Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Faked stereo: Sacrificing quality for cash By R. A. PERRY hat there is a lot of money in Art these days we know and often wonder at, but that those who rule in the Culture Scene seek nothing but the aesthetic pleasure of a bulg- ing bank account is an idea that seems far too cynical. I like to think, for instance, that the producers and, engineers who oversee recordings of classical music possess a high degree of taste and sensitivity as well as business acumen. Recent events in the recording industry prove me a foolish romantic; like the mercenary, these producers may enjoy the fight. but they are in it for the money. During this summer, the ax fell on all monophonic recordings. Regional distributors junked mono records in stock (at Angel, for instance, each record was removed from its jacket, scratched so it could not be sold, and then put in the garbage); local rec- ord stores held sales in which their remaining mono discs sold at low, "no return" prices. Why? The reason stem less from the feeling that mono is technologically old hat-as 78's are-than from market research indicating that four stereo discs are sold to one mono of the same title. You can hardly blame companies for trying to avoid double pressings, double bookkeeping, and double storing of newrecords. What is so insidious about stereo, howeuer, is that the word, so the R & D men believe, has become magic, so magical that a buyer would turn down 4 mono-only recording of a great artist for a stereo record by a lesser artist. Their response to such beliefs has been to produce "electronically re-channeled stereo" pressings of mono discs so as the keep the old, great records in the catalogue -and still marketable. This "giving' the people what they want" proves Ito be as fallacious in this case as it is in the case of cretin-aimed tele- Vision programming. If you have yet to purchase your first fake stereo record, let the warn- ing stand: they sound horrible. Basically, there are two processes by which "electronically rechanneled stereo" records are produced. The first method simply adds reverbera- tion to the' mnono source, lending an ersatz spatial resonance, that feeling *of- a big auditorium. Records pro- duced this way lose the definition of the monophonic pressing and achieve a warm fuzziness, like a pen drawn across wet paper. The second ;method, more widely used, takes the single signal and taps* off the middle and high frequencies for one speaker and the middle and low frequencies for the other speaker. In this fashion, the audio signal wal- lows in over-reverberation, displays erratic jumping of instruments or voices from speaker to speaker, and generaly sounds as if it were recorded on a damp towel. Ironically, the bet- ter your sound reproduction system, the worse the records will sound. Several newly re-released record- ings on the Columbia and Odyssey labels well demonstrate the range of artistic destruction that these fake stereo products bring about. Glenn Gould's recording of Bach's "Goldberg Variations" was hailed as one of the great recordings of the century when first released in the mid-fifties. Remaining in the catalog in its mono-only editon until a few months ago, it has been replaced by a stereoized version. Miracles of pianistic touch and clarity now have been muddied, especially in the left hand which sounds distant and under water. The Inono sound was wonderfully clean and sharp; the "stereo" sound less telling of Gould's special genius. Two other Odyssey re-issues ..in faked stereo are especially atrocious. Berlioz's "Te Deum," under a rousing performance by Sir Thomas Beech- am, offers a perfect example of the full destruction that shoddy re-chan- neling effects. The chorus sounds as if they were all gobbling cream of wheat and the orchestra is weak, if not obliterated at times, and spread out all over the "stereo spectrum." Although Columbia has been singled out here, many other companies are in the process of ruining great record- ed performances forever. Only a few have held back, but like the one gas station on the block not offering prize gimmicks, they feel the strain and temptation. Unfortunately, the problem is not simply solved by a resolution never to purchase faked stereo recordings. The serious record collector and music lover is in a real bind, for he is faced with the alternative of never hearing many great performers and performances (the Casals-Serkin Beethoven cello sonatas have been recently re-issued in fake stereo) or with settling for these spurious, dis- quieting editions. At present it may pay to splurge on the mono copies still around; later one will either have to haunt second hand record shops, or swallow the bitter pill. Departments in bind over space, 4 appropriations for, (continued from Page 