Victrola playing to slow, apparently

[Edisonfan]

Thank you Travis!

The other thing is not all 78’s were, recorded at 78 rpm. Especially before 1925, and even before 1912.

[Curt A]

The 60 cycle strobe disc won't work with certain light sources...

[Governor Flyball]

There are a number of issues here.

Firstly, the speed 78.26 RPM for Victor was only standardized in the late 1920's. Victor claimed their records were 78 RPM but infact from shortly befor 1910, Victor standardized at 76 RPM. Bake that Chicken Pie was recording in 1907 which means it was likely 76RPM or less!

Late 1890's throughabout 1908, the Berliner and Victor speed may be all over the place. It became more consistent as time passed. I have a 12 inch recording by Sousa's Band of Zampa Overture recorded at about 60 RPM. I expect that was done to fit the 5 minutes plus on to one record side. The records made from around 1900 through 1903 appear to be in the 70 to 74 RPM range. The Caruso and Tamagno records from 1902-03 seem to play back best at about 68 RPM. There was no hard and fast rule.

Remember that before the late 1940's with the introduction of the LP and 45 RPM discs, records were just records. The name 78 was only coined around that time only to differentiate them from the newer formats.

Lastly, to correctly measure turntable speed, you must always have the tone arm upon the records when measuring. This is because the added drag of the tone arm will slow the turntable. (Perhaps that is why Victor stated 78 because typically the drag was 2 RPM? Who knows?)

Back to Bake Dat Chicken Pie (which happens to be my favorite Jim Crow era demonstration record) at 72 RPM playback it may be a bit slow as it was likely supposed to be 76RPM. You would need the original sheet music and a pitch pipe to be sure. And what if Collins and Harlan transposed it up or down a little? After all they were known as the two ton duo and they weren't getting any lighter.

https://en.todocoleccion.net/music-scor ... x306152573

[Governor Flyball]

Paul,
......The first question can be answered by tuning the record to a known musical source or by comparing it with the work of trusted transcription engineers. At the time Victor recorded “Bake dat Chicken Pie” the recording standard was pretty well controlled at 78/min....
Mark

Victor told a mistruth! The Victor record speeds were all over the place and was mostly 76 RPM from around 1908 to 1925. They told the public it was 78.

There is evidence backing this up. I will have to look for it.

[Edisonfan]

Paul,
......The first question can be answered by tuning the record to a known musical source or by comparing it with the work of trusted transcription engineers. At the time Victor recorded “Bake dat Chicken Pie” the recording standard was pretty well controlled at 78/min....
Mark

Victor told a mistruth! The Victor record speeds were all over the place and was mostly 76 RPM from around 1908 to 1925. They told the public it was 78.

There is evidence backing this up. I will have to look for it.

… and yet when I play it on my Victrola. It sounds fine to my ears, and If I still had that particular recording. I would see how it sounds on my audio-technica turntable.

[Edisonfan]

Paul,
......The first question can be answered by tuning the record to a known musical source or by comparing it with the work of trusted transcription engineers. At the time Victor recorded “Bake dat Chicken Pie” the recording standard was pretty well controlled at 78/min....
Mark

Victor told a mistruth! The Victor record speeds were all over the place and was mostly 76 RPM from around 1908 to 1925. They told the public it was 78.

There is evidence backing this up. I will have to look for it.

… and yet when I play it on my Victrola. It sounds fine to my ears, and If I still had that particular recording. I would see how it sounds on my audio-technica turntable.

[Governor Flyball]

… and yet when I play it on my Victrola. It sounds fine to my ears, and If I still had that particular recording. I would see how it sounds on my audio-technica turntable.

I suppose the point I wanted to make was the record was probably made at 75 to 76 RPM or perhaps slower and your turntable was at 72 RPM. Not much of a difference. Collins and Harlan, perhaps better known as the "Two Ton Duo" weren't getting on in age and not getting any lighter. I didn't detect it being played back too slowly.

The complainant must have really been into "Bake Dat Chicken Pie" to be so intimately knowledgeable of it's nuances.

[JerryVan]

The complainant must have really been into "Bake Dat Chicken Pie" to be so intimately knowledgeable of it's nuances.

That's funny.

[Edisonfan]

Maybe if I had, an earlier external horn Victor Talking Machine. The speed would not have been an issue?

[Curt A]

Bake dat chicken pie isn't exactly a record that sounds great at any speed and the lyrics/language/accents really can't be used to fine tune your machine... Try a real recording.