Dynagroove
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Dynagroove is a recording process introduced in 1963 by
RCA claimed that Dynagroove had the effect of adding brilliance and clarity, realistic presence, full-bodied tone and virtually eliminated
The process was not received well by some industry commentators, with many audio engineers of the time referring to Dynagroove as "Grindagroove". Dynagroove was also sharply criticized by Goddard Lieberson of the competing label Columbia Records, who called it "a step away from the faithful reproduction of the artist's performance;" and by Harry Pearson, founder of The Absolute Sound, who termed it "Dynagroove, for that wooden sound." Another noted detractor of Dynagroove was J. Gordon Holt, the founder of Stereophile magazine, who in December 1964 wrote a highly unfavourable article entitled "Down with Dynagroove!" Holt, a noted audio engineer and writer of the 1960s and 1970s, slammed Dynagroove as introducing "pre-distortion" into the mastering process, making the records sound worse if they were played on high-quality phono systems.
Holt was technically correct, as the Dynagroove process used tracing compensation, which pre-distorted the record groove to cancel out the distortion created by playback with a conical-shaped phonograph stylus, which could not track the record groove accurately in the high frequencies, especially in the inner grooves of an LP. The process worked well with playback via a conical stylus, typical of most phonograph cartridges prior to about 1964. However, if one played a Dynagroove record with an elliptical-shaped stylus, this pre-distortion became audible. As the decade of the 1960s progressed, high quality playback cartridges increasingly used elliptical styli. This development made tracing compensation obsolete by about 1970, and RCA quietly stopped using the technique.
The other technique used with Dynagroove was a
Dynagroove promotional and regular records
Partial list
- Van Cliburn/Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony Orchestra Beethoven: Piano Concerto no. 4 in G major, op 58. 1963 original RCA, Made in Germany shortly after under LSC-2680-B (stereo) and LM-2680-C (mono)
- This Is Dynagroove! (1963) PRS-140*
- Sid Ramin – "Swanee"
- Marty Gold – "I'll Remember April"
- Dick Schory – "Take the "A" Train"
- Hugo & Luigi Chorus – "I Love You"
- Peter Nero – "Granada"
- Arthur Fiedler/Boston Pops – "Star Dust"
- Boston Symphony – "Mahler: Symphony No. 1 (Finale)"
- Arthur Fiedler/Boston Pops – "La Sorella"
- Charles Münch/Boston Symphony Orchestra – "Debussy: Nocturnes, Fêtes"
- Richard Tucker – "Puccini: Madama ButterflyAct 1: Love Duet"
- Morton Gould – "Sibelius: Findlandia (Finale)"
- The Sound Of Tomorrow (Buick Highlighter) (1963) SP-33-204/SPS-33-204*
- Peter Nero – "Londonderry Air"
- Marty Gold – "Shangri-La"
- Hugo & Luigi Chorus – "I'll See You In My Dreams"
- Dick Schory – "Stompin' At The Savoy"
- Sid Ramin – "Spring Is Here"
- Erich Leinsdorf/Boston Symphony – "Scherzo from Symphony No. 1 in D (Mahler)"
- Arthur Fiedler/Boston Pops – "Jalousie"
- Robert Shaw Chorale – "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
- Charles Münch/Boston Symphony – "Pavan for a Dead Princess (Ravel)"
- Leontyne Price – "Un Bel Di from Madama Butterfly (Puccini)"
- The New Sound of the Stars (1963) SP-33-223/SPS-33-223*
- Sid Ramin – "The Syncopated Clock"
- Perry Como – "The Songs I Love"
- Chet Atkins – "Back Home Again In Indiana"
- Hugo & Luigi Chorus – "Melody of Love"
- Eddy Arnold – "The Streets of Laredo"
- Floyd Cramer – "Green Door"
- Marty Gold – "Don't Worry 'Bout Me"
- Jim Reeves – "(There'll Be Blue Birds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover"
- Peter Nero – "Are My Dreams Real?"
- The Limeliters – "Drill Ye Tarriers"
- Sam Cooke – "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen"
- Al Hirt – "Man With A Horn"
- Miklos Rosza/RCA Italiana Orchestra– Rozsa conducts Rozsa (1965) LSC-2802
- Dimensions In Dynagroove (1965) PRS-180*
- Sid Ramin – "I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover"
- Melachrino Strings & Orchestra – "In The Blue Of Evening"
- Si Zentner – "Twist and Shout"
- Marty Gold – "Theme from 'A Summer Place'"
- Frankie Carle – "Dominique"
- Hugo Montenegro – "Candy's Theme"
- Norman Luboff Choir – "Never on Sunday"
- Morton Gould – "The Peanut Vendor"
- Robert Brereton/Paramount Theatre Organ – "Gayne (Khachaturian): Sabre Dance"
- Arthur Fielder/Boston Pops – "Grand Canyon Suite (Grofé): Cloudburst"
- Arthur Fielder/Boston Pops – "Tenderly"
- Erich Leinsdorf/Boston Symphony – "Firebird Suite (Stravinsky): Finale"
- Sounds Fantastic! (1966) PRS-210*
- Sid Ramin – "Strike Up The Band"
- Si Zentner – "Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)"
- Marty Gold – "Smile"
- Claus Ogerman – "Watusi Trumpets"
- Chet Atkins – "Armen's Theme"
- Dick Schory – "From Russia With Love"
- Love Your Spell Is Everywhere"
- Al Hirt – "I Had The Craziest Dream"
- Frankie Randall – "A Wonderful Day Like Today"
- Living Guitars– "Steel Guitar Rag"
- Love Letters In The Sand"
- Esquivel – "Bye Bye Blues"
- Questo è il Dynagroove ! (1966) DDD 33* Italy
- Charles Münch (conductor) – From Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony(Pathétique)
- Verdi's Rigoletto
- PolonaiseNo. 6
- Erich Leinsdorf – La Damnation de Faust
- Marty Gold – I'll remember April
- Ennio Morricone – Quando quando quando
- Leoncavallo's Mattinata
- The SAT Choir – Preghiera a Sant'Antonio
- Miranda Martino – Non dimenticar le mie parole
- Morton Gould and his symphonic orchestra – Espana cani
* Stereo first regular records
Further reading
- More information about the dynamic equalizer, the theory behind it, and Harry Olson's audio engineering research in general, can be found in his book, Music, Physics and Engineering (2nd ed.). Dover Press. 1964.