NEW ORTHOPHONIC

Columbia
"NEW PROCESS"
Reg. U. S. Pat. Off.
Records
Made the New Way * Electrically
Viva-tonal Recording The Records without Scratch

fact: columbia viva-tonals were laminated to protect the base shellac from wear. i believe the only other laminated pressings from the era are the Okeh "Electric Process" records.

The Microfusion process is based on the concept of molding records from vinyl powder instead of "fused rigid chips or biscuits" (Microfusion 1). These chips, used in the popular process of pressing records, are roughly the size of a hockey puck and extremely hard. Using a spongy “biscuit” made of vinyl powder instead of the more rigid material means the press "is not forced to rely upon high temperatures to squeeze a solid material radically across the groove of the matrix" (Microfusion 9), which apparently results in all manner of advantages to the lifespan of the equipment and the sound quality produced that are beyond my expertise as an archivist but never failed to enthuse Cook.

Cook wanted to democratize the manufacturing of records. The process was designed to be replicated anywhere and by anyone. Although it did not catch on in the commercial record industry, it continues to inspire the DIY-minded as a way to press their own records with limited resources. In a 1989 interview with Cook in Audio magazine, he explains the Microfusion process' superiority to hot extrusion: "Something that has not gone through an oven, that's been changed from a powder to a tangible biscuit that can be picked up, is bound to be better...Not just that, but you don't have to make several thousand records at a time to do it economically. You can make a hundred, a couple hundred, whatever you like."

THIS PACKAGE CONTAINS THE EQUIVALENT OF TWO COMPLETE ALBUMS

PRINTED IN U. S. A.

MASTERED, DUPLICATED, AND QUALITY AUDITED EXCLUSIVELY WITH AMPEX PROFESSIONAL RECORDERS, ON AMPEX TAPE

THIS TAPE RECORDING CONTAINS TWO AUTOMATIC REVERSING SIGNALS; ONE AT END OF SIDE A PROGRAM, THE OTHER AT THE END OF SIDE B. THESE PROGRAM
REVERSING SIGNALS FUNCTION ONLY WITH TAPE RECORDERS WHICH ARE EQUIPPED WITH REVERSING CIRCUITRY, SUCH AS THE AMPEX 2000 SERIES.

STEREO-MONIC

THIS RECORD PROVIDES BOTH STEREOPHONIC AND MONOPHONIC SOUND REPRODUCTION