The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

http://www.analogplanet.com/content/lov ... 2tiM6yh.97

I'll be very interested in seeing this lathe:

"What I saw on a flatbed editing system was footage of T-Bone and members of Los Lobos standing in front of a single microphone and performing live in a cramped studio containing a fully restored Western Electric 78rpm cutting lathe—the only one known to still exist.

It was the first electrical recording system and it changed the world. Driving the lathe platter was a weight-driven clockwork-based pulley system.It takes approximately three minutes for the weight to hit the floor, after which the platter stops. That's how long the musicians have to record their song.

The visual was primitive but the sound was superb. I exclaimed "Ok, so that was re-recorded in a modern studio, right?" I should have known better. What I was hearing was playback of the cut wax (unless the lathe was modified to cut lacquer)."

I taped*** the first episode, but haven't watched it yet.

I see it's also available online -- http://www.pbs.org/wnet/american-epic/v ... -big-bang/

OrthoFan

***A 1995 Sony VCR connected to a Radio Shack digital TV converter box, connected to a 1999 RCA analog TV and rabbit ears. (Don't want none of them thar new fangled digital tee vees that spy on folks!)

Thanks for the link. I don't even own a tee vee, so I assumed I would have to wait for it's appearance on YouTube.

OrthoFan wrote:I taped*** the first episode, but haven't watched it yet.

I see it's also available online -- http://www.pbs.org/wnet/american-epic/v ... -big-bang/

OrthoFan

***A 1995 Sony VCR connected to a Radio Shack digital TV converter box, connected to a 1999 RCA analog TV and rabbit ears. (Don't want none of them thar new fangled digital tee vees that spy on folks!)

I watched the whole show and it was great. Have to set my DVR for next Tuesday. Thanks Orthofan.

Yes, it was a good show. Nothing particularly new or revelatory about the Carters or the Memphis Jug Band, or the recording industry, but competently put together.

I enjoyed the first episode and cannot wait for the next one.
More folks need to see and understand this great music and the people who made it.
I hope that this along with the current vinyl revival will reinvigorate collecting in this field.

James.

The field of collecting the kinds of music that the PBS series covers is still quite healthy IMO. Especially pre-war blues. There are limited numbers of these early records of American rural musicians circulating among a worldwide network of collectors. People are willing to pay silly money for records that are barely worth being wall hangers, let alone playing copies.

The younger "hipsters" that are driving a big part of the "vinyl revival" aren't going to get into 78's. Many younger people are eschewing the collecting impulse these days, they don't want shelves and shelves of stinky shellac. If they are into vinyl, a pile of LP's of something like 75-100 to show their friends is probably within acceptable limits though. The market for 45 rpm records isn't growing, either, but I think it's steady.

zipcord wrote: What I was hearing was playback of the cut wax (unless the lathe was modified to cut lacquer)."

The pictures I've seen of those new sessions look like they were cutting lacquers. Some of the original artists that the series covers could have been recorded on lacquer disc. I know Robert Johnson was.