Posted by jamesgibbon on
URL: https://www.shado-forum.com/soundtrack-discussion-tp1501042p1501045.html

Marc wrote:

> A question for anyone who knows -- if, in 1969, someone was planning
> on releasing a stereo album, how many tracks would the original master
> tape typically have? Would they have used 4, like UFO did, or would
> they have used more or less? Or is this something that cannot be
> generalized.
>

4 track recording was starting to become rather uncommon by the
late sixties. The Beatles' 'Sergeant Pepper' was famously recorded
on four track tape in 1967, but advances in recording technology
and practices were happening very quickly and 8 track was much more
commonly used in 1969. The Beach Boys were using 8-track as long
ago as 1965. 16-track was in use by 1971, and 24 track not far
behind.

Certainly I think that _less_ than 4 tracks wouldn't have been used
for a professional recording in 1969, unless it was a solo acoustic
guitar recording or something similar.

James