[78-L] For 78's, What Does Transcription Mean?

Wed Apr 1 08:48:32 PDT 2020

And let me call upon Kristjan to comb his 78-L archives to find the great exchanges we had about the overblown hype about War of the Worlds. MOST folks were listening to Nelson Eddy and Charlie McCarthy. 

Rodger Holtin
78-L Member Since MCMXCVIII

For Best Results Use Victor Needles

Sent from my sluggish old iPhone, which explainz any bad typjng, bad spellimg, nonsensical word choices, delays and all other lapses. 

> On Apr 1, 2020, at 8:41 AM, DKing <ginku_ledovec at att.net.invalid> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Rodger, that’s interesting that networks required “live” performances, when a good recording could have save them money.
> 
> When it comes to recorded vs. “live” - what changes (if any) were made at the networks after the live broadcast of “War of The World”, which caused so much panic amongst the public?
> 
> - Dave King
> 
> 
>> On Apr 1, 2020, at 6:14 AM, Rodger J. Holtin <rjh334578 at gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> “Transcription” was used rather euphemistically by the broadcasters for years. The networks viewed anything that was recorded as second-class sound, especially early on. The Hindenburg disaster helped to crack their general outright ban of recordings. 
>> 
>> Small stations, of course, relied heavily on them and on commercial phonograph records. Some artists attempted to thwart that and some labels of the 78 days even said “broadcast prohibited,” to little or no avail. “Electrical Transcriptions” were made just for that purpose and they generally sounded much better than commercial 78s - then and now. 
>> 
>> Somebody else can probably fill in more details here. There was also a time when anything recorded that was played over the air had to be identified as such so listeners would know that it was not live. I have heard taped programs that were identified as “Transcribed in Chicago..” into the 1960s. 
>> 
>> Rodger Holtin
>> 78-L Member Since MCMXCVIII
>> 
>> For Best Results Use Victor Needles
>> 
>> Sent from my sluggish old iPhone, which explainz any bad typjng, bad spellimg, nonsensical word choices, delays and all other lapses.
> 
>> 
>>> On Apr 1, 2020, at 7:28 AM, DKing <ginku_ledovec at att.net.invalid> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Thanks, Kristjan.  You’re right.
>>> 
>>> Transformation or remake is a more appropriate term
>>> for what Scott Bradlee does with Postmodern Jukebox.
>>> 
>>> I’m always amazed by how many great singers and musicians
>>> are out there, whether on LP’s or 78’s, and keeping live music
>>> in mind too.
>>> 
>>> - Dave King
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Apr 1, 2020, at 2:40 AM, Kristjan Saag <saag at telia.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Transcription, etymologically, means to write across, over or beyond. 
>>>> And, in music, is originally used when scores are involved. Either 
>>>> making a score from previously unannotated music or creating a new score 
>>>> for a different instrumental setting. Annotated arrangements may be 
>>>> labelled as transcriptions as well, but usually take more liberties and, 
>>>> if sufficiently different, can be copyrighted.
>>>> I wouldn't use the word transcription for "remakes" in popular music, 
>>>> not even for arrangements in jazz music, which usually also give room 
>>>> for large proportions of improvisation.
>>>> Scott Bradlee's "transformations" are delicate, especially when Robyn 
>>>> Adele Anderson is involved in performing, but let's call them 
>>>> "transformations" or "remakes" instead.
>>>> As for the other meaning of the word, when making a recording of a 
>>>> broadcast, the type of music, of course, is irrelevant.
>>>> Kristjan
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On 2020-04-01 06:57, DKing wrote:
>>>>> Thanks David, that makes sense. And it helped seeing your example of 
>>>>> musical transcription too. If you approve of the idea of taking one 
>>>>> type of music and putting it into a new arrangement for a different 
>>>>> style of music, you might like the work of Scott Bradlee’s “Postmodern 
>>>>> Jukebox”. For example, take “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, where Green 
>>>>> Day's rock & roll is transformed by Bradlee. Note by Scott Bradlee, 
>>>>> who is on the piano: "On our day off on tour we brought Maiya Sykes 
>>>>> into the studio, where she delivered this powerful, emotionally raw 
>>>>> performance of Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" on the very 
>>>>> first take. Folks, Maiya Sykes is the real deal, and everyone should 
>>>>> know about this incredible vocalist." 
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZck9O-kBU 
>>>>> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZck9O-kBU> The comparison is a long 
>>>>> way from classical music, so I hope I’m forgiven by Stokowski. - Dave 
>>>>> King
>>>>>> On Mar 31, 2020, at 7:05 PM, David Lennick 
>>>>>> <dplennick at yahoo.com.invalid> wrote: Musically, transcription can 
>>>>>> refer to an arrangement such as Bach 'transcribed for orchestra' by 
>>>>>> someone like Stokowski. In 78 context it's from the same era of 
>>>>>> recorded sound (pre-LP) and is short for 'electrical transcription' 
>>>>>> or 'radio transcription', a disc recorded off air or intended for 
>>>>>> broadcast in the days before tape. dl ---------- Original Message 
>>>>>> ---------- From: DKing <ginku_ledovec at att.net.invalid> Date: March 
>>>>>> 31, 2020 at 7:55 PM Many of you recently referred to “transcription”. 
>>>>>> What does transcription mean in the context of 78’s, and can it have 
>>>>>> more than one meaning? - Dave King 
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