Douglas Fitzpatrick's ACOUSTICAL ETHEREAL article

[poodling around]

I came across this article from the 'Hillandale News'.

https://archive.org/stream/HillandaleNe ... 5_djvu.txt

There are several old threads on here about Douglas Fitzpatrick but I couldn't see this article mentioned. I may have missed it though or maybe it was 'lost' with the old photographs etc.

Anyway, I thought it was a marvelous 'read' - so well written 'you could almost have been there.

The article appears a little bit down from the top of the page.

1. Anyway, I was left wondering if there are any photographs of his acoustic gramophone ? I couldn't find anything on the internet.

2. Also, it seems that Jim Goodall did some recordings of the gramophone and some 'music boxes'. Are these recording available to listen to any-where ?

3. I also wonder who Jim Goodall is ? He seems to feature in a number of Hillandale issues and is considered to be an expert when it comes to gramophone sound-boxes. I can't seem to find any mention of him on this forum ?

[drh]

There's an old thread about this machine here: viewtopic.php?t=32807

Naturally, the photos are gone.

Here's a discussion thread about Fitzpatrick from an autosports forum. Evidently his wider claim to fame was owning a unique early racing car. https://forums.autosport.com/topic/2203 ... tzpatrick/ An illustrated article about the car is here: https://www.classicandsportscar.com/fea ... d-behemoth

[edit] Having now fully read the article, I'd say the car appears to be an admittedly spectacular automotive equivalent of what we'd call a frankenphone.

[OrthoFan]

I came across this article from the 'Hillandale News'.

https://archive.org/stream/HillandaleNe ... 5_djvu.txt


1. Anyway, I was left wondering if there are any photographs of his acoustic gramophone ? I couldn't find anything on the internet.

Here you go:

Fitzpatrick_Gramophone_2013_1.4_lo_res.pdf

(671.51 KiB) Downloaded 82 times

By the way, if you click on the jump at the top of the page of the text version of the issue you posted -- "Hillandale News 115" -- it takes you to the flip book version, which has this illustration of the gramophone --

HTH,
OrthoFan

[poodling around]

I came across this article from the 'Hillandale News'.

https://archive.org/stream/HillandaleNe ... 5_djvu.txt


1. Anyway, I was left wondering if there are any photographs of his acoustic gramophone ? I couldn't find anything on the internet.

Here you go:

Fitzpatrick_Gramophone_2013_1.4_lo_res.pdf

By the way, if you click on the jump at the top of the page of the text version of the issue you posted -- "Hillandale News 115" -- it takes you to the flip book version, which has this illustration of the gramophone --

Screenshot 2024-01-09 071006.jpg

HTH,
OrthoFan

Fantastic read and so good to see the photographs ! Thank you very much !

I still wonder who Jim Goodall is though and if his recordings still exist .......... ?

[emgcr]

Here is a photo showing the gramophone, now fully restored, in its new quarters which are an exact copy of the room it once occupied in Sheringham Hall. Bespoke wallpaper was commissioned so that every detail was correct. The second photo shows the reason for the missing frequencies. The acoustic conduit was so long that the bats could not be seen from either end and were only found upon dismantlement.

[OrthoFan]

I still wonder who Jim Goodall is though and if his recordings still exist .......... ?

The only recording I was able to find of the gramophone in action was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAkUIty1WNI

I'm not sure if the bats were still in the horn, but it sounds pretty impressive, even in a low-fidelity YouTube video.

OrthoFan

[poodling around]

I still wonder who Jim Goodall is though and if his recordings still exist .......... ?

The only recording I was able to find of the gramophone in action was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAkUIty1WNI

I'm not sure if the bats were still in the horn, but it sounds pretty impressive, even in a low-fidelity YouTube video.

OrthoFan

A great find !

It is interesting that in the Hillandale article, (the mystery person and sound-box expert) Jim Goodall thought very highly indeed of the gramophone:

'The moment I heard it, I was impressed be the astoundingly clear, natural and realistic quality of its reproduction'. etc etc

However, after this, reviews are very much less enthusiastic. Probably because it was 'room specific' and had bits missing / added later ?

Anyway, thanks again OrthoFan.

[Orchorsol]

I still wonder who Jim Goodall is though and if his recordings still exist .......... ?

The only recording I was able to find of the gramophone in action was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAkUIty1WNI

I'm not sure if the bats were still in the horn, but it sounds pretty impressive, even in a low-fidelity YouTube video.

OrthoFan

That was with the bats still stuck in the horn conduit!

[emgcr]

I do have videos of what the gramophone now sounds like following the brilliant restoration. However the restorer, who is also the owner, is a very private individual and may not like publication so I cannot share I am afraid. Rest assured that the performance is now dramatically enhanced from that heard in the Holkham Hall video. The latter recording is very misleading indeed as so many of the frequencies were obviously missing although this is not well demonstrated via YouTube. One can say that the performance today is very good indeed and that the design is most impressive to have performed as well as it did with the bats in situ !

The acoustic output of HMV 202/203 re-entrant gramophones is analogous to the output from this trapezoidal horn in as much as the sound is "diffused" rather than "concentrated" as in the case of the output from EMG/Expert gramophones. Different types of magic are achieved.........

[epigramophone]

I have always wondered whether the late George Overstall, who I never met, was influenced by the shape of the Fitzpatrick horn when he built his own machine. Having passed between several custodians in recent years, it is now in the bat free care of a friend and forum member who lives near me. Since this photo was taken, a matching base has been custom made for it.