[78-L] 8 1/3 rpm??

[David Lennick]

You bought my remaining 24RPM discs, didn't you? I also had some test pressings 
of spoken material for the blind, including one radio broadcast (Sherlock 
Holmes) from about 1933, 13-inch Columbia discs with center start. These played 
at 33. (All long gone, to Kurt I think.)

dl

On 9/17/2012 7:59 PM, Michael Biel wrote:
>
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [78-L] 8 1/3 rpm??
> From: David Lennick<dlennick at sympatico.ca>
> Date: Mon, September 17, 2012 8:57 am
> To: 78-L Mail List<78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>
> I'm sure the American Federation of the Blind (or equivalent) provided
> the
> player. In England, literature for the blind was recorded at 24RPM.
>
> I've run across many packages of flexi discs recorded at 8 1/3.
>
> dl
>
> On 9/17/2012 12:34 AM, Clifford Bolling wrote:
>> Just came across a really weird record. The record is microgroove, vinyl, 10 inch diameter, with paper labels on each
>> side.
>
> I suppose by vinyl you mean a regular thickness stiff vinyl pressing,
> because most of the hundreds of thousands of 8 1/3 rpm discs are flexi
> EvaTone SoundSheets.
>
>
>   The label on one side is in braille, the label on the other is printed.
> According to the printed label, the braille side
>> plays at 16 2/3 rpm and the printed label side plays at 8 1/3 rpm. It is a Library of Congress Talking Book with Alexander
>> Scourby's narration 'INTRODUCTION TO TALKING BOOKS' on the slow side and something else on the braille side.
>
> Most of the microgroove talking books for the blind that were pressed in
> regular vinyl were at 16 2/3, so that side would be easier for the blind
> patron to play at the speed they expected.  Periodicals, meaning
> newspapers and magazines with short lifespans were usually the 8 1/3
> flexis, and this side would enable the blind patron to test out that his
> player did have that speed.
>
>> I've never seen a record with so much out of whack.
>> As always, I would really appreciate some enlightenment here.
>
> I don't see anything out of whack here except for the use of one disc to
> test and demo two different speeds.  I've had other records over the
> years with different speeds on them, usually demo records but there's a
> Moby Grape Columbia that has a track at 78 (narrated by Arthur Godfrey)
> while the rest of the album is at 33.
>
>> Where does one find a record player that plays 8 1/3 rpm??
>> Thanks!>  Cliff
>
> Probably ebay or thrift shops. The players made for the blind were made
> available through local libraries by the Library of Congress and were
> NEVER sold, only loaned.  If the blind patron were to die or recover
> sight and not need the player, it was REQUIRED to return it.
> Occasionally when an old player was obsolete, such as the tube-type
> player was when the solid-state version was released, the old player
> escaped onto the market. That's how I got mine which is similar to this
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPVne9g4nNY
> and this
>   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V_e9S7-u1A&feature=related
> which shows playing soundsheets.
>
> I also have a newer plastic one similar to this, which got liberated
> when they ceased disc production.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgIKSnt0FNU
>
>   and I also have an ancient 24 rpm spring-wind machine with a giant
> magnetic electrical head that could drive headphones without an
> amplifier.  George Blacker found that for me in an antique store maybe
> 30 years ago. This is similar to it with a replacement tone-arm.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kArLHNS6I1g
>
> If you are lucky enough you could also find the small speed-reducing
> adapter sold by the Talking Books company, the ones which made the 45
> RPM-sized discs.  It will split any speed in half.
> Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com
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