The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Yep, we have great thread here! I think yes it may change a certain attitude, at least when it comes to modern music. Sometimes you recognize a certain technique or melody that would give you the idea of where it originally came from.

On a wider view it at least provides a huge source of inspiration to me. I do also listen to several styles of contemporary music but the old stuff is always coming back to the center, no matter what may have been in between. I personally have no real doubt that people will enjoy what many of us (me too) call crap today. This is exactly how jazz and later rock 'n roll was called.

Collecting the old music does not really mean that each of us would enjoy to really live in that certain era. I don't mind spending my holidays there!

When listening to the historic music, one will only get an essence of the best. Even songs like "Brother, can you spare a dime" will not give us a real idea of the misery during the depression. Therefore, we create a beautiful image of that golden era, even if was rusty as hell...
Many of us would not even have had the money to buy a cheap phonograph, not mentioning the records.

Another thought I would like to emphasize is that I generally think that the music does not change ones attitude. It is merely a reflection of a disposition. I used to find out what music people would like to listen to as it does tell you a lot about a person.

I think I would be a different person if I didn't start to collect. If I would be a better person or a worse person, I don't know. I would probably be more interested in soccer and other sports like my friends. That's their hobby and they like it. Collecting records is my hobby and I LOVE it.

One time one of my best friends remarked listening to Billy Murray. "Well, they couldn't sing back then..." and listening to Fred Van Eps "They really could play banjo back then!" But back to the remark about Murray, I can understand my friend as he is used to listen to modern music, rap and that sort of things. But then again, I tell him that I can't understand a word of what the rappers are singing about.

The lyrics of old songs might sound silly to many people. But it's way much better than the so called "music" people listen to today. The old music may be simple, but it's better! And it reminds me of what I believe was a much more simple and better time.
And last but not least, the records can tell you more of history that any other antique item can do.

Paal.

Paal1994 wrote:That's their hobby and they like it. Collecting records is my hobby and I LOVE it.

Now that's a saying it really enjoy!

Paal1994 wrote:One time one of my best friends remarked listening to Billy Murray. "Well, they couldn't sing back then..."

If you listen to the general r'n'b of today (I don't even recognize this as music) I often hear voices which change their notes so constantly that I think they may not be able to sing out just one note straight. And rap is more about the gift of the gab with singing as a spin-off product.

And we always should remember that the stuff we all enjoy so much is what others do call "live recording" today.

WDC wrote:And we always should remember that the stuff we all enjoy so much is what others do call "live recording" today.

Norman,

I think you hit on a rather important distinction here—either they got all the parts right simultaneously, or it wasn’t a usable take—they didn’t have the advantage of such newfangled wonders like multitrack recording or any of the computer-assisted correction that it allows (or for that matter, the ability to use a sequencer to assemble songs that one is incapable of playing). The notable singers of that time did not have pitch-correction (or autotune) to fix their vocal parts, should they miss a note. So every note on a Caruso or McCormack record was sung, whereas most pop records now are processed and ‘fixed’ via software.

While I have no clue what percentage of the records that we discuss on this forum had botched/unused takes (I assume that there were at least some of these), I think that the recording artists from the early days of recording were far more talented musically than their modern counterparts. However, this does not keep me from also listening to electronic music that depends on the recording techniques that I mentioned. I just tend to prefer more obscure bands and generally avoid the vast majority of top-40 pop.

Plus, it’s amusing to me that I have an MP3 collection that spans 3 centuries.

— MordEth