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THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA,

A Comprehensive and Descriptive Glossary of all Terms used in connection with the Talking Machine.

ILLUSTRATED.

LONDON: THE PHONO TRADER PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD., I AND 2, WHITFIELD STREET. EC.

1908. Og.\~\L.\/

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OU can give a dance with an Edison ' Phonograph, supply music at a reception, accompany a singer, entertain the children, break the ice at a party, while away pleasantly a few hours when you are alone. The Edison Phono graph does all these things and does them better than any other talking machine- The only phonograph which will play the new Edison Arnlwrol Records—th¢ wonderful Records that play more than 4 minutes l Hear them at your clcalefa.

half I I! l.ht Y l:'l,:nd O :1l]nOym:f?l°Ol.Z7Wfl-ng R rd thrs rna W” .D"'“° 6°”.d‘ Lrv‘. Dan?" ‘O 6 T1; phonogmph Ask to‘ bookm-..Makmg sell l'.d-sOn Phonographs -n every town ._ Reggfds 3; Home' when: we are not now well represented. For Complain Calnloguol. addroll: NATIONAL PHONOGRAPH CO.. LTD.’ E D I §0 N W O R K S . 259260- Vrctorra Road- Wlllaaden Junclron. London. N.W ..0.14;. -'...-. my.» » ,;';,_,.._-. ,4.. » The Talking l\/lachine Encyclopaedia. .

Adiwitable Bearing-—End supports of mandrel spindle, which are capable of adjustment. AN-lrl'\il‘li\l"‘l-—O'ne of the lightest of metals, though not found free, is one of the most abun dant elements in nature. it occurs as silicate in clay, felspar, etc., but is chiefly extracted from bauxite, an impure hydrated oxide; . cor undum., the oxide A1202 ; and cryo.ite, the double flouride with sodium, NaAlF6. it was originally pre pared by displacement by sodium from its double chlo ride with sodium, but is now almost exclusively obtained by the electrolysis of a solution of the purified oxide in inionlten ciryolite. The mixture is melted by the heat given out in the process, the aluminium being set free at an iron cathode immersed in molten aluminium, while the oxygen also obtained oxidises the carbon anode at which it is libera.ted. This process has greatly increased the output, for while in 1890 the wo1-ld’s annual pro duction was about 40 tons, in 1900 it had increased to from 5,000 to 6,000 tons. At the former date the price was 9s. 6d. per 1b., while in 1904 it averaged 1s. 4d. Aiguminium is a white and S0.1'I1O\Vll3.-t soft metal, takes a fine polish, is without odour or taste, highly malleable at 100° to 1509 C-ent., highly sonorous, a fair'c0nductor of electricity, has a.high specific heat and a low specific gravity (2.7). It does not oxidise or rust in air, or com bine with sulphur at ordinary temperature, and is B 2 Tm: TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. soluble in hydrochloric acid and solutions of caustic potash and soda. lts chief impurities are silicon and iron. It cannot be elcctro-plated with any metal. The great want in working aluminium into articles has been a good solder and flux. It oxidises soreadily at a sol dering temperrature, and the oxide formed is so insoluble in ordinary fluxes, that the film of oxide prevents the pieces of metal from coming into contact, so that a good joint cannot be formed. For this reason, amplifying horns made of aluminium must of necessity be seamless and have to be spun out of a fiat sheet.on the chuck of a lathe, hence the extreme thinness of the metal. Alum inium. is also used for electric conductors, and has proved valuable for the preparation of alloys, and in rendering castings of iron, etc., sound. An application in another direction has been the utilisation of the intense heat given out 0n its reaction with iron oxide for welding in situ, prepa-ration of small steel castings, etc. The com pounds of aluminium of greatest importance are its oxide and its sulphate. The oxide alumina A1203 occurs native as corundum, sapphire, and emery, and is an in tensely hard solid. As prepared artificially it is a white solid, which when hydrated is gelatinous. Alum inium orxide acts both as a basic oxide, giving rise to the aluminium salts, and as an acidic oxide, forming the somewhat indefinite 'a\1uminates. Aluminium sulphate is the chief of the aluminium salts, and is prepared both by itself and along with potassium or ammonium sulphate as alum. The metal was discovered by Wohler in 1827, and again in 1854 by St. Clair Deville, who received great encouragement and assistance in the manufacture of it near Paris from both Napoleon III. and the French Academy. The first really practical electrical method of extraction was patented by Mesrs. Cowles in 1885 in England and the United States of America, but that was supplanted by the Heroult Hall- method. Owing to its lightness, toughness, and strength aluminium is ex tensively used for boat building, for torpedo boats, for engines, for instruments, for balloon fittings, bicycles, cooking utensils, talking machine tone-arms and trum pets. and in chemical works; but it does not make a really satisfactory structural material, owing to its being THE TALKING Maonnvs ENCYCLOPEDIA. 3

somewhat lacking in tenacity and hardness. It is also used as a substitute for the usual stone in lithograpthy. Large works for its manufacture have been erected be side the Niagara Falls, the Falls of Schaffhausen, and the Falls of Foyers in Invernesshire. The Columbia Company are now using aluminium exclusively as amate rial for their tone-arms, and it is claimed with some show of justice that, owing to its sonority and peculiar property of clarifying the sound vibrations, a consider able irnprovernemt is effected in the reproduction. It is not a great success as a material for trumpets, prin cipally owing to the fact that the spinning process thins out the metal to such a degree, engendering a thin and nasal reproduction. (See Tone-arm, trumpet.) Arm: 3P9ak9r-—'l'he upper portion of Edison and Columbia cylinder machines which holds the reproducer, and by means of the feed nut and screw carries it over the record. Arm: 30‘-"‘ld-—See Tone Arm. Arm: TaP9l'9d-—See Tapered Arm. Arm, T0719-—See Tone Arm. A\lxet0Ph0ne--—.See Sound Magnifying. AX“, e.g., of turntable. The central support which also serves as a pivot for the records. Ba|an¢9 W9i8’ht-—The fantail shaped weight of an Edison Model C reproducer. (See notice under that heading.) Ball P0inted 8aPPhire--—The giobuiar tragking point of a reproduces‘ ; nearly always fitted to the trail ing variety. . Ba77t9$-—A mineral consisting of sulphate of barium, known also as heavy spar, from its high specific gravity (4.5), which is exceptional for a mineral without metallic lustre. It crystallises in the rhombic system, in forms of great diversity, and is generally white, grey, or pink, but the crystals may be transparent and colour less. Its hardness is 31}, and it has a very good cleavage. One of the commonest of veinstonee, it usually accom 4 THE TALKING MMJHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. pa-nines silica and ores of lead, Very fine specimens, lining cavities, are obtained at Dufton in Westm0re land. It occurs not only in crystals, but also more fre quently in fibrous, granular, stalactitic and other forms. It is used as a source of barium prerparation, as a paint, and also as a base for the -composition of disc records when finely ground, and is occasionally used as an orna mental stone. B9al'ing-—End support of spindle or shafting. B9arin8‘, Adi‘-l$tab|9-—See Adjuistable Bearing.

Bearin8‘, C\lP and POirIt-_see and Bearingq. Bearing: 5¢¢9ntri¢-—See Eccentric Bearing. B9arin8‘ P|at9-—-Smell plate placed under end of shraaftingf in horizontal motors to prevent undue friction. B9dP|at9--—~The plate of metal sustaining mandrel, et|o., on the upper, and motor on the lower side, e.g., as fitted to a phonograph. B9"-—Tl1e flange or flare of a trumpet. Sometimes used to .designate the whole trumpet. In the latter event the term is used to describe the spun aluminium. variety. (See Flange or Flare.) B9“-—-—The strip of leather or other substanoe used to transmit the power from motor to mandrel in a phono graph. These belts are specially. made, owing to the fact that it is diflicult to find a leather of suflicien.t strength and resilience to withstand the oonsiderab.le strain imposed on it. With an ordinary maohinery belt an occasional slip over the pulley wheels is not of great moment, but for this to happen with a talking machine would be fatal to the reproduction. After careful selec tion the strips are skived at eauh end, and then perched, a technical term for pushing up the under or flesh side to give it a good grripping surface. The belt is then joined with an adhesive cement and placed unader a-- weight to dry. By‘ this means a smooth joint, which will not bump when passing the engagement area, is as- sured. Linen fabric is also used for belts, and ii care ._,....-/

THE TALKING Macnmr. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 5 fully made forms an admirable substitute for leather, although continuous wear renders the service side some what smooth, the fear of stretching, always present with leather, is conspicuous only by its absence. The belts are formed by several layers of linen, which are then stitched together right along the length, usually three or four times round. The Columbia Phonograph Com pany have largely adopted this form of belt with their cylinder machines. (See Motor.) ' B9r|in9l', Dr-—One of the pioneer inventors of the talking machine trade. Although the disc form of ma chine and record occurred to Edison when making out his original patent specification (it is there mentioned), nothing was done in this direction till Dr. Berliner took it up. He first introduced the two-way orneedle track on a flat circular disc, and also a machine designed to repro duce this form of record. From the first crude forms to the machines of the present day is ‘a long way. The original machine was operated by hand, and the sound box was attarcrhed direct to the trumpet, which depended from a peg, similar to the cheaper focrm of phonograph at the present time. His patents were taken 0.ver and are now being worked by the Gramophone Company. He also invented a p|honogra|ph rerproducer which is now obsolete. As will appear under the article. on Sound, there are certain nodal points in circular plates, and the object was to isolate these. The notion was a mis taken one, as the event proved. A special form of spider dome was used, having eight “legs,” four of which ex tended to a considerarble distance from the tracking point, the other four being short and attached much nearer the centre of the diaphragm, which was composed of varying materials. (See also Disc, Disc Machine, Dome, Gramophone, T'wo-way C‘ut.) 5|a$t|ng-—A term used» to designate falseness, screeching, or 11lILl3i"li6- notesin the reprroduction. The causes of this fault acre va-rious. In this instance we will confine our attention to the cylinder record. Blasting is occa srioned when the sensibility of the recording diaphragin is too extreme for sounds which overpower its capacity, i.e., when the diaphragm is too - in in substance. The 6 THE Tnnxmo Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. effect is to force its swing further than its diameter will permit it to go, and by the law of least resistance, the whole recorder is by reflex action bounced off the blank and: the sapphire disengaged from the track. When the reproducing stylus travels over this brokern track, the sharp edges of the wax which occupy the interstitial spaces between the vibratory undulations, translate themselves as “foreign ” noise, quite separate from the particular note in which it occurs, and the more perfect the reproducer the more will the defect appear. Blast ing may also occur when the recording track is cut too deeply by the cylindrically shaped recording srtylus, the undue increase in depth resulting also in an undue increase in width of track. Then,- certain notes more than others, are more deeply cut still, and these merge into the line of the preceding track. To remedy this form of blasting it is necessary to em.ploy a smaller ball-pointed sapphire in the reproducer, so that the dia phragm shall be actuated from the bottom of the track, and so clear the ragged cutting on the upper ridges of the track. Many reproducers are now fitted with a clamping screw ring, by means of which the tension or grip on the diaphragm may be accurately adjusted. When one is about to play a. record which is known to be of- a blasty character, if this ring be tightened the blasting is minimised, the extra grip checking the tendency to move out of unison with the record. The same effect is produced by weight ing the repvoducer, which is often recommended as an effective cheek for this fault. (See False Vibrations, Overtones, and Tension.) 3ra¢k9t, T0n9-Arm-—See Tone-Arm Bracket. 3rak9-—Means employed- to check motion, and either bring it to a standstill or reduce the speed. In most phonographs the brake is only used for stopping the motor, and is sometimes arranged to work on to the same arm as the regulating screw. The general practice is to place a second arm in. the motor, which works, by means of a friction pad, on to the free end disc of the governor. In a few instances the brake is formed by a ratchet wheel and pawl, the raising or lowering of a lever Tan TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 7 lifting the pawl and starting the motor, or dropping it and bringing the motor to a dead stop. The most popu lar form of disc machine brake is a friction pad, which works direct on to the polished edge of the turntable. The object in this instance is to check the motion of the heaviest portion of the motor. Other means of braking disc motors are by friction pad on to governor disc and spring bind on turntable spindle. Brid8‘9-—The bar of metal passing from the feed screw to the front of many phonographs, and carrying the repnoducer along the record. Examples of this are the Edison models of machines, the Home, Standard, and Gem. B\l||t'UP DiaPhP‘agm-—Diaphma|guns formed of two or more layers of mica. of various diameters, glued, or otherwise formed into one. Generally speaking this prac tice is only resorted to when a heavy strain is placed on a small area in the centre, such as the Edison Model C reproduoer diaphragm. the Higha-mop'ho'ne diaphragm, etc., the object being to prevent inversion and preclude the possibility of the crosshead. tearing through when any strain is placed thereon. At the same time the re production is mellowed considerably, and this we assume to be due to the extra thickness which the diaphragm affords at the centre. B"5|'\||'|g-—Ring or cup of smooth brass or other metal, placed round the shafting at points where it is sus tained, the object being to provide a smooth surface, and thus reduce the wear and tear arising from excessive friction. Most ocf the supports are cast, and thus a smooth bearing becomes an absolute nerceseity. B\ltt9I“"¥--—-The portion 0.f a recorder stylus holder which is attached to centre of dia-ph.I‘ag"m, so--called from the fact that the shape nesem.blers butterflies’ wings. 3"tt0n 3aPP|”lir9-—A form of reproducer tracking point, so-called as it is ground to resemble a button. The edge of the button engages the record track. (See Model C.) 8r- THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

caP9‘-"9 D0"\9--—Dome in the shape of an inverted pill-box. This form givesl clear, sharp r*e

B A . Carb0n DiaPhragm-—Diaphr=agm formed of pure carbon. Carbon was first adapted to this purpose by Mr. Henry Seymour. Chlfia ma!: or Kaolin, is a hydrated aluminizum sili cate, and is a fine, almost impalp.able, powder of pure white colour, very soft, and slightly greasy to the touch ; specifio gravity (2.2). It absorbs moisture readily, and when wet is p-lasti-o, so that it can be moulded in the solid. The chief source of kaolin is decomposed granite. After being sruspended in water, it is allowed to settle in shallow ponds, is then dug out in rectangular lumps and dried over hot fiues. It is used in the manufacture of disc record composition, porcelain and pottery (along with felspar, flint, and other substances), and in the preparation of smooth-faced printing paper, sunh as is largely employed for books, eto., illustrated with pro cess engravings. Much alum is prepared from kaolin by the action of strong sulphuric acid. Artificial ultra marine, copying ink pencils, and many paints and col ours also contain kaolin. Bering cheap' it also serves largely- as an adulterant of farinaoeous foods, dusting powders, and various other substa-nc|es. The chief sources of china olay are Cornwall (where the industry is im~ portant), Saxony, Limoges in France, and Thuringria in Germany. It is foumd also in China, Australia, the East Indies, and the United States. THE TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. 9'

