How is a story CD produced? There are so many components involved. There’s the voices, the music, the singing, those scary sound effects, and we can’t forget the cover design and graphics either. So what’s it like to put all these pieces together and create a suspenseful story tape that has kids sitting on the edge of their seats?

What makes a good story tape?

Nine-year-old Shimmy from Lakewood likes story tapes with plenty of action. Six-year-old Sarah from Brooklyn loves story tapes with lots of songs and great music. Twelve-year-old Chayala from Yerushalayim thinks the characters voices are the most important factor. Ten-year-old Moishy from Edison, New Jersey loves listening to stories that are funny and suspenseful.

Back in 1989, an incredible story tape was put out in Toronto. The famous composer and writer Abie Rotenberg and his friend, master mechanech and writer Rabbi Shmuel Klein, had just finished producing the first three albums of the Marvelous Midos Machine series. But this time they decided on a different kind of children’s tape, a suspenseful story set in the past. The plot involved an evil count and a plan to steal the sifrei Torah from the Jewish community’s shul. The story was called The Golden Crown.

The Golden Crown was immensely popular. Shortly afterward Abie Rotenberg and Rabbi Klein began writing a script for a sequel. But, “for one reason or another, we weren’t able to finish it,” says Abie Rotenberg. The unfinished script gathered dust for 25 years.

Old Story, New Talent

Enter Shimmy Shtauber, energetic producer and talented actor and impersonator who recently produced The Story Experience and When Zaidy Was Young, Tale 3. Shimmy, a Toronto native whose elementary school principal was Rabbi Shmuel Klein, grew up listening to The Marvelous Midos Machine series and The Golden Crown. He was looking to “capture the magic” of The Golden Crown, which he’d been listening to ever since his older brother gave him the album for his tenth birthday. So Abie Rotenberg handed over the unfinished script to Shimmy, who arranged for talented writer Etka Gitel Schwartz (another fan of The Golden Crown), to complete it. The result was The Lost Treasure, a riveting new album complete with voices from the past that may very well sound quite familiar.

So what was it like to produce a CD (I mean cassette!) 25 years ago, and how have things changed today? Let’s sit back in Dr. Midos’s time machine and set the dial to 1986, when the first Marvelous Midos Machine came out.

Into the Past

Back in the 1980s, people didn’t have computers, iPods, CD players, or even cell phones. The stories were produced on cassette tapes, and people listened to them on old-fashioned tape recorders. In those days, “it was much more efficient for the performers to work together and record at the same time,” says Abie Rotenberg, (aka Shnooky Shapiro and Count Nicholas the Rasha).

So the cast of The Marvelous Midos Machine, Episode One, who all lived in Toronto at that time, would meet late at night to record in the basement of the home of Moshe Yess a”h, who played Dr. Doomshtein. The next few albums were recorded in a Toronto studio with all of the characters crowding in to say their lines together. “It was a lot of fun, there were a lot of laughs,” says Rav Shmuel Klein, who played Dr. Midos on The Marvelous Midos Machine and Zaydie and Duke Alexander in The Golden Crown. “At one point we had to put a partition between us, so we wouldn’t see each others’ faces, because we couldn’t stop laughing,” Shloimy Goldreich (aka Dizzy and Yitzchak the Shammes) recalls.

Rav Shlomo Moddel, who played Reb Arel’e in The Golden Crown, remembers that they even asked the non-Jewish sound technician to play the part of the Captain of the Guards. (The sound technician’s name was John Stewart, and while producing The Lost Treasure, Shimmy Shtauber tried to track him down. He called every John Stewart in the Toronto telephone book without luck. If any of you readers ever bump into Mr. Stewart, let him know Shimmy Shtauber was looking for him!)

The famous singer and composer Baruch Levine, was a young boy when he played the role of Yehudah in The Golden Crown and also sang in the choir. He remembers how excited he was when Abie Rotenberg picked him up from school and took him downtown to the studio. “It was kind of cool.

