Bits and pieces
The following are, for the most part, bits and pieces that either fell by the wayside because of space limitations or where research remained incomplete when final deadlines hit. There are also a couple of additional bits and pieces that have slotted into place since publication based on additions to the collection of all things 'Saydiscian' - these mostly in 'soft' format nowadays, with images downloaded from eBay and the like, because I can't afford the real artefacts.
Information about contract pressing arrangements
The first contract pressing in the CP series was made around 1970 or 1971 and fourteen more were produced by the end of the decade. The various costs for producing these are unknown, but an autumn/winter 1980 flyer for '"Schools, choirs, theatrical groups and orchestras" has appeared with partial costs for LPs and more comprehensive costs for the "Special limited edition cassette service".
At the beginning of 1980, in conjunction with Nimbus, Saydisc introduced a special service for recording limited edition contract presses, which could be provided at £1.97 per record plus VAT, this for quantities between 250 and 500 copies.
What was offered, in terms of cassettes, was, "...a service that makes economic the recording and production of cassettes with simple printed inserts and labels and a total duration of up to 50 mins, in the quantity range of 100 - 200." Cassettes of more than 50 minutes was an option, though at "...2p per minute per cassette in excess..."
The costs including VAT were:
Organisations/artists that took advantage of the offer of production of cassettes were:
At the beginning of 1980, in conjunction with Nimbus, Saydisc introduced a special service for recording limited edition contract presses, which could be provided at £1.97 per record plus VAT, this for quantities between 250 and 500 copies.
What was offered, in terms of cassettes, was, "...a service that makes economic the recording and production of cassettes with simple printed inserts and labels and a total duration of up to 50 mins, in the quantity range of 100 - 200." Cassettes of more than 50 minutes was an option, though at "...2p per minute per cassette in excess..."
The costs including VAT were:
- 100 cassettes @ £2.60 each
- 150 cassettes @ £2.10 each
- 200 cassettes @ £1.85 each
Organisations/artists that took advantage of the offer of production of cassettes were:
- Rednock School Band (CP-C 120, 1981)
- Cotswold Male Voice Choir (CP-C 121, 1981)
- A children's choir, whose name is lost in the mists of time, though the title was Music at Christmas (CP-C 124, 1981)
- Birchwood Junior Choir (CP-C 125, 1981)
- BBC Radio Bristol Singers (CP-C 126, 1982)
- Forest Green Rovers (CP-C 127, 1982)
DAT format
On the same advertising insert included with the spring 1988 catalogue supplement as above, it was stated that, "We are phasing out our LP issues in favour of Cassette, CD (and shortly, DAT)..." However, it is certain that DAT versions were not released to the public, although Saydisc itself held various master tapes in DAT format. This was mentioned in the discography but only in passing.
Wikipedia has the following to say about the usefulness of the medium in the recording industry:
Wikipedia has the following to say about the usefulness of the medium in the recording industry:
DAT was used professionally in the 1990s by the audio recording industry as part of an emerging all-digital production chain also including digital multi-track recorders and digital mixing consoles that was used to create a fully digital recording. In this configuration, it is possible for the audio to remain digital from the first AD converter after the mic preamp until it is in a CD player."
Snippets on base artwork for sleeves
The first of these did not quite fit anywhere, in that there was no possibility of including the images, so was discarded from the discography. The second is long post-discography news.
- Page 9 of the 1986 catalogue, titled "Pleasures and Treasures", shows the artwork for The Roaring 20s (SDL 344) and The Three Disc Symphonion (SDL 346), minus textual and other design elements, instead of the finished sleeve.
- Two originals of Saydisc cover artwork were spotted on sale in a curio shop in Wotton-under-Edge in early 2018, these being the original paintings/prints (can't remember which) used for Spanish Guitar Quartets (CD-SDL 399) and A Musical Banquet (CD-SDLC 397). It was confirmed by return-of-email that Saydisc had been having a clear out.
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