G|amPing $¢l'evv-—Tlhe screw which holds the Edison Model C and Columbia. Lyric reproducers in place. C08‘ Wh99|-—A toothed wheel. C0||ar--—That portion of the tone-arm bracket which holds the trumpet union. - C0I1I‘I90t0r--—The tube of rubber or other material used to attach the trumpet to the neck of reproduoer. C0110n F|0¢k-—Used in the composition of disc record substance to bind and keep together the powdered barytes, oalrbon, and kaolin. An analogy m.ay be cited in the use of straw for making bricks. The flocks are formed by the cotton fibres, which are too short for use in the manufla.cture of fabrics, and are dessicated, being thoroughly incorporated into the oomposition before used in pressing. 9ra!\9- A form of trumpet support which is atrtaohed to the cabinet of machine. The term is used to contra distinguish this from the ordinary floor stand. crank-—The| crooked winding handle of talking ma ohines. Cr0sshead-_An integral part of all tensioned-dia» phragm- r|eproducers, e.g., Edison Model C. In s‘ ape it resembles a small boot button with a fiat head, the head portion being towards the horn, the loop passing ‘through the centre of the diaphragm. and holding the link, thus connecting the diaphragm with the sapphire holding arm-. (See also Lyric, Model C.) CUP and 33-|| J0"‘lt-—An alternative term for ball and socket. Frequently used to make a sound tight union between tone-arm and trumpet. The reproduction is generally oornsider'ed to be improved where a sound tight joint is employed. CUP and P0int B9arM83-—A mec.hanical device which it is claimed enables bearings to maintain a high speed without excessive friction. The end of the shaft is tapered to a point which rests in a cup-shaped bearing of slightly increased proportions. ' 10 THE T.u.i':i\'o Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. O\lt Re¢0rd-_-A name given to the old type of soft wax cylindrical records. They are so called to distin guish them from the moulded variety, and at the present day are obsolete. Made by a duplicating process, which consisted of engraving by means of an ordinary recording stylus from a master made on a larger cylinder in the same way, it is conceivable that the results obtained were, generally speaking, very weak. The life of a cut record was of necessity short, unless great care was used, owing to the fact that the material of which they were composed was very soft. (See Record, Recording, Talk ing Machine.) . Cl-It, T|‘Il'99 Wa!-—See Three Way Cut. c\lt: TWQ WaY-—Se.e Two Way Cut. c¥|i"ld9r--—-A phonograph record, the shape of which is cylindrioail ; hence the term. (See also Gold Mould, and Record.) DlaPhraSm-—(1) The film of glass, mica, or metal which is stretched across the orifice of a sound box or reprodrucer. Its function is to render audible the sounds which are generated by the passage of the track con taining impressions under the sapphire or needle. (2) The term is sometimes used to designate the whole of the sound box or reproducer. (1) In the phono graph reproducer the diaphragm is usually set horizontally; the disc sound box, on the con trary, has a vertical diaphragm. The first essen tial of a good diaphragm is that while it will give clear utterance in response to agitation, it will imme diately recover and resume its normal posture. Although almost every conceivable substance has been tried, the only materials which have been found to give lasting satisfaction are glass, mica, metal, and carbon. We must not omit a reference, however, to the various secret compositions which have recently been utilised for dia phragms. Of these the “ Filamentine” and “ Gra duated Flex ” have proved most successful. The first 113.1'l'lJ8d (glass) when very thin, gives a clear ringing and sweet reproduction, which, however, is not very power ful, and anotlher drawback is its extreme fragility. Mica recovers fairly well, but is not, however, so speedy as Tm: TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 11 glass; the reproduotion is, therefore, less ringing, and where a large diaphragrn is used is liable to be a little mufiied or tubby. To oounteract this, building‘ up in the centre with one or more thicknesses of varying diame ter has been resorted to. \Vhere the agitation is con fined to a small surface, as in the case of the Model C and Lyric, this expedient has proved successful. Mica- is almost invariably used for disc sound box diaphragms, and seems to be much more effective than it is with phonograph rerproduclers. Metal naturally needs power ful agitation to render it effective, and its use is practi cally confined to the disc sound box on that account. It gives a full and round reproduction, which is exceed ingly clear as to detail. Carbon gives by far the most faithful and powerful reproduction, and is thus employed- for phonograph diaphragms where weaker agitation has to be reproduced. It is very effective in every way, the only drawback being that it is very fragile. Further information re mioa will be found under that heading. The use of a diaphragm has long been recognised as a weakness in the talking machine, but so far no repro duction has been made effective without its aid in one form or another, although recording has been effectively performed in its absence. The springyness of the sub stance composing it is relied on to give utte|rance to the various recorded sounds; recovery must, therefore, be instantaneous and complete. Diaphragms are fixed into the shell of a reproducer or sound box, and maintained in position by rubber bands, termed gaskets; assistance toward recovery is rendered by this means, as .the vibra tions are checked immediately they spread out to the edge. It is a mistaken notion that volume, or even quality as to tone, depends on the size of diaphragm. It has been demonstrated by experience that the maxi mum diameter which can be relied on to give a good reuproduction without assistance is two inches and very few are made as large as this at the- present time. Too large a- diaphragm means a tubby, dull result, while a diameter of one inch or less will emit tinny, shrill tones The maximum size employed is four inches, but this entails a frictional tensioning device to render the resul tant reproduotion good. (See Sound- Magnifying Gra 12 THE TALKING MACmnn ENCYCLOPEDIA. phophone.) The forms which diaphragms take are many and various, e.g., built~up, double, ray-ribbed, corrugated with con-oentric rings, etc., in endless variety. The double diaphragm was introduced by Henry Sey mour a few years ago, and consisted of a two-inch glass film with another (diameter 1} inch) mounted on it in the centre by an air-tight cork or rubber ring. By this means an air cham.ber was formed which minimised to a cornsiderable extent the tendency to blasting on high notes, a common fault with records at the time of its in troduction. The built-up diaphragm consists of two or more layers of mica, as appears under that heading. Ray-ribbed may be quoted as self-explanatory, while the corrugated concentric ringed diaphragm was of glass and formed by smearing the parts which were to form- the crests with grease, and then dipping in a solution of hydrofluoric acid. (See also Lyric, Model C, Reproducer.) DiaP|‘lraS"'l, Bl-ll" UP-—See Built Up Diaphragm.- DiaPhragm: $arb0l'l-—See Carbon Diaphragm. Dir$Ot Dl'iV9- Term applied to the system of motor where the turntable is driven by direct meshing to the motive power, i.e., the spring box. Di$¢- The word is used to designate the flat circu lar plate form of record. Although the disc. is men tioned in Edison’s om‘iginal patent, specification 1,644 of 1878. nothing appears to- have been done with it until Dr. Berliner took it up. The disc form is open to con .siderable objection, in that the circumference gradually beccmes smaller as the record proceeds, which renders -the latter portion of the reproduction somewhart less brilliant than the commencement. It is, however, con venient for storage purposes, and is considerably less fragile than the clylindrical type. Another point in its favour is that the size need not be limited to any particular standard, which naturally enables the user to get a much fuller record 0.f any paarticular subject. The largest size at present made is 14 inches in diameter, the smallest being seven inohes. Disc records are made by a stamping process, the matrix being in the form of a die, and hydraulic presses being used for the purpose. THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 13

Many of the records are what is termed double-sided, and In making these the two records are pressed simul taneously.. lnis further econoinises space, but it is open to objection in that the subject-matter of both sides may not appeal to the prospective purohaser. '1'he composition of which disc records are made varies accord ing to the manufacturers’ different formulae. The usual constituent parts are china clay or kaolin, powdered barytes, cotton flock, shellac, and ordinary carbon black. As will appear under the various headings, the china clay, carbon, and barytes are ground to a very fine powder and rendered homogeneous by admixture with water, cotton flock is then added, and' also, under heat, shellac, the last two binding and fixing the substance ready for pressing. Owing to the fact that the composi tion is more expensive than the wax-soap of which c|ylin der records are composed, discs command a much higher price; further a greater quanti|ty of material is neces sary. From one cause or another many, if not most, of the great vocalists have only been recorded by disc manu facturers, hence their voices are mainly confined to this form of record. To mention but a few: Mesdames Melba and Pa.tti ; Battistini, Zenatello, and John Harrison; and among instrumentalists: Kubelik (vio lin), Squire (’cello), Mischa Elman (violin), and Marie Hall (violin), have made disc records only. The collector- of discs has thus a much wider range of world-famed artistes to select from, and it can be truly said that the only deterrent influence is the extremely high prices» which selections by the virtuosi command. (See Ber liner, Phone Disc, and .'Rec'0r-d.') 9i$0, Fl'|¢t|0n-—See Friction Disc. Di$¢ Ma0hin9-—Tha»t form of talking machine which uses the disc record. The tendency at the present time (1908) is for this class of instrument to outstrip the phonograph in the race for popularity. This is due to a variety of causes, principal of which, it may be said, is that a much better repertoire (so far as artistes who make the records are concerned) is at the command of the user. There are two systems of recording and re production: (1) The two-way cut, which is reproduced 14 Tm: TALKING Macnrm‘. Encvctora'zma.

with a sharp pointed needle. (2) The three-way or phonograph cut, the reproducing medium being a sap phire. (1) The disc machine was introduced by Dr. Ber liner to reproduce disc records. So great was the fric tional noise or scratch of these early types of machines

EARLY TYPE DISC MLAOHINE. that they made very little progress in public favour, and it was not until the introduction of the tone arm prin ciple that they commenced to attain the popularity they now undoubtedly enjoy. The original method was to .attach the sound box direct to the trumpet, the latter depending from a supporting arm, which was fitted with a swivel to allow the sound box to travel across the record. One of the principal points of divergence of the disc machine, as compared with the phonograph, is that the onus of moving the sound box across the record is thrown upon the track of the disc itself, whereas the phonograph is generally fitted with a feed-screw for the purpose. It is an undoubted fact that the introduction of the sound arm has vastly improved the tonal quality .of the reproduction. (2) The three-way cut, analogous to the phonograph cut, on the disc type of record was first THE TALKING MACHINE .lflNCYCLO1‘.EDI.\. 15

produced, it is said, by Henry Seymour at the beginning of 1904, and was pressed in the usual black com-position, .as well as other varieties of material. Negotiations for putting this type of record on the inarket were carried on, but eventually failed, and a few months after Dr. Michaelis introduced the “ Neophone ” record, which was on the same principle, but the records were pressed in cardboard, thickly enamelled. The innovation was not much of a success at finst, but Messrs. Pathé Freres have adopted the system and have succeeded in creating a. strong demand for machines and records of this kind. Other manufacturers are contemplating the production of this class of record. It is claimed that the phono graph disc machine gives a much fuller and more realistic reproduction than the needle variety, and also that the scratch is considerably minimised. It is easier to oper ate, in that the rerplroducing medium is an unwearable .sap'p1hire, whereas a steel needle will 0nly play one record and has then to be renewed. (See also Disc, Phono Disc, Berliner, and Motor.) D0rI‘l9- Name applied to the small brass, nickel, or .other metal dome-shaped fitting, which forms a union between the sapp-hire and diaphragm in the phonog*rap-h rerp-roducer. The object of its introduction was to en 'able a large area. of the dilaphragrn to be set in violent vibration. The size to give the best result is proper tionately varied with the size of the diaphragm to which it is attached. Generally speaking, the proportion is as one is to six, but there is so far no fixed law governing the rule. Much depends on the general form which the sound collecting chamber takes. (See Reproducer, 'Grap.h.o|phone.) D0"‘|9: 9a~P$\l|9-—See Capsule Dome. D0M9, 3Pid9r-—See Spider Dome. DU¢t: °"- See Oil Duct.

E¢¢9nt|'|¢ Bea,rIn8'-._.In ma.ny p.hQnQ-g[a.,Ph var. -tical motors this form of bearing finds a- place. It is .a mecrhalnieal device to enable the axis of the bearing to 'be adjusted. It usually consists of a. short length of 16 THE TALKING Macmns ENCYCLOPEDIA.

toughened steel with the bearing cup drilled a little to one side of the centre. by I‘0't|<'i.El-Ug the axis is therefore alterable at will. in practice it is often found necessary to have an adjustable axis for shafting, no matter ho.w carefully» the various constituent parts of a motor are made, otherwise in setting up the pinions would fre quently be found to come too close, or, inversely, too far awa ,' in the former event the cog-meshings grinding- would set up harmful friction, in the latter excessive rattling would be engendered when the meter was set in motion. The device is merely a makeshift for had work in many instances, but it is advantageous if both ends of the spindle are supplied with it, otherwise an imper fect alignment will occur, and unnecessary friction be increased. Many machines are supplied with an eccen tric bearing on one side of the spindle only, but these are to be classed as mere toys. Edisiimu Th0ma$ /-“Va, American inventor, was born at Milan, Ohio-, in 1847. He began life as a news boy on the railway, and in his spare time learnt practi cal telegiraphy. He soon applied himself to the improve ment of the system in vogue in his country, and intro duced the duplex, triplenx, and multiplex methods, which he perfected after he became superintendent of the New York Gold and Stock Telegraph Company. His greatest inventions have nearly all been conceived and .developed since he started his own works at Menlo Park, West Orange, New Jersey, such as the megaphone, the kinetoscope, and the phonograph. The last-named, with which we are solely concerned at present, was developed in 1877. It was said that the idea occurred to the in ventor that it should be possible to intercept sou.nd- vibrations by the adoption of suitable media, and he called his chief mechanic-, one Kreusi, to him and handed THE TALKING Mncnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. 17

machine paatents, principal of which are the Perfected Phonograph (1888), and Gold Moulding System of Duplicating Records (1900). Edis0n 39ll C0rP0rati0n was farmed in the year 1892, to take over a business in Northumberland Avenue, W.C., representing Thomas Alva Edison and his perfected phonograph. At this time there were rival claimants for the invention—Mr-. Edison and Messrs. Tainter and Bell, the latter claiming to have invented the cutting process in wa.x—and these rivals, or the parties interested in them, were engaged in law suits in America to settle their respective claims. The Edison Bell Company became the pu'rchasezs of the in ventions of both the rival parties, the price paid for these patents being £40,000. At that tim9 a. great deal of attention was directed to the machine for commercial- uses — dictating letters, and for authors’ purposes. The late Guy Boothby, the novelist, was an enthusiastic user of the machine, even to the extent of having a phonograph standing by the side of his bed, which he could easily set in motion, and into which he could dio tate such. thoughts as might incidentally occur to him. Machines for amusement purposes were then hired to exhibitors, and the country was very soon flooded with the well-remembered penn.y-per-selection type, which be came so popular in seaside towns and other public plea sure haunts. As the phonog'raph gained in favour the company began to sell the machines to dealers, and in troduced the Edison Gem., Standard, Home, and other phonognaphs to the British- public. They also corn menced the manufacture of records in this country for public sale. The development of the business necessi tated thie iemolval of the company to more commodious premises at 39, Charing Cross Road. The present cor poration includes the Edisonia Company, which was formed by Mr. J. E. Hough‘ in 1895 as a separate con cern. After a period of successful trading, litigation arose between the two concerns, which was eventually ended- by afliliation. VINO V|bI'8t|6I‘l8-—So known from the fact that they cause falsity in the reproduction. They are largely c 18; THE TALKING Macnms Encvctopmnra.

responsible for the fault known as blasting, and may also cause screeching. They are set up on a disc machine as follows: The sounds are picked up by the needle and transferred to the diaphragm, which renders them into atmospheric pulsations, otherwise audible sound. lt will be seen that the stylus bar, needing support and ten .sion, is attached to the lower part or the shell of the sound box. When it is agitated, therefore, a portion of the sound vibration passes. into the shell, and (unless an india-rubber pad or other non-conductor interposes) from thence also through the metal, of which the tone arm and trumpet are composed. Having reached the ventianl portion of the last-named they are there rendered audi ble. Now, were the relative rates of conductivity of air and metals the same this would not matter; but they are not. Metals convey sound from 6 to 14 times faster, according to their nature, and it is conceivable that where two dissonant sounds in the reproduction follow one another with sufficient rapidity, the' may both be rendered audible sim;ultaneous'ly, the first in the ordinary way, the second by the horn itself, which would give the effect of falsity. With phonograp-hs, falsity often arises from slaokness of diaphragm tension and imperfect set ting of parts, or may be an inherent fault in the record, caused by over-vibration of the recording diaphragm when the record was being made. F996 N\lt--—The nut which is fixed to one end of the speaker arm contact, and which, with the feed screw, car ries the reproducer along thelength of a cylindrical record, In shape it is oblong on one side, the other being 'a con cavity traversed by threads corresponding -with the thread on the screw. It is usually made of soft iron or brass, as although the strain on it is considerable the threads are thus continually recut by the contact above mentioned. In some of the later types of machines the feed nut has been discarded in favour of one or more discs, airranged to bite into the threads on the feed screw. F595 3¢r9VV-—A'finely cut screw, with about 40 ’turns to the inch, made of specially hardened steel, and of .§uflicient extension to enable it to'carry the feed nut the ..1-ength of the record. This function is per THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 19 formed by its being continually rotated at a uniform rate of speed while reproduction is in progress. The same means is employed to engrave the track on cylinders .of a. blank record. As, however, the thread 0.n the latter is about 100 turns to the inch, gearing is introduced to accelerate the motion of the mandrel to the propor tionate excess over- the feed screw.

