[Dixielandjazz] Electrical Recording Process

[Steve Barbone]

Cebuisle2 at aol.com
 
> Hmm-
> 
> I read that Western Electric pioneered the electric recording process
> sometime late in the thirties- Used to work for Western years ago, I'd be
> interested in some source material for the development of this process as
> early  as claimed in l925-

Sure, Ted. Source is "Mix" an audio technology company. Folks who are into
recording technology might want to surf <http://mixonline.com/> every so
often, or subscribe to their newsletter. The specific article referencing
1925 is below:

For a time line history of recording sound see.
http://library.thinkquest.org/19537/Line.html

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

         
1925 Western Electric/Bell Labs Electrical Recording  -  Written Sep 1, 2006
 
"No technology breakthrough in audio recording created such a stir as the
development of the electrical recording process. Essentially, this
revolution marked the demise of acoustic recording, whereby audio signals
entered a sound horn pointed at the source and sound waves within the horn
vibrated a diaphragm attached to a needle that etched a groove in the wax
record master. In the early 1920s, the threat of competition from the
fledgling radio industry sent record companies on a quest to improve disc
quality." 

"Although unveiled in 1925, electrical recording resulted from several
successive technologies, ranging from Western Electric engineer Edward C.
Wente's development of the condenser mic in 1916 to the availability of
improved carbon mics ‹ such as Western Electric's venerable model 1B. But
the breakthrough came with Henry C. Harrison and Joseph P. Maxfield of Bell
Labs, who created a matched-impedance recorder that had a bandwidth of 50 to
6k Hz ‹ greatly improved from acoustic system's limited 250 to 2.5k Hz
range. After paying a $50,000 fee (plus a per-disc royalty), record
companies invested in the technology with new names such as Columbia's
³Viva-Tonal² and the Victor Talking Machine Company ³Orthophonic² (VE, or
Victor Electric) process."

"True to form, many critics hated the electrical process, claiming it
brought out individual instruments, thus destroying acoustic recording's
smooth ensemble sound; other detractors believed that this new technology
sounded harsh and unnatural. (Sound familiar?) Meanwhile, engineers with
years of experience working with acoustic horns were faced with a need to
know and understand electronics. But along with improved 78 players in the
home and other record labels joining the electrical recording revolution,
there was no turning back. Within a few years, acoustic recording had
completely disappeared and the era of modern recording had arrived."