Master tapes destroyed by fire ?*

[SakuraSYayoi]

According to Record Collector's Magazine 2009 7 (published on June 15),
Carpenters master tapes were destroyed by fire at Universal Studio.
Richard said that most master tapes were lost(Japanese; 大半は焼失してしまった) in the interview on April 20th.

:bigevil:

What are at Iron Mountain?

Sakura

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

WOW, this is really bad news, so this has been confirmed. Are there backup tapes to the original masters??

 

[A&M Retro]

I believe this publication is simply wrong. That rumor started last summer when part of Universal Studios burned down as a result of a brush fire.

The same article also said the house from "Psycho" burned down, as well. That wasn't true, either, as the house still stands.

Richard has stated that all master tapes are in a climate-controlled environment in Pennsylvania. He talks about the storage facility in the official Carpenters website (in response to "Thank You For The Music" being released).

There HAVE to be digital back-ups....especially with someone as protective as Richard being involved. Makes no sense otherwise.

 

[A&M Retro]

Sakura:
I just read your other post regarding same topic.
I'm still confused over this issue. Is it possible they keep masters in several locations, per your translation of the Japanese article?
Lastly, wouldn't Universal have contacted their artists directly to let them know the MASTER TAPES were destroyed?!?!
WE knew about it a year ago if it's indeed true. Why would Richard find out for himself by not getting a call back from Universal? If that is the truth, it's shocking indeed. Thanks for posting this very sad information.

 

[scottb]

Sakura:
I just read your other post regarding same topic.
I'm still confused over this issue. Is it possible they keep masters in several locations, per your translation of the Japanese article?
Lastly, wouldn't Universal have contacted their artists directly to let them know the MASTER TAPES were destroyed?!?!
WE knew about it a year ago if it's indeed true. Why would Richard find out for himself by not getting a call back from Universal? If that is the truth, it's shocking indeed. Thanks for posting this very sad information.

I'm quite confused. First of all there are 2 types of master tapes. The original 2 track master tape and the multitrack tapes (which richard used so many times for his remixes).

Some confirmation from a better source would shed some light on this.

Scott

 

[Chris May]

All of the masters (both quarter-inch 2-channel stereo as well as two-inch, 24-track a.k.a. "multi-track") are currently being stored back east in Pennsylvania. Not sure where this other information came from but sounds like some wires got crossed on this one?! It's possible that back-ups were created to be stored at alternate location, but the source tapes are still back east to my knowledge.

 

[scottb]

All of the masters (both quarter-inch 2-channel stereo as well as two-inch, 24-track a.k.a. "multi-track") are currently being stored back east in Pennsylvania. Not sure where this other information came from but sounds like some wires got crossed on this one?! It's possible that back-ups were created to be stored at alternate location, but the source tapes are still back east to my knowledge.

Thanks Chris.

I'm still surprised that no one on the forum seems to be discussing the sound quality of the 2 live albums since they came out so so long ago.

I hope Universal aren't going to just use the sound from the 80's/90's Japanese CD's. Aside from the Mini LP sleeve I really have no interest in these if the sound is identical to thos releases from over 15 years ago.

The covers of both of those albums aren't that great either so without better sound quality I'm not sure if I'll be getting these.

Scott

 

[TonyCurrie]

It's a fact that many record companies have digitised their original masters and then junked them. The combination of space required for storage, stable temperature and humidity necessary, and the inherent problems with chemical stability mean that companies are keen to get shot of tapes and rely on simpler storage methods - these mostly being CDs or hard drives.

I know of many thousands of junked tape masters that are no longer needed or wanted. Sad as it may seem, the accidental destruction of master tapes these days is almost a non event.