Audiophiles of the Upper Lynn Canal are using old technology in new ways to immortalize their recordings. Skagway resident Zac Hudson is now offering record-cutting services to anyone who wants to put their audio on a record.
Fans of local music in Skagway may know Zac Hudson as a member of the band DUNCH—like dinner and lunch slammed together.
He says they have hardly played any live music since the pandemic began. Instead, he has been keeping busy with their recordings. That’s why he started looking into cutting his own records.
“Mostly, we just didn’t want to send the music off to get records made and have them mess it up or make it quiet. That’s what they pretty much requested any time was to turn it down or take the mids out,” Hudson says.
He started reading up on the internet, scouring forums for info. After looking around for the right equipment, Hudson eventually found someone in Phoenix, Arizona who restored record-cutting lathes. After some back and forth, he shipped a machine up to Skagway.
“This is the Presto 6N. This guy’s from 1951, and it was the industry standard for radio stations to do their ad copy,” Hudson says. “They could make it seamlessly flow with the fidelity of the records they were playing.”
Hudson is able to transfer digitally recorded audio on to records using a 1950’s era lathe. (Photo courtesy of Zac Hudson)
It kind of looks like a bulky record player with a thick metal arm on top.
Hudson used the 1947 book How to Make Good Recordings as a guide for learning how to use the lathe.
“[The book] is not about recording, it’s about replication more so. It was for the people that had lathes in their homes. They could record off the radio. It explained it to 1940’s and ’50s parents that are just sitting around and putting it in their terms. That was great because every other thing I read about it pretty much makes my eyes glaze over,” Hudson says.
His cuts got more consistent after some practice and he decided to offer record-cutting services to anyone who needed them. He’s able to take pretty much any digital audio file and transfer it to a record.
In addition to DUNCH’s music, Hudson has cut an acoustic album that a local musician made for his sister in the lower-48. The whole thing was recorded using an iPhone.
“I got no minimum. I’ll do two records for somebody, I don’t really care,” Hudson says. “It’s a learning experience every time I jump genres or get my hands on a file that’s less savory than I would want. I really don’t mind just experimenting with people.”
He says the most limiting factor is that he can only record in mono right now. That means the left and right channels will have the same sound coming out.
Despite that limitation, Hudson says the records he produces have a special sound.
“I feel like if the people are accustomed to hearing the old 45s and the tin can voice then they’ll be stoked on it. It feels real, feels legitimate and sounds old.”
Down the line he has plans to establish a record label called Wabba Wamp and work with local bands, Whitehorse musicians and artists from the lower-48.
For now, people who are interested in getting a record cut can email him at hudsonluthiery@gmail.com.
