[78-L] pallophotophone / times union

[Michael Biel]

From: Vincent Fitzpatrick <jvftzjvftz at gmail.com>
>  http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=942480
> I have some questions for Dr. Biel:
> The original Pallophotophone was acoustic. Were some of these
> WGY films made electrically by a newer type of Pallophotophone? 

The machine used to make the late 1920s films was very different from
the 1922 machine.  It is completely electric.  The new one used a
continuous loop film and recorded as many as eleven parallel variable
area tracks.  At the time of the presentation seen on the YouTubes
postings they had not yet found the photograph and patent for the new
machine, and I was the only one who had figured out that the "reels"
were done as continuous loops, which was confirmed by the patent and
photo.  

> Are the recordings that WGY played on their tenth anniversary
> among these newly discovered films?

The 1922 films were not part of the find in the museum, but there is a
possibility that L.C. has the films.  The Museum has been inquiring of
them but has had some problems getting thru to the right person.  Sam
Brylawski told me that he doesn't understand why there have been
problems getting access to the films.  They need to try again.  

> At least some of those were acoustic--of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge--correct?

Harding wasn't recorded but your statement that the original films were
recorded acoustically has set me thinking. If I remember how what became
the "Light Ray" microphone that Brunswick used worked, there was a cone
diaphragm with a mirror at the back of the tip which vibrated with the
sound and varied the light it reflected onto a photocell.  This would
make it an electrical source for the recording.  This was called by
G.E.'s Hoxie a "Pallotrope".  The film recording can only be considered
acoustical if the light from the mirror falls directly onto the film
instead of onto a photoelectric cell.  Checking my dissertation, I think
I had determined Eugene Lauste had begun his experiments around 1904 by
photographing the light from the mirror directly, but was using an
electric galvanometer to expose the film by 1907.  My description in my
dissertation of the 1922 Hoxie machine says it was "using an
electro-magnetically deflected mirror". 

Looking at Hoxie's patents, it seems that he DID record both
acoustically and electrically.  Ironically the earlier patent shows
electrical recording.  That is patent 1,598,377, filed May 20, 1921,
granted August 31, 1926.  He does show in a LATER patent a way of
recording the sound of the acoustically vibrated mirror directly onto
the film.  That is patent 1,756,863 filed Dec 2, 1926, issued Apr. 29,
1930.  I am not sure what was inside the machine he used in Washington,
but the Museum might know.

> Were the B.A. Rolfe recordings made off the NBC line?

I hear occasional static in many of the recordings, leading me to think
that these are air-checks from a tuner, not line-checks.  But the Rolfe
programs and most of the G.E. Symphony programs are network programs
from New York City.  There are many examples of the seven note NBC
chimes in the April 12. 1930 programs.

> Is there any chance the world (by which I mean ME) will soon
> get to hear the B.A. Rolfe broadcasts?  Vincent Fitzpatrick

As I mentioned in earlier postings, the wow on the reproduction of the
films make it very difficult to listen to the music.  On the other hand,
last night Leah and I did an edit reconstruction of all of the more than
20 track segments of the April 12, 1930 film with a very nifty B.A.
Rolfe program as well as G.E. Symphony and a local Kane Krooners
program.  While we are putting it onto a disc for the Museum, and I
played a few segments last night on YesterdayUSA.com and will be doing
more excerpts there in July, it is up to the Museum how much they want
to distribute just yet.  I really would hate for this transfer to be
distributed to the public because the extreme wow would make this not
truly representative of what the recordings really sound like.  I really
think (and hope) that the wow is in the reproduction machine and not on
the films.  
  
For those of you on facebook (and I know Vincent is) I have already
posted a photograph of the 1929 machine on the wall of Walden Hughes,
and you can see it there on his page.  For others I can attach it to an
email.  The patent for the machine is to Clarence W. Hewlett applied for
May 6, 1929, granted July 11, 1932 and can be seen here:  

http://www.google.com/patents?id=V1FYAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=US+patent+1,918,102&source=bl&ots=NijVV1zIXc&sig=kpmFk0O5-oHq7U-eouvgPD0YJKw&hl=en&ei=r5MfTMbXA8KC8gbO0PGPDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCMQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

On a side note, I am getting a little confused on the names of inventors
all starting with the letter H. and some with the initials C.H.  The
1922 machines and the development of Brunswick and RCA electrical and
film recording was done by Charles A. Hoxie.  Hoxie showed the device in
1922 to Albertus Hewitt of Victor Talking Machine Co who had been doing
electrical recording experiments for Victor in the teens and early 20s.
(and I confused the names in my dissertation on page 159 when discussing
what should have been described as a trip to Washington D.C by Hoxie,
not Hewitt.)  Carefully note that the 1929 G.E. machine is patented by
Clarence H. Hewlett.  To make matters even more confusing, Albertus
Hewitt of Victor had a brother Clifford H. Hewitt!  There is a picture
of a wax disc electrical recording machine in the home of C.H. Hewitt in
the February 1924 issue of Popular Radio.  And to make it even MORE
confusing, Albertis Hewitt had started his electrical recording
experiments at Victor in 1913 (!!) under the direction of James W. OWEN
who died in 1923.  One of the two people who made the electrical
recording in Westminster Abbey of the service of the burial of the
Unknown Soldier Nov 11, 1920 was Horace OWEN Merriman, who continued
with electrical recording experiments at American Columbia in 1922-24
with his partner L.G.W. Guest.

I am trying to keep from getting these names mixed up again.

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com