[78-L] How well did they do it.

[DAVID BURNHAM]

 I've been thinking about exactly how accurately recordings were able to capture the sounds of the 20s, over 80 years ago.   It's almost impossible to compare a recording with the original sound.  Any singers which were around then who might still be here certainly don't have the same voice.  Orchestras develop over the years and don't sound like they did 80 years ago.  I don't think any concert hall or recording studio has remained unchanged for that time.  Even if we could find instruments which were used on recordings then, the artists are all gone and the instruments also change with time.  One may find a pipe organ that hasn't been modified in 80 years but I can't think of one which was recorded back then which might still sound the same - Temple church was bombed in WWII, Royal Albert Hall's organ and acoustics have changed drastically since then.  I don't know if Mark Andrews', Jesse Crawford's or Lew White's organs are still around. 
 Choruses and choirs, of course are constantly changing. 

What brought this thought to mind was that I was listening to records the other day recorded in 1927 which, I believe, are unique in that they are probably a few of the only recordings which can be compared today the their original source.  Those are the 5 Victor sides which are recordings of the Carillon, (to avoid the word "Biels), at the Victory Tower, Ottawa, (now the Peace Tower).  I've heard that Carillon many times and it's interesting to compare the recordings to the sound of the Carillon.

db

P.S. as soon as I finished this letter I imagined some mention of Herbert Von Carillon, so I'm glad I got that out of the way