The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

One of my favorites on the A250!

http://youtu.be/2TqgyxUPIiw

A nice jazzy number, but with a lot of effects that were quite clearly meant to attract buyers. Did you record the sound directly from the Edison? Or did you mix video and audio afterwards? No offence meant, just curious. Many of these directly recorded videos sound horrible, with constantly varying sound. And yours doesn't, so I presume some editing.

syncopeter wrote:A nice jazzy number, but with a lot of effects that were quite clearly meant to attract buyers. Did you record the sound directly from the Edison? Or did you mix video and audio afterwards? No offence meant, just curious. Many of these directly recorded videos sound horrible, with constantly varying sound. And yours doesn't, so I presume some editing.

Syncopeter,

You flatter me by assuming that I'm clever enough to mix video and audio! The sound is recorded directly from the Edison but with an external "Shotgun" microphone that mounts on top of the camera. I just got the camera and the sales person assured me that the external microphone makes a big difference. Your comments would indicate he might be right!

Bruce, a lot of these video's have audio and video constantly in out of focus. Yours don't/ That's why I thought about some kind of post production. Which, of course, is no problem at all! By the way, a big hand for the way your machine sounds. I don't think that record would sound much better when transferred electrically. Edison might have missed the boat when electric recording came in through shear stubbornness, his acoustic recordings, together with those of OkeH and Fonotipia were unsurpassed.

syncopeter wrote:Bruce, a lot of these video's have audio and video constantly in out of focus. Yours don't/ That's why I thought about some kind of post production. Which, of course, is no problem at all! By the way, a big hand for the way your machine sounds. I don't think that record would sound much better when transferred electrically. Edison might have missed the boat when electric recording came in through shear stubbornness, his acoustic recordings, together with those of OkeH and Fonotipia were unsurpassed.

Peter, If you see/hear some of the earlier uploads on my channel, you'll notice similar problems plus others, many recorded too fast for example. I've learned a few tricks since I started including the following;
- plenty of light on the subject, I don't think you can have too much
- external microphone greatly improves the sound quality.
- using a tripod is almost a necessity for good recording, preferably with a video head
- you cannot move the camera around to much. You can zoom in and out, pan and tilt but cannot really move the camera, walk around the room etcetera
- send kids to grandmas, out shopping with mom or anywhere away from where you are recording
- feed dog a lot so he sleeps through your recording session

I agree with you on the quality of the Edison acoustic discs. I'm less familiar with Okeh and Fonotipia though. I'd like to hear some and compare.

regardless how did you record it and whether you edited it or you didn't...
it's very fantastic and I loved it

keep on

I agree that the video is quite well made, and the simplicity of the camera work probably helps a lot. What is the diaphragm your using, and original or some other? It does seem to be very quiet in operation as far as external distortion is concerned which is a bit unusual for some of these type recordings.

Larry

larryh wrote:I agree that the video is quite well made, and the simplicity of the camera work probably helps a lot. What is the diaphragm your using, and original or some other? It does seem to be very quiet in operation as far as external distortion is concerned which is a bit unusual for some of these type recordings.

Larry

Moving the camera around too much definitely detracts from the sound quality. If the object of the video is to show off the machine, then the audio quality will suffer as you move around. I put the camera on a tripod, zoom in and out, tilt up and down and pan as needed but never move the camera. Getting plenty of lighting on the object really helps a lot with the picture quality.

I use an external "shot gun" mic mounted on the camera which also helps the audio a lot.

The reproducer has a Bogatz diaphragm.

Interesting for sure.

Thank you for sharing the music. It is a nice looking phonograph!