100 Years Anniversary: Earliest Victor and Columbia Western Electric Recordings

[Governor Flyball]

The Western Electric system of electrical sound recording had matured by mid to late 1924. (I carefully differentiate the term "electrical" from "electronic" with amplification because the latter term had not yet been invented).

The often recounted story goes how Victor was first offered an exclusive contract for the Western Electric process. Louis Sterling, the UK General Manager of Columbia, got wind of the situation with Victor and Western Electric. Recall UK Columbia had separated from the US parent in 1923 after the US company was forced into receivership. Sterling arrived in the US around New Year's 1925 and promptly began negotiation with Western Electric and persuaded them to Licence their recording system.

https://soundofthehound.com/absent-frie ... 1879-1958/

It was not until I believe late April that both Columbia and Victor signed with Western Electric and the commercial releases followed shortly after.

What is interesting is sporadic electrical tests by both the Columbia and Victor Studios between January and May which were eventually released commercially. Obviously a lot of experimental recording was going on while new acoustical recordings were still being made but a full commitment to adopt the new process took a few months.

On February 25, 1925, Columbia made its earliest electrical recordings to be commercially issued from May. These were the series of records by Art Gillham:
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/ ... 1925-02-25

The following day, 26 February, 1925, Victor made it's earliest electrical recording to be eventually released.
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/ ... 1925-02-26

In the DAHR ledgers for Victor, I have not located any electrical recording before February 26. I would be curious if there were. But it appears both companies must have reached preliminary agreements and the setting up and adjustments to the equipment must have taken a few weeks. Note also Victor's 26th February recording of "The Eight Popular Victor Artists" of a Miniature Concert has acoustic takes under matrix no.s C-31874/5 and electric CVE-31874/5. Only the electric version was released.

Below is Art Gillham from 25 February.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2foiNTIzpDs

And the Eight Popular Victor Artists from 26 February
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0c3pStEZiA

Before these land mark recordings, Western Electric had been experimenting with electrical recording for a few years. Merriman and Guest made an electrical recording of the Unknown Soldier ceremony at Westminster Abbey London on November 11, 1920. It was released by Columbia in the UK but the sound quality was poor and did not match the quality of acoustic recording at that time despite the flexibility of the system to record the world's first live external event. Orlando Marsh in Chicago in 1923 made electrical recordings as did the Compo Company in Montreal in 1924. The quality of these early efforts could not reach the quality of acoustic recording which by the early 1920s was consistently vey good. The key to the Westen Electric success was twofold: Western Electric's contribution to the development of the vacuum tube amplifier. Western Electric engineer Henrik Vander Bijl wrote the book on the vacuum tube and it's application published in 1919 which became the reference manual for understanding the tube's use and potential. Second was JP Maxfield and HC Harrison who were the engineers to examined from a telephony engineering perspective, the process of quality sound recording.
https://charm.rhul.ac.uk/history/p20_4_1_3.html

It is interesting to compare the earlier efforts of Western Electric experimentation. We are very fortunate you have a Western Electric test recording from December 1923 of the NY Philharmonic playing a portion of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture. Just over a year earlier in April 1922, Victor recorded the NY Philharmonic in the very same Beethoven Coriolan Overture. I have linked them below and I would argue that the acoustic recording sounds better than the electric. I should also add the Western Electric experiment was taken from a radio broadcast live feed over Western Electric NY radio station WEAF.

(Western Electric left the broadcasting business in 1926 and sold it's broadcasting assets to the Radio Corporation of America. WEAF then became the flagship station for the NBC Red Network. WEAF later became WNBC and in the 80's when NBC abandoned radio it became 660kHz WFAN. The 660kHz spot is still on the air today and has been at 660kHz since 1928).

NY Philharmonic electric Western Electric experimental recorded December 1923
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAwqQih5HWM

NY Philharmonic acoustic Victor release recorded April 1922
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v6Lo6XMiIg&t=55s

[OrthoFan]

Thank you for posting this! It's hard to believe that the 100th anniversary of perfected electrical recording/playback is upon us. But then, I still have one foot solidly anchored in the 20th century, and probably always will. (That's the privilege of being an old fart.)

In any event, it's especially interesting to compare the acoustic & electrical recordings of the NY Philharmonic. I agree, overall, the acoustic recording sounds "better" as in more balanced, especially in terms of volume. The electrical version has more of "an experimental sound," in that there seemed to be plenty of twiddling of the volume control knobs. Of course, the electrical recording does capture a much more powerful bass sound, but it's somewhat distorted or exaggerated in places.

Again, many thanks--especially for the time and research you put into this.

OrthoFan

[Governor Flyball]

Thank you for posting this! It's hard to believe that the 100th anniversary of perfected electrical recording/playback is upon us. But then, I still have one foot solidly anchored in the 20th century, and probably always will. (That's the privilege of being an old fart.)

In any event, it's especially interesting to compare the acoustic & electrical recordings of NY Philharmonic. I agree, overall, the acoustic recording sounds "better" as in more balanced, especially in terms of volume. The electrical version has more of "an experimental sound," in that there seemed to be plenty of twiddling of the control knobs. Of course, the electrical recording does capture a much more powerful bass sound, but it's somewhat distorted or exaggerated in places.
Again, many thanks.

OrthoFan

Thanks. I had always been fascinated with the sudden dramatic change to the sound quality. However listening closely, as dramaitic as it was in 1925, the further progress made over the following five years is amazing. Improved equipment contributed but I think it was the recordists mastering recoding technique.

[Inigo]

Very interesting, many thanks for this article..

[Nat]

Pristine Classical has a very good 2 CD set of many of the earliest electrical recordings at https://www.pristineclassical.com/products/PASC734

[MrRom92]

A pleasant surprise, the “mono 16 bit FLAC” download option is actually 24 bit FLAC. No regrets about not going with the CD now. It would have been an easier decision had it been accurately advertised.

[CarlosV]

Very interesting posting! Was Western Electric the only system available at the time? As the electrical recordings spread throughout the industry not long after the pioneering issues of Victor and Columbia, I presume that other systems were also developed and utilized by the competitors.

[Steve]

A pleasant surprise, the “mono 16 bit FLAC” download option is actually 24 bit FLAC. No regrets about not going with the CD now. It would have been an easier decision had it been accurately advertised.

Can you actually tell the difference when listening? There have been numerous audio tests carried out on groups of people to see if it is possible to detect with the human ear the difference being 24 bit and 16 bit. The results are predictably inconclusive but there doesn't appear to be any clear evidence that humans can tell the difference.

[epigramophone]

The often recounted story goes how Victor was first offered an exclusive contract for the Western Electric process. Louis Sterling, the UK General Manager of Columbia, got wind of the situation with Victor and Western Electric. Recall UK Columbia had separated from the US parent in 1923 after the US company was forced into receivership. Sterling arrived in the US around New Year's 1925 and promptly began negotiation with Western Electric and persuaded them to Licence their recording system.

https://soundofthehound.com/absent-frie ... 1879-1958/

Western Electric insisted that the rights to the electrical recording process could only be assigned outside the USA through an American affiliate. Louis Sterling overcame this obstacle by purchasing a controlling interest in the ailing American Columbia company for $2,500,000. It then became a branch of UK Columbia.

Source : The Fabulous Phonograph (Roland Gelatt).

[edisonplayer]

And,there was the record by the Associated Glee Clubs Of America of "Adeste Fideles", Columbia 50013-D.edisonplayer