F9"‘ll|9-—The short length of brass tube at the small end of at phonograp.l1 amplifying horn, introduced to provide a convenient means of attaching it to the neck of the reproducer. FiX9d R9Pr0d\l¢9r-—T'hose reproduceors which are fixed as a whole in the speaker arm, e.g., the Edison Model C and Columbia Lyric reproducers. From the fact that all. record makers do not use the same standard number of turns to the inch, and also that it is next to impossible to obtain a inoulded record which has a per fectly even surface, motion from side to side and also up and down has to be allowed for. Further information on this point may be found under Model C, Lyric, Re producer. '

F|arlg9 0r F|ar9-—Also known as Bell. That portion of the trumpet which widens out abruptly from the large end of the stem, the object being to vent the sound on a larger area than would be possible without its use. It further serves to give the reproduction direc tion and helps to body it up, i.e., render it fuller. Fl'|0‘U0n Di$¢-—The disc at the end of the governor on which the friction pad acts. (See remarks under that head, also Governor.) Fr|¢ti0rl Pad-—So termed from the fact that it en gages the friction disc of the governor when motor is in motion. The necessity of this device is occasioned by the fact that the spring of a clockwork motor is much too powerful to be -allowed to run unchecked. It is usually formed by a pad of hardened felt, steeped in 0il and held by a conveniently shaped- metal arm. (Seealso Governor, Motor.) ' 20 THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. GaOkflf-—The ring of rubber or other material, such as eompresed pezper, or even metal, which encircles the shells of sound boxes and reproducers, to form a non sound conducting and effective grip for the diaphragm. The theory of its employment is that the diaphragm- in reproducing sounds is thrown into exceedingly violent vibration, which would render its recovery to normal posture without assistance doubtful, especially after re producing notes of extreme compass in either direction. It therefore becomes imperative to check the tendency to over-vibration, hence the gasket. Another useful purpose accomplished by the gasket is that it provides a level surface to lacy the diaphragm on. It is often found that either the diaphragm itself or the ridge on which it would rest are uneven, and obviously the tendency would be for a strong rattle to arise during loud reproduction in lihralt event. Gl$|(9t: 3Plit-—See Split Gasket. G0ar-—1\/Iechanical means which are employed to conserve power or accelerate speed. In a clockwork motor it will be seen that the spring which provides the actuating force only revolves at the rate of about two revolutions per minute, sometimes even less. Now, it is necessary for the mandrel, in the case of the phono graph, and turntable in the case of the disc machine, to make 160 and from 72 to 100 revolutions, respectively, in the same period, hence it becomes necessary to put in something whieh will perform. the function of accel~ erating the motion. Cog wheels of various sizes are, therefore, employed, and these are termed gears. The scheme of gearing depends on (1) the strength of the spring, (2) its tenuity, (3) length of timeit is desired to make the motor run without re-winding, (4) speed at which the object of the force being employed is to re volve. Take the phonograph motor, for example. The average duration of a record is 2 mins. 15 seconds, and as it is not desirable to re-wind after each record allowainrce is made for 2, 4, 6, 8, or even up to 14 repro ductions at one winding. The arrangement for two in somewhat as follows: First, a. toothed wheel, firmly attached either to the spring barrel or to the spring THE TALKING Macnnu: ENCYCLOPEDIA. 21 spindle; supposing this to have a diameter of 2% inches and 3% teeth to the inclh (circum-fere\ntial), say, 27 teeth in all, it is arranged to work on to a spindle which has only seven similar teeth in its whole circumference; it will be obvious that the latter must revolve nearly four times as fast as the former, which, supposing the speed of the spring to be two revolutions per minute, gives us now nearly eight; at the other end of the spin dle mentioned we shall again find a wheel of two inches or more diameter, with more teeth to the inch this time, as the stress of the force is not so great, and it will also be found that this works on to a small spindle, giving us fully quadruple our previous speed, about 31, and from that to yet anoth'er, and so on, till the mandrel pulley is reached and the necessary speed attained. A further reason for extensive gearing may be cited in the fact that it ensures smooth running, although at the same time considerably greater wear and tear on the first men tioned wheels is entailed by each supplementary gear that is put in ; hence they should be limited. The usual number is four in a phonograph motor, which in prac tice has been found to be as much as can be conveniently used in view of the above mentioned limitation. In disc motors the usual number is three, but they are of considerably greater dimensions. This is necessitated by the fact that a disc- record runs much slower- than the cylindrical, and continues for a much longer ti.me, which enables one gear to be dropped, and the spring to re volve at a slower speed, the last mentioned resulting in the desired conservation of power which the greater time occupied in reproduction entails. Here we have a spring box which is perhaps four inches in diameter, the first gear forming the base of the box. The teeth may be three or less to the circum-ferential inch, and it meshes on to a small spindle, and usually from thence to the turntable spindle direct, the third gear being occupied in revolving the governor spindle. Two gears only are .active in acceleration, the other being passive. (See also Motor, Gear Primary and Intermediate.)

G9a7‘: |nt9rm9diat9-—Where three active accel erating gears exist, the intermediate gear would be the 22 THE TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. second meshing. The term is also applied to the second and third, where there are four, and so on. (See Gear.) 6987‘: Pr“1"\a|'¥-—The first gear. That is to say, the cog meehing which drives the whole of the motor. The wheels are usually of steel or iron, as it is on this gear that the whole strain is thrown in starting the motor. It is as well, then, to let the machine attain full speed before lowering the reproducer or sound box to the cylinder or disc, as the case may be, otherwise additional wear and tear is occasioned. (See Gear.) 90“! |V|0ll|d9d-—The term refers to a process by means of which cylindrical records are manufactured at the present day, the original patent for which is held by the National Phonograph Company, and is dated No. 13,693, 1900. It will serve to render the description- much more lucid to give the illustration which accom panied the original patent specification. Thus:

“U -1 4/ .

\\\\m§x\wx\\\\\\1\'

...... __'.~= :<\\\\\\\\\\\s|s ‘

A record 12 is made in the ordinary way (adescriptio.n of the process will be found under Recording) and is then suspended from the short mandrel 11, which is arranged to spin round 0.n the pivot 10. Suspended on THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 23

either side of the record are two sheets -of gold foil 9, and these in turn are eonneoted to a supply of high tension electricity by means of the conducting wires 7. .Over this portion of the apparatus is placed a glass hell 2, which drops into a conveniently shaped slot, and the air inside is then exhausted by means of the tube 3, the cook 4 being closed as soon as a vacuum is attained. The record is then revolved by r~o.tating the magnet 14 outside the bell, which attracts the armature 13, attached to the mandrel and so causes the latter to move in unison with it. The eurrent is then switched on and a discharge, similar -to that in an ordinary vacuum. tube, passed between the gold strips. The dis oharge carries with it the vaporised partioles of gold and deapoits them on the record, the object of revolving being to ensure that the deposit be evenly distributed. When a perfect film is obtained the record is removed from. the mandrel and measures taken to stiffen it by backing with other metal, such as a deposit of copper, which is effected in exactly the same way as electro plating. Finally, the record itself is shrunk out and a perfect mould results. It is claimed that by this pro cess a much smoother surface is obtained than is possible when the mould is formed by precipitating a metallic film on to the record by means of solutions, such as milk, sugar, bronze and silver, or phosph.orus and silver nitrate, and when it is said that the record has to be pre viously dusted with powdered graphite, it will be seen there is much in the assertion. Such, then, is the gold moulding process. For descriptions of other means em ployed to- make moulds and matrices see notices under those headings.

G0V9l'l"l0l'-—Tha|t "part of the motor which controls the speed and, to a' greater or less extent. checks the tendency of the spring to run unevenlv. The governor of a, talking machine consists of two discs. to which are attached two, three, or four lateral spring blades.. accord ing to the strength of the motive power, or the eY’r:\nt ' to which it is desired to assist theinertin. in Po.ntrolling‘ the action of the force. To the centre of each of these blades is attached a weight, and it is from these last 2-i Tm: TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

that the control is obtained. The scheme is as follows: One or other of the discs is firmly attached to a spindle, while the remaining one works free; the springs, with weights attached, as before explained, being fitted along the length of the spindle, care being taken that the weights agree exactly and that the springs are of the same tensile strength. At the end of the spindle is a cog wheel, which meshes on to the scheme of gearing, and is so arranged that the governor will be revolved at a high rate of speed, means being provided to regulate the maximum, and thus the speed of the motor as a whole. On the machine being started, the weights expand the springs, and thus draw up the free disc as far as the regulator will allow it to go ; it is from the expanding action that the governing is obtained. It is a moot point as to whether the weights usually fitted are heavy enough, and without scientific- formulae, based on the actual inertia to be moved, plus the resistance offered . by the stylus to the record track, which would have to be worked out for each particular machine, it is im possible to say. Again, the strength of the spring is a variable quantity. This much is certain, however—con trol would be much more effective were the weights heavier, inasmuch as the expanded weights act as a flywheel, and this in turn being controlled by a firm friction pad, working on a perfectly level friction disc, even running would be assured. The foregoing belongs more to the realm 0.f criticism than description, but it may help one to comprehend the arction of the governor, which is the object in view. The phono'grarph has a vertical motor, and the governor is, as a rule.., set horizontally. The friction pad is arranged to work on to the free disc by means of a hinged arm, the posi tion of which is controlled by a screw, termed the regula ting ‘screw, and to ensure its m-a.inta.ining itself steadily a spiral spring is attached; thus the farther the arm is depressed by the screw the greater becomes the tension of the spring. The starting and stopping lever is freq uerntly arranged to act on the same arm, but in some motors a separate arm is put in, which also works on to the friction disc direct. The disc motor is generally hori zontal, and the governor is therefore set vertically. The Tm-2 TALKING MACHINE Excvcrorzsnm. 25

control is worked in the same manner as in the case of the phonograph motor already cited, but the friction disc knows not the brake arm, this being usually arranged to work on to the edge of the turntable. Gen erally speaking, this system is used solely in connection with the disc talking machine, as the turntable serves the purpose of governor or fly-wheel. In this event the governor, so-called, falls into the secondary position of checking the speed. It must be remarked that this sys tem is not very satismfactory. G0VBITI0r 5a||$-—Th'e weights attached to the lateral springs of the governor to expand them and .compensateuor control the tendency of the spring to pay .out evenly. Much doubt exists as to whether they are sufliciently heavy to effectually perform their task. (See Governor.) G0Vern0r Blades 0r 3Prings-_-The two, three, or four highly-tempered steel strips which bear the governor weights and form an adjustable union between the two discs of the governor pinion. It is of the utmost importance that each one of the set be of exactly the same tensile strength, otherwise the steadiness and uniformity of motion, which it is the primary object of the governor to impart to the motor, will be prejudiced to a- greater or less degree, according to the extent of the fault. It will be obvious that it is easier to con struct an effective governor with only two blades than wherethree or four are employed, the chances of finding blades which are of the same strength diminishing with each extra one put in. (See Governor.) G009B N9¢|<- The short U-shaped length of tubing which connects the neck of the sound box to the tapered arm of a Gramophone. The object of its em~ "ploy'ment is to provide (1) A convenient means of raising the sound box from, and lowering it to, the record, and (2) To allow the vertical play to the -sound box which practical experience has found to be necessary. That it is certainlv a most convenient and, at the same time, a most nleasing method of effecting these ends must be readily admitted. The tapered portion of the arm 26 Tar. TALKING Mncnmi: Eucvctormnm. is fitted with a swivel which allows it to move across the record, but for reasons which will be found under the heading “ Tapered Arm,” no up and down motion is allowed for. Hence the goose neck has a swivel con nection with the main portion. The device has been found to purify and sweeten the reproduction to a very considerable extent. (See also Tapered Arm and Gramophone.) Gra"'|0Ph0r|9: lit. “sound letter,.” a term used- to designate the machines made by the Gramophone Com pany only, by whom it is copy~righ-ted. The word is often used as a generic term- to cover all disc machines; but wrongly, as has been repeatedly pointed out in the press. It was originally spelt Grammaphon, and the early disc machines of Dr. Berliner bore this as a dis tinguishing mark. The history of the disc machine, in

EARLY TYPE OF GRAMOPHONE.

