The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Getting a bit of a feel for posting these videos finally. I screw some up and have to start over but at lest I am managing to get some out. I have varying taste so they range widely in kinds of music. I really have a very small of "collectable' pop things since they usually go way over my budget in cost. I am somewhere around 45 videos now, gives me something to do while the weather is icy and cold.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9dOZvhL21A

I also figuring out how to manage the lighting some better. I have that darn door behind the machine which causes a lot of trouble balancing out the shots. Its getting better though.

Larry

A well-done production. I prefer seeing videos shot from a tripod - no jitters and the audio remains consistent. And what audio it is! The sound is excellent for acoustic reproduction and the video camera captured it well. And I love the Georgia Melodians.

Thanks for the compliment, I am learning slowly how to present these records. I am surprised for a 10 year old sony camera the quality of sound is pretty good. I have been a bit worn out listening to so many as I have started putting things up. But this morning fresh this does seem to come across very nicely. Its too bad I don't own more of this groups selections.

As a note about why I am listing what I have I need to go way back to my first days of collecting. Were talking late 50s here! I recall the comments in I believe the "Getting the most from your Victrola" or something to that effect book. The gist of which was popular ditities may pass away but a good classical selection will last. Over time I have become very fond of even the most simple selections of classical pieces. As they booklet also mentioned you have to listen to a piece repeatedly before it sometimes begins to appeal to you. I have noticed that some of those so far have no listeners. Yet if given the chance most of them provide a very satisfying experience, and them more you hear them the more you will find your self "going with the music".. I think one reason some classical music isn't appreciated any longer is people often don't realize the beauty of the interactions of the instruments. I find my self nodding and following the flowing sounds of pieces I have come to know as much as one would the current popular selection.

I can still recall finding a batch of 12" victor opera selections when I was about 14. I didn't think much of them, but when a neighbor came over and looked at them she instantly recognized the artist and went on an on about how famous and wonderful they were. That alone set me to trying to slowly appreciate some types of music I would have never otherwise listened to. I started picking up anything I didn't have when people were dumping 78's in the late 50's. Often I didn't like the piece at all, but somehow after more time playing though other things I found that when I went back to that album often I had developed enough in my listening to find the same piece to be quite interesting. So its not a one day proposition but a life time of experiences that works.


Just a bit of a thought starter here.

Larry

I know what you mean Larry. I have several hundred classical recordings I have left begging while I enjoy jazz and swing and need to go back and listen to them again. I know there are many fine performances there.

I also need to come to some decision about how to sort them so they are not all in a big lump--by composer? by orchestra? by soloist artist? by era in which they were recorded? I keep vacillating.

By the way, I also really like your long-earned listener sitting on the floor by the Edison.

Clay

FloridaClay wrote: I also need to come to some decision about how to sort them so they are not all in a big lump--by composer? by orchestra? by soloist artist? by era in which they were recorded? I keep vacillating.

One problem trying to physically sort records is that they might fit several different categories. I decided long ago that the only way I could manage my records was to catalog their data in a computer database. Then I can resort the list on any number of criteria. I also record the location, such as a shelf, or box number, or machine where the record is located.

Like Larry, I came to appreciate classical music largely through listening to the old records. In fact, I would never have discovered or appreciated opera without them. I am not a diehard opera fan, but I love the musical highlights and vocal pyrotechnics, even if I don't speak Italian.

I will have to admit that the Edisons currently are haphazardly around the house. I have a large music cabinet but its full of standard 78 albums. Those I keep by types of music such as piano, quartets, symphonic, musical shows, ext. Still there not really cataloged to a specific shelf. I have some lumber here to make another cabinet when the weather gets so you can saw outside. I probably will create a file card system like the old days, I know its a pain to do and use, but if the computer crashes I would still have something to locate them with. The big draw back I see is that when space keeps running out then how do you add more to a section of similar pieces. Or I suppose many people simply list where they are and go to it from a reference number. Personally though I sort of like having them by type of music, that way if I want to try some piano things I know where they all are. That was how they were stacked here, mostly in milk cases to hold them in groups. Happy to see others with a wide variety of musical interest.

Larry

With apologies to Larry for temporarily hijacking the thread, I have a kind of eclectic approach--with labeled dividers. Music from the "big band" era is placed on shelves primarily divided by orchestra. Male and female pop vocalists are sorted by name, once I get more than 2 by the same singer. Otherwise they go into "miscellaneous male vocalists" or "miscellaneous female vocalists."

There are shelves for record sets such as music from Broadway shows and film scores.

Early Columbia and Victors are sorted by label types, and therefore by era in which they were recorded. There are groups of foreign records by language. There is a "country and western" group. There are groupings of things like brass-band/patriotic records, string band records, etc. Other miscellaneous things are lumped into "miscellaneous acoustic era" and "miscellaneous post-acoustic era."

Diamond Discs are grouped by label type as identified in An Illustrated Guide to Edison Disc Record Labels by Stephen A. Sylvester. This generally means they are sorted by era in which they were recorded. (And yes I know that as with all things Edison, that is not consistently so.) Christmas Diamond Discs are together in the drawers of my C19.

Cylinders are, mostly, in a separate bookshelf that has 4 compartments; one for 2-minute wax, one for 4-minute wax, one for 2-minute celluloid, and one for 4-minute celluloid.

I don't know if this would work for everybody--probably not--but (with the exception of the as yet to be sub-sorted classicals) I know where to go look for things I want to hear this way.

For the classicals, I am thinking about beginning by separating out some of the recordings by well-know artists; Vladimir Horowitz, for example.

Clay

I think that is a very similar idea to mine and it works for me. Nice looking besides!

Larry