the runout groove. That would tell you what they are. I haven't seen that particular label before, but white label records were sometimes special orders too. If a record was out of print, you could order a special pressing to be made from a record dealer.

One note about 78s in the late 40s.... It's likely that these are dubs from 33 1/3 masters. At the end of the war, many labels started recording to transcription disks- 33 1/3 masters- because they could put multiple takes on a single lacquer master. They knew long play records were on the horizon, so they dubbed from the 33 1/3 master back to a 78 master for current release. A few years later, these recordings were dubbed to LPs and the sound quality is vastly superior to the 78s. I know that's true of Columbia, but it might be true of RCA too.

I wouldn't get my hopes up of being able to put your kids through college on these. Unless these recordings have never been released, the white label doesn't really add much monetary value to them. I didn't cross reference all of them, but I noticed there are a couple of multi-disc opera sets in there. The Madame Butterfly with Albanese was released on 78s commercially....






So was the Toscanini Meistersinger Prelude, the Dorothy Kirsten La Boheme arias and the Set Svanholm Meistersinger aria. Odds are these are all fairly common late 40s classical 78s. You mention you have some that are labelled NBC instead of RCA. That might be different if they represent an unreleased radio broadcast.


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## Bobfrog (Sep 26, 2017)

bigshot said:


> The master number should be in the runout groove. That would tell you what they are. I haven't seen that particular label before, but white label records were sometimes special orders too. If a record was out of print, you could order a special pressing to be made from a record dealer.
> 
> One note about 78s in the late 40s.... It's likely that these are dubs from 33 1/3 masters. At the end of the war, many labels started recording to transcription disks- 33 1/3 masters- because they could put multiple takes on a single lacquer master. They knew long play records were on the horizon, so they dubbed from the 33 1/3 master back to a 78 master for current release. A few years later, these recordings were dubbed to LPs and the sound quality is vastly superior to the 78s. I know that's true of Columbia, but it might be true of RCA too.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the thoughtful reply. How did you match up the dates with releases? I don't know anything about how classical records are recorded; i.e. whether they're done in just one take; or if a perfectionist like I've read of Toscanini would make several recordings over several days.

BTW, do you know what the acronyms stand for? OMD CQC, A&R, etc?


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

The photos I looked at all had it listed as take 1. I would guess that it isn't actually take 1. It's probably the master take and they've just listed it as take 1 because the label had a space for it. There is a number stamped into the runoff groove which is the catalog number of the recording followed by the take number. Sometimes the take number is a letter. Sometimes it doesn't list a take number. If you google the catalog number or names of the artists along with RCA, and click on videos, most of them should come up at YouTube with dates. Or click on images and you'll see the album cover. These all seem to date from the late 40s.

Not positive about the acronyms, but A&R stands for "Artists and Repertoire" who were the executives in charge of recording at RCA. OMD may mean "Original Master Deleted" meaning the title is out of print. CQC probably refers to a check for quality control. Those were the sorts of things they would do test pressings for.They also might be review copies sent out to magazine or newspaper reviewers in advance of the regular release.


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## Bobfrog (Sep 26, 2017)

bigshot said:


> The photos I looked at all had it listed as take 1. I would guess that it isn't actually take 1. It's probably the master take and they've just listed it as take 1 because the label had a space for it. There is a number stamped into the runoff groove which is the catalog number of the recording followed by the take number. Sometimes the take number is a letter. Sometimes it doesn't list a take number. If you google the catalog number or names of the artists along with RCA, and click on videos, most of them should come up at YouTube with dates. Or click on images and you'll see the album cover. These all seem to date from the late 40s.
> 
> Not positive about the acronyms, but A&R stands for "Artists and Repertoire" who were the executives in charge of recording at RCA. OMD may mean "Original Master Deleted" meaning the title is out of print. CQC probably refers to a check for quality control. Those were the sorts of things they would do test pressings for.They also might be review copies sent out to magazine or newspaper reviewers in advance of the regular release.


It's oddly refreshing to find an answer to a question that Google couldn't answer.

Thanks again for taking the time to provide an answer; and peace of mind.


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## Bobfrog (Sep 26, 2017)

Jesus, that could have been written much better. And I can't find any edit buttons.... 

As Maxwell Smart would say... "Sorry about that chief."


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