“It was much more fun back then,” says Baruch. “Even the grown-ups had more fun. In the studio, everyone had their own booth so everything was as soundproof as possible. When someone messed up their lines we would just laugh.”

Practice Makes Perfect:

But producing the tapes wasn’t all fun and games. Rabbi Klein remembers repeating his lines at least 20 times until it sounded just right. “Abie was very makpid on doing it properly,” says Shloimy Goldreich. “I used to come home from the studio hoarse because we wanted to make sure that each voice carried through the same way on each CD.” Rabbi Moshe Blaustein, who played Shloompy and Borozov, remembers having to record certain lines over and over because every time he said a word with the letter “P,” there was a popping sound.

“In those days we had to get it perfect,” says Baruch Levine. “Nowadays they can take a decent recording and make something of it. Back then, it was all or nothing. So we practiced for weeks and weeks.”

Back to the Present

Fast forward to 2015, where modern technology has changed everything. “Technology has spread like a roller coaster,” says Rabbi Blaustein. New technology has made it possible for individuals from Canada, Connecticut, California, New York, New Jersey, and Florida to collaborate without having to leave their own homes. Even The Marvelous Midos Machine, Episode 4, produced in 2011, was still recorded group-style in a Toronto studio. Rabbi Klein, who now lives in New York, had to fly to Toronto to record his lines.

But this time, Shimmy Shtauber arranged individual recording sessions with each actor. Shimmy, who lives in Lakewood, traveled around the US and Canada with a computerized microphone to record each actor individually and then digitally combined it. “Shimmy brought the studio to me instead of me going to the studio,” says Rabbi Blaustein, who recorded his part while working in Camp Agudah Toronto this past summer.

Producion in the the Present

“Production today is all digital. So it makes it easy to record a voice and process it with other voices on a computer,” says Abie Rotenberg. Shimmy explains that today, recording each voice separately is the most practical way to produce a CD, and saves everyone a great amount of time. Eleven-year-old Shloimy Weiss from Toronto, who plays Yehudah (the part Baruch Levine played when he was a kid), says that recording his lines took only about one hour.

Additionally, the songs and sound effects on the original tapes were all played on one keyboard. But this time a variety of sounds from all over the world were used to create the music. Shimmy’s brother, Motty Shtauber, who lives in Toronto, recorded most of the music in his studio and e-mailed his arrangements to Shimmy. The background choirs were performed by the Rosenberg family from Miami, while the “Story Song” was arranged and recorded by Yanky Briskman in New York, and then combined with violin recordings made in Los Angeles. “It’s a strange thing,” says Motty Shtauber, “I could be sitting next to a stranger on the subway, and never even know that we both played music on the same song!”

Some Things Never Change

So has anything stayed the same after all these years?

For one things, the actors! “We’re all a little older now,” says Shloimy Goldreich. But, says Shimmy Shtauber, the actors, “slipped right back into the past.” Even though they have been performing for many years, the actors haven’t lost their energy or enthusiasm. They all get a lot of satisfaction from using entertainment to teach kids valuable lessons. And they all agree that’s it’s beautiful to see the generation that grew up listening to the original albums creating new stories with the same timeless messages.

Since he was just a kid 25 years ago, Baruch Levine couldn’t exactly play his old role of young Yehudah, but he composed a song for the new CD. Shloimy Weiss, who plays Yehudah on The Lost Treasure, tried to make his voice sound similar to the way Baruch’s did. Shloimy has never met Baruch Levine, but, “If I met him I’d say, ‘Hi me!’ ” he jokes.

Shimmy Shtauber also sought to maintain the original style of The Golden Crown in his new release. “Almost every line has a hidden reference to The Golden Crown,” he enthuses. Abie Rotenberg reveals that the album begins just as The Golden Crown did, with Zaydie telling a story to two boys. The opening song is a brand-new recording of the same “Story Song” of so many years ago.

