You know, he's actually cutting one of our first DTM record in that photo! :) Here is a link to the original photo in case anyone wants a high res version: http://www.flickr.com/photos/technochick/166694606/in/set-72157594165050368/
There are a few more pictures of Ron and his studio. RIP Ron ... On Jan 14, 2008 1:28 PM, Adam Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > There is a mention of Ron Murphy's passing on Urb's blog, which was > linked to from dailyswarm.com: > > http://www.urb.com/permalink/2100/Techno-mastering-guru-Ron-Murphy-RIP.html > > Not much new information, but there is a photograph of the man at work. > > Adam > > > > On Jan 13, 2008 6:12 PM, kent williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > This is my recollection of Ron's story: He had been fooling with the > > lathe and figured out how to stop the screw action that pushes the > > cutting head from the outside to the inside of the platter. Then > > cutting a locked groove is a matter of tuning the source matterial to > > exactly 133 1/3 bpm, dropping the cutting head in the groove and > > lifting it up again after exactly one rotation. > > > > Jeff came in to cut "The Rings Of Saturn" and as was Ron's method, he > > set up the cutter with a scratch lacquer, to cut part of a track in > > order to see how it sounds played back. Without telling Jeff, Ron cut > > a lock groove out of one of the tracks and put it on the turntable > > while Jeff wasn't paying close attention. The loop played for a > > minute or so before Jeff's eyes got big, and he said "wh wh what the > > hell Ron? H H H How did you do that?!" It's funnier if A) you've > > heard Jeff talk and B) you hear it from Ron, imitating Jeff. > > > > Now the fact is that locked grooves weren't a Ron Murphy invention -- > > every run-out groove is a lock groove, and the Beatle's "Sargeant > > Pepper" has a lock groove cut in the run-out groove of the first > > English pressing. But it may be true that Ron started it in the realm > > of dance records. > > > > Anyway, that's my recollection of Ron's story. He definitely had a > > million of them, especially about the competetiveness of the early > > Detroit artists. The fact is this, though: In the late 80s, getting > > your own lacquers cut and plated, and then pressed locally, was a > > completely new phenomenon. Ron Murphy was there in Detroit, and his > > help and encouragement with young artists making their first records > > was a big part of the development of the techno scene. > > > > His experience, going back to the Motown 60s was important as well. He > > was the uninterrupted institutional memory of Detroit as a center of > > unique musical creativity. There are plenty of people who can cut > > records, but absolutely no one that cut all the records that Ron cut. > > > > > > On Jan 13, 2008 3:24 PM, Frank Glazer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > "Ron's impression of Jeff > > > Mills sputtering in reaction to the lock groove on The Rings Of > > > Saturn." > > > > > > i'm not familiar with this story... what happened? > > > > > > > > > -- Detroit Techno Militia http://www.detroittechnomilitia.com
