[78-L] Fwd: Violin 78 acousticals

[David Lennick]

Wouldn't it be a hoot if this $3 toy turned out to do the trick? Of course 
you'd have to make very short recordings.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ToastOfNewYork/files/sammykayeuseshomerecordo.jpg

dl

On 12/20/2011 5:14 PM, Michael Biel wrote:
> This should be easy.  There is a working acoustical disc recording
> machine in the EMI Archive, probably in Hayes, Middlesex.  It was used
> to make the 100th anniversary Berliner/HMV recording in 1998.  The major
> problems might be the turmoil at EMI and the status of the EMI Archive,
> as well as getting the violin and the machine together.  The video of
> the recording session had been on youtube but I can't find it now.
>
> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [78-L] Fwd: Violin 78 acousticals
> From: AllenAmet at aol.com
> Date: Tue, December 20, 2011 3:34 pm
> To: 78-l at 78online.com
>
> FYI: Fwd:
>
> Greetings.
>
> I have been asked by a representative of the Violin Society of America
> to
> assist with an experimental acoustical research project involving the
> musical-instrument collection of the United States Library of Congress.
>
> Our goal is to make a high-resolution digital recording of an excellent
> violinist playing the 1742 Guarneri del Gèsu violin that was once the
> concert
> instrument of Fritz Kreisler.
>
> In addition, the principal investigator hopes to make an
> acoustically-cut
> 78 rpm recording, which could then be played back on a Victrola, and
> that
> sound would then be recorded in high-definition digital sound. We would
> then
> hope to derive the transfer function of the acoustical recording
> process,
> end-to-end.
>
> Our reason for wishing for this is that Fritz Kreisler himself believed
> that the recording process that was most true to his tone was the
> acoustical
> process, and that after the advent of electrical recording, things got
> worse and not better.
>
> Right now, our difficulty is that while there are many well-preserved
> Edison Cylinder recorders, we have been unable to locate a working 78
> rpm disc
> recorder, master lathe, or whatever the proper term is. We hope that you
>
> will be able to assist us in this regard.
>
> My tentative explanation is that upon the development of electrical
> recording, the existing acoustical disc recorders were converted,
> because their
> turntables and motors were the same.
>
> In any event, we will appreciate any help you can give us.
>
> Cordially,
>
> John Marks
>
> Senior Contributing Editor and Columnist, Stereophile magazine
> www.stereophile.com
> Audio Columnist, Listen magazine www.listenmusicmag.com
> Record Producer, www.jmrcds.com
> Hear my two minutes of NPR “All Things Considered” fame,
> www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17035346
> Visit my YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/user/cremonaguy
>
> ______________________________________