1) suffered this year, but rising and no additional money is of new faculty member available, says Wallace. the law school strong an The Law School also suffered ing. I do not have the f losses this year, but. is in a much we ae hurting in th better position than many of the place," says Allen. units of the University. ' The Law School, ho "Nobody would deny that losing enough of a privatet four senior people is nothing to so that, coupled wi be looked at with pleasure, but our alumni contributions, it faculty is larger now than four tain a high status des years ago, and is , remarkably legislative appropriat strong one," says' Dean Francis plains Allen. Allen. At other units acros The law school has not lost a versity, often the prob single man to a teaching position placing leading faculty at another school in more than with, equally, competer four years. The men who left went acute, if not impossibl to 1 become deans at other law chology department ne schools, according to Allen- staff than it had last "I won't minimize the losses we cording to McKeachie. eqi the inflow rs had kept nd flourish- feeling that le market- wever, has endowment th annual can main- ite meager ions, ex- s the Uni- lem of re- y members :nt men is e. The psy- eeded more t year, ac- "The men Socialist scholars score ,past ba ses tfor* reform lipment we lost are currently being re- placed by visiting lecturers, but they will be gone next year," he explains. "We don't have enough staff to teach the courses we usually offer in physiological psychology, due to the loss of Prof. Isaacson and others. In all, we have 170 sections full and closed in 30 courses, where a few years ago we never had to close a class because of lack of space or staff," he adds, The continued prestige of the department will depend on how well it does in recruiting, but re- gai'dless, it will suffer, according to McKeachie. He adds, however, it is not a "complete disaster. Though we are hurting in physi- ological psych, we still offer among the best undergraduate and the best general graduate programs in the country." Unquestionably the University is facing troubled times, but nobody seems to be losing hope for the future. Van Wyle* points out that the University and.AnnwArbor are fine places to dive and work, and given judicious use of its resources 'and maintenance of the good working conditions, the Univer- sity should be able to hold on to much of its staff. Plans are also being developed for a more efficient recruiting program and better relations with the Legislature. There will probably be innova- tions in literary college program- ming in t'he future to provide a more long range approach to the kinds of problems currently con- fronting the University, according to Sussman. In addition, more attention will probably be given to develoo- ments in programs and recruiting at competing universities across the country, according to 'Suss- man. This will allow the Univer- sity to keep abreast of current re- cruiting techniques, he adds, and keep one step ahead of the Uni- versity's competitors. MANY PROPOSALS: SGC reform history stresses structure, (Continued from Page 1) Panhell, Interfraternity-Council and University Activities Center. The Daily, which is also entitled to an ex-officio seat, relinquished it three years ago. However, at its next meeting council is expected to deprive its ex-officio members of their voting powers. If SGC takes this action, it will destroy one of its structural weaknesses without resorting to abolishing the existing constitu- tion. In addition, the advocates of, "SGC Incorporated' haven't re- mained inactive. Members of council indicated they will pro- ceed with the incorporation plan next week despite formal disap- proval by the Regents earlier this summer. Yet, with many proposals for restructuring SGC, many council members doubt that the problems of student apathy and council relevancy can be solved solely through structural changes. Member at-large, Gayle Rubin, and Executive Vice President Bob Neff, who proposed the amend-' miept to dissolve SGC, feel council hasn't adequately confronted ma- jor issues in the realm of academic reform. Disillusioned council members question the value of SGC meet- ings each Thursday night which consistently disintegrate into hours of petty debate and insults. The realization that little is being accomplished always makes its mark on the participants as well as the audience. Perhaps much of the work and argument could be eliminated through the appointment of standing and ad hoc committees. These committees would have enough authority to act on rele- vant matters without having to obtain the consent of a majority of council members. In fact, an ad hoc committee of students interested in academic reform established last week, seems to be achieving more (and is certainly more stimulating) than SGC on the issue of reform- ing the University's academic sys- tem. It is in this light that some council members question the' legitimacy of SGC. They do not intend to remove a student gov- ernment from campus but to change the existing debating so- ciety into an organization which is relevant, and adaptive to the important issues on campus. 