A Story is Forever

Shloimy Goldreich says that although Jewish music has changed a lot over the past 25 years, the songs on the new album are classic. “Nowadays, songs are there for a month and then they’re gone.” But people are still singing the songs from the Marvelous Midos Machine and The Golden Crown. (Ask your parents to sing “Who spilled the milk on the Kitchen Floor?” or “Up, Up, and Away.” They probably know the words better than you do!)

Baruch Levine agrees. “Children still enjoy listening to story tapes just as much as we did. They don’t say, ‘That’s so outdated!’ My kids go to sleep listening to these stories and they’re still as fresh and exciting as when I listened to them.”

Rabbi Shlomo Moddel relates that he’s learned from our gedolim that a story is a wonderful way to teach a lesson. “It’s like taking medicine together with a spoonful of sugar.” Rabbi Shmuel Klein agrees. “A good way to learn a lesson is by being entertained. Although [by listening to these albums] many long car trips became a lot shorter, these tapes are worth hearing not merely for the entertainment factor. If you’re marbeh in listening to it you can learn a lot.”

Golly, Dr. Midos! I think I’ll go listen to a story tape right now!

Favorites

Name: Shimmy Shtauber

Role: Producer of The Lost Treasure

Favorite Album: Marvelous Midos Machine, Episode 3, because it was rich in ideas, ahead of its time and had terrific acting and sound effects.

Favorite Song: “Together” from The Marvelous Midos Machine, Episode 3. There are no words to explain it, it’s just a great song.

Favorite Character: Dr. Midos and Dizzy, because they’re just so rich, energetic, and full of character.

Name: Rabbi Shmuel Klein

Role: Dr. Midos on The Marvelous Midos Machine, Zaydie and the Duke in The Golden Crown.

Favorite Album: If you can tell me which is your favorite finger, I’ll tell you which is my favorite album.

Favorite Song: “Torah Song” from The Golden Crown. A lot of heart went into writing it. It brings out emotion when I hear it.

Favorite Character: Shloompy, he’s my good friend!

Name: Rabbi Moshe Blaustein

Role: Shloompy in The Marvelous Midos Machine and Borozov in The Golden Crown

Favorite Album: The Marvelous Midos Machine, Episode 4. Great storyline. And The Golden Crown, a masterpiece.

Favorite Song: “Together” from The Marvelous Midos Machine, Episode 3, because it hits home in an area that a lot of people need to improve in, sinas chinam and achdus.

Favorite Character: Dr Doomshtein. His voice was amazing, and Dr. Midos — he’s my good friend!

Name: Shloimy Goldreich

Role: Dizzy from The Marvelous Midos Machine and Yitzchok the Shammes from The Golden Crown.

Favorite Album: The Golden Crown, because it had a lot of suspense.

Favorite Song: “Gayvah Song,” “Together,” and “Up, Up and Away.”

Favorite Character: Abie Rotenberg, whichever characters he played.

Name: Rabbi Shloimo Moddel

Role: Reb Arel’e in The Golden Crown

Favorite Album: I don’t have a favorite.

Favorite Song: “Torah Song” from The Golden Crown

Favorite Character: Borozov. Rabbi Blaustein is a great actor and the character is the opposite of his true personality.

Name: Baruch Levine

Role: Yehudah in The Golden Crown

Favorite Album: The Golden Crown. My father asked Abie Rotenberg if I could be in The Marvelous Midos Machine. But Abie said it was only for fifth grade and up, and I was in fourth grade. So that was my first rejection. But then I got to be in The Golden Crown!

Favorite Song: “Together” from The Marvelous Midos Machine, Episode 3. It deserves to be on a first-class MBD album.

Favorite Character: Borozov. I visualize Rabbi Moish Blaustein doing it and it makes me laugh.

Name: Shloimy Weiss

Role: Yehudah in The Lost Treasure

Favorite Album: The Golden Crown. The story seemed very true.

Favorite Song: “Utzu Eitzah” from The Golden Crown. I like the tune and hearing everyone cheering together. I listened to that song over and over.

Favorite Character: Dizzy, because he sounds funny!

(Originally featured in Junior, Issue 588)