England at least, is wrapped up in the development of the Gramophone, the enterprising and sruocessful direc torate being responsible for most of the principal im provements which have been effected with this class of machine. Founded in 1900, to take over and work the patents of Dr. Berliner, they hold to-day a commanding position in the trade. The name at the present Tar. TALKING l\£lACHlNE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 27 time is taken as a guarantee of sterling worth, and as such it is undoubtedly held asmuch by the public as the trader. As will appear under the heading Disc Machines, the Gramophone was originally worked by hand, the trumpet working from a. pivot, and the sound box being attached direct to the horn,- as per illuetration. The first improvement of any moment was the substitution of a governed clockwork motor for hand power, and although much objection was raised to it on account of the terrible scratching (and it was then terrible), which was app.arently. a necessary accom panying evil to the reproduction, it gradually began to forge ahead. The records were continually improved, each month’s list marking an advance, so far as tonal quality was concerned, on its predecessor, and the scratching was gradually decreased in intensity by the introduction of smoother material and finer work in the discs. Exclusive artistes of the very highest standing, whose names are household words, were one after another a-pproached to make records, and in view of the strides that the company were making in naturalness of reproduction many of them consented. The turning point may be given as the introduction of the tone arm system of sound reproduction, which practically marked a new era for the Gramophone. Reducing scratch and immensely improving and mellowing the tone, as this invention undoubtedly does, it removed the only thing which barred the way to complete success. Since then it may be said to have gone from triumph to triumph. Madame Melba, the brilliant Australian cantatrice. was soon after secured ; Madame Partti, Sig. Caruso, and all the leading lights of the operatic and concert world followed, until the catalogue became a perfect galaxy of the very highest talent. By the introduction of the Auxetophone, the invention of the Hon. Chas. Parsons, it became possible to use the Gramophone for the enter tainment of large audiences. Recitals at the Albert Hall and elsewhere followed with very gratifying results to both company and audience. The -up-to-date Gramo phone models are so well known and so widely dissemi nated., that our readers will be able to compare them, the lineal descendants, with the above illustration, which 28 THE Tannmc Macnmn Eucvcnoraanm. will do more than many words to convince them of the great improvements which have been wrought in a few years. (See also Berliner, Disc, Disc Machine, Two way Cut, Tone Arm, Goose Neck.) GraPhit9, Plumba.go, or Black Lead.—An allo tropic form of carbon, found in mica schist, gneiss, granite, meteoric iron, argillite, etc., in beds, sheets, detached masses, and crystals in Siberia, Ceylon (the chief source of black lead in commerce and the arts), New Brunswick, Canada, New Zealand, and Germany. At Borrowdiale, Cumberland, fresh discoveries were made in 1875. It is a stove and grate polish, and a lwbricant for machinery, but graphite is most used in the manufacture of pencils and crucibles. It is also used as an inner covering of electrotype moulds and for conductors of electricity. It can be obtained .artificially by crystallising any form of carbon from its solution in molten iron, and is prepared commercially by heating coke in the electric furnace. Graphite is a soft, dark gre , opaquer solid, of a greasy metallic lustre- It crystallises in hexagonal plates, and is volatile only at the temperature of the electric arc. It is a fair conductor of heat and electricity, and- though it can be burnt to carbon dioxide, is less combustible than diamond. On oxidation with nitric acid and potassium. chlorate it yields graphitic acid. It is used as a lu'bric.ant for the springs of talking machines, and, in its dry powdered state, to form a conductor by means of which a film of gold or copper can be precipitated- on to a master record, to enable a mould to be made. Granh0Ph0ne, lit. “written sound."_(1) The word is used to designate the machines, both disc and cylinder‘, of the Columbia Phonograprh Company. (2) A generic term covering machines of the trailing or floating reproducer variety. (1) The Columbia Phono graph Co. can claim with justice to be one of the largest manufacturers of talking machines and records in the world. Their principal factory is at Bridgeport, Conn., United States of America, but they have recently erected an English factory at Bendon Valley, VVands|worth, London, where the manufacture of records for THE TALKING Macnms ENCYCLOPEDIA. 29

the British market is carried on. The firm was one of the pioneers of the trade in this country, the associa tion dating back several years. The first products they placed on the market were cylinder machines and cut (or engraved by direct process) records. These were followed by the “ XP ” gold moulded records, as they were termed, and although some doubt exists as to who first introduced the moulding system of duplicating records, the Columbia Company were amongst the earliest to put them on sale Disc records and machines were now being offered, and with the introduction of the tone arm. system for these machines, the Columbia people evolved the cast aluminium tone arm and sup port, wl110l1 is so popular a feature at the present time, and these two features have much to do with the deservedly high reprutation which the firm holds. (2) The originators of the graphophone system of reproduction were undoubtedly Messrs. Bell and Tainter, the former of telephone fame, who was asociated, we believe, with Edison in experi ments connected with this latter instrument. It incul cates a system of a floating, free moving reproducer, as opposed to the fixed reproduoer of the Edison type- The first instrument very much resembled a treadle sewing machine, inasmuch as the motive power was a treadle. It was introduced to reproduce the wax record, which also owes its inception to these two gentlemen. The adoption of wax as a material for records was the turning point of the phonograph, as we know it at the present day. We point out elsewhere that the original record was of tinfoil, and the talker was practically ded as a useless, if ingenious, novelty by Edison, until the result of Messrs. Bell and Taintefsempetrimente became known,.whic¢h provided the necessary fillip. The reproducer is fixed to a pin and swivel joint, which allows up and down motion, while side to side play is arranged for by placing a swivel in the reproducer neck. The original Columbia cylinder machines were orf this type, as also were all Messrs. Pathé Freres’ phonographs. It is a moot point as to which is the better of the two (fixed or floating) systems of reproducing, the one having" as many staunch adherents as the other. .30 THE TALKING l\1Acn11~w ENCYCLOPEDIA

GraPh0Ph0n9 Repr0d\l¢er. --The- mailing, floating from a horizontal tube form. of reproducer was introduced by Messrs. Bell and Tainter for their original grap-hoprhone, and was opposed to the fixed or Edison type. It is not too much to say that it was this method of attaching the reprodwcerr which formed the base of their system of reproduction. We illustrate in section an u-p~to-date model of Messrs. Pathé Freres, the Inter mediate. There are, however, many other eminent

‘TO HORN @- 4

c/9//f=-_fg§\§ /\ <.' .'

Jnakers. The diagram. is almost self-explanatory, A being the sound collecting crhamber, B the diaphragm, C split rubher tubular- gaskets, D sapphire holding .dome, E blall pointed saprphire. The scheme of the reproducer is very simple. The sapphire and dome are not in themselves essential, they merely form a con venient means of enabling the diaphragm to come into contact with the vibrations in the track. It will be seen that the sound collecting chamber is so shaped and positioned that it comes over the point of maximum agitation, and gently curves away towards the neck of the repreducer. The mode of attaching and working .the gra-pl10phone type of reproduce!‘ is usually as follows. Along the length of one side of the mandrel a feed screw is fixed, geared to correspond with the thread 0n .the record; to this is attached a carrying device, which usually consists of a lever, the raising or lowering of .which disengages the .crfi|I'Tl3.gfir from; the screw, and a -carrier of convenient height. At the top of this last is .the reproducer holder, which -is pivoted on a simple pin swivel to allow up and.down motion, the under side being maintained .by an adjustable screw. In the neck of most repnod"u-ce.rs of this type another simple swivel .is fitted, thus allowin'g side to side play. Messrs. Pathé Tnr. TALKING Macumn Eucvcnomanm. 31

Freres introduced another system, termed the Perfecta, which consisted of attaching the reproducer direct to horn and carrying the whole hamper over the record. It has since become obsolete, however. (See Reprodueer, Reproduction, Diaphragm, Dome, Gasket, Sapphire, Graplhophone.) Gr00VB-—An alternative term for the track or chan nel containing the impressions of recorded sounds on records. (See Track.) "'8'"?-m0Ph0n9-—See Sound Magnifying. |'|ing9 Pln-—A constituent part of the Edison Model C rerproduoer. The hinge pin is the screw threaded, tapered pin, which sustains the balance weight. The weight is so drilled that the pin fits it tightly., while it works loosely in the support on the edge of the shell, thus permitting side to side play within the sphere limited by the bank loop. (See Model C.) |'|0ril0l‘l'lla| M0t0!‘-—-A clockwork motor, of which the spring, governor, and gearing scheme are fixed hori zontally. This form of motor is almost universally used for disc machines, principally because the inertia or turn table is horizontal to take the fiat disc record. The only adverse criticism which can be raised against this system is that a great frictional wear and tear is naturally thrown on the lower bearings of all the spindles, inas much as the whole weight of turntable and each integral part of the motor is pressing on the lower plate of the frame. In time this causes the bearings to be ground .out, and parts of the motor are liable to drop down altogether, or run unevenly in consequence of enlarged bearing cups. We do not know that any advantage can be claimed for this type of motor, as it is quite possible to work a horizontal inertia with a vertically designed motor. (See Motor, Vertical Motor, Disc Maohine.) H0rn-—Alternative term for trumpets. (See notice under that heading.) . |.'|0"‘l cran9-—See Crane, Stand Trumpet. H0r" 3\lPlJ.0rt-—See Support, Trumpet. 32 Tim TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

|d|0r Pll||9Y-—A term given to a simple mechanical . device which autoniatioally maintains the tautness of the driving belt, and thus prevents slipping on the engaging area. The device consists essentially of an am working on a pivot, at one end of which is fixed a free pulley, this being arranged to keep a tensioned pressure» on the belt by fixing a spiral spring on the other end of the arm. It is of considerable importance in reproduction that a perfectly even speed be maintained. Now it is- obvious that when a thin leather belt is of necessity used to connect power and inertia, and there is any great weight or strong resistance to be overcome, the constant strain on the belt has a tendency to stretch it.. Having thus worked loose it is constantly slipping over the pulley at the end of the mandrel, especially when the reproducer has been lowered to the record and extra» - . resistance th.us engendered. The idler pulley is now fitted to practically every belt driven machine of note. . |mP'9$$l0n$-—Name used to designate the small marks which the recording stylus makes in the track of the blank in response to agitation by sound. Elsewhere: we treat of the theory of sound itself; it will be as well, however, to explain how it is these marks are made. The stylus is a sharp pointed tool of peculiar shape, this is immovably fixed on to a. diaphragm, which in turn is carried over the surface of a blank cylinder or disc, made to revolve under it. The blank being of soft mate rial the stylus cuts its way into it while the matter- to be recorded is sung or played at the mouth. of the horn. The vibrations generated by the sounds made are taken up by the arir contained in the horn, and passing down cause the diaphragrn to move in unison with them. These movements. are thusfengraved at the same time as the track, thus causing the impressions. In reproducing the process is reversed. (See Recording, Diaphragm, Stylus.) |l‘ld9P9|‘|d9nt Wlfld-—A term given to a motor, of which the spring can be rewound while it is in motion. The objects of this device may be cited as (1) To prevent the winding crank or key from- revolving when motor is running. (2) T'o enable a rewind to be made meanwhile,. Tnr. Tanxnve Macnnvn Encvcnomznm. 38 thus simulating a greater running period of time. (3) Pre vention of motor losing speed through spring running down and thus spoiling a reproduction. The means by which this end is secured are simple. On examining an ordinary clockwork motor it will be seen that the spring has 0.f necessity to be attached at both ends, one being fixed or slotted on to a catch on the winding spindle, which enables it to be rewound, the other being attached either to a portion of the frame -(where there is no con taining box) or' to the edge of the containing barrel, where it exists. It is in the latter fixing that the independent wind has been devised. Where the outer leaf of the actuating spring is fixed to an integral portion of the motor frame an independent wind cannot be arranged for, as the spindle is bound to revolve the reverse way to enable the spring to pay out. It is by adopting the latter of the two alternatives that the inde-pendent wind is achieved. The arrangement is as follows. The outer leaf of the spring being attached to the edge of the con taining barrel, as aforesaid, the barrel is arranged to revolve as a whole, and to the bottom (sometimes form ing the actual base) is alttachead the main driving cog. These are pivoted on a central spindle, which works free of them, and to this is attached the‘ inner leaf of the spring. Firmly mounted on the spindle is a toothed wheel, on which works the toothed spindle of the wind ing crank or key. It will be seen that when the motor is started the barrel will thus revolve free, the spindle being still except when spring is being wound. In a word the spindle is merely an axle on which the spring barrel revolves. (See Motor.) |r\U\l|I-t9¢! M0t0!‘-—A motor which is insulated from the cabinet. Insulating is literally contact break ing, and‘ the object is to prevent! the noise-which is engendered by the motor when in motion—from passing into the containing cabinet, and thus interfering with the reproductions by superimposing a mechanical noise upon them. The clockwork motor is held in a metal frame, and as it is suspended from the top of the cabinet it is obvious that screws or rivets must be used for the purpose. Metal is a good conductor of sound, as also is n .34 THE TALKING Macnms ENCYCLOPEDIA.

.wood, and it necessary to put at non-conductor be .‘tween. Rubber has been found.to ansrwer well, and cushions of this material are therefore placed between .frame and cabinet underneath, and screwhead and ; cabinet top above. H.ence.the term. insulated motor. .Perhaps the most efl"eotive means of insulating a motor is to suspend it by strong metal spira-l springs from the .; body plate.. This has been done in the better class Edison -phonographs, and is very successful, when the .c=01'rect tension is maintained. Noises from the motor are lost by dissipation through the flexibility of these ;springs, and do not travel beyond. (See Insula.tion, Motor.) |I1$\l|afi0I‘I consists of interposing a non-conductor between two conductors, alternatively it may be termed pontaet breaking. Most of the parts of- various devices .used in reproducing sound are good conductors 0.f sound, .e.g., metals and woods, and in many cases; unless -judioious insulation is carried out, the quality of the reproduction is bound to suffer. Take, for example, the sympathetic vibration which is set up by the passasye -.of sonorous pulses through the trumpet. These .vibra .ti0ns set up a strong metallic rattle where the horn is ;directly a-ttached to the neck of the reproducer, 0r where a metal ended connection is used. It is, therefore, advis able to use a rubber connector, or alternatively place .pa|per, another- non-conductor, between metal ended con ,ne.ctor and reproducer neck and horn ferrule; ' Another ..point at which horn insulation should be carried out is -at the point of sruspension.. 'A chain is the usual- mo-do 0.f sustaining the trumpet, and as a strong rattle will 'be set up by the sympathetic vibrations, this should be discarded and a rubber ba\I1d used in its place. 'Insrula tion is also carried- out with motors (see Insulated Motor and Diaphragms)-, the insulation in this- latter case beirQ' at rubber gasket; with disc machines between sound box and.tone arm, and also stylus bar .and shellof ‘sound box. .Where it is found that this is not done, the hornshouzld .be .insulated from the support, to prevent the strong . -metallic hum, which willoften arise asra'n undesirable ..aocompaniment to disc reproductions. - Silk is very good

) THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 35

for this last purpose. Efficient insulators are rubber, silk, paper, and cotton fabrics. (See Insulated Motor.) I-ink-—(1) An integral part of the Edison Model C -repro.duoer, a piece of fine steel wire which connects the speaker arm with the diaphragm. One end engages the erosshead at the centre of the diaphragm, the other is attached to the end of the sapphire holding or speaker arm. It has much to do with the quality and volume of the reproduction, a thicker gauge wire increasing and a. thinner one decreasing the intensity of the results. Its length is also important. (See Model C.) (2) A portion of the Columbia Lyric reproducer, acting in a way similar to the same feature in the Model C. (See Lyric.) |-00P-—A feature common to both the Model C and .Lyric reproducers, and used in both instances to limit the side to side play of the tension devices. In the former a screw pin is fixed to the weight to work in the .loop, and in the latter the end of the tension bar is used .for the same punpose. (See Model C, Lyric.) |-¥ri¢-.—The new and improved fixed reproducer sup plied with most models of the Columbia Co/s cylinder machines. The idea is certainly original, in that a spring is employed to keep a tension on the diaphragm in contradistinction to the floating weight form of ten ..sioning. (Seen the accomp.anying diagram.) The whole

_H

A.—Dia.phr-agm. B.—Crosshead. C.—'I‘ension Spring. D.—Sapph1're holding arm. E.-—Stylus. F—-Fulcrum of D. G.—Tension Ba.r. H.—Axis of G. J.—Arm holding C. K and K1.—Gaekets. L.—Screw Ring. M.—Link. N —Loop. ().—Tension device holder. 36 Tea TALKING Macnnm ENCYCLOPEDIA. arrangement of the Lyric is extremely ingenious. On taking it up to examine the various devices, it will be seen that though the pull of the spring is always on the tension bar, until the sapphire is pressed—or lowered to the record—no strain is placed on the diaphragm. Referring to the diagram, it will be seen that lowering the reproducer to the record pushes up the whole device to the position shown by the dotted lines. The side to side play is arranged for by placing the spring holding arm J on a. pivot, and perfect freedom of movement is further allowed to the sapphire by boring the axis of the sapphire holding arm F to a larger diameter than the holes. in the - support. The diaphragm, which is of built-up mica, is maintained in position by two rubber gaskets, K and K1, in the diagram, which in turn are clamped by the screw ring L. It will, no doubt, prove interesting to describe the orperation of di8\1110\1Dl'r ing the various parts. Proceedings will be as follows: Remove the pivot screw of the sapphire holding arm F, in the diagram, and carefully raise the arm D itself; now loosen the screw at the bottom of the back loop N, meanwhile holding down the tension bar G to prevent it flying up and possibly spoiling the link M, the cross head B, or the sapphire holding arm D; still holding the bar, remove the loop, and holding up the sapphire arm. gently allow the bar to pass over it. The arm can then be detached from the link, and the letter from the crosshead; the tension bar can be turned right round out of the way, or, if desired, removed by undoing the screw 0. Now unscrew the rim L, by means of the holes provided therein for the purpose, remove the gaskets K1, and by pulling the crooshead the diaphragm can then be removed. To replace the parts, smear at little French chalk on the gasket K, and drop dia phragm- thereon; put more French chalk on gaskets K1, lay them in position, and screw up the ring L, but do not make it too tight, or reproduction will be very thin, while if left too loose it will give a muffled tone. There is a medium tension, which gives the beat all round result, and this can best be determined by trial. Now smear a little vaseline on the end of the link, andi attach same to crosshead; fit the arm D to link, and. THE TALKING Macnmx ENCYCLOPEDIA. 87 having turned the tension device round pass it through the hole provided for the purpose, press down the ten sion bar and refit the back loop, and having placed the arm D in position, by replacing the pivot screw, the refitting is complete. (See Reproducer, Tension.)

