Dub plates 12"?

[heathen]

Hi everyone,I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me how many minutes of audio per side I can expect to put on a 12" dub plate,are they similar in spec to a pressed record or are they only good for say 1 song each side.

I need to get some plates cut for an artist to perform live. I'm hoping I could fit say 15-16 minutes per side at a reasonable loudness,does not have to be perfect but must sound good enough for a live show. Are my expectations to high? If I could get say 16 mins per side 2 plates would do 64 mins of audio which is about perfect for a short intense show.

I'm familiar with the requirements for vinyl mastering but not familiar with the limitations of dub plates,I know I can expect them to deteriorate over say 50-60 plays. What do you experienced guys say who have done this? Should I be able to get 16 mins per side on a 12"? Should I go for 45 rpm or 33. I know 45 is better but I need long a player. Any info greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys.
Heath

[kidvybes]

Originally Posted by heathen

Hi everyone,I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me how many minutes of audio per side I can expect to put on a 12" dub plate,are they similar in spec to a pressed record or are they only good for say 1 song each side.

I need to get some plates cut for an artist to perform live. I'm hoping I could fit say 15-16 minutes per side at a reasonable loudness,does not have to be perfect but must sound good enough for a live show. Are my expectations to high? If I could get say 16 mins per side 2 plates would do 64 mins of audio which is about perfect for a short intense show.

I'm familiar with the requirements for vinyl mastering but not familiar with the limitations of dub plates,I know I can expect them to deteriorate over say 50-60 plays. What do you experienced guys say who have done this? Should I be able to get 16 mins per side on a 12"? Should I go for 45 rpm or 33. I know 45 is better but I need long a player. Any info greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys.
Heath

...if your referring to the old lacquer cutting machines frequently used by Reggae sound systems to cut dubplates, I don't believe you can get 16 minutes per side, although there is an adjustment on those old machines that may allow for longer tracks...in my experience (I've had hundreds of dubs cut both in Jamaica and in Brooklyn, Bronx, NYC) you generally get 2 tracks per 10" side, or 4 tracks total per plate...each track being about 3 1/2 minutes long...so 1-10" plate would give you about 14 minutes total (7 minutes per side)...I haven't played any of my old dubplates in years (I transferred them to digital and then burned CDs of them) but I believe they were 45RPM...

...anyway, here's a few links to dubplate cutters with more info:
http://www.customrecords.com/dubplat...rd_albums.html
http://www.lajunglist.com/freeburning/fb/dubcut.html
http://www.aardvarkmastering.com/cutspec.htm

...but, back then, when we toured with live artists, we generally put our riddim tracks on DAT tape and patched them into the PA, because you didn't have all the "pops" and "crackling" that lacquer plates tend to have...much cleaner and louder...
...today, they often burn the riddim tracks to CD, and "spin" them on DJ CD decks that allow for "scratching" and "rewinds", much like vinyl...

[joshelevator]

dub plates have the same limts as 12s. longer the side, less volume. im not sure how much quiter that would be. the longest ive ever put on a side is 12 minutes at 336pm and it was still really loud - +3/4ish db. you want to ask your question to the mastering engineer. an me will know. for live purposes, i imagine it would be fine.

[DrunkenDrums]

I you want something longer lasting and better sounding than a duplate,
then look for someone who got the vinylrecorder from thess "black forrest guys".

http://www.vinylrecorder.com

I was at a demostration from these guys in cologne in 2002 and got a instrumental cutted into vinyl, 'cause i wasn't shure if I got my testpressings for an important open air live gig right in time.

Compared to the direct metal mastered testpressing cutted from the same audio source, the vinylrecorder vinyl-cut got more power in the bottom, but overall I liked the testpressing sound a bit more, with the vinylrecorder cut not sounding bad.

A year or two later I had cutted an instrumental from a reggae guy who purchased the vinylcutter. But this was real bad, it sounded like HumptyDumpty dancing real wild on his wal

[heathen]

Thanks for the responses.I think maybe doing some tapes could be the way (cheapest and easiest), I like the sound of tape. The reason I want to steer clear of a computer for live is because they just arent stable enough when everything is on the computer,a crash in the middle of a show would be embarassing. Cdr is not stable enough either I think,we were rehearsing yesterday and the cd skipped a few times. Tapes and tape players are cheap,if 1 dies just throw it away and press play on the next. I think I'll wait a while to do some vinyl,until we do a few shows and see which tracks are the ones people like.

Thanks
Heath