I bought this record nearly 15 years ago and really dug the cover but also the line that says it was recorded on 35mm magnetic film. That would be mag stock used for sound on films. The cover is printed on 10 pt board that makes it thick and heavy like a piece of stone.
The hilarious thing is the liner notes where they talk about the recording. They list all the mics used, Telefunken U-47, RCA-44 BX, Telefunken KM56, Altec 639 B, RCA-77D and special Church microphones. I wondered what a special church microphone is? When I researched it, Stanley Church designed mics for MGM. So now it comes full circle where the film industry and music industry collide.
The liners also mention why they needed multiple mics (because each mic was specific to an instrument or sound) and why mag stock is superior to 1/4″ tape (because it’s 3 times as wide, has no flutter because of the sprockets and is 5 mils thick. It also travels at 18 ips rather than 15ips). I actually agree with what they say as the record sounds fantastic. It was recorded in 1961.
This record was promising because I really love the Kulingtang. Unfortunately, there are only two cuts featuring this instrument. the rest of the cuts sound like waltzes or polkas. The fascinating things was the date of recording (1959) which means that this record is 50 years old and still plays great! My oldest CD is not even 25 years old. It also makes me bum out about all the digital media that has just disappeared because it was digital