Re: [ARSCLIST] "Echo" in 1916 vertical recording

[George Brock-Nannestad <pattac@xxxxxxxx>]

From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad

Hello,

Eric Hollis asked:

 I'm trying to transfer and
> restore some Angelophone recordings (7" vertical recordings from 1916).  

----- first of all, I do not know these recordings, and to some extent that 
disqualifies me from providing a precise answer. However, there are several 
possibilities to choose from. Also, some recordings around that time could be 
based on simultaneous vertical and lateral recording--at least according to 
the patents of the time.

On
> the B side of these recordings, there is a talk by an elderly gentleman who
> was very softspoken. The recording seems to have a faint "echo", meaning 
> that I'm hearing a faint recording of the gentleman as he speaks.  The 
> faint recording is ahead of the main recording.  

----- are you sure that it is precisely the same sound that you hear as a pre-
echo? If it is a direct to disc recording, then if the wax master had not 
been shaved properly after a previous recording, there might still be traces. 
If it is merely a different take, then the programme content would be the 
same. If it is a cylinder-to-disc recording (Pathé style), then, potentially, 
the reproducing stylus for the cylinder could be out of shape or simply not 
have registered properly with the groove.

Am I hearing modulation 
> from an adjacent groove wall? 

----- groove echo is usually associated with lateral recording, in which the 
modulation is very much larger than in well-known acoustical vertical 
recordings, such as Edison or Pathé. If the land between neighbouring turns 
is too weak, it will be pushed in by a heavy modulation on the following turn

I've tried four different styli (2.0E, 2.5E,
> 3.0E, 2.75TC)with the same "echo" results. (Stanton 500 cartridge with only
> a few hours of play time (~25))

----- alas, I do not know 'E' or 'TC'. A quick fix for Edison is usually an 
LP stylus, and for Pathé a truncated elliptical diamond (where a sapphire 
sphere was the order of the day)

> 
> Also, I'm hearing distortion in the louder passages of the recording, as if
> the stylus is being overdriven. I've adjusted the levels, and it doesn't 
> appear that I'm clipping, but I'm still hearing the distortion.

----- this distortion could just be wear, or else the "zero level" depth of 
cut was not well chosen, so that the tops are cut off (floating in the air)

> 
> Suggestions?  Thanks for any help or ideas you can provide.

----- this was less help than mentioning possibilities. Let us hear if you 
get closer to the proper answer!

Kind regards,


George