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..this is the only kind I use!
Like the product :-)
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You would never believe, but my Edison Stylus from 1912 has yet to need replacement. Edison made things to last, and the Cylinders still spin at 160rpm with no damage to the diamond stylus. Nothing quite like the 1st of the Blue Amberol live-recorded cylinders with the inside plaster coloured blue. Can be played 1,000 times without any signs of wear and play as well today as when made.
What you have looks very good.
The phonograph is my favorite invention. If you handed the plans to any craftsman going back thousands of years, it could have been fabricated quite easily. That Edison labs in the late 19th century was the first to build them is either a testament to Edison's genius, or previous generations stupidity.
A man in France developed a device in which he could see sound waves, but apparently did not think beyond trying to hear them back. This was in 1860. On YouTube appears one of his experiments which was done on something looking very similar to Edisons 1st invention but it CAN be heard! Amazing what modern technology can do..........but a short fragment of a well know song is heard to be sung by a woman. I was astonished. This is now considered the worlds earliest recording.
The phonautograph. I've heard it too, and it is indeed eerie and haunting. IIRC, phonautographs were made of Abraham Lincoln too, but not at high enough resolution for playback. I think most of them were low resolution. The discovery of one with enough data for playback is just amazing.
Some people have speculated that ancient potters might have made accidental recordings while working. Imagine them singing while they work, and letting a piece of straw touch the wet clay as it turned. To date, no such item has been found and it seems like it would lack the required fidelity.
Yes, that's the name, The Phonautograph! Somehow I think the guys name was Coss but I would only have to check. And about ancient times..........wow, I never even thought of that.
I have collected and dabbled with these things since 12 years old. Even made recordings on 1890's Brown Wax Cylinders and had the best luck with a Betinni Recorder which unfortunately I swapped to a collector when I was about 16 for an Edison Opera Phonograph. Edison was always flubbing-up on his own invention, and though the "Opera Model" is well built, the reproducer is much too small to give the best sound. I have often wondered if electrical had not come in the mid 20's, how much further could acoustic recording have gone? Certainly the Victor Credenza Phonograph of 1925 stands as a monument to the all-time best with it's Orthophonic Reproducer. That 6' internal horn is so unique in the way it works unlike any other.
Justin~
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph_cylinder
I am amazed at the durability of these, Justin. Here is an article on them. They are much more durable than vinyl and tapes and are indeed good for thousands of plays. They played for 4 minutes. Maybe it is time to make a modern version of the blue amberol cylinder that is 3 times as long and twice the diameter with 6 times the surface area that can play for 24 minutes. 24 minutes is long enough for most but not all classical music recordings. At twice the diameter, it could rotate at 80 RPM. It would still be smaller than a paper towel roll and last forever.
Scott
Hey Scott
Yes, just amazing. And to think.......there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that these older Blue Amberol Cylinders will out-live the CD's being made today which are already (the older ones of the 80's) cracking-up with their great (?) Space-Age Plastic. And they, (the Blue Amberol cylinders) will outlive tapes as well as everything else to date in one way or another. I am not sure, but the Blue Amberols (unless very careless) do not scratch. The (before dubbing came along cylinders) have the best sound of all and it took until the late 20's to get anything near as good as the 1912's.
Of course the Plaster cores of the Edisons' can self-destruct the cylinder if the plaster core gets damp. This will expand and crack the celluloid playing surface. But the ONE COMPANY that should win-out above ALL others is the Lambert Phonograph Company of Chicago of 1900 who used no inner plaster core. (Pink Lamberts they are called.) They only made recordings for barely 3 years and are highly sought after. Columbia finally took them over.
Justin~
Uh yes, I'd like that COMPLETE recording of Wagner's Ring on Lambert Concert Cylinders with DeReszke, Schumann-Heink, Nordica, Gadski, and Van Rooy with Alfred Hertz conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Yes, it's a 225-cylinder box set.
Ha Ha Ha.........I'ed like that too, but Lambert wasn't involved. You must be thinking of the Mapleson Cylinders of 1901-1903 recorded live at the Met. Alas, with his Betinni Recorder attached to his Edison Home he only recorded standard size cylinders. Wouldn't it have been great had he done 5" dia. Cylinders! And of Jean DeReszke, I have listened and listened to the 4 recordings but his voice is so difficult to hear. Too bad he did not allow recordings made of himself and had any "trial Recordings" destroyed. BTY: I hear him on the 1930's IRCC 78's...........the Mapleson Cylinders of course not optainable and most destroyed in the war. What a loss that was.
Gadsky! OMG. She must have blown ears off the listners in her day. Her voice actually will slow down a Victrola! LOL :-)
Justin~
ps: The 4 Debussy recordings of 1904 accompanying Mary Garden. Just fantastic and the composer is just as mysterious as what one would have thought.
DAMN! You are sharp as a tack! Indeed, that is the Mapleson cast! Of course, Lambert never issued such a thing, it was just a joke fantasy. But I'd love to have Cal Stewart's complete Lamberts!
Sharp as a tack? Hardly with the one brain cell still left working. OMG, can you imagine all the $$$$ Uncle Josh must have made recording for just about everybody? Must have "laughed" all the way to the bank.
There ARE some serious Lamberts out there, though few. (Serious meaning operatic.) I had one of Madame Noldi singing something of Mozart. She demolished the piece! 5 of the best are the 1st 5 in the Edison Royal Purple (29000) series which were blue until 29006-29072 which were all dubbings from the inferior diamond discs. Bonci marvels these 5 are. And "Live recorded!" And what of the 3 of Constantino recorded on 4min. wax for Edison and later pressed (for the better) On the Blue Amberol 28000 series. Many prizes against rubbish in these series.
Attaching an Edison Cylinder Machine to a Victor Orthophonic via hose produces the best sound ever if you want to hear the potential in those cylinders. Just amazing!