[78-L] Talking about vinyl...

[Royal Pemberton]

Ah, yes....it's the Swiss Cheese History of Recorded Sound!

On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 8:29 AM, David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca> wrote:

> The rest of the story is just as entertaining....
>
> How someone thought of turning it into phonograph records is beyond us.
>  The
> 33-1/3 RPM speed also gave poor fidelity but for a movie sound track, who
> cared?  People were used to silent films, so any sound was an improvement.
>  The
> grooves were a little bit narrower and the records still wore out quickly,
> even
> with shellac.  But shellac worked fine for 78 RPM singles with their wider
> grooves.
>
>           By the late 1920's, records had become electronically recorded
> and
> played back.  Now you could listen in better fidelity through a speaker
> instead
> of acoustically through that big horn.  Better sound quality meant more
> record
> sales.  Music on two new media, electronically recorded discs and radio,
> was a
> welcomed distraction from the economic woes of the country.
>
>            Thus, the media of choice became the 10", 78-RPM shellac single.
> It was heavy and very breakable.  But it was the best we had at the time.
>
>
>
>
>
>           In 1931, RCA Victor tried, and failed, to introduce a 12" 33 1/3
> RPM, long playing record, made out of something called Vitrolac.  The
> grooves
> were twice as narrow, and the records wore out very quickly.  Also, they
> required a special new record player which cost hundreds of dollars -
> nobody
> could afford it during the Depression.
>
>           Then, in 1933, a Bakelite research chemist named Frazier Groff,
> made
> a major discovery.  He found that a class of polymers called vinyl could be
> used to make phonograph records.  Vinyl records were less breakable and
> could
> be made more flexible and at lighter weight.  More important, vinyl didn’t
> wear
> down so fast, even when the grooves were made very narrow!
>
>           By the mid 1930's, some radio transcriptions were being made of
> vinyl.  These were usually 16", 33 1/3 RPM, and contained 6 recordings per
> side.  Vinyl was still not offered to the public because it was too
> expensive.
>
>           Then something happened that forever changed the face of recorded
> sound.  It was called World War II.  The U.S. War Department created the
> V-Disc
> program to ship records to military personnel overseas.  In spite of
> careful
> packing, many of the shellac V-Discs were arriving broken.  The V-Disc
> program
> quickly switched to vinyl V-Discs.  Within the U.S., private record
> manufacturers were having trouble getting shellac during the war.  What
> limited
> supplies of shellac were available had to be extended with filler which
> created
> some mighty noisy recordings.  To survive, record manufacturers had to find
> new
> record pressing materials, even if they were more expensive.  Some began
> making
> vinyl 78’s.
>
>           In 1948, Columbia introduced the 33-1/3 RPM Vinyl LP.  It cost
> more
> than a 78, but you got 12 songs instead of 2 on one lightweight,
> unbreakable
> disc.  The grooves were very narrow (microgrooves) and required a special
> diamond-tipped stylus, instead of a metal needle.  And you needed a new
> record
> player ... or you could adapt your old player.  The first LP's were 10" in
> diameter to fit on the modified 78 RPM turntables.  Later they became 12".
>
>           Columbia wanted the entire record industry to standardize on the
> 33
> 1/3 speed and format.  In April 1948, Columbia president William S. Paley
> called a meeting with David Sarnoff, president of Columbia’s chief rival,
> RCA
> Victor.  Paley proposed RCA switch to the vinyl 33 1/3 LP format also.
>  Sarnoff
> didn’t want to be paying licensing fees to Columbia for pressing RCA
> records
> until RCA could build its own 33 1/3 RPM pressing plants.  But he did
> realize
> the future of recorded music was in vinyl.  He refused the deal and asked
> his
> engineers to put a rush on a project they’d started and dropped ten years
> earlier, the vinyl 45 RPM single.
>
