Hollywood_Sapphire_Group

The next meeting will be TUESDAY JAN. 3, 2012

Meetings are always on the 1st Tuesday of each month and are open to HSG Members and their Guests
Cocktails 6:30p, Dinner 7ish
Price: $35 HSG Active Members, $40 Guests
Ramsey's at The Club (valet + self parking)
6711 Forest Lawn Drive, Toluca Lake, CA 90068
Ramsey's Club Telephone: 323.512.4170

MAP to RAMSEY'S at the TLTC

GO HERE to LET US KNOW THAT YOU ARE COMING! Mandatory! You MUST fill in the DINNER FORM.

Our meetings are always on the 1ST TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH. Our 2012 meeting schedule is below.

The JANUARY meeting will be TUESDAY JAN. 3, 2012

The FEBRUARY meeting will be TUESDAY FEB. 7, 2012

The MARCH meeting will be TUESDAY MAR. 6, 2012

The APRIL meeting will be TUESDAY APR. 3, 2012

The MAY meeting will be TUESDAY MAY. 1, 2012

The JUNE meeting will be TUESDAY JUN. 5, 2012

The JULY meeting will be TUESDAY JUL. 3, 2012

The AUGUST meeting will be TUESDAY AUG. 7, 2012

The SEPTEMBER meeting will be TUESDAY SEP. 4, 2012

The OCTOBER meeting will be TUESDAY OCT. 2, 2012

The NOVEMBER meeting will be TUESDAY NOV. 6, 2012

The DECEMBER meeting will be TUESDAY DEC. 4, 2012

2009 - 2011 Officer Roster:

Chairman: Aspen Pittman
Vice-Chair: Bill Isenburg
Treasurer: Ron Streicher
Secretary: EveAnna Manley
Program Committee: Duke Aguiar and Bill Hogan
Membership Committee: Marshall Buck, Shelley Herman, and Peter Mason

The terms of office will run from September to August, twenty-four months later.
Terms may be renewed by election. Elections will be held during the July meeting in even-numbered years.

RCA Master Reference Book for Disc Recording

On Mon, 16 Nov 2009, Ray A. Rayburn wrote:

I have posted a never before seen historic book to my website. It is the
"Master Reference Book for Disc Recording" issued in February 1940 by the
Recording Department, RCA Manufacturing Company, Inc. Camden, New Jersey,
USA. It is 386 pages in length and the file is 46.7 MB in size so please
don't try to download it unless you have a high speed Internet connection.
Thanks to Doug Jones for the conversion of this historic book into pdf form.

This is the internal use only book that covers all the equipment used to
produce sound recordings at RCA Studios worldwide as of February 1940.
only 15 copies of this book were ever made. This copy was issued to the
studio in Hollywood, CA, and may be the only copy left in existence. It came into
my possession when I worked for RCA Records in NYC and they threw it out in
the trash.

It contains manuals, schematics, photos and more for:

Microphones
Filters and Compensator Units
Microphone and Re-recording Mixers
Amplifiers
Monitor Equipment - Meters, Loudspeakers Etc.
Recorders, Pickups and Related Accessories
Power Supplies
Recording Machines
Turntables
Test Equipment
Transmission and Schematic Diagrams
Equipment Assembly and Inter-unit Wiring Diagrams
Testing and Maintenance of Equipment
Operation Standards
Frequency Response and Performance
Material and Dimensional Data on Recording Blanks and Records

You can download the book here.

August 2006 meeting BBQ at Zenobia's. Thank you Zenobia for the great eats and good times!

Thanks to Ken for his excellent presentation of Photoshop tricks.
Visit www.kenrockwell.com for more photo hints.

The HOLLYWOOD SAPPHIRE GROUP is a social organization and all of its members are associated with the sound recording industry or its allied fields.

