Handford was also known for his recordings of steam locomotives in the 1950s and 1960s, during the last days of steam railways in Britain.[7][8] These were issued on the Transacord label between 1955 and 1961, at which point a deal was struck with Argo, by then part of Decca, for whom many new recordings were made under the "Argo Transacord" title. In 1980, Argo was phased out by (British) Decca's new owners, PolyGram and Argo's owner, Harley Usill, started a new label, ASV, on which new and reissued Transacord LPs were released in the early to late 1980s. The first CD was released in 1987 with others following in the 1990s. ASV is now part of the Sanctuary Group (itself now owned by Universal) and Transacord recordings remained on catalogue on CD into the late 1990s, with some still readily available until comparatively recently (as at 2011). The majority of the CD tracks were later made available as digital downloads. However, the copyright in Tranacord's recordings reverted from Universal to Transacord on 1 September 2011 at which point the digital downloads were made unavailable. Transacord is currently looking at making both CDs and digital downloads available again, possibly via the National Railway Museum, which organisation holds Peter Handford's original tape recordings and other materials from Handford's private collections.
Transacord's records are listed in Jim Palm's Railways on Record book from the early 1980s (though the book does not include information on the many non-British or non-railway recordings released by Transacord). A partial discography is also included in Peter Handford's 1980 autobiography, Sounds of Railways and Their Recording - unfortunately this does not include the records released by Argo during the 1960s on their (Z)DA catalogue sequence and misses some later recordings out as well. However, 2011 saw the publication of Transacord: Sounds of Steam and other Transports of Delight. The book was written with major input from both Transacord and the National Railway Museum and includes a history of the label plus the most comprehensive discography of UK releases ever made available.
"Peter Handford". Daily Telegraph. 12 December 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2007.[dead link]
Discography of steam locomotive recordings
Transacord: Sounds of Steam
Peter Handford Archive
January 20, 2023
peter, handford, march, 1919, november, 2007, english, location, sound, recordist, considered, master, pioneer, this, area, sound, recording, handford, 1945, army, film, unit, british, expeditionary, forceborn, 1919, march, 1919four, elms, kent, englanddied6, . Peter Handford 21 March 1919 6 November 2007 was an English location sound recordist He is considered a master and pioneer of this area of sound recording 1 2 Peter HandfordHandford in 1945 Army Film Unit of the British Expeditionary ForceBorn 1919 03 21 21 March 1919Four Elms Kent EnglandDied6 November 2007 2007 11 06 aged 88 Wickham Skeith Suffolk EnglandKnown forLocation Sound RecordingSpouse s divorced 2 Children Helen Fraser 1964 2007 his death ChildrenMarilyn Handford Pamela Handford Contents 1 Life and work 2 Transacord 3 Family 4 References 5 External linksLife and work EditBorn into a vicarage family at Four Elms in Kent England Handford began work in 1936 with London Films at Denham as a trainee sound recordist 3 He honed his sound recording skills during the D Day landings where he served with the Army Film Unit of the British Expeditionary Force 4 His first screen credit was on Black Magic 1949 and in the same year he recorded Under Capricorn for Alfred Hitchcock In 1972 Hitchcock sought him out to work on Frenzy Handford pioneered the use of original synchronous sound recording for film director David Lean on Summertime also known as Summer Madness 1955 which was shot on location in Venice and developed the technique during the British New Wave cinema movement working on films such as Room at the Top 1959 The Entertainer Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Sons and Lovers all 1960 Billy Liar Tom Jones both 1963 Oh What a Lovely War 1969 and on The Go Between 1971 and other films for Joseph Losey He also worked on the 1970s railway based Murder on the Orient Express 1974 and The Lady Vanishes 1979 on both of which radio microphones were extensively used Later he went into semi retirement working as a freelancer for Anglia Television but was recalled to the film business by Sydney Pollack for the location sound required on Out of Africa 1985 for which he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing and also a BAFTA On this film he worked along with Chris Jenkins Gary Alexander and Larry Stensvold 5 Handford went on to work on Dangerous Liaisons Gorillas in the Mist 6 both 1988 and White Hunter Black Heart 1990 His last film was Havana also 1990 Following his death in 2007 Peter s ashes were scattered at the site of Steele Road railway station on the former Waverley Route He had spent days and nights at this remote location making some of his most well known steam locomotive recordings Transacord EditHandford was also known for his recordings of steam locomotives in the 1950s and 1960s during the last days of steam railways in Britain 7 8 These were issued on the Transacord label between 1955 and 1961 at which point a deal was struck with Argo by then part of Decca for whom many new recordings were made under the Argo Transacord title In 1980 Argo was phased out by British Decca s new owners PolyGram and Argo s owner Harley Usill started a new label ASV on which new and reissued Transacord LPs were released in the early to late 1980s The first CD was released in 1987 with others following in the 1990s ASV is now part of the Sanctuary Group itself now owned by Universal and Transacord recordings remained on catalogue on CD into the late 1990s with some still readily available until comparatively recently as at 2011 The majority of the CD tracks were later made available as digital downloads However the copyright in Tranacord s recordings reverted from Universal to Transacord on 1 September 2011 at which point the digital downloads were made unavailable Transacord is currently looking at making both CDs and digital downloads available again possibly via the National Railway Museum which organisation holds Peter Handford s original tape recordings and other materials from Handford s private collections Transacord s records are listed in Jim Palm s Railways on Record book from the early 1980s though the book does not include information on the many non British or non railway recordings released by Transacord A partial discography is also included in Peter Handford s 1980 autobiography Sounds of Railways and Their Recording unfortunately this does not include the records released by Argo during the 1960s on their Z DA catalogue sequence and misses some later recordings out as well However 2011 saw the publication of Transacord Sounds of Steam and other Transports of Delight The book was written with major input from both Transacord and the National Railway Museum and includes a history of the label plus the most comprehensive discography of UK releases ever made available Family EditHis second marriage was to actress Helen Fraser whom he first met on location for Billy Liar He died 6 November 2007 at Wickham Skeith Suffolk References Edit Sloman Tony 30 November 2007 Peter Handford Master of sound location shooting who won an Oscar for Out of Africa The Independent Archived from the original on 1 December 2007 Retrieved 20 December 2007 Clarke Andrew 9 November 2007 Obituaries Peter Handford Eastern Daily Press Archived from the original on 6 December 2007 Retrieved 20 December 2007 Jones Kevin P Peter Handford SteamIndex Retrieved 12 March 2009 Handford Peter Sound Oscars Association of Motion Picture Sound Newsletter Archived from the original on 21 February 2001 Retrieved 21 December 2007 The 58th Academy Awards 1986 Nominees and Winners oscars org Retrieved 16 October 2011 The 61st Academy Awards 1989 Nominees and Winners oscars org Retrieved 16 October 2011 Peter Handford amp Transacord records Retrieved 6 January 2008 Handford Peter 1980 Sounds of Railways and their Recording Newton Abbot David amp Charles ISBN 0 7153 7631 4 External links EditPeter Handford at IMDb Peter Handford Daily Telegraph 12 December 2007 Retrieved 20 December 2007 dead link Discography of steam locomotive recordings Transacord Sounds of Steam Peter Handford Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Peter Handford amp oldid 1128140549, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
