Harry M. Randel

Recording engineer. Founder of HMR Productions and a Century Custom Recording Service Franchise Associate. {obs.} 574 West Court, Scotch Plains, New Jersey 07076 An article about Harry from [I]Scotch Plains Times[/I] dated 25 February 1965 (pp.7 & 17) Ins And Outs About Pressing Records [I]By Ruth B. Gilbert[/I] Facing the undeniable fact that my knowledge of electronics equals minus zero, and I wouldn't know an Ampex 620 speaker from an MX 35 mixer, it was with feminine fear and trepidation that I approached 574 West Court in Scotch Plains for an interview with Harry M. Randel. As a representative for Century Records, he operates a Custom Recording Service from his home, handling 70% of the custom school and church recordings in New Jersey. (When an individual or an organization places an order strictly for the use of the participants of the program sponsored by that group, it is known as CUSTOM recording. The records are not for general sale through distributors or record shops.) Fortunately, Mr. Randel is a patient man and accepting my total ignorance in the recording field, he undertook to explain his fascinating vocation with amazing clarity. The path which ultimately led to Harry Randers present occupation is a long one. After graduating from Lehigh University in 1940 from a curriculum of Sales Engineering, he spent a short three months as a statistician with the Pennsylvania Power and Light. In October of that year, he became a member of Uncle Sam's Army, stationed at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds and for three years was the Senior Instructor, Aviation Ordnance. While at Aberdeen, Harry married the former Lillian Boardman and in 1944, their son James was born. Assigned to the 15th Air Force in Italy, Harry was a technical training officer and received the Legion of Merit for overseas technical developments. Following his military service, he joined the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. as a Professional Radio Engineer. Harry recalls "as an outgrowth of this, we had the 53rd television set in Washington and every neighbor in our apartment converged on us to watch that 5 inch screen." His daughter, Suzanne, was born while the Randels were in the nation's capital. In 1945, Dumont offered Harry an opportunity to go into television. As a remote supervisor, he worked 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, and did the majority of network programs originating from Washington. He told of televising one of President Harry Truman's "fireside chats" one evening. The cameras had been set up early in the afternoon, but after rehearsing with the President, one of them developed trouble. As Harry was frantically making repairs, "some chap tapped me on the shoulder and told me I was doing it all wrong." Startled, Harry turned to find Mr. Truman himself joking with him. Harry left. Dumont in 1955 and there followed a series of positions with ACF Electronics, in Virginia; the N.J. Meter Co. in Plainfleld; Walter Kidde and Co. in Belleville and Universal Toroid Coil Winding Co. in Irvington. His interest in the recording business actually began when his son, Jim, was a child. Harry and Lillian owned a small record cutter and would cut childrens’ records for Jim …. writing the scripts and acting all the parts. When Suzanne came along, they began to put stories for her on a tape recorder. As both children grew, recording their participation in school activities became a natural thing for the Randels. In 1961, the Scotch Plains - Fanwood High School was having its Spring concert ... and since Harry had two children playing usual pattern of bringing into the auditorium his tape recorder and microphone. Here he met Art Brandenburg, Century Records Representative, who was recording the concert with professional equipment. In December of that year, Brandenburg offered Harry a recording franchise with Century and his career was born. The first program the Randels recorded was the Westfield High School Band under the leadership of Robert Banks. They started with two Sony microphones and an Ampex PR 10 professional recorder. Today's mobile operation consists of a console on wheels featuring the Ampex 354 stereo recorder, 10 microphone channels through Ampex mixers and an assortment of professional microphones ... Telefunken, Sony, Sennheiser and Electro-Voice. They are in constant demand whenever quality and legality are the paramount desires of a recording group. This is a joint venture for the Randels, Lillian handles all the paper work, keeps the books and accompanies Harry to all recording sessions where she does the timing for each number. (Not to mention the fact that she is a clerk-typist at the Junior High School library, keeps house, makes her own clothes, knits and enjoys reading in her spare (?) time!). Out of their work has grown HMR Productions, which does commercial recordings for such customers as Warner-Lambert and CIBA (sales training records) and even the sounds of gnawing termites for the radio commercials for Western Termite Control … and of course, Century Custom Recording Service. Doing approximately 60 shows a year, including among many others, the band at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, the New Jersey Symphonic Band, Middlesex High and our own Junior and Senior High Schools. Harry does a great deal of work for the New Jersey Music Educators Association. This current school year found him recording the All State Orchestra and Chorus at Atlantic City and at the Mosque Theater in Newark. On February 28th, he will record the All State Band at Hunterdon Central High School in Flemington. Harry feels his most interesting task was with the New Jersey Music Educators' Opera Festival, This is an All State type of program, where students from some 70 to 100 schools throughout the state participate. An opera theme is selected and specific students in participating schools train under the guidance of the music educator in their school. Then on one day in February, close to 1000 students converge on a selected site. There is a single rehearsal for the chorus alone and one for the orchestra alone. This is the first time these students have ever sung or played together and probably the first time they have ever seen the musical director! Later, the two groups combine for a single rehearsal featuring soloists, chorus and orchestra in an integrated program. A polished presentation is given that night to the public. Harry was emphatic in his praise for the music teachers of our New Jersey schools and for the talented youngsters who participate in the program. In a presentation of this size and complexity, the technical knowhow and abundance of professional recording equipment as featured by Century Custom Recording Service really comes into its forte. Harry Randal is indeed fortunate to have his vocation and his vocation one and the same. He would offer his services as a lecturer on audio recording to any interested group in the area. It's impossible to completely cover the legend of Century Custom Recording Service and of the Randels in one feature article. A volume could well be filled with their story. And anyone who doesn't know an Ampex 620 speaker from an MX 35 mixer might find an exploration into the world of electronics to be informative, absorbing and thoroughly delightful!