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Experimental recordings
A coworker of mine asked if I could record some of his mothers' records she had given him.
I guess she was a singer in the 30's and 40's.
So I said sure I'd like to see them, bring them in.
They are aluminum records with VERY thin grooves.
So I looked up some of the company names on the labels.
Here's what I found out about them.
You cannot play them with a conventional needle.
http://www.midcoast.com/~lizmcl/earlyradio.html
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Frustrating, but really interesting.
I'm going to Quote: Indiana Jones: "It belongs in a museum!"
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It seems like these were the first tapes in a way.
Instantaneous Recording came with high end radios back then.
My print shop prints a monthly catalog for antique radios.
I'm gonna look for one of these when we print the catalog this week.
It's a metal disc with grooves cut in it.
Imagine trying to lug a crate of those.
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I'm still digesting that article you posted Vapes.
At first I was thinking of aluminum cutters, which is what Alan Lomax used to get his field recordings of folk music.
But the formats mentioned in that article are way out there.
Soft styluses? Proprietary RCA format?
Crazy stuff.
What does the information on those discs you have say?
I'd be curious to try and run my own search...
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1/ Wilcox-Gay recordio/ Charlotte mich., USA / slow burning red label
2/ The Record disc corp.
/ 395 broadway new york city / Instantaneous Recording Blanks circa 1941 also slow burning
3/ General Electric home recording record / Radio and Television Department
General Electric company Bridgeport Conn., USA
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Made of aluminum
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Also metal
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Intersting stuff!
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Can't see Photobucket right now (hear they got hacked today) but I'll check that out as soon as I can get a better look at 'em.
I have an interest because I've got some ancient vinyl (circa 30's-40's) around here I haven't even tried to play yet.
Its sound effects I got from a theatre.
Will see what we can see about this artifacts.
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Okay, here's a long one for you on the first disk, the Wilcox-Gay Recordio:
Basically the info says that you can play this back on a 78 rpm turntable provided light tone-arm weight--and that the crazing on the record doesn't cause it to constantly skip.
"Hello,
I received an inquiry from a patron about Wilcox-Gay Recordio disks.
It
seems she found several of these recently and is wondering if it is possibly
to play them on a regular record player.
SHe described them as about the
size of a 45 rpm record, apparently made out of cardboard with some sort of
coating (plastic?).
She also mentioned that the coating is covered with
little cracks.
I have turned up a little information on the WWW about these, and there was
one posting to Nostalgia Air that says the disks can be played back on any
turntable at 78 rpm.
Can anyone out there confirm this, and possibly tell me a little more about
these disks (or at least point me in the right direction)?"
response 1:
"W.G.Recordio discs originate from Charlotte, Michigan and were made on
Aluminium Base ("Professional Quality").
or Fibre Base.
They are light and flexible.
. E.g. I have got one that looks
like one of the early bootleg records of the 70s
colored red with 2 holes, one in the middle and the other one 2,5 cm in
direction of the grooves.
It can be played both sides on every 78rpm player
and is flexible.
Wiclox-Gay offered a selection of 6 1/2", 8", and 10" sizes"
response 2:
>
I have turned up a little information on the WWW about these, and there was
>
One posting to Nostalgia Air that says the disks can be played back on any
>
Turntable at 78 rpm.
"That's basically correct, presuming we're talking about modern turntables
with lightweight tone-arms and not vintage acoustic machines with
steel needles (which would instantly obliterate the recordings).
They're
not microgroove recordings, so optimal playback would also require a 78
rpm stylus (although a microgroove stylus shouldn't damage the records).
Wilcox-Gay Recordio discs were the most popular brand of amateur home
recording disc blanks in the 40's and 50's.
Some have metal cores, but
many (like the ones you're describing) have stiff paper cores -- I suspect
this was due to wartime restrictions on the use of aluminum.
The "little
cracks" in the surface might be cause for alarm if the coating is in
danger of pulling loose from the core, but most of the time with
paper-core Recordio discs that's not the case: the effect is more like
"crazing" and won't cause serious problems.
The most common problem with
transfering these discs is skipping due to irregularities in the groove:
with the cheap machines used by most families it was easy for the thread
cut away from the disc (some people called this "noodles") to get tangled
in the cutter, and most amateur recordings have at least one skip or
repeat in them even if they're in pristine condition.
"
Source: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/arsclist/200 0/10/msg00002.html See also RE: @ bottom of page.
deadmedia.org had this to say on the Wilcox-Gay Recordio:
Dead medium: The Wilcox-Gay Recordio
From: (Bill Burns)
Source(s): Alan R.
Peterson, "Radio World" for September 4, 1996
In the column called "A Look Back."
Here with the salient points:
The Wilcox-Gay Recordio was available nearly 50 years ago, and could record either to tape or "hard disc." The "discs" in question were not digital, but hard wax or lacquer phonograph records.
During the late 1940's the Wilcox-Gay Corp.
Of Charlotte, Michigan, manufactured the Recordio 1C10.
This was a unique device, part tape recorder and part disc cutter.
Originally intended for music students, it was equally functional for touring pro musicians or in the home.
Disc recorders of the day could only cut audio directly to disc, but the Recordio allowed recording to tape first, then a transfer to a 10-inch, 78 rpm record blank.
The tape could be erased and re-used, but it was also possible to make and edit a tape recording before committing it to wax, all inside one machine.
Advertising copy for the Wilcox-Gay Recordio hyped the device as having "full-range, hi-fidelity reproduction," although it most likely topped off at 5 to 7 kHz at best.
To compare, the professional "broadcast quality" RCA 73-B disc lathe had 10 kHz response.
The ad copy went on to boast a full hour of recording time on one slow-moving five-inch reel.
The Recordio could be used as a phonograph or PA system, and could record from microphone or telephone.
The icing on the cake was its transportability.
The 27-pound unit could be taken anywhere.
(((bruces remarks: apparently there was also a coin-driven public version, "the Wilcox-Gay Coin Recordio.")))
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2nd search turned up...this topic on MySpace.
Not useful.
Did pull up a really interesting project of a college kid working to track down the patent holders of dead media--who gave me the term "instantaneous records", apparently an archaic term for home recording to acetate recording systems.
I did find this link which may be of infinite use--even some worthwhile samples that could probably be pulled from it.
http://www.lexpages.com/weirdrecords/weirdrecords.html
As the link implies, all about weird records.
Good information from a guy that's working to archive rare home recorded phonographs.
I'm beginning to think that Slow Burn refers to a marketing term related to the material being cut;
I also believe now that all of your records are 78 rpm, should be played with an extremely light stylus and extremely light tonearm.
And then you'll want to run some noise removal/click removal on the resulting recording.
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I would try the guys at >
The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls
Check out the cool VU.
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Vapah: hose records look very cool as does the Bag next to your Skins
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