Summary: The first part of this paper deals with the scoring facilities available at Columbia Pictures in 1935, and the modification of the scoring stage built in that year to allow for the recording of larger bands. The second part describes the conversion of a production stage of 110,000 cu ft into a scoring stage, the advantages connected with the use of convex wood splays in such an enclosure, and the construction of a vocalist's room to allow the separate and simultaneous recording of songs, orchestrations, and combined renditions of the two. A description of the electric circuits employed for mixing 3 tracks is included.
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Between 1939 and 1941, Walt Disney Studios, in conjunction with RCA acoustic engineers, built 2 scoring stages using cylindrical splays in the bandshell. These stages, probably the first local music recording studios utilizing curved wood surfaces in the orchestra shell, employed 2 different constructions for the convex splays. While plywood was used for both types, the curved surfaces in the first stage consisted of two 1/4-in. sheets nailed securely to so-called saddles or horizontal planks of wood cut to the cross-sectional shape of the splay. The second type of splay consisted of a single sheet of 3/8-in. plywood sprung into 2 X 3-in. upright wood studs containing a 3/8-in. groove.
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