M8.0|'lil‘l8, cy||nd9r-_-S39 Ph0110g1'3,P.h. |V|a¢|1|n9, D|9¢-—See Disc Machine, Berliner, and Gramophone. Ma°hil‘l91 Ta|k|l’\g-—See1 Talking Machine. Ma"I G9ar-—The distinctive term for the primary or first gearing. The gear nearest to the actuating force. In most of the clockwork motors at present made, the primary gear is an integral part of the spring barrel or box, being the base of the spring box (in the case of a horizontal motor), or one of the sides (in the case of a vertical motor). As it is on this gear that all the actuat ing power, and also the deterring effect of the inertia, is thrown, it must of necessity be very strong. It is for this reason that it is made of steel, and also that the teeth are much larger and thicker than in the case of the intermediary gears. (See Gear, Motor.) |V|al1dr0|-—The long, slightly tapered, cylindrical shaped metal fitting which bears the record on a phono graph. VVith Edison’s original phonogra-ph the mandrel was arranged to work along under a fixed reproduoer, but it has been found advisable to have a fixed mandrel revolving on bearings with the reproducer or recorder arranged to pass along over its surface. The effect of tapering is to aflford a means of gripping the wax records, which would otherwise display a tendency to slip under the resistance offered by the passage of the stylus over the track. Until recently the length was standardised to approximately five inches, but the Columbia Com pany some time since introduced! a 6-inch mandrel and records of proportionate length, which enables more matter to be recorded thereon, a desideratum- of no mean value when the shortness of cylinder records, as to recorded or recordable space, is taken into consideration. (See Phonograph, Talking Machine, Cylinder.) 38 THE TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA] Ma'\dr9| $|‘la‘|"l- The spindle on which the man drel works. In the Edison type malchines the shaft is tapered to a- point at both ends, and works in two cup shaped bearings. The mandrel thus runs between- centres, and consequently dead level. Most machines have a mandrel shafting support at one end only, the trouble of opening a gate to admit the record being plaoed on the mandrel thus being avoided. (See Cup and Point Bearings, Mandrel, Phonograph.) MaUt9l'-—In its strict application the term refers to the record of any item as made, but it is often used to designate every copy of it made in the first mould taken of such record. \Vith inanufacturers generally a system of what is termed mothering obtains. The record is made, and by means hereafter explained, a mould is taken of it. It will be obvious that to only have one mould of each selection would necessarily cause supplies to be very limited, as copies could not be turned out quickly enough to meet the demand, especially when it is remembered that the circulation of a record of a popular selection will often reaoh 10,000. From the original mould are taken, say, 50 records, the number depending on the anticip'a.ted demand; now these 50 reoords in turn become masters, and 50 moulds are taken from therm ; the term masters would be indiscriminately applied to any of these last. (See Matrix, Moulding, Recording, Gold Mould.) ' Matr|¢9$, Matrix, from Latin “ Mother.”—Plural and singular of a term app|1ied to the die, or stamp, from which disc records are pressed, as well as the negative mould for cylinders. (See Disc, Matrixing.) MatriXiI\8% The making of a matrix, i.e., a die or stamp- from which copies of recorded matter can be pressed. To start- at the beginning, a materia1 is neces sary upon which the matter forming the selection is to be engraved. It will be obvious that recording could not be performed on a hard black composition, such as that of which the finished disc product consists; awax soap compound. similar to a cylindrical blank, is there fore employed.. This has to be specially made, as particular Tm: TALKING MACHINE ENcYcLoP.EDiA. 39 degrees of hardness or. softness, as you will, dryness, and free .cutting without viscosity, are the great considera»- tions. VVriting .in the “ Columbia Record ” some time since, Victor H. Emerson says: “Among the materials that may be used are stearine, cenesin, beeswax, parafiine, ozokerite, canuba, spermacetti, and many others; but each has its peculiar fault. Ceresin, for instance, is too soft and oily; canuba too hard, but dry and free cutting; spermacetti, too tender; stearine, too hard and tough, and crystallises on cooling; beeswax- has too great a viscosity.. -The shavings and chips from ozokerite stick or cling to thesurface; parafiine has t00 low a melting point, and during hot weather the master would get out of shape. Then, again, there are 12 different grades of paraffine, all of which have a different melting point, due to the different degrees of heat used by the oil companies in its distilisation, so that, if parafline is used as a base or as a softener for the harder waxes, a standard should be used.” We cite the above extract to illustrate the difficulty which has to be overcome in making up 'a formula for the composi tion. It is an open secret that many of these waxes are used in the compound, but the various manufacturers use different quantities,'and the for'm-ulae'are amnongst their most jealously guarded secrets- The requirements of the wax soap, as the compound is termed, are:— (1) That it shall be insoluble; (2) humid weather- must not affect it; (3) as it must always. give a dry chip both in recording and shaving; (4) it must not volatise, other wise a rough surface will result when it is subjected to the cropper bath ; (5) it must be clean cutting, that is to. say, the chips must not cling .to the recording stylus or the free motion, which is so essential, will be partially choked, and thus all the delicate vibrations which give colour to the reproduction will be lost,.e.g., definition will be lacking ;' (6) it must be capable of taking a deep cut without chipping in any way, and the cutting itself must have perfectly smooth, highly polished walls. The master record being cut on a surface of wax soap. a thin film. of some substance, such as phosphorus and silver nitrate, or bronze and silver nitrate, is coated thereupon to render it conductive to electricity. It is then sus 4.0 THE TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA.

pended in a solution of copper salt, in which is also sus pended a plate of copper. An electric current is passed through the bath, entering by way of the copper plate and leaving by the master record. As the current passes . along; it tears off particles from the oopper plate, carry ing them through the solution, and leaving them on the conductive surface of the master. Here we see the reason for rendering the surface conductive; it is to provide an exit for the current and to enable the disc to retain the particles of copper which the current carries with it in its circuit. After a short time the copper will have accum.ula-ted on the record surface to a suffi cient thickness.(ab0ut one-sixteenth part of an inch); the disc is then removedfrom the bath, washed and dried, and the copper is separated from the master, and termed the matrix. A heavy backing of stout metal is then added, and thus a die is formed, from which any number of records may be struck by a hydraulic press. It will be obvious that this system is tedious and ex pensive, and the object of the trade is to obtain a con ducting material which will have all the qualities pre viously enumerated. A system of recording direct on to a plate of copper has been experimented with, but, so far, the results obtained leave something to be desired. The free and clear track obtained by the use of wax scap renders most users of it 10th to exchange for a system of engraving on a metallic surface. (See Disc, Matrix-Matrices, Berliner, Gramophone, Record ing Stylus, Two-way Cut, Wax Record.) M9$h|l"lg-—The point of contact between two toothed wheels, e.g., in the talking machine motor, the periphery of cog-wheels and toothed spindles on to which they work together form a meshing. Although it is a convenient form of transferring power from. one portion of the motor to the other, and is also valuable as a means for assisting in governing the action of the spring and accelerating the motion thereof, it cannot be called an ideal means to that end. Considerable friction is generated at the point of contact, and great care has to be expended on accurate adjustment of the bearings for a good and steady running to be attained in Tm: TALKING Macaw]: ENCYCLOPEDIA. 41 conjunction with that minimum of frictional noise which is essential if the reproduction is not to be interfered with. Where the bearings have been fitted up close, to secure quiet running, most excessive wear and tear is thrown even on the most cleanly cut cog-wheels, and it is always as well to place a very small quantity of lard or heavy~grade oil on the teeth to obviate this as far as possible. This ma , and often does, result in a slight increase in the frictional noise arising from the mctor’s motion, but wear and tear is reduced. If the bearings, and consequently meshings, have been loosely adjusted, the fault will be apparent the moment the motor is put in motion, a more or less persistent rattle being audible until it is stopped. If adjustable bearings are provided in the motor frame, the spindles may be brought a trifle closer together, beginning with the governor spindle, but stopping with the intermediary gear. VVhere this remedy cannot be applied, it is better to keep an abso lute minimum of lubricant on the cog-wheel teeth, con fining oiling to the bearings as far as possible. Graphite may be used in the latter case with profit, but it should be applied dry and in powdered- form. (See Motor, Gear.) Mi9a-—General: A group of minerals, which readily .split up into thin fialres owing to their perfect cleavage. Muscovite: a clear colourless potash mica, may be obtained in plates, two feet in diameter, perfectly trans parent and flexible. It was formerly used for glazing windows, and known as muscovy glass, and is still em ployed (under the name of talc) for lamp chimneys and gas stoves. These scales of mica are flexible and elastic, -properties possessed by no other mineral. The micas have a vitreous or pearly lustre, their- colour ranging from black (brotite) to brown (lithionite), violet (lepido lite), yellow, green (fuchsite), and colourless. They are all comp-ler silicates of aluminium along with iron, mag nesia, or the alkalis. Particular :—Mica is most extensively used as‘ a material for sound box and reproducer diaphragms, but ‘it cannot be said to be an ideal substance for the purpose. As we have seen, one of its features is its ready cleavage, 42 THE TALKING l\IAc1-111~:i~: ENCYCLOPEDIA. and cleavage is possible long after a diaphragm thickness has been secured. The irreducible minimum thickness of a tlake of mica is about the same as tissue paper, about one eight-hundredth part of an inch—perhaps even less than that, particularly with green mica. Now the average thickness of a- disc of mica, as used for diaphragmsl, is from one one-hundredth to one two-hun dr.edth part of an inch; given suitable instruments, therefore, a diaphragm may be cut into from four to eight separate discs. They would not, of course, be any use for the purpose, but our object is to show that a mica diaphragm is composed of four or more layers. Mica is not affected by atmospheric conditions, which is a point in its favour; it has also a fairly ready molecular recovery from agitation, but does not react so readily as glass. It gives an entirely different quality to the tones it reproduces, and, owing to its comparative slackness, they are not nearly so clear and ringing as when glass is used. The tendency is towards tubbiness to a limited extent, but against this must be set the mellownese of mica-produced results. It speedily tires of continually reacting from excessive vibratory motion, and as time goes on its readiness becomes much impaired, such diaphragms should therefore be pezriodically- renewed. To deal with the points raised, in detail, will prove beyond our scope here; however, we will again glance at them. The cleavage, which is possible, as we saw, to one eight-hundredth'of an inch, renders a mica diaphragm open to grave fundamental objections for a disc sound bO1X. The disc has to be pierced in the centre to admit of the stylus bar being screwed on to it, and the cleaving is so ready that punching is the only possible means to accomplish this end without starting the disintegration of the flakes. The turn of the screw as the bar is being fixed frequently starts the splitting, and consequently impairs the value, if it does not entirely spoil it. Although mica is elastic and will spring back when bent, too great a strain will crack it, hence great care must be used not to overstrain it when fitting to the sound box. When any portion of the vibrating surface of a mica diaphragm has an area where the flakes have come apart, perfect reproduction cannot be expected. A THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 43 tintinnam.bula-tion will be set up as an accompaniment to all loud sounds, due to the fact that each flake becomes a diaphragm and vibrates independently, and rattles against its fellow. The effect is.more noticeable with°loud sounds as the agitation is more powerful. It is as much present with quieter sounds, and can be detected more or less readily according to the magnitude of the fault. The tiring noted before seems to be caused by a partial, though not visible, .disintegration of the component fiakes. Diaphragms are also composed of built-up mica, which term is really a misnomer, by the way. A thick disc of mical is taken, and a small circle cut one-third of the way through. The outer portion of this is then removed, and the second stamping of a circle of greater diameter two-thirds of the way through is then removed. Thus a diaphragm, with a maximum thickness in the centre and aminimum thickness at the periphery is formed. The whole process is an extremely delicate operation. Copies of this, which are really built up of three discs glued together, may also be 0' - tained. (See Diaphragms.) .

