[78-L] 14" Pathes and weird noises

[DanKj]

 I wonder if buyers were advised to slow their machines to 68 or 70.  Pathe seemed to make a point of using prominently 
mounted, large speed dials on many disc machines; a couple of mine are about 2" across - they obviously expected the 
customer to use it.  (Same as the one on this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2IoUtImvKE  .. and if one srew is removed 
from the arm rest at the rear, 14" discs can be played on this machine)   Their "90-100 tours" note was a bit unhelpful, 
leaving you to guess.

 After listening to many transfers of Pathe records, I decided that one of the noises was an elevator in their building, 
and that the master cylinders were recorded at (or near) 160rpm.     Early '20s Victor records also have low-pitched 
noises - a sort of heavy blowing, brushing, or metal-parts-dragging-heavily noise, within the first minute on dozens of 
discs recorded in NYC.  An especially loud example has been claimed to be a thunderstorm, but it's the same noise as on the 
others.  Whiteman's "April Showers" has a good example at 4-5 seconds.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Philip Carli" <Philip_Carli at pittsford.monroe.edu>
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 12:29 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] 14" Pathes.


> It really is at 68 rpm for the correct pitch; I have a whole stack of things to transfer next week and will try to include 
> those two sides.
>
> ________________________________________
> From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com [78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] On Behalf Of Robert M. Bratcher Jr. 
> [rbratcherjr at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 11:45 AM
> To: 78-L Mail List
> Subject: Re: [78-L] 14" Pathes.
>
> So which speed did you finally settle on? 68rpm or something faster? I wouldn't
> mind hearing mp3's of the 2 sides one day.....
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Philip Carli <Philip_Carli at pittsford.monroe.edu>
> To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Sent: Thu, January 6, 2011 10:23:10 PM
> Subject: Re: [78-L] 14" Pathes.
>
> Well, Coates can be fast -- and I much prefer him to many conductors who equate
> "profundity" with "lugubrious" (how slow can you go?) -- but not as fast as this
> was; or several tones above the printed score.  I actually couldn't keep the
> soundbox on the disc at 90!
> ________________________________________
> From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com [78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com]
> On Behalf Of David Lennick [dlennick at sympatico.ca]
> Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2011 4:54 PM
> To: 78-L Mail List
> Subject: Re: [78-L] 14" Pathes.
>
> On 1/6/2011 4:36 PM, Philip Carli wrote:
>> I have a 11 1/2" British Pathe from about 1914 of two highly abridged movements
>>from the Tchaikovsky 6th (the first recs. of any part of the work) by the Pathe
>>Symphony Orchestra, presumably under Lillian Bryant, and the speed at score
>>pitch is 68 rpm -- honest.  I wondered because when I first got the disc I put
>>it on at 90 and it was unrecognizeable gobbledygook,
>
> No, you thought it was early Albert Coates.
>
>> so I backed it down and down and down...I've never seen anything like it. I've
>>been looking for the other disc of this set for years to compare as part of my
>>work on Bryant.  Consistency wasn't a priority at Pathe, it appears...PC
>>
> Some Maurice Chevalier early electricals sound like Mickey Mouse till you bring
> them down to about 70, as I recall. And those are from French Columbia.