Home Recordings - 1946-48

[DrGregC]

This project goes back to the old board. I came into possession of a cache of home family recordings made by my uncle, 1946-48. They are priceless. They have brought tears to the eyes of the remaining of my parents' generation who have heard them. They are small (6.5-8") records on a variety of substrates: steel (RecorDisc, National), aluminum (Wilcox-Gay RecordioDisc, Melodisc, CRC/Century Radio), and even paper (Wilcox-Gay/RecordioDisc, CRC/Century Radio, Philco). They are both 33 & 78 - some are 33 on one side and 78 on the other! I bought a Newcomb record player on eBay to listen to them. Interesting to note that I have to use the larger 78 needle on both 78 and 33 recordings.

I am going to post this as two threads. My first questions have to do with the recording process. Can anyone give me an education as to how these records were recorded? It was obviously a home unit. Who made these devices? How long were they in existence? Any references are appreciated. Thanks.

[DrGregC]

I'm surprised to see this topic go unanswered after a week. Is there another newsgroup or message board that might be more helpful? Thanks.

[beaumonde]

Greg, I also have a number of these home disc recordings, from my mom's family, dating to the early '40s. I have yet to transcribe these, though I really should. There are some haunting ones with my grandmother playing piano and singing. The sound quality is really variable, however.

I know that RCA had home disc recording dating to the very early '30s. By the time of home availability of tape recording (ca. 1950-52 or so), my grandfather must have switched to that format, as I have loads of reel-to-reel tapes as well, but these have not proved nearly as durable over the years, despite the superior sound quality (when oxide particles remain intact).

Sorry I can't help with more technical info. I think that Greg Bogantz (sometimes here) would be able to supply more of this.

[gramophoneshane]

I too was hoping that someone who "knows their stuff" would fill us all in with the facts, but as no-ones stepped forward yet, I'll post what (I think) I know. lol

As far as I'm aware, there were two basic systems.

The first being those that actually cut the recording to the disc. These of course used a cutting stylus, and a cartridge that pretty much worked in reverse causing the needle to move and cut the recording.
Some blanks were smooth, and the pick-up was moved across the disc via a feed screw much the same as an Edison machine
Other disc's were pre-grooved, which I presume would make the cutting styli's job easier by allowing it to cut the recording without worrying about cutting the deep groove too.
Both disc types would leave you with a fairly normal record, having a lateral recording within the grooves. Neither could be erased & re-recorded as far as I know.

The second system was basically the same as that used for reel to reel & cassette tape, where the recording was made magnetically. I have seen this system used in domestic "radiograms", but seems to be more popular in early disc format dictating machines- I'd imagine because some would allow you to erase a recording & reuse the disc.
I've seen smooth paper & plastic disc's for this system turn up occasionally, but pregrooved disc's are by far more common. I guess they just had a greater chance of survival.
This system of course could not be played back on a normal phonograph using a cartridge & stylus.

Below are two pictures of my English "Recordon" dictating machine. This one used a paper disc which could be erased & re-recorded. A pregrooved disc was placed on top to drive the arm & head over the record. In the first picture you can see a "tuning" knob on the top side of the tonearm. The second picture is the underside of the arm showing the magnetic recording/playback head, and a small brass disc which has a point on it. This point sat in the groove which pulled the arm across the disc. The tuning knob would move this point, so as the recording head could be positioned over the recording for optimal playback quality.

[gregbogantz]

Two basic technologies were used for making home grooved disc recordings (as opposed to disc magnetic recordings). The early RCA recorders from the early 1930s used small discs which had a silent groove pressed into their vinyl-like material. The recording was made by operting the horseshoe magnetic phono pickup in reverse, that is as a recorder rather than a reproducer. The unit was already heavy, but an additional weight was provided which fit over the top of the horseshoe end to increase the tracking force. Special recording needles were put into the needle chuck. These had a larger radius spherical tip that fit into the silent groove of the recording blank, and the silent groove guided the recorder across the record. The recorder actually embossed the modulation into the blank by moving the sidewalls of the silent groove. These records can be played with a conventional pickup, but you'll probably get the best results with a large radius stylus so that the tip rests on the sidewalls rather than on the bottom of the groove.

The other technology used in home disc recording during the late 1930s and up to WWII was the actual cutting of a groove into a flat, blank disc. This required the use of a feedscrew to guide the recording arm across the record, and the recorder arm was a physically different arm than that used for playback. A special cutting stylus with a sharp cutting edge was used to cut the groove together with the modulation. These recorders were usually of the piezoelectric crystal type, and most of those are no longer functioning because the crystal element has usually become defective with age. Different recording stylus shapes were offered by a number of makers, but they typically cut a V-shaped groove that could be played back on any conventional record player. Again, you should try different stylus sizes to get the best playback quality with the least noise. Recording equalization (EQ) was not standardized for home recording, so you may get a really strange frequency balance upon listening to these recordings, but you can fix that up with the use of a graphic equalizer or computer controls.