|V|0d9| 0-—A name given to the Edison improved fixed type of reproducer for the phonographs made by the National Phonograph Oompany, the inventor’s com mercial concern in this country. This type of reproducer is interesting, inasmuc.h as it was the first model to em body the principle of reinforcing the a.m-plitude of the vibrations engraved in the track. Recent developments of this system are instanced in the Columbia sound magnifying machine and the Lyric reproducer. In the accompanying diagram the various features introduced into its consrtruction will be seen. (1) The shell; (2) gaskets; (2a-) metal ring, (3) .diaphragm-. ; (4) screw ring; (5) crosshead; (6) link; (7) balance weight; (8) loop; (9) regulating pin; (10.) hinge of weight; (11) spearker arm ; (12) sapphire; (13) pivot of arm; (14) pivot screw. It will be manifest after careful study that the whole scheme is extremely ingenious. A reference to the article, Graphophone Reproducer, in the earlier portion of this work will enable the reader to form a. conception of the theory of reproduction, which may be rendered 44 Tm: TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. complete by referring to Reproduction and Reproducer. He will then be aware that the vibrations pass up to the diaphragm. Now let us study the Edison scheme. The diaphragm 3 has no dome attac.he-d to it, and there~ fore does not enter into the matter so obviously as in the case above cited. Instead, a crosshead 5 is fitted to it, thus enabling it to be connected with the sapphire 12, which office is performed by the link 6. Now this arrangement would be quite useless without a lever, which in turn necessitates a fulcr'um. or axis. This might be formed by placing the fulcrum on the shell, and than

to all intents we should have an ordinary graphophone unassisted result. The object is to assist or magnify the vibrations, however, and to this and a heavy weight has been fitted to exercise the amplifying influence. This 7 takes the form of a circle with a wide piece in the shape of a fantail on one side. A hinge 10, to permit of free up and down motion, and limited side to side play, is provided, the former in the ordinary way, the latter by drilling the centre hole to a much larger diameter than those at each side. The side to side play is further cur tailed and maintained at fixed limits by attaching a, Tm; TALKING Macnma ENCYCLOPEDIA. 45 pin 9 to the weight, and a loop 8 to the shell for the pin to work in, this latter device also prevents the weight from falling when the repro-ducer is out of action. It remains to show how this weight is utilised. A pivot 13, to provide the fulcrum of the speaker arm lever is attached to the weight, the arm 11 being pivoted on a. screw pin 14. The scheme is now clear: raising the sapphire throws the downward pull of the weight on to the link, and thus a tension upon the diaphragm. Lowering the reproducer to the record lifts the sapphire, and thus there is always a pull on the link when the- sapphire rests in the track. The series of engravings on. the record alternately increase and decrease this pull,.. hence the up and down motion is amplified. Some of. the parts, which are often referred to, are dealt with. separately. (See also Diaphragm, Balance W.eight,- Crosehead, Link, Loop, Gaskets, Sapphire, Speaker- Arm, R eproducer, Reproduction .) M010r-—That~ portion of a talking machine which. provides the necessary power to revolve the mandrel or- turntable as the case may be. \Vith both types of machines, disc and cylinder, the original motive power' was provided by a hand crank. Apart from the fact. that this method is very primitive, it is open to many objections, such, for example, as the great difli culty experienced in maintaining a uniform rate of pro gressaon, inconvenience of having to turn a handle the whole time reproduction is in progress, the difficulty occasioned in starting and stopping, and so on through a whole category. Edison’s| original phonograph was worked by a hand crank, as also was Berliner’s Gram.ma» phon. Messrs. Bell and Tainter’s graphophone marks the first departure from hand power, motion being com municated to the mandrel by means of -a treadle and belt, much in the same way as an up~to-date treadle sewing- machine. Although an advance on hand-supplied power, many of the objections above noted are also applicable to this method, and in consequence it was supplanted in 1888 by. a small electric motor, the innovation being ascribable to Edison. Efficiently governed the electric motor forms an excellent means of moving the mandrel 46 THE. TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. or turntable, but. the apparatus necessitated by its em ployment is very heavy, and therefore it is extremely unsuitable for the small, portable machine which it was the object of the inventors to place 0n thepmarket. lt was, and is, extensively used for large concert machines, record duplicating instruments, and recording machines in factories and places where portability is not a prime consideration. 'J.'he. power necessary to run a talking machine is not very great, and the usual means of sup plying the current is the small battery or accumulatori. The high potentiality of the current commercia.lly sup plied prevents its use for this purpose as received from the mains, but it may be cut down by resistance frames and so rendered usable. Hence considerable objection may be found to the use of the electric motor. The idea of using clockwork as a. motive power seems to have .occurred to talking machine manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic about the same time, and as this affords the necessary force with 3- minimum of weight it has been adopted to such an extent that its use may be said to be universal. We believe that clockwork had not previously been used to maintain anything like the speed required by a ta-lkor, and we can safely assert that many improvements have been efl"ected in clock work by talking macrhine firms. Early clockwork motors were of the simplest type, a single spring with an ordinary clockmaker’s ratchet wheel, a minimum of gearing, and, of course, key-wind, the spring being fixed to the spindle, and where it was so fixed the key revolved when the motor was in motion. We will now glance at the scheme of an up-to-date clockwork motor as fitted to a cylinder machine. The motive power is supplied by one, two, three, or even four springs, working inter dependently on the same spindle, and termed, severally, simplex, duplex, triplex, or quadruplex spring motors; these are each enclosed in a separate barrel, the outer leaf being att-ac-hed to the edge of the barrel,,and the inner leaf to the spindle itself; the barrels revolving freely on the spindle, and in many| cases being rivetted together in pairs. Immovably fixed to- this spindle is a bevel cog-wheel (on to which works the short winding crank spindle to enable re-winding), and also a ratchet THE TALKING Mmnmn ENcYcLoPa;n1A. 4: : wheel with a rocking pawl above to prevent the springs from flying back when wound. Various devices are put .in, generally, to enable the springs to be wound while the motor is in motion. A large toothed wheel is attached to the central spindle, or spring box, and this engages on to a second spindle, toothed for the purpose. .'l‘l1is is termed the primary gear ,- its function is to transfer the power, and by making the first wheel of much larger diameter than the spindle on which it acts, -acceleration of motion is gained. From the end of this second spindle the power is again transnferred to a third (second gear), and the motion is again accelerated by similar means. So to a fourth spindle (third gear) ; here .we may find the governor, as it is termed, a mechanical means whereby motion may be checked, accelerated, or .»reta.rded at will. If another gearing is put in the governor occurs at the foiirth acceleration of speed. The strain of the power is greatest on the first gearing, and becomes less with each inter-meshing downwards. The spindle on to which the governor works is usually .continued to beyond the motor frame, and at the end is placed a pulley for the belt to work on, and thus trans .mit the power from motor to mandrel; an idler pulley is usually put in to keep the belt taut. The governor .itself is arranged as an annexe to the pulley spindle, so that control is given to the speed'at the point where the tr.arnslfer of power is made. On the upper portion of the machine, usually just in front of the mandrel, are 'looated the speed regulating screw and starting lever; these work on to two arms, or may be one, which.in-turn move backwards and forwards, and permit the governor disc to draw up, or the reverse, thus accelerating or stopping its motion respectively. Many phonograph motors are now insulated from both the containing .cabinet and bed-plate, thus; preventing much of the mechanical noise which arises when reproduction is in progress. Therphonograplr uses a cylindrical record, with a screw worm groove, and as these are composed of a wax soap they are not capable of moving a heavy reproducer along the track as a disc record is. Although with suitable means they may be made to do so, in practice it has been found undesirable,- as the shape of 48 ' Tar. TALKING Macnmn Eucvcnormnu. the track renders the rerprorducer liable to jump- out when they are running at full speed on the slightest agitation. An adjunct to the motor has therefore to be provided to carry the reproducer along, and this takes the form of a screw with carrier attached thereto. In Edison models the arrangement is as follows: At the end of the mandrel, outside the pulley, is a small cog wheel, which works through an accelerating wheel 0.n to another cog, in turn firmly attached to the feed screw; this last being located behind the mandrel. Above the screw is a bar, and on this a carrier is arranged.- to slide freely, support in the front being provided. At the back of the carrier a feed nut is attached, which is so arranged that it engages the screw only when the reproducer is lowered to the record. It should be remarked that the screw has what is known’ as a buttress thread, that is to say, it is cut insuch a way as to resist the wear and tear ensuing from the performance of its oflice. Starting the machine also sets the screw in motion, hence the carrier to which the reproducer is- attached is urged over the surface of the record. (See also Horizontal Motor, Vertical Motor, Gear, Governor, Idler Pulley, Spindle, Spring, Graphophone, Feed Screw, Feed Nut, Phonograph, Edison, Belt, Starting Lever, Regulating Screw, Talking Machine. M9997‘: |'|0|'iI9l“lt8|--—See Horizontal Motor. M9t9r: VQ|'t|¢a|-—.See Vertical Motor. MOI-III!--— A shape from which cylindrical records are duplicated. (See Moulding.) M9\l|d, G9"!-—See Gold Mould. M0\l|¢"nS--—-A system of making, or rather duplica ting, records from a pecrmanent shape. A record is made in the ordinary way on a cylinder formed of wax soap. Now this compound is not a conductor of elec tricity, and as the record has to be subjected to the» plating bath later on, this feature is all essenntial. The surface of the cylinder has, therefore, to be coated with either phosphorus and silver nitrate or bronze and silver nitrate. We are here dealing with the ordinary" Tm: Tnnxmo Mncnmr. Encvcrormnm. 49

system of moulding, the Edison gold moulding system being dealt with sepa.ra|tely. under that heading. Being thus rendered conductive, the cylinder is suspended on a mandrel, or other suitable means, end down in a bath of copper salt,, in which is also suspended an anode of copper. A current is then passed through the bath in such a way that it enters via the copper anode and leaves via the record. On its way the current tears particles off the anode, carries them through the solu tion, and leaves them on the surface of the cylinder (an analogy may be cited in the way water passes through a filter leaving the impurities on the surface of the filter ing agent). When a film of metal of sufficient thick ness has been accumulated it is removed from the bath, and by gradually cooling the record is shrunk out and the mould remains; this process is facilitated by taper ing the blank slightly in the making. A permanent negative of a master has now been secured, which forms a mould. Black wax ¢.O'l11Jp0*'l1Ild is now rendered molten, poured into the mould, or the mould dipped into the wax, and left to cool gradually. Gradual cooling is necessary as the wax shrinks in the process, and unless this is resorted to it does not shrink evenly and an un even record would result. As many as fifty may thus be made, and the plating process is again gone through with them all. Many moulds are necessary, as other wise- the manufacturers would not be able to produce records fast enough to meet the demand, which, in the case of a popular selection, may run into 10,000 copies, and in some cases even more. Having obtained the requisite number of moulds, the manufacture of the marketable product commences. The moulds are filled with the molten wax soa , which forms the record of commerce, and left to cool gradually; the moulds are then carefully lifted off and the centre of the cylinder bored true, the cylinders being afterwards placed on afast running maiidrel and- the ends smoothed. After polish ing they are boxed and at last ready for sale. The pro cess, as will be seen, is a long one, and is open to many objections. In the first place, the coating with a solution to render the surface conductive exercises a deleterious effect on the surface, which it is the object to keep as 12 50 Tim TALKING Macnmn Eucvcnorzsnn.

smooth as possible. No wax or wax compound has yet been invented which will not corrode a little when under this treatment. Again, some of the finer vibrationsacre undoubtedly lost, either by direct corrosion from the solution, or the solution may not present the same shape to the metal as the naked wax mould. Many other objections could be advanced, but we have not space to detail them here. The grand desideratum is a conduc tive substance of which to form the blank. Metal, of - course, may be used, but it cannot be obtained of sufi cient softness to take such a deep cut and such clear impressions as the wax soap. Graphite has been used, but as at present prepared it is somewhat too brittle, and there is considerable danger of the walls breaking through and thus ruining the track. ,The evolution of a suitable substance must be considered as an undoubted solution of the problem, and many minds are being directed towards that sole object. For an alter native system the reader is referred to Gold Mould (Edison’s Patent). (See also Matrix-Matrices, Matrixing, Phonograph, Record, Recording, Talking Machine, Stylus, in text Grarphite, Plumbago.) ' N9¢kr R9Pl'0dl-l¢9r-—See Repreducer Neck». N99d|8-—The stylus of a disc sound box. The track of a disc record bears the impressions on either side of a. V shaped groove; this is termed a two-way-cut. The sides of the point are therefore alone instrumental in picking up the vibrations, the point merely resting in the apex of the V and acting in the direction of moving the sound box across the face of the record. The scratch, which is a noticeable feature of this form of reproduction, is generated by the frictional contact of the needle point and record. It will be obvious that m'u.c.h depends 0n the quality of ‘chesteel used in themanu facture of the needle, its temper, the shape of the point, arid, ‘finally. its thickness. Best English steel is the u.s‘ua.l. material, and needles are made in endless varieties both of shape and thickness. To enumerate a few, there are: Loud tone, soft tone, pianissimo tone, spoon liea?d,spear head, multitone, sharp pointed, and so on. Loud tone needles are made with a full thick point, Tm: TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 51:

tapering somewhat abrupt1y .; the whole of the track is thus filled, and the most got from each impression. Pianissimo tone is obtained by sharpening the needle to a fine point and making the taper very gradual, ' hence the track is only partially filled. Soft tone rests midway between the two foregoing. Spoon headed, so» called from the fact that the point resembles a spoon, which tapers somewhat gradually. Spear headed, thus termed, inasmuch as the point is made in the shape of an assegai head. Sharp pointed is self-explanatory, and may be said to cover' the ordinary needle. Multi tone, an American made needle of peculiar shape, thus termed as it is possible to obtain a full tone or a quiet one at will, merely by turning the needle round. The shape of the point much resembles the spear head, but rather the spear of the ancients than the assegai. Gold plated needles, the invention of Dr. Marconi, of wireless telegraphy fame, have lately been placed on the market by the Columbia Company, for which a full, round, velvet tone is claimed. Mr. Henry Seymour has lately .int-roduc'ed an iridised steel needle, which gives an ex ceedingly good reproduction. Much of the tonal quality obtained depends on the peculiar shape of the point in this case. (See also Berliner, Disc, Disc Machine, Gramophone, Sound Boer, Tone-Arm.) N99d|9 Di$¢-—See Disc-, Berliner, Gramophone. N99d|6 R9¢0rd-—See Berliner, Disc, Gramo phone, Two-Way-Cut. N90Ph0l19-' A phono disc system introduced by Dr. Michaelis. For full details see Pathephone, also Disc, Three-way Cut, Sapphire, Stylus, Disc Machine, Record, Recording, Phono Disc. ""15, F995-—See Feed"Nut. ' 9" DU¢t-—A mechanical device enabling a bearing to be oiled at a distance from its location. As an ex ample, on the bed-plate of some of the better models of Columbia Graphophories three. or four small holes will be found with the word “oil” underneath. Each of these are connected with an important bearing, by means of a small tube, and any oil placed therein is 52 Tim TALKING MAcnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA.

conducted to the particular seat of friction with which it is connected. The trouble occasioned in exposing the motor, and the difficulty frequently experienced in getting at the bearings, are thus obviated. At the same time they afford a source of danger, inasmuch as there is a tendency to considerably overoil. °|||IIg, or lubricating, is a means of reducing fric tion by placing a substance of greasy nature at the junction of two pieces of metal. Without entering into the theory of lubricating, we may say that it is univer sally necessary to reduce the friction, caused by the rubbing together of two pieces of metal, as friction speedily produces heat, and also throws exceedingly great wear and tear on the parts in contact. Oil has been found a desirable means of effecting that end, and thus its use cannot be dispensed with in a talking- machine motor. The parts .to be lubricated are: (1) The spring, by placing powdered graphite between the- leaves; (2) every bearing above and below the bed-plate by a minimum of light grade oil; (3) intermeshings of cog-wheels—a somewhat heavy grade oil is best for this purpose; (4) the movable disc of the governors—use a light grade oil, and a fair quantity may be applied. Avoid so far as possible the overuse of lubricant, unless the motor is to be kept in almost continual motion. Where a machine is not much used the oil, by exposure to air, turns gummy., dust accumulates thereon, and the effect which it is the object of lubrication to avoid is produced. Parafiin is not suitable as a lubricant; it is, however, a very efficient cleanser where ordinary oil has become clogged. 9l'Ph9n0-—Na-me given to Messrs. Pat-hé Freres’ valve device, by means 0.f which recorded sounds are re produced with greater volume than that with which they were originally renderred. (See Sound Magni fying.) °V0rt0l“l9I-—(l)The compound harmonic tones of' which all musical sounds are composed. (2) Excess of‘ volume, which on reproducing renders any sound un natural, i.e., blasting. (1) The vary.ing qualities of” notes of the same pitch, as rendered by different. Tar: TALKING l\/lacmmz Eucvcnormnm. 53

agents, had at all periods when sounds were under examination formed. an inswperable difliculty to a com plete comprehension of the theory of music. Previous to the time of Helmholtz, to whom the elaboration and elucidation of music considered as a science is due, a very hazy concept of musical quality obtained. He was ‘ the first to isolate the overtones to which the qualities of sounds are due. Let us take a specific case. A violin string is stretched across a sounding board and subjected .to an accurately adjustable tension. By drawing a reeined bow across, it is thrown into violent agitation ; the vibrations being thrown on to the sound ing board are there rendered audible, and we become conscious of a rich, full note of fine quality. We will suppose this to be tenor C. A clarionette is then taken up, and the same note sounded; it differs in quality, and the effect it produces on our ears is not so rich as in the case of the stretched string. It must be borne in mind that the notes are identical in vibration num ber or the pitch would be altered. Now in the case of the string, it is possible to obtain harmonics or har monies of the original note sounded, and we proceed to damp the string half way along its length; on again drawing the bow across, we find that the octave of our first note results, by quartering the string we get the double octave, and by taking a point midway between the last two we get the fifth. It is, of course, possible to obtain the same notes from the clarionette, but we use the string as being.the more obvious of the two systems we are here taking. Now having played the note, its octave, and the fifth above in quick succession, if the open note of the string is again sounded the tones of the other two may in effect be discerned by an acute musical ear. Helmholtz first discovered this, and then applying the law of resonance to it, he found himself able to clearly dissociate the super-induced tones from the prime, and these he termed overtones. He w-ys that he was able to trace them as far as the eighteenth overtone. and, further, that they followed a well-defined law. Thus the first overtone of a- note is its octave, the second- the fifth above, the third. the double octave, the fourth, the third above., following comes the fifth, 54 THE TALKING Macumn ENCYCLOPEDIA.

