| Main Pressing plants Pennyroyal Tea Test pressings Collection |
| Sonopress Germany (vinyl) | |||||
|
I'm not sure if the plant with the matrix codes I'm going to discuss now in fact is the Sonopress vinyl plant, but the matrix codes are similar to the matrices found on Sonopress CDs. Either way, the records with these matrix codes were all done by the same German plant. Let's look at two example matrices, the German Smells Like Teen Spirit 12" black vinyl and 12" picture disc singles: 12": 201 DMF-5765 A-2 II 201 DMF-5765 B-2- II p/d: 201 DMF-5765 A-2 111 DM F-5765 B-1 The matrix codes are machine stamped, except the roman numerals which are etched by hand. The numbers they start with, 111 and 201, identify the machines used to cut the masters. Because the way they number the masters is identical to the way Sonopress numbered their CD masters (I will reason this soon), it makes sense that Sonopress, unlike many other vinyl plants at the time, had in-house mastering. So in other words, these numbers identify Sonopress as the plant that both cut and pressed the records. To the right is a list of Sonopress machine numbers found on Nirvana items so far. Next, DMF does not really "belong together", many times there is a space between them. DM means it was cut on a copper mother (which becomes the master) using direct metal mastering. The numbers 1 and 2 after the side A/B information is the number of the cut. B-1 and B-2 may be two entirely different cuts, or B-2 may have been done with a slave lathe working in tandem with the lathe operated by the mastering engineer. As the machine numbers are always different for -1 and -2 (according to the limited data I have), it is most likely that one is a slave lathe. If not, it would make more sense that a mastering engineer did the second cut right after he had done the first, on the same machine. Either way, two copper masters where sent to the processing room. This is done so that metal plates can be processed quicker. The F (G also found on other Nirvana releases) followed by four digits is they way they number their masters, call it the "master catalog number" if you will. This is the exact same way Sonopress numbered their CD masters, an F, G, or H followed by four digits. Last, the handwritten roman numerals are not added by the mastering engineer. The first set of stampers from a set of mothers will not have anything added by the processing employee. The picture disc A-side was pressed with the first stamper made from the second copper master (A-2). If a second set of stampers would be processed from the same copper master, the roman numeral II would be etched by hand into the matrix code on the copper mother before processing. Remember one cannot add to the code on stampers as they are negatives, so writing it on the mothers is the only way to number the following stampers. The black vinyl A-side was pressed with the second stamper made from the second copper master. Another I is added to the copper master if a third stamper will be processed from it, and so on. Some matrix codes miss DM for direct metal mastering. All 12" records have DM in the matrices, and all 7" records do not. However, if the 7" singles were indeed cut on lacquer, they have used the same machines for cutting both lacquers and copper masters, as the same machine numbers have been found on records both with and without DM in the matrix codes. That sounds impossible, so all masters were probably made using direct metal mastering. |
|
||||
| Main Pressing plants Pennyroyal Tea Test pressings Collection |
