The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Spent my life recording from early 4 track to 24 bit digital. Respect to early engineers! They had their crap together, really knew how to get the best out of what they had. Those cutting lathes must have been absolutely awesome. Things like transients are really clearly there. Do you guys know of any great text books on early recording? Real nuts and bolts circuits cutting heads etc?

If you can get H Courtney Bryson " The gramophone record" Benn 1935.
covers everything in full technical detail including lathes, waxes, and the western electric cutter head setup and studio .
decent depth of information written by an industry insider.
the 1926 Maxfiled and Harrison paper is available online as a starter.

July 1926: Methods of High Quality Recording and Reproducing of Music and Speech Based on Telephone Research. (Maxfield, J.P.; Harrison, H.C.)

If you'd like to see the original Western Electric recording system, including original microphones, in operation, have a look at a PBS series called "American Epic." In the DVD issue, one disc shows the sole example in existence, reassembled over the course of a decade from bits and pieces far-flung across the globe, recording an assortment of modern artists. More (some a bit hyperbolic) about the series is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Epic

The DVD set can be had through the usual suspects: Amazon, used on eBay, etc.