-then a diminished seventh, Bb, and so on. It will be apparent that these form the notes of a major chord when sounded together, hence the richer effect produced by the sounding of any particular note on a certain .instrument as compared -with another is due to the fact that the overtones simultaneously generated are more powerful in the former case than in the latter. Lhe striking of a clapper against a bell is an illustration of a different sort, as here the higher overtones, or tinkling upper partials, are more distinctly generated than the lower, richer, harmonic tones, hence a bell note seldom sounds true when one is near to it. From this we learn that when we apprehend a rich, full quality in a musical note, the effect is produced by a number of notes in combination rather than by a simple tone. (2) Over tones in reproduction are the cumulative effects of various causes. We will examine one or two. First, as to prime causes. In recording, as will elsewhere appear, vibrations are taken from the air and impressed on a~ revolving cylinder by means of a conveniently shaped stylus. Now this operation is performed by the bending backwards and forwards of the centre of the diaphragm, not by an up and down motion of the whole, and it therefore follows that low notes, having a relatively slow rate of vibration, and high notes, having a relatively rapid rate of vibration, are diflicult to record, not from any fault of construction, but merely because they are liable to throw an unmaintainable speed on the dia phragm’s “ bendability.” Bearing clearly in mind the fact that the diaphragm bends, follow a low note first; the vibration number we will suppose to be 32 per second, the sound says 32, but the diaphragm’s temper makes- it want to go faster, and it is continually trying so to do all the time 32 impulses reach it in the given space of time. \Vhat happens 0n reproducing this note —a certain harshness more or less: pronounced, according to the magnitude of the fault. \Vith a high note the reverse holds good. Let us imagine 528 separate im pulses reach the diaphragm per second, so says the sound, but the diaphragm’s temper again stands- in the way; it offers resistance, moves 528, and then stiffens to almost nil, and is again forced to start by the im THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 55 pulses it is continually receiving. It stands to reason that the effect will be eerie on reproducing, and a nondescript shriek appear instead of the sound. The diet- phragm’s. temper then is amongst the prime causes of overtones. Sympathetic vibration is another cause of trouble; for theory of this, see Sound and also Trum pets. Overtones may and do arise in reproducing, and when they are thus generated it is termed from second ary causes. Pres-uming a low note to be perfectly en graved in the track, a sapphire is set to run over it to again render it audible. This sapphire is attached to a diaphragm, which has also to bend to reproduce, and, further, to bend in different phases continually. The machine is started, the sapphire lowered to the record, and we reach the note; now the sapphire receives 32 distinct upward thrusts in a second (supposing it to be our old t'riend—perfectly engraved), the diaphragm’s temper wants to go faster, and again a nondescript note results. The reverse holds good with the high note, as we saw before. Another cause may be put down as faulty tracking of the stylus, due to lack of weight above to keep it thrust firmly into the groove. Hence it bounces from hill to hill, instead of moving up and down with the urging caused by the configuration of the track beneath it. (See also Blasting, False Vibrations, Recording, Sound, Trumpets.) Pad, Fr|¢t|0l’\-—See Friction Pad. PaW|-—Portion of a mechanical combination, by means of which the energy contained in a wound-up spring is preserved. It consists of a rocking arm, set on a central pivot with a clip at each end. (See Ratchet and Pa.wl.) Ph0n0graPh, lit. sound written, name given by Edison to his first machine; a cylinder talking machine. A history of the discoveries which antedated and led up to the evolution of a practical talking machine will be found under that heading hereafter; we are here concerned with the phonograph only. There can be no possible doubt that previous to Edison’s patent, No. 2,909, of 1877, no inventor had demonstrated the possi 56 Tim TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

bility of engraving sound in such a manner that it could be again rendered audible. Edison’s original patent specincatiorn reads amongst other matter as under: “A convenient form for the sound recorder or phono graph is to employ a cylinder, having a helical groove on its surface covered with tinfoil, and the cylinder is revolved regularly by clockwork, and moved endwise by a screw in its shaft, so that the indenting (recording) point from (attached to) the diaphragm will be always in line with such groove, hence the vibrations of the diaphragm will be recorded by indenting the foil into the groove, and hence same sound will be reproduced by the point (reproducer) of the hearing instrument, giving to the diaphragm the motions that result from the indentation of the foil moving in contact with such point.” The original machine now repoeee in the South Kensington Museum, London. There can be no doubt that when Edison first discovered the phono graph, he attached very little importance to it, viewing it more in the light of a scientific and highly interest ing toy than a valuable and important invention, such as that to which it has since grown. A short descrip tion of the original instrument is perhaps desirable. The cylinder covered with tinfoil is shown in the centre of the plan, the spindle which moved it under the repro ducer and recorder being shown at the top. The recorder is to the right and the reproducer to the left. The next step in the development took place in 1878, when Edison took out a most comprehensive patent. It is scarcely too much to say that practically every im portant development which has since taken place in the talking machine industry is here anticipated. The preamble reads, “ By extensive experiments and research I have been enabled to obtain a very perfect articulation. and to produce a record in a convenient form for preservation.” After citing the action of sound on the diaphragm, he goes on to say that the “ Phonogram ” (recordl “ may be in the form of a disc, a sheet, an endless belt. a cylinder, a roller, a belt, or strap, and that the marks may be in straight lines, etc, so long as the ap-paratus| is adapted to bring same in contact with the reproducer.” It is a most peculiar Tun TALKING Macnmr. Eucvqnomnnm. 57

circumstance that the first plan of a talking machine which accompanies it refers to a disc machine, the phonograph (cylinder machine) coming in the second place. The design is curiously similar to a “Home” machine of the present da , the means employed to carry the recorder over the surface being identical. The blank itself Edison mentions as being formed of wax, but owing to the wax clogging the point he found it was desirable to cover it with tinfoil. Even then nothing appears to have been done by Edison to place the phono graph on the market as an accomplished fact, but many others were at Work to this end. During the year 1886 Messrs. Bell and Tainter, the former of telephone fame, became associated, and during the same year they took out a patent, in which they say, “ We cut our record in wax in contradistinction to indenting.” By this means the principal difficulty in the way of a commercial machine vanished and the Graphophone resulted. It will be apparent that there is a consriderable difference between indenting and cutting, as the former merely means a series of depressions, while the latter is “the formation in a solid substance of elevations, depressions, and other inequalities corresponding more or less per fectly to the forms of sound vibrations and the reproduc tion by means of such inequalities of the sounds repre sented by them,” as the Bell and Tainter patent puts it. Whether or not this patent .hurried Edison with his perfected phonograph cannot be said, but in 1887 he paternted a machine, the motive power being electricity. From this date the phonograph went ahead with a ven geance, so that we can fairly say Bell and Tainter’s adaptation of wax, as a su.bstance for records, proved to be the turning point. Improvements were effected, the phonograph passed from the hearing tube to the trumpet, and the instrument, as we know it to-day, was evolved. There are many points on which this form of talking- machine compares favourably with the disc, chief amongst which are: (1) Possibility of home record ing; (2) absence of mechanical frictional noise in the reproduction. The home recording must always be con sidered a most popular feature, and we consider a recording instrument ought to be supplied with every 53 Tm: TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

cylinder machine which is capable of operating it. The absence of mechanical noise is largely due to the fact that wax is used for the record substance, and It w111 take a very high polish. The phonograph has sufieredr on the contrary, from yarious causes, such, for example, as: (1) The shortness of records and, consequently, of each selection; (2) fragility of cylinder records; (3) great space necessary to store the cylinders; and so on. There is no reason why an arbitrary length of 41- inches should have been imposed as the maximum length for wax cylinders, and in support of this the Columbia C'om pany’s six-inch record may be adduced. Why a short record has lasted so long (pardon the paradox) is- one of the mysteries of the trade. The fragility of records and the great space which they occupy cannot be avoided at present, as the above mentioned could' have been. (See also Edison, Moulding, Record, Re- cording, Talking Machine, Graphophone, Cylinder, Trumpets.)

Ph0n0|9t-—A term. applied to a user of the talking- machine. P|'\0l‘l0 DIS¢-—A disc bearing a phonograph or three-way cut track- In Edis0n’s patent 1,644, of 1878,. we find first mention of the disc form of record, and the reference is to a phone disc, which differs in but one particular from the phono disc of the present day, i.e., the impressions were to be indented, not cut in. We‘ subjoin a plan and elevation of Edison’s machine. He" describes it as follows: The phonograph is made of the body portion a. The body portion a has a central- opening forming the mouthpiece, through which a person- speaks, or through such opening the sound vibrations pass to act upon the diaphragm, and the diaphragm is secured at its edges to the body a, leaving a space" between trhe.body and the diaphra.gm, in order that the- diaphragim. may work freely. The indenting point should be a diamond, or other hard substance. The diaphragm. is made of a thin sheet of iron, or other mate rial, and it is preferable to place the indenting point upon a delicate spring arm, e2, and to employ a- short piece of rubber tubing, 03, between the spring THE TALKING MACHINE ENcYcLo§'&>.'b§A_:..-. 59 and the diaphragm. Thi-<;-4p.}.1.<51:!o%;"a1'Jh;'(rfifibfiieff is-. z.' thatupon the a; lever phonograph arm 1', pivoted (recorder) at 5 majflpaitgalieed;-ort'o'a7 v‘erti-c.a'1 'stud;B., 1ow- jot ' ered vertically, or moved horizimtm.lly -'iio1-".'a»:-pli-;'1J0ee hereafter explained.” Following this» comes ’a'des-cr1'p

ELEVATION OF EDISON’S 1878 DISC MACHINE.

PLAN OF E.DISON’S 1878 DISC MACHINE. tion of the relcording process itself and an explanation of the methods employed to attach the tinfoil sheets to the disc (now termed the turntable). The development of the phonograph seems to have crowded the disc form of machine out, and it remained for Dr. Berliner to place the first form of disc machine on the market. 60 ‘Zl.‘r'ni "i'.-ALKING MACHINE Encvcromsnra.