>           On March 31, 1949, RCA Victor introduced its answer to Columbia,
> the
> 7" vinyl 45 RPM single.  The project had been reactivated only a year
> before.
> RCA’s top secret development project was referred to as Madame X.  The “45”
> was
> smaller, also less breakable, and had a large center hole for playing on
> RCA’s
> new record player.  The player was a small, inexpensive record changer that
> could be plugged into any music console.  It allowed 45's to be stacked and
> played in succession.  78's stacked like that would break.  The great "War
> Of
> The Speeds" was on!
>
>
>
>         Eventually, RCA dropped the different colors of vinyl in favor of
> all
> black vinyl.
>
>          In answer to Columbia's long-playing (LP) album, RCA produced the
> 45
> RPM Box Set.  These included 3-5 records by the same artist, in a hard
> cardboard box, often with liner notes.
>
>          In answer to RCA’s 7” vinyl singles, Columbia started issuing 7”
> 33
> 1/3 vinyl singles with small holes.  These didn’t last very long and were
> soon
> discontinued.
>
>          Columbia and RCA Victor began actively courting other labels to
> sign
> on with their technologies.  Record labels were quick to line up with
> either
> RCA or Columbia or both.  Some labels hedged their bets and began producing
> 45’s, 33’s and 78’s.  With the introduction of any new recording format,
> record
> labels go deep into their vaults and reissue older material in the new
> form.
> After all, they can resell old classics to the same people who bought them
> the
> first time, with no additional studio or mastering costs.
>
>           By the end of 1951, both RCA and Columbia gave in and began
> producing both 45's and 33's.  It turned out that both formats could
> coexist.
> The Great War of the Speeds was over.
>
>           The 45 RPM single was to a large part responsible for the Rhythm
> &
> Blues and Rock & Roll Age of the 1950’s.  Teenagers could carry a
> lightweight
> stack of 45’s to a party and put them on an automatic changer.  Records
> dropped
> down in the desired order and created their own dance party.  Older 78’s
> would
> have just broken.
>
>          While LP’s and cassette tapes became more popular in the 1970’s,
> vinyl 45’s remained popular until replaced by CD’s in the 1980’s.
>  Eventually
> music became digital.  Yet many people still feel vinyl gives a fuller,
> warmer
> sound.  Vinyl records are still being made.  And vinyl 45’s will always
> have a
> home in the Classic urban Harmony Archives.  Long live the 45!
>
>  *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
>
> dl
>
> Kristjan Saag wrote:
> > Here's a little history lesson for all of us:
> >
> > By the early 1900's, wax was also used to coat cardboard round flat
> plates,
> > called discs or records.  Many different size discs and speeds were tried
> in
> > the early days.  Recording inventors found there were three ways to
> increase
> > the time of the recording on a disc: use larger discs (this was bulky);
> use
> > slower speeds (and lose fidelity); or make the grooves narrower (they
> wear
> > out too quickly if you use the wrong material, like wax).
> > As early as 1901, Victor records tried out a 7" record, but it was
> abandoned
> > two years later in favor of the new standard - a 10" 78 RPM, wide groove
> wax
> > disc.  It was the best combination of good fidelity and size to give a
> > three-minute record.
> > In 1926 Vitaphone needed a method of putting sound to their silent
> movies.
> > They wanted to do it by playing the movie sound track on record but
> didn't
> > want to change records every 3 minutes.  So, they came out with a 16"
> > record, recorded at 33-1/3 RPM and made of a new material, shellac.
>  Shellac
> > was more durable than wax.  Shellac came from a tiny scale insect that
> > infested trees in India.  It seems these slimy disgusting bugs were
> sucking
> > the juice of the trees and excreting shellac continuously.  How someone
> > thought of turning it into phonograph records is beyond us.
> >
> > ---
> > Cute, isn't it?
> > Found at
> > http://www.classicurbanharmony.net/45%20Turns%20Sixty.htm
> > Kristjan
> >
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