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Please forward to other appropraite
recipients.
Many of us watched the "Save Our Sounds" program on
the History Channel last night.
78-C and, even more, though I don't allow this
list in my house, 78-L, have a great many comments regarding this
show. Some reflect genuine concerns with the show, others a genuine
misunderstanding of what the show was about. In some cases, the latter are
not genuine, as the respondents are berating the program for it not being about
what they wanted it to be about.
There were, however, some
genuine
howlers. The most glaring is the McKinley issue. There
is considerable published research on this issue. Victor's
version was recorded by Hooley, 10/26/01 as "Portions of the Last Speech
of
President McKinley. October, 1901 marked the introduction of
the flat
disc by Columbia at Catalog Number 1. The records are not dubs of cylinders. They are listed as
Columbia 639, both 7" and 10", first as "McKinley Memorial," including his last
speech, Lead, Kindly Light (no reason for this if he were still healthy)
and the
earliest take is announced as John Kaiser (Brooks, p. 136). Later
issues
and remakes call it "McKinley's Last Speech." Matrix numbers were assigned
sequentially. This could not have been recorded until sometime in
1902. The film shoes a Silvertone rotating while this topic is being
discussed. That's probably a Columbia matrix, certainly not a
Victor.
There was no such thing as a portable flat disc
recorder that early.
There is no advertising of this as a real recording
event, which would certainly have been the case if it had been McKinley.
Besides, did Columbia go to McKinley and say, "We know you will be
shot
tomorrow, so make this record for posterity today?"
There WAS a Bryan cylinder from 1896, at least
advertised- I have a photocopy. Does anyone have this?
Next topics.
Leaving out the uncoated aluminum discs to
bridge 1930-1935 was an error. I have worked on a National Legion Convention
from October 6, 1930, very many sides, recorded in a hotel in Boston. The
completes et (mine was missing some parts) included addresses by Pershing (2),
Coolidge, Hoover- a long address, and other speakers of interest. I'm
sure there are earlier aluminums, possibly going back to late 1929.
The lacquer coated aluminum disc was introduced in
the US at the NAB show in late September, 1935. It then took a while for
people to order them, manufacture them, pay for them and install them. The
New York Philharmonic issued dubs of a set at NYPL from, I think, October,
1935, but they are gelatin, have no internal base and are dish
warped.
The big mystery may be a film editing error.
John Howell shows a couple of cylinders covered with a white
substance. This may be cotton, mold or fungus. It was implied he was
able to obtain a satisfactory copy from these. The film did not state
otherwise.
If he was successful, we should be
so
informed. Otherwise, some private collectors are discarding what are
savable materials. Even if John doesn't want to tell how.....
Steve Smolian
=====================
==== Steven Smolian 301-694-5134 Smolian Sound Studios --------------------------------------------------- CDs made from old recordings, Five or one or lifetime hoardings, Made at home or concert hall, Text and pics explain it all. at www.soundsaver.com ===3 D===================== ==^==^============================================================= This email was sent to: waiscool@cool.conservation-us.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP8EW.bWmbA2.d2Fpc2Nv Or send an email to: av-media-matters-unsubscribe@topica.com T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^==^============================================================= |