Editing Stereophonic sound (section)

==Stereo on disc==
[[File:Audio Fidelity first stereo LP.jpg|thumb|left| Label and sleeve from [[Audio Fidelity Records]]' second stereo demonstration record, c. 1958]]

In November 1957, the small [[Audio Fidelity Records]] label released the first mass-produced stereophonic disc. Sidney Frey, founder and president, had Westrex engineers, owners of one of the two rival stereo disk-cutting systems, cut a disk for release before any of the major record labels could do so.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jazzology.com/jazzbeat.php?id=50 |title=Jazzbeat October 26, 2007 |publisher=Jazzology.com |access-date=October 17, 2011 |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927133102/http://www.jazzology.com/jazzbeat.php?id=50 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thedukesofdixieland.com/history.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040126224550/http://www.thedukesofdixieland.com/history.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 26, 2004 |title=Harry R. Porter history |publisher=Thedukesofdixieland.com |access-date=October 17, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Side 1 featured the Dukes of Dixieland, and Side 2 featured railroad and other sound effects designed to engage and envelop the listener.  This demonstration disc was introduced to the public on December 13, 1957, at the Times Auditorium in New York City.<ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=wR0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA27 Mass Produced Stereo Disc is Demonstrated]," ''Billboard'', Dec. 16, 1957, p. 27.</ref>  Only 500 copies of this initial demonstration record were pressed and three days later, Frey advertised in ''[[Billboard Magazine]]'' that he would send a free copy to anyone in the industry who wrote to him on company letterhead.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wR0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33 Audio Fidelity advertisement], ''Billboard'', Dec. 16, 1957, p. 33.</ref><ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=wR0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA27 Mass Produced Stereo Disk is Demonstrated]", ''Billboard'', Dec. 16, 1957, p. 27.</ref> The move generated such a great deal of publicity<ref>Alfred R. Zipser, "Stereophonic Sound Waiting for a Boom", ''The New York Times'', August 24, 1958, p. F1.</ref> that early stereo phonograph dealers were forced to demonstrate on Audio Fidelity Records.

Also in December 1957, [[Bel Canto Records]], another small label, produced its own stereophonic demonstration disc on multicolored vinyl<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/5585126-Various-Bel-Canto-Stereophonic-Demonstration-Record |title=Bel Canto Stereophonic Demonstration Record |website=[[Discogs]] |access-date=2024-03-12}}</ref> so that stereo dealers would have more than one choice for demonstration. With the supplied special turntables featuring a clear platter lighted from underneath to show off the color as well as the sound, the stunt worked even better for Bel Canto, whose roster of jazz, easy listening and [[lounge music]], pressed onto their trademark Caribbean-blue vinyl sold well throughout 1958 and early into 1959.

When Audio Fidelity released its stereophonic demonstration disc, there was no affordable [[magnetic cartridge]] on the market capable of playing it. After the release of other demonstration discs and the respective libraries from which they were culled, the other spur to the popularity of stereo discs was the reduction in price of a stereo cartridge, for playing the discs–from $250 to $29.95 in June 1958.<ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=txgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36 Audio Fidelity Bombshell Had Industry Agog]", ''Billboard'', Dec. 22, 1962, p. 36.</ref> The first four mass-produced stereophonic discs available to the buying public were released in March 1958{{snd}} ''Johnny Puleo and his Harmonica Gang Volume 1'' (AFSD 5830), ''Railroad&nbsp;– Sounds of a Vanishing Era'' (AFSD 5843), ''Lionel&nbsp;– Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra'' (AFSD 5849) and ''Marching Along with the Dukes of Dixieland Volume 3'' (AFSD 5851).  By the end of March, the company had four more stereo LPs available, interspersed with several Bel Canto releases.<ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=eyEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA9 CBS Discloses Stereo Step]," ''Billboard'', March 31, 1958, p. 9.</ref>

Although both monaural as well as stereo LP records were manufactured for the first ten years of stereo on disc, the major record labels issued their last monaural ''albums'' in 1968, relegating the format to 45 RPM singles, [[flexidisc]]s and radio promotional materials which continued until 1975.<ref>Sylvan Fox, "Disks Today: New Sounds and Technology Spin Long-Playing Record of Prosperity", ''The New York Times'', August 28, 1967, p. 35.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010726013519/http://www.ronpenndorf.com/labelography4.html RCA Victor Red Seal Labelography (1950–1967)].</ref><ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=wAoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1 Mfrs. Strangle Monaural] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806001645/https://books.google.com/books?id=wAoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=August 6, 2024 }}", ''Billboard'', Jan. 6, 1968, p. 1.</ref>