Did You Mean It?, Joe Green, Diaphragm Change.

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larryh
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Did You Mean It?, Joe Green, Diaphragm Change.

Post by larryh »

Still putting things up on You Tube. This selection is a popular piece which is electrically recorded. Not totally in great shape. I tried to record it previously but the diaphragm I was using on the other videos was just too loud which caused it to have a very unpleasant effect.. This is partly due to the camera auto volume which I don't like.. I was making some diaphragms for some customers and when testing they turned out to be slightly less loud, a reasonable listening effect in my vibrant living room.. But I hear now that the camera has brought the volume up still higher than I would like. One day I am going to get one of the video cameras with directional mikes and peak volume control. I think I would get significantly better results. Some of the pieces turn out rather well, others are not as successful. At any rate this selection is at least listenable compared to the first even louder one.

I liked the louder diaphragm for all the reasons I usually find objectionable. They tend to boost the lower ranges while in turn over driving the upper sections of some pieces. The slightly softer one I am using is better But the camera has pretty much wiped out that effect here, in person is much more listenable.

I don't know the progression of the artist into the electoral recording era but my guess is that this is one of the Green Brothers that produced so many Edison selections early one. By this time I think they may have been fading in popular taste. Keep the volume at a comfortable level.

Did You Mean It?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4qXR9SySi4

Larry

Phototone
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Re: Did You Mean It?, Joe Green, Diaphragm Change.

Post by Phototone »

You know, inasmuch as we like the late electrical Edison records, "some" of them were just not recorded as well as many of the acoustical ones were. This selection, Did You Mean It? by Joe Green is on the verge of being over-modulated, while still being quite good. I own a copy of this record, and I have listened to it via acoustical playback as well as electrical playback, so I am not just speaking from the video you posted. I have a recording of Rhapsody in Blue (both sides of a 10" diamond disc) electrical recording that is positively distorted, but not too loud.

larryh
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Re: Did You Mean It?, Joe Green, Diaphragm Change.

Post by larryh »

Phototone wrote:You know, inasmuch as we like the late electrical Edison records, "some" of them were just not recorded as well as many of the acoustical ones were. This selection, Did You Mean It? by Joe Green is on the verge of being over-modulated, while still being quite good. I own a copy of this record, and I have listened to it via acoustical playback as well as electrical playback, so I am not just speaking from the video you posted. I have a recording of Rhapsody in Blue (both sides of a 10" diamond disc) electrical recording that is positively distorted, but not too loud.

Thanks for that bit of information. I haven't had this record for a very long time, but it did seem to be "different" than the few other electrics I have so its good to hear that its not just me. I normally can't afford them anyway and something about the solid sound of the acoustic records is appealing and well done on edison so I am generally happy with them.

Larry

Edisone
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Re: Did You Mean It?, Joe Green, Diaphragm Change.

Post by Edisone »

R in Blue & Did You Mean It would have been recorded with the first Edison electrical equipment, which was "home brewed". Recordings improved considerably when they bought RCA equipment, I believe some time in 1928.

As for the Greens:

"The headlines read "Boy plays Xylophone of Own Construction" when, in 1906, George Hamilton Green (1893-1970) first created a sensation by performing solo xylophone on a homemade instrument with his father's band in Omaha, Nebraska. He performed throughout the Midwest as a concert and vaudeville artist, was a dance orchestra wizard, and in 1916 began one of the most prolific recording careers in history.

George was not only a busy performing artist on record and radio, be also composed pop tunes, maintained a busy teaching schedule and, as the saying goes, literally wrote the book on the xylophone which he felt was "the perfect ragtime instrument."

His older brother Joe Green (1892-1939) was as well known and sought after in the recording business. Joe received national acclaim when he toured with John Philip Sousa's band as a featured xylophone soloist from 1915 through 1919. Not only a xylophonist, but also a percussionist and timpanist. Nat Shilkret and the Victor Company used Joe extensively for recording dates. he was also timpanist for the Victor Red Seal Operatic recordings.

The Green brothers played in hundreds of groups in recording studios and on radio airways. Their most notable group was the Green Brothers Novelty Orchestra (mid-20s to early 30s) in which George and Joe, along with their younger brother Lew (1909-1992), a guitar and banjo player, performed the soundtrack for the first Disney cartoons, Steamboat Willie, The Opry House, and Skeleton Dance.

Joe died in 1939 of complications following an operation. George retired from music shortly thereafter to pursue a lengthy career as a cartoonist from his home in Woodstock, New York, until his own death in 1970."


(from http://www.greensmusic.com/ )

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Wolfe
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Re: Did You Mean It?, Joe Green, Diaphragm Change.

Post by Wolfe »

Yeah, Edison had the same sort of problem many companies did, in the early electrical days. Their stuff wasn't up to the WE standard just yet.

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