3020 Washtenaw. Ph.,434-1782 Between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor IN COLD, BLOOD wriwenflor thescreen and direcrsd by Richard Brooks A Columbia i, cutes Release in Ponovisioei "IRRESISTIBLE!"-LIFT [ COLUMBIA PICIURL e" r1 S. A [SUGGESTED FOR MATURE AUDIEN ES| CAUTION: THIS MOTION PICTURE SHOULD BE KUPTOF I THE REACH OF-CHILDREN NATIONAL SCNIRAt CORPORATtbN FOX EA1STERN THEATRES FOR VIL IK 375 No. MAPLE RD. X769.1300 NOW SHOWING SAT.-SUN.-1 :45-3:30-5:16 7 :00-94:00 MON. thru FRI.-7:00-9:00 A sportive look at tie fertility rites (and wrongs) of western society. k = By ROBERT JOHNSTON Editor 1965-66 NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CPS) -Young radicals last week be- sieged the convention of the American Political Science Asso- ciation in Washington, D.C. with a series of demands aimed, they said, at making political science relevant to contemporary political and social issues. But at the same time, speakers at the fourth an- nual Socialist Scholars Confer- ence (SSC) at Rutgers University, emphasized the need for more de- tached intellectual work to build a broader, more solid base for so- cial improvement. Some of the SSC speakers and issues raised: -Christopher L a s c h, from Northwestern University, decried America's lack of a revolutionary tradition and called for the emer- gence of a revolutionary culture tied to political and economic ac- tion-"revolution must be born from the deepest feelings of the people, but Americans have never had to look deeply into them- selves"; .-Ernest Mandel, editor of the Belgian weekly La Gauche and participant in the French student- worker demonstrations of last spring, declared the the French experience clearly proved that "a socialist revolution is possible .in an adbanced, industrial country" -"the students alone decided neither the course nor the out- come of the demonstrations: it was decided the firstrday of the general strike by workers w4O made a united commitment to running their own lives", -Eugene Genovese, from Sir George William University, in a paper on Harold Cruse's "The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual argued that Cruse understates and underestimates the strength and depth of Amei'Ican racism toward blacks and misjudges the poten- tial relevance toward the prob- lem of racism Of a black national- ist response- 'Cruse is silent on the opportunism and treachery that have pervaded every na- tionalist movement in history"; These trends of thought seemed to stand out at the conference: the old socialist-Marxist vision is no longer adequate to map out fu- ture social changes and alterna- tives; those revolutionary groups participating in the development of a socialist futurd must not think in American or "statist" terms, on pain of co-optation by the imperialist ethic; decentrali- zation, or people's control over their own lives, must be a major tenet of socialist goals; 'blacks and youth are the most available potential recruits 4o a socialist re- volution. 20th Century-Fox'presents DEBORA1H DAVID §KERR NI YEN, in FIELDERCOOK a the . SMA A KAHN-HARPER PRODUCTIN" Color by De luxe EI F ;>o m 4OCstG'0<=>t)o <= o;;;> o ;::; O 0]FHE CIRCILE Zen, Yoga, Tarot Alchemy, Astrology, Theosophy Tarot, Magic Parapasychology 215 S. STATE . ..t2nd Floor GUILD HOUSE-801 Monroe Mon., Sept. 16 Noon Luncheon 25c "REVOLUTION OR REFORM IN AMERICAN CITIES ?" Resource Persons in Discussion ,- ,I Tues., Sept. 17 Noon Luncheon PROCOL HAREM FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY at the GRANDE BALLROOM Grand River at Beverly, Detroit 834-494 Special Procol Harem-SRC Monday evening performance at the FIFTH DIMENSION, Ann Arbor 8:00 P.M. 3 ACADEMY AWARDS LAST 2 DAYS SUN.-3:00-5:30-8:00 MON.-6 :30-9:00 JOHANNES RAU German Educator, Journalist and State Representative SPD (Tuesday Series beginning Sept. 24: "Anti-Intellectualism and the University) 41 i -:_: tai Anthony Quinn, best actor of the year! Zorba, one of the year's 11 A SIZZLER FROM FRANCE. ''Therese andIsabelle' will be the most talked-about movie around." I ,-~' -WINS RADIO "1'P" .. aR(§'j Y k. GE presents MCHELANGELO ANTONION I'S IL GRIDO (THE OUTCRY) 1952 10 best!" "'ZORBA THE GREEK' is a -National Board of Review decided must-see!" -N.Y. Times THE MAN WHO BROUGHT YOU "BEDAZZLED" NOW BRINGS YOU: ANTHONY QUINN ALAN BATES-IRENEPAPAS MILBACQTNE EEK" "ZORBATlNE QREEK" . r 1" -I.IIII k1 ,ya 201h Ce ~ if (ntu~ry-Fox preseants KL