Directed Study for MMPT – CS4032 The Development Of Recording Pre 1945

1. Directed Study for MMPT – CS4032The Development Of Recording Pre 1945 Group A Joseph Costello -11110228 Tony Gunning - 11140054 ConorLinehan - 11123605

2. Early History of Recording • In 1877 Thomas Edison, the prolific American inventor discovered and patented a method of recording and replaying sound. This machine was known as a Phonograph. • In 1888 the Graphophone was developed by Chichester Belland and Charles Tainter. This was a vast improvement on the phonograph in terms of ease of use and fidelity of sound reproduction.

3. Early History of Recording • In 1900 Eldridge Johnson first used the “His Masters Voice” on the Gramophone, a serious rival to Graphophones and Phonographs • 1903 the first 12 inch records were released • In 1904 electrical recording became a possibility and in1925 the first electrical symphony was recorded and released by Victor and Colombia in the US

4. Early History of Recording • HMV and the Colombia Graphophone Co. combined in 1931 to become what is now known as EMI records • In 1934 experiments began in the use of magnetic recording tape • In1936 the first tape recording of a full symphony was released

5. Equipment For Recording • The basis for recording can be traced back to early version of the Edison phonograph • The Phonograph was commonly used for recording and playing sounds that were inscribed on to a steel cylinder for reproduction, which can be related to music now a days being recorded on to a CDby laser beam. • It was not just the phonograph which played part in the development to present day recording, but The Dynamophone which was developed and the first model was presented to the public in 1906 • The next step was introduced into recording was, magnetic tape recording whose early conception was led by Oberlin Smith(1888)

6. Equipment for Recording Phonograph Dynamophone

7. The Development Of Early Recording Equipment • From 1930-1941 scientists and engineers worked at Bells Labs to perfect a practical magnetic recorder, during this time the engineers had a fully functioning answering machine attached to a telephone • The magnetic tape recorder was first developed by AKG in 1935 and by 1943 they had developed stereo tape recorders

8. The Development of Early Recording Techniques • That development then later led to such research like multi-track recording which was first explored by German engineers in 1943 • The Phonographs first major development and product application was for audio recording.

9. Applications of Early Recording Equipment • The first application of instruments such as the Graphophone was for recording or replaying sounds, mainly songs and symphonies • In 1889 the first coin in the slot public access replay facilities were produced this was like a primitive form of juke box • By the 1900’s replaying and recording had become a popular source of entertainment and with record labels such as HMV and EMI more and more symphonies and songs were recorded and sold to the public • In the 1930’s a fully functioning answering machine was developed for telephones • Other applications later developed included talking children's toys, talking alarm clocks and a voice notes recorder

10. The Effects of Recording on Early Music Industry • Following the development of the ability to record the music industry started to develop. • People began to buy Edison's product to record themselves. Even though his skills didn’t lie in business even Edison made a lot of money from his invention. • Between World War I and World War II Edison's recording device was sold on mass to many American companies who tried to develop diction devices for lower-level employees. • Edison predicted that the phonograph could be used in many other ways. • Including: Talking book for the blind. Children's toy. Student note taker. A music box. An announcing clock.  

11. The Effects of Recording on Early Music Industry • One of the most successful music recordings in 1917, was of a jazz band called ‘the original Dixieland jass band". It was rumoured to have sold over 1 million copies. • From then on the music industry exploded. New styles, voices and forms began to develop. The industry at the time had a low production cost and a potentially very high profit rate. • Companies such as Victor, and Columbia Records founded around 1910-1930 and have been going strong since. • So through Edison's invention the world of music was completely changed and it helped form the music industry that we know today

12. Disc Recording • Though the cylinders and phonograph sales Edison was a wealthy man but the cylinders were not as reliable as its counterpart, the record. • The record, developed by Emile Berliner, produced a clearer sound and it was easier to keep. Edison’s cylinder had to be carefully stored to be kept in good condition. • Another advantage of the record was that it could mass produce faster than the cylinder. Edison used wax to record but berliner developed it further. • He used an electroplating process to take the recording from the wax cylinder and print it onto a metal stamper. • Berliner could stamp out the recording onto metal disks. • Edison developed a mould to make a negative of the original cylinder but some of the information on the grooves was lost in the process, whereas the record produced copies rapidly without loosing any sound information

13. References • Suppressing Innovation: Bell Laboratories and Magnetic Recording Mark Clark Technology and Culture Vol. 3  • Magnetic Storage Handbook C. Denis Mee, Eric D. Danial 1990 Vol. 1 • Electronic and Computer Music  Peter Manning 2004 Vol. 1 pg. 516 - 538 

14. References • New Technology and Market Structure: Evidence from the Music Recording Industry Peter J. Alexander Journal of Cultural Economics 1994 • Off the Record: The Technology and Culture of Sound Recording in America David Morton 2000 • Music CD Industry: The History Of Recorded Music http://www.soc.duke.edu/~s142tm01/history.html • Ethnomusicology Volume 25,no.2 May 1981