Harry Williamson

Corduroy's mastering engineer, Harry Williamson, says the now ultra-rare process dates back to the first electrically produced shellac recordings in 1925.

"Before multi-tracking you had to get the combination of all the music right: tempos, singing and balance - and in those days they'd use one microphone or maybe two," Williamson says.
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Unless the band brings an engineer to mix sound, Williamson does both jobs - mixing and monitoring the lathe.

"First I'll ask them to run through a part of a song so I can get a balance and level," he says."I record it onto DAT (digital audio tape) and play them back a piece.Then I give them the cue to start and a signal when they're near the end of the available space.So, with one side of a single, it's a four-minute process."

Williamson, a former member of eccentric 1970s British/French progressive rock band Gong, says what you hear on the finished record is the real deal.

"It hasn't been edited or remixed in any way," he says.
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"That was a difficult session because (singer Jack White) didn't seem to understand the relationship between volume and the end result," Williamson says.
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Williamson says at the time he was still learning the direct-to-disc technique and subsequent sessions have been consistently successful.

Even bizarre solo act Bob Log III, who performs in a motorcycle helmet with a telephone receiver attached as a microphone, did not present a problem.

"That was great, worked just fine - plugged him in, got a sound he liked and off he went and he was rapt," Williamson says.
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But Williamson is determined to see the venture survive.

"One idea floating around is to set up a good sound environment where direct-to-disc can be done with an invited audience - somewhere other than Highett," he says.