I was always curious about some of the albums I have seen throughout the years that claimed to be recorded onto "35mm".
At first (especially on albums like Esquivel's) I thought they were doing optical recording, but it turns out there actually was a 35mm magnetic tape format used in studios. The labels that primarily used it were Mercury, Command, Everest, Cameo/Parkway and Project 3. While it was not a popular format for rock or pop music, it was found more in classical and easy listening recording sessions. The "120 CMPS" designation on the Esquivel album above was a variation on the format where the tape traveled at a speed just over 47ips.
Here is an excellent presentation about the short-lived format:
http://aes-media.org/historical/pdf/fine_35mm-fad.pdf
The 35mm tape actually has sprocket holes in it, like 35mm film. The tape moves faster (approx. 18 inches per second, where many masters of the era were 15ips), and combined with the width, could result in greater headroom and lower background noise. The sprockets reportedly kept the speed a lot more constant than with traditional reels. As mentioned above, the variation Reprise used had a much faster tape speed.
The format died out around 1970 due to improvements in traditional reel recorders. That and multitrack recording required tape widths as wide as two inches, and traditional reels were easier to locate and play back at specific locations on the tape. I would also think that editing might have been easier on traditional reels, since you were not limited to the spacing of the sprocket holes. (It is not really an issue with classical, but for pop/rock music where you often needed to splice a tape right at a beat in the music, that distance could make a difference.)
At first (especially on albums like Esquivel's) I thought they were doing optical recording, but it turns out there actually was a 35mm magnetic tape format used in studios. The labels that primarily used it were Mercury, Command, Everest, Cameo/Parkway and Project 3. While it was not a popular format for rock or pop music, it was found more in classical and easy listening recording sessions. The "120 CMPS" designation on the Esquivel album above was a variation on the format where the tape traveled at a speed just over 47ips.
Here is an excellent presentation about the short-lived format:
http://aes-media.org/historical/pdf/fine_35mm-fad.pdf
The 35mm tape actually has sprocket holes in it, like 35mm film. The tape moves faster (approx. 18 inches per second, where many masters of the era were 15ips), and combined with the width, could result in greater headroom and lower background noise. The sprockets reportedly kept the speed a lot more constant than with traditional reels. As mentioned above, the variation Reprise used had a much faster tape speed.
The format died out around 1970 due to improvements in traditional reel recorders. That and multitrack recording required tape widths as wide as two inches, and traditional reels were easier to locate and play back at specific locations on the tape. I would also think that editing might have been easier on traditional reels, since you were not limited to the spacing of the sprocket holes. (It is not really an issue with classical, but for pop/rock music where you often needed to splice a tape right at a beat in the music, that distance could make a difference.)
