[78-L] University of Georgia Glee Club records

[Michael Biel]

Sammy Jones wrote:
> I thought of contacting the Atlanta Historical Society to see if they had anything...I may do that today.
>
> I, too, thought that mention of Fairchild was interesting.  Was Fairchild equipment as good as Presto or some of the other well-known pro gear manufacturers?
>   

Fairchild himself was rather flamboyant.  The company name was Fairchild 
Aerial Camera Co. and he started out as a flyboy making precision 
cameras.  He was a music lover and added recorders to his product line 
back in the uncoated aluminum days, and was the only company to promote 
16-inch uncoated discs.  The problem was bamboo or fibre needles for 
playback couldn't stay sharp enough for more than five minutes so he 
developed a bamboo needle with the pores impregnated with some sort of 
plastic so they could last 15 minutes.  I have only a blank disc-- don't 
know of any recorded ones.  The machine I have is from around the late 
30s and is very similar to the larger portable Presto. 

> Does your Fairchild allow the recordist to change the recording characteristic, or would that have been a function of the microphone amplifier?  I'm wondering what turnover setting I should use to play these.  RIAA sounded okay...
>
>   

I don't remember what controls are on the amp.  The pre-emphasis 
concepts were pretty crude in those days.  Presto even had an attachment 
that would boost the highs the further in you got towards the label.  I 
think things like Orthacoustic or NAB curves would be externally applied 
to the imput. 

> The recordings actually sound very good despite the heavy surface noise.  The voices are balanced and the disc has some pretty decent bass response.
>   

Just play 'em the way they sound best!

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com 

> The only instrument is the piano accompaniment played by Hugh Hodgson, who was the Glee Club director.  I wonder if Mr. Hugh was an AFM member...
>
> On the side that contains the "Georgia Yells" a mention is made that the Class of '93 is having its 50th reunion soon and that 16 members are going to attend.  Then the Glee Club recites the Class of '93's yell.  Fascinating stuff!
>
> Sammy Jones
>
> Mike Biel said:
> They're probably just an ordinary small recording studio that made 
> recordings for clients, in this case U Ga.  You might try to look them 
> up in a business directory of 1943 Atlanta and see if the names of the 
> owners are given, and work from there.  They probably had a Fairchild 
> disc cutter -- I have one of them I bought from Steve Smolian in one of 
> my warehouses -- and they thought mentioning it would make them seem 
> like hot stuff!!   Just an ordinary disc cutter!  And the pressing were 
> made by whoever they could get the pressings made by!  Not that these 
> college kids were union members, but were there any instruments played 
> on these recordings?  April 1943 was in the middle of the AFM strike!
>
> Mike Biel   mbiel at mbiel.com 
>
> Sammy Jones wrote:
>   
>> I've recently acquired two very rare (I presume) University of Georgia Glee
>> Club 78s.  These were custom pressed for the University's Alumni Society and
>> feature the Glee Club performing spirituals, fight songs, the Alma Mater,
>> and yells.  
>>
>> The label states these were recorded in April 1943 by the Acoustic Equipment
>> Company, Recording Engineers in Atlanta, Georgia.  "This disk recorded on
>> Fairchild Equipment."  These discs are 12" and despite being in very good
>> condition, are very noisy (not a surprise for wartime pressings).  They're
>> also really brittle!  
>>
>> The only number on the labels or in the wax are:
>>
>> CODE NO 262
>> CODE NO 263
>> CODE NO 264
>> CODE NO 265
>>
>> Has anybody else run into recordings made by the Acoustic Equipment Company
>> of Atlanta?  I don't suppose it's possible that the ledgers have survived...
>>
>> UGA is my Alma Mater and I sang in the Glee Club when I was there (we had
>> the same arrangements of the Alma Mater and some of the fight songs), so I'd
>> love to find out whatever I can about these discs.
>>
>> Sammy Jones
>>   
>>     
>
>
>
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