In 1942 several persons in New York, who were deeply interested in the betterment of acetate master recordings got together to discuss their special problems. Wall Rose of the Frank L. Capps Company headed the group which included George Stewart of N.B.C. Recording Division and Vince Liebler of Columbia Records Corporation. These three men often had lunch together, talking over their various recording and disc problems and the possibilities of designing new acetate master recording styli for higher precision work. Soon other recording engineers joined the group and as their discussions became more involved the found it impossible to come to any definite conclusions during their lunch period. It was from these meetings that the New York Sapphire Group, as they were to be later known, came into existence.

The name, "Sapphire Group", was a tribute to Wally Rose who first saw the need of getting such a group together. This name would not interfere with any other audio or electronics group. Then too, the sapphire cutting styli has played a very important role in the art of sound recording since the day Mr. Frank L. Capps designed the first sapphire cutter for Thomas A. Edison.

The first meetings of the Sapphire Group were held in the New York Athletic Club. It wasn't before long before the Sapphire Group found it necessary to limit their membership because they wished to only have those who were qualified recording engineers and those who were related to the allied fields as members of the Group.

In 1945 several members of the New York Sapphire Group were transferred or became affiliated with various recording and motion picture studios in Hollywood. Two of these members were Chet Boggs of Columbia Recording Corporation and Bob Callen of N.B.C. Recording division. Chet and Bob tried to form a Hollywood Sapphire Group, but it wasn't until 1946 when Chuck Phillips, a New York member, was sent out to Hollywood on an assignment for the O.W.I. that these three men got together and arranged the first Hollywood Sapphire Group meeting.

The Hollywood Sapphire Group's first endeavor was setting the original standardization for the recording industry. However, a majority of the members voted for a more social group and the standardization was left to the A.E.S. and I.R.E.

There used to be a San Francisco Sapphire Group known as the Golden gate Sapphire Group, but sadly, they and the New York Sapphire Group have been defunct for a number of years. Inasmuch as the New York and San Francisco Groups have disbanded, the Hollywood Sapphire Group's membership limit has been waved.

So even the likes of these scary people were allowed in.... Go see what they all looked like in the 80's by clicking here...

The Hollywood Sapphire Group survives, stronger than ever, and even in a co-ed manner!

As the Hollywood Sapphire Group grew in size, so did the responsibilities. There was the problem of finding a qualified speaker or entertainment that would be of interest to the group, someone to send a cheerful note to members on the sick list, condolences and flowers in time of sorrow, and so it was Ernie Knight, a fully attending Charter member, was elected permanent Chairman of the Group and it would be his job to take care of such matters. For the last long while, and nobody can quite remember how long that last long while was, we were graced by the ever-entertaining Oliver Berliner as Chairman. Olly has just retired his Dictatorship having moved to Maryland, and thus we begin a new era under the Dictatorship of Bill Hogan, beginning with the June 2003 meeting. This lasted until August 2008 when Aspen Pittman was elected to take over the job to lead our group.
Our Ever-Jovial, Ever-Jewel-Boxing, Past Chairman Jolly Olly Berliner

Hank Landsberg has been secretary-treasurer of the Group for a number of years. As secretary-treasurer it is Hank's job to collect payment for dinners. As a result of his excellent work, we seem to have no slackers or freeloaders in the Group.

EveAnna Manley is the Group's Secretary. She has been in charge of handling the details of meeting announcements. She receives instruction from the Chairman to notify each member about the monthly meeting and to spam the Group periodic announcements. She also runs this website and is compensated for the cost of the domain name renewals and hosting fees.

Section 2: The Hollywood Sapphire Group is a social organization and all of its members are associated with the audio industry or its allied fields. Its purpose is to provide an opportunity for members to meet informally for networking and to discuss current activities, technology, or events relating to the audio industry.

Section 3: The officers of the Hollywood Sapphire Group officers shall be a Chair, a Vice-Chair, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The officers shall be assisted by a Membership Committee and a Program Committee. All of these must be active members.

Section 4: Election of these officers shall be conducted at the September general meeting in even-numbered years. The terms of office shall be two years or until successors have been elected. All officers may stand for reelection without a limitation on the number of terms.

