The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I'm not sure if this has been shared before. It's only Eight pages long, some of which are pictures.

http://www.arsc-audio.org/journals/v6/v06n1p3-12.pdf

Nicholas

Interesting article. I have noticed (as I'm sure have many others) the difference in tonal depth in Edison's recording method. However, I am interested in how exactly the process differed in the capture of overtones. Tonal depth notwithstanding, Edison as well as all other companies recorded prior to 1925 in the "acoustic method". Thus, the range of frequencies that could be recorded via this method would be the same regardless of recording style (vertical vs. lateral), making the capture of certain overtones scientifically impossible. Did the vertical recording method in itself somehow lend to a wider frequency range, and if so how?

This is indeed a very interesting article. It rather confirms some observations I have come to over my trials with designing a diaphragm for the Edison. I have long felt that the acoustic versions of Edison records were a superior overall accomplishment when done well. Just as the report states I find many of the electric disc to be harsh and prone to distortions. I know that latter they became better and I have a rather limited ability to test them since they seem to sell for such competitive prices. The amount of recorded sound from an edison is to my ear much more realistic than the needle cut records in most cases.. I had at one point my Credenza and the Chippendale Edison in the same room.. Listening from a distance in another room the credenza sounded good, but when a equally as good record was played on the Edison it sounded so much more like the real instruments were in the room rather than a sort of shallow sound the instruments had on the credenza. Had Edison had the foresight to have expanded his conductors as Victor or Columbia did with the orchestras they used it would have been a revelation in sound. I have no qualms with Sodero as a classical Conductor. He went on to be the conductor for the Metropolitan Opera no small potatoes there and may have been part of the reason that Sodero offered so many fine Operatic Overtures and other Classical pieces that are enhanced by the amount of recording time and range the Edison Disc offered.

Larry

I also agree that Edison seemed to have reached the best acoustic recording/playback system and I think he pushed that technology as far as it could physically go.

The Edison electric disks do often sound distorted when played with an acoustic reproducer, but playing them with a modern pickup is a revelation. I have a late Edison recording of Henrietta Kamern playing a pipe organ. I don't think fidelity improved all that much for the next several decades. The low bass sound coming through 15" loudspeakers is amazing.

Those organ records are also most impressive on a good acoustic edison. I have several records, one the Prelude in C Sharp Minor and the other of Nearer My God to Thee that just make you sit there and wonder how they got that amount of sound and realism from a mechanical machine.


Larry

operabass78s wrote:Interesting article. I have noticed (as I'm sure have many others) the difference in tonal depth in Edison's recording method. However, I am interested in how exactly the process differed in the capture of overtones. Tonal depth notwithstanding, Edison as well as all other companies recorded prior to 1925 in the "acoustic method". Thus, the range of frequencies that could be recorded via this method would be the same regardless of recording style (vertical vs. lateral), making the capture of certain overtones scientifically impossible. Did the vertical recording method in itself somehow lend to a wider frequency range, and if so how?

With acoustic recording, engineers using the lateral cut method had to guard against loud passages blasting through the groove wall, and there are tales of singers being physically pulled away from the horn when hitting the top notes. This must have lessened the impact of the performance.

There were no such problems with vertical cut. Louder passages simply caused the recording stylus to bite deeper into the groove. This may explain why Pathé discs in particular sound so loud and clear.

One of the things I don't see mentioned much, in regards Edison Quality, is that he used viscous damping on his cutter diaphragms, rather than rubber washers. This is vastly superior, he found out. Viscous material is a semi-liquid, and affords much less resistance to the vibrations of the music being recorded, yet is superior in damping out resonances.