[78-L] Speaking About Really Early Film Sound Technology -- Read This. Whoa!

[Michael Biel]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [78-L] Speaking About Really Early Film Sound Technology
-- Read This. Whoa!
Michael Biel <mbiel at mbiel.com> wrote:
>> Listen to the chimes and the music in the YouTube example. 
>> As I have mentioned, I have all of the transfers and the
>> music is very difficult to listen to. 
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUm_mPizQFk

From: David Breneman <david_breneman at yahoo.com>
> The chimes sound like G-C-G-E-D-E (the first G being the
> G below middle C). Is that what it sounds like on Edison's
> recording?

It can't be D because there are only four notes on these chimes.  That
could be a problem from the wow.  Also, if you listen carefully there
are three notes following the first four, the middle of them being hard
to hear.  These notes should be clear and unwavering, and they certainly
waver in these playbacks.

We have a whole web site by Michael Shoshani on the subject,
http://www.nbcchimes.info/  and there is a sound file of the Light's
Golden Jubilee closing from the Edison disc, but the last notes are
struck as a trill, possibly hitting all four notes, but I think three. 
The G-C-G-E are the same.  Michael Shoshani next cites a March 26, 1930
chimes where the four notes are followed by low G-C, but I hear three
notes after the four, probably G-C-E.  I am in the process of sending
him the several chime strikes from the films and there are definitely
exactly seven chime strikes on these.  Besides the wow there are dating
problems with some of these because of track mislabeling and mistracking
of the multiple parallel film tracks -- the machine occasionally
wandered to a different track mid-film.  

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com