Mastering Engineer Dave Gardner & Audio Archivist Catherine Vericolli discuss the preservation of the Westbound Records audio catalogue, including the masters of legendary recordings by Funkadelic, The Counts, Ohio Players & more.

Topics Include:

Dave Gardner (mastering engineer) and Catherine Vericoli (archivist) introduce their specialized roles
Mastering serves as link between creative process and manufacturing standards
Catherine transfers analog tapes to highest possible digital quality preservation
Physical restoration work includes extensive mold and splice remediation tasks
Much archival work involves "audio archaeology" detective work with clues
Working backwards from incomplete information when documentation is missing completely
Common assumption that old records were always done "the right way"
Reality reveals beloved records often weren't made using proper methods
Got rare access to examine entire Westbound Records collection together
Westbound Records started late 1960s by distributor Armin Bolodian in Detroit
Detroit-based independent label achieved regional success with multiple hit records
Funkadelic, Ohio Players, Detroit Emeralds were among their major successful acts
Complete catalog reissue approach rather than cherry-picking just popular hits
Assets moved between multiple locations over decades, not everything returned
Found various generations and copies of tapes for each release
Maggot Brain original masters were believed to be permanently missing
Discovery of missing masters hidden in completely unmarked white archive boxes
Original tape playback speeds rarely match speeds of vinyl releases
Spent entire week meticulously fine-tuning correct playback speeds for accuracy
Academic ethnomusicologist confirmed musical key was wrong on commercial releases
Many recent European reissues contain fundamentally inaccurate speed and sound
Double 45 RPM format avoids sonic compromises required for long sides
27-minute album sides on 33 RPM required major audio quality sacrifices
All-analog cutting process preserves original sound character without digital conversion
Unreleased material exists primarily in unprocessed multitrack tape format only
Dennis Coffey played guitar on many more Funkadelic recordings than known
Analog tape degradation accelerating rapidly, especially problematic for digital formats
Cultural preservation mission drives their passionate collaborative archival restoration work
Asset paranoia and trust issues affect access to important historical recordings
Primary motivation remains saving irreplaceable music for all future generations

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