Section 1: The general meetings of the Hollywood Sapphire Group normally shall take place on the first Tuesday of each month.

Section 2: Notice of the meetings shall be sent, via e-mail, to the membership no less than one week prior to each scheduled meeting. The notice also shall include a dinner reservation form.

Section 3: All members planning to attend the meeting must complete and submit to the Secretary by the date specified a confirming dinner reservation form for themselves and any guest(s) that they intend to bring. If they do not show-up for dinner, they are nonetheless obligated to pay the Treasurer for the dinners they have reserved.

Section 1: To be eligible for membership in the Hollywood Sapphire Group, a candidate shall have a technical, scientific, and/or professional background in the audio industry or its allied fields. However, no sales person shall be eligible to become a member unless he/she previously has been employed as a practitioner in the audio industry

Section 2: Candidates for membership must attend three consecutive meetings as the guest of an active member, who then may submit a petition on behalf of the candidate to the Membership Committee for evaluation. This petition must be presented both in writing and verbally at a general meeting. Any objections to this petition must be submitted in writing to the Committee by an active member. The Membership Committee shall make its final recommendation to the Chair who in turn will make the appropriate announcement at the subsequent general meeting.

Section 3: New members shall be required to lead a discussion or provide a meeting presentation within three months of being accepted as a member.

Section 4: An attendance roster shall be circulated at each meeting. Any member missing three consecutive meetings without a legitimate excuse — such as professional obligations, excessive travel time, family situations, or health conditions — shall be designated to inactive status and shall be notified of this by the Chair.

Section 4a: Inactive members may be reinstated to active status by attending three consecutive meetings.

Section 4b: Members unable to attend meetings on a regular basis due to a permanent and legitimate excuse shall retain active member status as long as the legitimate excuse remains valid.

Section 1: The Chair shall preside over the meetings. In the event that the Chair cannot attend a meeting, the Vice-Chair shall preside.

Section 1a: The Chair shall be responsible for determining the meeting place and negotiating details with the venue.

Section 2: The Vice-Chair shall head the Program Committee. In the event of the absence or incapacitation of the Chair, the Vice-Chair shall assume the duties of the Chair.

Section 3: The Treasurer shall receive all money from the members and shall pay all expenses of the Hollywood Sapphire Group. He/she shall keep an accounting of all funds received and expended by the Hollywood Sapphire Group and provide a report to the Chair semi-annually.

Section 4: The Secretary shall maintain the meeting attendance roster and the membership database. He/she shall send to the membership notices of all meetings, and receive the reservations for dinner.

Section 4a: The Secretary also shall be responsible to supervise the maintenance of the official Website of the Hollywood Sapphire Group.

Section 5: The Membership Committee shall consist of three members. It shall review all petitions for membership in the Hollywood Sapphire Group and any member’s request for exemption from inactive status. The Committee then shall forward its recommendations to the Chair for appropriate action.

Section 6: The Vice-Chair shall head the Program Committee, which shall consist of two additional members. Its responsibility is to select and coordinate the discussion topics, programs, and presenters for the general meetings.

Section 1: There shall be no dues for membership in the Hollywood Sapphire Group.

Section 2: The price charged for the dinners shall be established by the Chair and the Treasurer. Each member shall pay to the Treasurer the amount specified for his/her dinner and that of any guest(s) he/she may invite. The member also is responsible to pay any tips, incidentals, or extra amounts to cover his/her expenses.

Section 2a: Active members who have made a timely dinner reservation with the Secretary shall be afforded a $5.00 discount on the price of his/her own dinner. All other members and guests shall pay the established amount.

Section 3: Disposition of any funds accrued shall be determined by the Officers and must be for the benefit of the Hollywood Sapphire Group as a whole.

SPECIAL NOTE: In case you find a mistake in this roster please consider it was put there for a purpose.
As there is some news for everyone and some folks are always looking for mistakes.