RARE Early Stereo Recording in 1943 - Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Swings at MGM

1943 - Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Swings in Stereo High Fidelity - REMASTERED - George Gershwin's "Fascinating Rhythm". Originally recorded using the Western Electric process.

FIRST: Mickey Rooney kicked ass emulating the performance on the stringless piano on-set. His knowing how to play (although not THAT good) helped him fake it so well - he even mimicked many difficult phrasings - a skill I have NEVER seen any other actor perform so convincingly, musician or not. Even Tommy comically grinned watching Mickey's performance.... But I digress.

Since the late 1930s, M-G-M Studios sound technicians and engineers would use the Western Electric sound system to record their soundtracks on the soundstage utilizing 3 separate microphones - recording to their own individual monophonic tracks (they've also been known to have used 4).

The sound mixers would use these mono 'tracks' to mix them to create the best balanced film sound - MONOPHONICALLY - as most films at that time were presented and that recording studios of the day had the only capability of.

["Fantasound", Disney's 'stereophonic' process recorded multitrack as well, however THAT film could only be shown in 'stereo' in specific movie houses which adapted to that multi-speaker/multi-amplifier installation.]

All that being said, since the microphones are positioned to record each section of the orchestra grouped around them - and the fact that they are in the same studio and spaced a distance apart, once you change the pans from 'center' to left and right - you immediately feel the 'depth', however not necessarily a true binaural effect.

In the 1950s, M-G-M transferred all their optical soundtracks (probably on nitrate), fortunately including all the multis like those in this video - to magnetic tape - where they sat in a vault until the 1995 Rhino release of those tracks. The Rhino records release was more 'archival' - and in their version, the 3 tracks are simply panned to hard left and right and off-center - 'flat' and not EQ'd - however, they do not make lively listening as there are alot of frequencies (especially the bass) that exist but just aren't boosted - so the sound flat and dead, and the instrument grouping surrounding each microphone can be distracting with nothing coming from center channel...

By remixing these previous stereo mixes into the "Dyna-Stereo" process, the phase difference accentuates more of a 'studio mix' that is more contemporary - as if the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra recorded this just last week! - - Unfortunately, the wow and flutter of the original 75+ year-old-original track sources become more noticeable - not to mention the noise of the original source as well as noise introduced in the transfer to magnetic tape in the 1950s. I tried to reduce almost most of it - but there are sections that need more refinement (not from me, that is...Warner Bros. Music, the YouTube copyright holders - make this video playtime for me (i.e. NO PENNIES FOR ME from YouTube).

But still, it is amazing that soundtrack recording had improved to a degree where almost full-frequencies could be recorded and played back in high-fidelity, unlike the crackly lo-fi 78rpm records and 16mm sound that most people know.

Now, I can't find any source that would verify what MATERIAL these tracks were recorded on. I will assume these were original OPTICAL recordings using WE film optical recorders - which would be synchronized upon the mixing process. However, there were experimentations with mag track - sprocketed magnetic film recording - during this era. Germans already had the Magnetophon - and the Brush Company had developed their "Soundmirror" - and the soon to be "Mirrorphonic Sound" accompanying the film. It wouldn't be until 1946 when Ampex produced the first American versions of the magnetic tape recorder - the once-standard analog format of recording high-fidelity - until the advent of digital. It wouldn't be until the early 1950s that home audiences could enjoy true stereophonic sound - on 4 track 1/4" reel-to-reel tape machines- at home.... just like at the movies of the era. Stereo LPs using the Westrex system wouldn't appear until 1957...