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Finding Lost Recording From the 1880s
An anonymous reader writes "The NY Times recently ran a story on the discovery of a cache of wax cylinder records, recorded in Europe in the 1880s, of Otto von Bismarck, Helmuth von Moltke, and various musicians. 'In June 1889, Edison sent Wangemann to Europe, initially to ensure that the phonograph at the Paris World’s Fair remained in working order. After Paris, Wangemann toured his native Germany, recording musical artists and often visiting the homes of prominent members of society who were fascinated with the talking machine. Until now, the only available recording from Wangemann’s European trip has been a well-known and well-worn cylinder of Brahms playing an excerpt from his first Hungarian Dance. That recording is so damaged "that many listeners can scarcely discern the sound of a piano, which has in turn tarnished the reputations of both Wangemann and the Edison phonograph of the late 1880s," Dr. Feaster said. "These newly unearthed examples vindicate both."'"
Quick! Adopt the BCTEA! 2012-1880+50 = 182 years of protection! What if everyone is going to copy this wax cylinder?!!
Immediately made me think of this old TechTV segment on one of these cylinders being destroyed on camera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnsizkVjGm8
Paranoid, or not paranoid enough...
For in politics, as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at making proselytes by fire and sword. - Publius
Wonder what Brahms would make of the insanity that passes for copyright today.
That phonograph is going to destroy my business! (radio, record, cassette, cd, DVD, Internet).
Their squealling probably has been the same.
Just bought a new quantum computer, but I'm uncertain how it works.
http://www.nps.gov/edis/photosmultimedia/audio-wangemann-1889-1890-european-recordings.htm
... the first actual recordings ever made of sounds and voice can be found there : http://www.firstsounds.org/.
Those 1860's Phonautograph recordings are more impressive IMO, though I could imagine how eery it must have been seeing someone's voice being rapidly printed in a snaky fashion, as if ribbons of silk were being pulled from their throats...
So it was Colonel Mustard in the Billiard room with the candlestick that caused the Great War after all!
I wonder who the first person to say 'shit' was?
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
... with message superimposed over picture of wax cylinder with skull and crossbones: Home-made wax cynlinder recordings are killing the music industry!!!
Here's a link with a transcript: http://www.cylinder.de/deeplink_resource_bismarck.html
just laser-scan them or some shit, so that you don't wear them down! This is a treasure that will be of interest literally for forever.
Found on an old mechanical magnetic device, this information has been restored for the last 60 years but only now our quantum analysis have been able to decifer the information, probably due to some form or content protection. This is probably the earliest form of audio binary storage known to humans.
At the turn of the 19th century, magnetic wire recordings become very popular in Northern Europe (except perhaps in Britain). It was the first widely distributed recording technology of N. Europe and in the 1910's, even relatively poor musicians could afford a machine (they usually started clubs for the purpose of buying and using one). There are lots of Northern European magnetic wire recordings from the late 1890's well into the 1950's. Compared to wax rolls, they have the advantage that the sound quality is good enough that you can actually hear how something sounded, so if you want to get a feeling of how Bismarks voice sounded, listen to one of the electric wire recordings of him, not this crappy recording.
I was surprised to read that they still use a device with a needle to play these. I would have thought that they'd be scanned with lasers, to avoid wear entirely and possibly to reconstruct the groove more precisely.
For the technically inclined, here are the specs of the "Archeophone", the device used to listen to these recordings.
Every digital recording of the wax cylinder is probably copyrighted from date of the digital recording :)
When I read the title: I couldn't help but add: "Finding Lost Recording From the 1880s"... in tree rings.
I would like to humbly introduce ".. in tree rings" as a catch phrase for research that goes into technological wonders of experimental advancement for a dubious cause. Think of it as a marriage of "..that's what she said" and IgNoble prize.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
They require a log in now to read articles; please either link to an article in a different outlet or drop it.
Were they found on megaupload's seized servers?
... so if you want to get a feeling of how Bismarks voice sounded, listen to one of the electric wire recordings of him, not this crappy recording.
I think some historians would like to know where you found those electric wire recordings of him, as the second paragraph of the article quite clearly states
"The cylinders, from 1889 and 1890, include the only known recording of the voice of the powerful chancellor Otto von Bismarck."
Can you tell us where to find 'electric wire' recordings of him?
Did you mean, "At the turn of the 20th century..."?
I would like to humbly introduce ".. in tree rings" as a catch phrase for research that goes into technological wonders of experimental advancement for a dubious cause.
Rejected
It has long been known that Mark Twain dictated part of his novel The American Claimant onto Edison cylinders. It was an experiment that he never repeated. Strangely, for someone whose manner of speaking was celebrated and often described during his lifetime, no one else ever thought to record him for posterity.
The American Claimant cylinders have long since gone missing. Keep your eye out for them in antique shops or your relatives' attics—if found, they would be worth who knows how many thousands or millions of dollars on the open market.
> "deep in the nylon front"
> "our lives have been managed to be telephoned at 6:30, whoever the children manage to tell I want you to tell her baby brother and Julia"
> brother is working at school and is working very nicely indeed, use it every day"
> "you might tell her, that in my opinion my children are very much nicer and they are vinyl something than they have ever been before"
> "i have been looking forward to the time when a vast something would arrive, it did not come until last night and we were having a dinner party and it come while we were at the table"
> "and my eyes came quickest then i have ever saw in my life, don't know how greatful Ida and I are for for it, for the glass, "
> "something complete control, i have dropped in a letter make plans for our apartment which i have told you"
Thats all that I could make out just using audacity's noise removal and equalizer and some compression.
I can't believe that anyone with even a passing knowledge of history would use Google Chrome.
According to wikipedia, the wire recorder was invented in the late 1890s, was patented in the US in Nov 1900, and never saw widespread use. Peak use was between 1946 and 1954.
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most interesting wire recording i've ever heard is tom lehrer's physical revue, the earliest recordings of his material that exist. (the last song, "Any Questions", is particularly brilliant.)
Media that can be recorded and distributed can be recorded and distributed.
-kfg
has waxed over the years
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.