The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Most of the pics we have of acoustic sessions were set up by the company in question for publicity purposes, and are not the way things were set up for actual recording : they didn't want to " tell any tales out of school," as it were. The horn in the Edison studio is not the octagonal type they really used. Cesare Sodero, the conductor wouldn't be standing on a stool to conduct of course, he'd be standing on that platform that one can see at the bottom left.
I'm attaching a pic that I think is fairly representational of a real acoustic session. I've posted this on a former board but here it is again. It's Marie Novello recording the Mendelssohn piano concerto for Edison Bell in London in 1925. This means it's at the very end of the acoustic era. The rather large horn is that dark semi circle. The piano is unseen but the engineers are leaning on it and for the session the lid of the grand would be raised. And one suspects there would be a second horn aimed at the raised lid . The cello is unseen but I suspect he'd be on the edge of that platform beside the French horns ....they had to play "backwards' and got to watch the conductor in a mirror.And note the number of Stroh violins...as late as 1925! Note that huge mirror on the wall. It would allow the violins to see the soloist..and possibly the conductor ... when the piano lid was up. I think this was an Edison Bell idea.

The clip reflects a typical attitude: superceded technology becomes either nostalgic or ridiculous- usually both.

Case in poinbt from a movie- in "The Smallest Show on Earth" (1957) a silent film is shown, described as a classic from the old times- BUT- the silent is from 1923 which makes it less than 50 years old, plus talking pictures weren't even 30 years old at the time.

Lenoirstreetguy, I want to thank you for your observations on the studio picture I posted. I was not aware that most of those types of pictures were setup by the studio's, but it makes sense that they were. I have seen a number of shots like these over the years and I generally took them to be authentic. The inconsistencies that you pointed out are clear now that they have been explained. I will definitely look closer in the future when I see these types of shots:-)

The #2 soundbox as the cutting head was a little off but otherwise I suppose the recording process was a lot like in that movie, thanks for the clip!

This post is 8 years old, but worth revisiting the link.
The link is at the beginning post.

James.

frenchmarky wrote:The #2 soundbox as the cutting head was a little off but otherwise I suppose the recording process was a lot like in that movie, thanks for the clip!

I thought it looked like a #2 reproducer. And if it were only that easy to turn a wax master into a playable disc in a few seconds. I often wondered how long it took from the time the wax was cut to the first issues of the unmarked test pressings. I thought the sound from the "phonograph" was nicely altered to sound like an acoustic recording.