Show Me Your Berliner Disc!

[Curt A]

I had one Berliner disc recorded on a disc with an 1888 patent date. The record title was not impressive - "Cornet Duet", but the hand inscribed recording date was 1894, maybe November and verified by Charosh. I mentioned it to someone, in passing, and was soon talked out of it by one of our more knowledgable members for a fair price and two later ones. That was probably the rarest record I'll ever come across again.

[tictalk]

What is this best device to play a Berliner record on without adding unnecessary wear to the record? I have seen these new Victrola Turntable units which resemble an old suitcase phonograph has anyone tried those?

[gramophone78]

I would not use one of those cheap portables as you will need a variable pitch control and proper stylus'

Depending on how much you want to spend...
I would reccomend the Audio Technica AT-LP120XUSB with an upgraded 3mil stylus.
Although, it's better to have a few different stylus sizes to try.
https://www.audio-technica.com/en-ca/at ... _BwE#93=42

[gramophone78]

If anyone is really interested in Berliner records. I would highly reccomend buying Michael Sherman's new book.

http://monarchrecs.com/upcoming.html

[AmberolaAndy]

13 years of collecting and and here’s a photo of a box with all my Berliner discs!

[52089]

13 years of collecting and and here’s a photo of a box with all my Berliner discs!

Don't feel bad - you have 3 times as many as I do!

[tictalk]

13 years of collecting and and here’s a photo of a box with all my Berliner discs!

Looks like you have a lot of room in that box to expand your collection!

[Menophanes]

I have about twenty, I think, including two George Graham recitations from May 1896. The following, however, passed out of my hands many years ago, at a time when I needed to turn everything possible into money. It is an example of traditional flamenco singing, a Jota, recorded by Fred Gaisberg in 1899. I believe the name 'Muchuelo', ascribed to the singer on the wax, is actually that of the group or ensemble rather than his own, but I do not know any details and would welcome further information.

In general I find the earlier (acid-etched) type of Berliner much inferior to the best cylinders of the same period; the cylinders are clearer and have less surface noise, besides playing up to twice as long. (This is in spite of the handicap which brown-wax cylinders suffer from having to be played on machines of their own time, whereas even the earliest discs of the seven-inch size can be played on gramophones of the 1930s.)* Eldridge Johnson's wax masters, introduced I believe in 1900 (the process had reached London by October of that year), allowed a much fuller and rounder quality of sound; the surfaces are still heavy, but some discs of 1901 or thereabouts are astonishingly loud and immediate.

My web page http://www.horologia.me.uk/discs.html gives descriptions and digitisations of examples, both British and American, from 1896 onwards. Click on the titles to hear them.

Oliver Mundy.

*I am aware that there is specialised modern equipment available for playing both cylinders and discs, but such things are beyond my scope.

[Inigo]

This señor Muchuelo is Antonio Pozo, "el Mochuelo", a Spanish flamenco singer which started recording at the very beginning and was popular on records until 1920 or so. He recorded for every brand that came to Spain, gramophone, homokord, Odeón, zonophone, etc. In many records he was associated to "La rubia" (the blond) a female flamenco singer. These two sang flamenco and many other things. This record, "Jota" is not flamenco singing, it's typical singing of another Spanish region, Aragon, at the north east. this must be one of the records made in the first overseas trip by F W Gaisberg and W S Darby in 1899, when they first went abroad, and they also visited Spain.

[AllenKoe]

Since we have several threads going right now about Berliners, I thought I'd add to the madness.

"His Little Wife Was With Him All The Time"
Sung by S.H. Dudley
Berliner 429 (with the letter "J" printed below the number... not sure what that means)
I believe this one dates to approximately 1899.

This features Dudley with piano accompaniment. Its strange how the piano was an instrument that was avoided to a great extent on later acoustic discs, but it was a staple on Berliners.

Remember to cite all the digits on these Berliner discs. In this case, the full number is: 0429. It is listed as such in the book by Paul Charosh. The letter "J" is probably the Code for Baritone Solo, which would indeed apply to Dudley.

Allen