.Al.t-l;0rugl.1‘-.h'1s \f:as..crude, some headway was ;','1na'£l§a,.§n‘d;ou~'t efihis‘ efforts the needle disc grew. The ' ‘ - .phon9.dise wegsgnevived b-y Dr. Michaelis recently, and is th‘e'-;i.r<.§g'*e1'i-it»oi1~'.'y<5;f..the forms we know at the present day.‘~ " This - apparatus was termed the Neophone, and consists of an- ordinary disc machine and record, with a phonograph track; a sound box, with sapphire stylus being provided for reproducing. This was arranged to meet the record at an angle of 45 degrees to the plane of the turntable, and the record was adapted to run from back to front of sound box, the track commencing at the periphery and run I ning inwards to the centre. Early in 1906 Messrs. Pathé Freres introduced their system. into this country, and the results obtained by this means soon enabled them to make considerable headway. Their method' is essentially similar to the Neophone system, the only difference being that the records run from the inside outwards to the periphery. The object of this is to over corme the tendency to loss of brilliancy which a record, which starts at the outside and works inwards, shows, and the effect is, therefowre, reversed, the result becoming more brilliant as the record proceeds. They use an unwearable sapphire as a stylus, and claim that their records are practically unwearable. (See also Berliner, Edison, Orphone, Phonograph, Neophone, Three-way Cut, Disc, Disc Machine, Record, Recording.) P|l'li0rl-—The small steel rod fitted with toothed wheel, or roller, which usually meshes with the gear wheel in a motor. Thus one speaks of a governor pinion in contradistinction to the shacfting on which the spring works, for instance. Pin, R98‘l-l|atin8'-—See Regulating Pin. P"-lmba8'0-—See Graphite, for which this is an alternative term. PrimarY G9ar-—The first gearing, that which is situated nearest to the spring in the talking machine motor. To the shafting on which the springs work, sometimes working independently of it as part of the spring barrel, and sometimes immovably fixed thereto is a large cog-wheel, with two or more teeth per inch on Tun TALKING Macmnn ;E2go§.ioi..on.-.E1>,ii.x... fill . its periphery; this meshes on to -a; itéorniiedidspiniile-" (pinion), and the two together form first gear. its function is to communicate the power. to.ti1e remaining portion of the motor, and, at the same time, to provide acceleration, which last is accomplished by making the spindle on to which it meshes of much smaller diameter, and it has thus to make several revo lutions, while its actuator makes one. As the power escapes here the wear and tear is very great. Lubricant for this gear should consist of heavy grade oil. (See also Gear, Intermediary Gear, Motor.) Pl-l||9¥--—A wheel which has a fiat surface (some times a V groove) for its periphery. It is used in com bination with a belt of leather, or other substance, for the transmission of power. Pulleys occur in the talk ing machine on the mandrel shafting of a phonograph and on the motor. A small leather belt is usually used to connect the two. (See Belt.) R3-t¢|‘\9t and PaW|-—A mechanical combination by means of which the strength of a wound-up spring is -preserved. It will be obvious that when a spring is being wound, some device must be used to prevent it from flying back ; the ratchet wheel and rocking pawl are usually put in for this purpose, although there are alternative devices in the ratchet wheel and spring bind. The device consists of an wheel, toothed around its peri phery at regular intervals, the teeth being of such shape as to receive the end of the pawl, and to raise it when the wheel is advanced. The pawl has a conveniently shaped end, and is depressed on to the ratchet by means of a spring, which resists the upward thrust that revolving the ratchet in winding gives it at the passage of each tooth; it is thus pressed into each tooth as it comes round, hence the wheel cannot run back. (See Pawl, Spring Bind.) R0¢0rd-—At the present time there are three dis tinct kinds of sound records on the market. (1) Cylin der (moulded); (2) needle or V cut disc; (3) threeway cut or phono disc. As the third is but an adaptation of the system and cut of a cylindrical record to a disc, they may be dealt with together in general terms, reserving . Q2. ..TBs TA-,L.KlI\'.G..}.dACHINE ENCYCL0PED1s. u l "0 - Zll:;'é|IIhlTOdleSl only for separate notice. W.ith§E_dis6}1’s.o1:iginal phonograph we may be sure that .a record,‘-as 'we know it today, was not contemplated. His system consisted of mounting a deep helical groove .on a brass cylinder, which was then covered with thin tinfoil. This cylinder was passed under the recording stylus in such a manner that the point was always directly over a groove, and on speaking a series of indentations were made in the tinfoil. Observe that the tinfoil was inseparable from the cylinder on which it had been placed. However, with his improved model in 1878 he had apparently noticed this difficulty, and mentions that the matter might be duplicated by making .a mould of it. The initial difficulty of the foil being .inseparable from the cylinder remained, although at this time Edison had discarded the helical grooved cylin der in favour of a cylinder of wax covered by tinfoil. He had found that the wax exhibited a tendency to clog the point and choke the impressions. In 1886 Messrs. Bell and Tainter became associated, founding the firm that is now known as the Columbia Phonograph Com pany. They introduced the system of cutting records in wax, which has been continued down to the present day, as against the original method of indenting, as demor strated by Edison. It is not necessary to say that this proved an enormous advance, as the whole of the vibra tion was indelibly fixed in the track, not merely the downward motion thereof. The graphic. impressions made by the stylus proved to be a series of hills and dales on ecramination, which took form according to (1) the pitch of the note; (2) the quality of the sound; (3) the number of sounds simultaneously recorded. In stead, therefore, of the very thin, nasal reproduction of sound which Edison obtained, the reproductions of Bell and T'ainter’s cylinders were fuller, had more .character,‘. and were nearer the original. Difficulty was still ecz perien.ced with the wax, however, which often clogged the point and stultified the result of the vibrations com-' municated to the diaphragm. To obviate this in some measure a small brush was fitted to the recorder arm. to carry away the chips, and this answered to a certain extent. Many and various combinations of beeswax, THE TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. 65 stearine, ceresin, ozokerite, parafiili, and other waxes. were tried, some being too soft, others too oily, till- at lasta combination was hit on which answered the pur pose fairly well. This was really a wax soap, not, of course, of the.soluble variety, but insoluble. Now arose the necessity of duplicating, as a demand for records was arising. The system of duplicating from a master by direct engraving was first in vogue. This was ex tremely unsatisfactory in every way, as one copy of a record was not so good as a'nother, records were exceed inglyfragile, and, further, the method was a long and tortuous one. The process was/as follows:.A master was made, and from this several copies were made on a duplicating machine by direct engraving; in turn these became masters and were copied in the same way as their predecessors. The pseudo masters had an exceedingly short life, and it soon became necessary to make new .ones from the original. It goes without saying, there fore, that from continual use the master itself suffered and the resultant records became small by degrees and beautifully lees in quality as time went on. This was .especially noticeab-1e where a. big demand arose for copies of a certain record, the second batch and each succeeding one, being worse than its forerunner. The fact that reproductions were very quiet and thin led the manufaroturerse to introduce a cylinder of much larger diameter which they termed a concert cylinder. These were about the same as the standard length, viz., 41; to 5 inches, and by this means (for the cylinder was run at the same speed, 120 revolutions per minute), a. greater length of track was used for.the same sounds, hence a gain both in .quality and. volume. No one knew better than the manufacturers that the system. of duplicating records then in vogue was far from sa-tis'fac- ' tory, and after a time a system of moulding was intro duced. I.t is difficult, without long and tiresome research, to find 0.ut who first evolved the moulding system, but the Columbia Company were amongst the first to pro duce moulded records-. The system, which is fully described elsewhere, consists of coating the wax soap master with a conductive surface, placing it in a plating bath and there coating .it with copper. The master 64 THE TALKING ll/IACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.- itself is then shrunk out, the mould is afterwards filled with wax composition, and thus many master copies are made, several of which are treated and subjected to the plating bath, thus perhaps 50 moulds are made, the master mould being carefully preserved‘. There '5 another system, viz., the vacuum gold moulding process, which is the best system of moulding wax records extant. The record is made and is then suspended on a short mandrel between two gold strips in a vacuum. An ordinary vacuum discharge is generated by passing a high potential electric current through, while the cylin der is revolved. Particles of gold are thus deposited on the surface, and when a film of sufficient thickness has been obtained it is removed and the master r9cord shrunk out. Full details of the process will be found under the heading Gold Moulding. The former of these two systems is open to considerable objection, as it is impossible to find a wax which is unaffected by the solu tion with which the cylinders are coated to render them conductive; a perfectly smooth surface cannot be obtained therefore, and some scrape is generated by inequalities of the track. However, it is an immense advance on the old system of duplicating, and not only is it possible to manufacture records more quickly, but they are more durable, stronger, and the resultant reproductions are louder and more natural through the ability to mould in a harder wax. It seems probable from present indications that a system of photographing the impressions will shortly be in vogue, but as it IS not yet complete it is impossible to predict what the value of it is likely to be. Disc records bearing a phonograph track are made in a similar way. The cylinder form of record is very popular, as it can be purchased very cheaply; it gives a moderately loud reproduction, and has a smooth track, which is practically the same cir cumference all through the selection, even volume and definition being thus obtained. Against these advantages must be set its shortness, fragility, and the comparatively greater space occupied in storing. The shortness is not necessarily arbitrary, however, although the adoption by Bell and Tainter of the Edison cylinder length has resulted in the formation of a standard size Tan TALKING Macnmr. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 65

The Columbia Company have introduced a six inch cylinder record, which may lead to cylinders being made longer than is at present the case, a reform for which considerable public demand has been experienced. (2) Needle out records .are a comparatively recent innova tion. First introduced by Dr. Berliner in the nineties, so great was the scratch which formed an accompani ment to the reproduction, that at first competition from this form of record was not seriously considered by cylinder record makers. When, however, the original etching process began to give way to more scientific methods, it was felt that the disc record would have to be seriously reckoned with. It started with many; natural advantages over the cylinder, and there are now nophets not wanting who will predict that the disc will eventually sweep the cylinder entirely off the market. Matrixing was almost from the first resorted to in the production of discs, and the trouble experienced by cylinder manufacturers was thus obviated. Gradually improvement was registered in the suppression of scratch until now it is hardly noticeable, although the silent cylinder track cannot be emulated. The advantages of a disc system may be given: as (1) Small space occupied by a large number; (2) double-sided records will even halve this; (3) durability as to substance compared with cylinders; (4) no need to adopt a rigid standard size. Hence selections may be recorded at greater length. The counterbalancing disadvantages are: (1) Scratch arising from passage of needle over track; (2) the fact that records start at the outside and run inwards renders the latter portion less brilliant than the start (we refer to needle records only). (3) High price as compared with a cylinder. It remains to add that a consistently higher price has obtained for discs than for cylinders. The reason for this fact is not hard to seek. A few years ago, when this form of record first came into popular favour, the fact that a disc contained a. longer selection of the same item was made the most of. Cylinder prices came tumbling down from various causes, but the disc manufacturers sought to keep their price by securing the best artistes to make their records. Here again they scored, and it is by these means that a F 66 Tim TALKING Macnmr. Eucvcnora-znm.

consistently higher price has been maintained. The cost of material, further, from which discs are pressed, is considerably higher in price than the stearate and mineral waxes which are generally employed in moulding cylinders. All the time shellac is used as a fundamental ingredient of the disc composition this is likely to be the case, as its price, owing to increased demand, is on the increase. (3) There remains the phone disc, an innovation of still more recent date than the needle K disc. The advantages of this form. of record as compared with the cylinder are, of course, the same as its oonfrére of the needle, in this case without the disadvantage of scratch. By employing a sapphire stylus instead of a needle the scratch is reduced. To enable some idea to be formed of the dimensions which the recording trade has attained,. it may be remarked that at the present time there are fully 20,000 different titles in English in the different companies’ catalogues. These comprise every form. of audible sound, bands, orchestras, instru mental quartettes, trios, duets, and soles on every con ceivable instrument, vieing with vocal solos, duets,- .trios, quartettee-, and choruses for the public favour. Practically every musician and singer of note in all countries of the world has been recorded, and the same may be said of famous bands. The record collector of the present day un dombtedly has the talent of the whole world to choose from. Chinese, Japanese, Malay, even the Pigmies of Central Africa, have succum*be\d to the recording expert. .(See also Diso, Edison, Matrix-Matrices, Matrixing, Moulding, Gold Mould, Recording, Talking Machine, Gramophone, Graphophone, Phonograph, Stylus.) R9¢0rd, ¢Ut-—See Cut Record, Record, Recording. R9¢0rd |-|bl'arY-—(l) A library from which .I records may be obtained 'on loan. Many have been 1 established, but so far with little success, and it seems pnhopeless to expect one to be run on paying lines till records are made of a more durable substance. (2) . .Libraries have been establis'hed at the British Museum - ....a.nd the Opera. House, Paris, where are stored matrices ,. ofrecords of some of the greatest singers of the present THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 67

.day. Their value to students of voice production of future generations may better .be imagined than described. R9¢0rd9r- The engraving instrumernt by means of which records are made or engraved. VVe give a section vi a popular cylinder recorder, supplied by the makers for purposes of home recording. This is the fixed or

A.—Shel1. H.-—Stylus holder. B—Loop. I.—B,egula.ting pin. C.—Diaphragm holder. K.—Slot of sound conduit. D—Diaphragm. I-.—Sound conduit. I-].—Screw of 0. M—Screw holding H. F.—Diaphragm frame abutment. N.—~Axis of diaphragm holder. G.—1Stylus. O.—Setting of diaphragm. Edison type. Recorders of the trailing or graphophone type are also made. Equal results may be obtained by the use of either type. (See Record, Recording.) R9¢0l'd|I‘lg-—A reference to the articles Record, -Recorder, and Talking Machine will provide the early history of the art of recording and also show the kind of instrument with which records are made. We will now go into the theory of recording, and show how it is that a. record is made, adding a few hints to enable the process to be carried out at.home. Audible sound is the result of vibratory impulses, which impinge on the tympanum of the ear and cause it to move in unison ' with them. There are four distinct perceptions of which the ear is capable: (1) Pitch; (2) quality; (3) volume; (.4) enunciation. Observe that these perceptions are all independent of one another; by quality the diiference 68 THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

that exists between the same sound rendered by various agents is meant; by enunciation we mean those differ ences which enable us to distinguish words from one another. Further than this we are able to hear more than one note at the same time, as in the case of '1. chord. Now pitch depends entirely on the number of vibrations performed in a second of time, and no matter how loud the note, or by what instrument it is ren dered, or singer vocalised, this number never varies. Volume itself depends on the amplitude of the vibra tion, its extent, in other words. Very well, we take a ‘ thin disc to simulate the drum of the ear, and to it we immovably fix a sharp pointed stylus, such, for instance as a diamond or sapphire, ground to proper shape. These, for convenience, we enclose in a shell ending in a neck, and to the neck a funnel shaped trumipet is attached, the object being to converge the sounds which we make on to the diaphragm, in much the same way as the shell of the ear does on the tympanum. Bearing in mind that the thin disc (diaphragm) is sensitive, we shall’ clearly see what happens when a blank cylinder of soft wax is placed in contact with the stylus. This instrument being so fixed that it meets the cylinder at an acute angle against the way it is revolving, it cuts its way into the soft wax; sounds are played, sung, or spoken into the mouth of the horn, and these causing the diaphragm. to move up and down in unison with their vibrations, the movements are impressed in the track of the record. The reproducing point in passing over these is agitated again in the same way as the original recording stylus, hence we have a record. It will be seen that the recording diaphragm can best be represented by comparing it to the tympanum or drum of the ear with a cutting stylus attached, for both act in the same way when agitated by sound. The process- above described represents the cutting process intro duoed by Messrs. Bell and Taintecr, as opposed to the original indenting method adopted by Edison. It need scarcely be added that Edison was one of the first to see the advantage of cutting over indenting, and has since adopted it. Professional recorlding is performed 911 very heavy machines-, the motive power being gravity in Tm: TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. 69 some cases and electricity in others. To the end of the mandrel spindle a heavy flywheel is sometimes attached to ensure absolutely level running. Very great care is taken in the selection of the blank, which must be com posed of a material (usually wax soap) which will take a deep cut with highly polished walls; must be insolu ble, and must cut without chipping out; the combina tion of the various elements composing it must be per fect, other.wise soft spots and hard spots will alternate, thus ruining the record. Many firms use a room which has been specially constructed for the purpose, and where this has not been done various devices are introduced. Thus one prominent firm use a low ceiling chamber on the top floor, which has a glass sloping roof. This would not be a desirable shape, so over the machine a large sheet is stretched. Yet another firm. has erected a matchboard lining, so designed that it converges the waves of sound on to the mouth of the horn. The stylus, which is either a diamond or sapphire, is also carefully selected, particularly when it is to be used for needle disc or two-way cut recording, owing to the fact that the track is very fine. The vibrations in this case are located on either side of a V shaped track, and any variation in size of the stylus would mean that the walls of the groove were broken through. Various sizes and shapes of horns obtain, thus one firm may use the same size horn for all classes of work, but most of them use a shorter horn for vocal selections and a longer one for bands and powerful instruments. To come to home recording, presuming thatthe would-be record maker possesses a machine capable of making a record, the following points must claim his attention: (1) Horn ; (2) stand for machine; (3) stylus; (4) blank; (5) posi tion of machine; (6) general position of singer or instru ment to be recorded. With regard to the first point, a horn of sufficient dimensions. for singing may be obtained from many dealers. It is useless trying to make a record with an ordinarv reproducing horn, as the flange or bell portion will deter much of the sound generated from passing into the stem. A metal horn is not always desirable, as it is liable to be set into Bym.p.athetic vibration when its note is either sung or 70 THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

played, unless it is “ damped,” and on reproduction this will come out as a strong vibrant hum, which may be so loud as to drown the exciting sound. Cardboard, paper, or papier- mache are useful for this purpose, and as a horn cannot be bought of sufficient dimensions, it will have to be made. (bee Recording Horn.) (2) The stand for machine must be as solid as possible. We recommend that a slab of glass or marble be placed underneath it, which will do much to give brilliancy to the results obtained. (3) Stylus. For exact shape, see article under this heading. The shape, cutting edge, and exact setting are important. Recording styli are usually set in what is termed a butterfly holder, and care should be taken that the jewel makes an exact continuation of the angle that this forms, and also that it isl immovably fixed thereinto. (4) Blanks. It is use less expecting to make an effective record unless a good quality blank is used. \Vorn-out gold moulded cylinders are of no use whatever, being much too hard to take the impressions of the stylus effectively. Softening them with parafi"1n, a method that is often resorted to, cannot make a surface tractable- enough for the purpose. Really good blanks may be purchased. Where possible they should be shaved before use, and the surface polished to the highest possible degree. Another effective method of preparing them, if carefu.lly carried out, is to rlnb them lightly with paraffin, dry, and then polish with a silk handkerchief. VVarming is another way of soften ing. The cylinder expands under the influence of heat, - however, and unless they are only lightly pressed on to the mandrel, it may be found impossible to remove them after recording. Such is the quality of the blank at preswent sold that means to remove the shavings made by the stylus are not really necessary. This course is desirable; however, and the better way is to hold a camel hair brush against the cylinder meanwhile. (5) Position of machine. There is always a position in a room which is most suited to recording, and an efiort should be made to find that position. The corner of a room is much better than the centre, and it will usually be found that by plac'ing the m.aohine right into the corner, with the hor.n pointing along a smooth lateral THE TALKING Macnnm ENCYCLOPEDIA. 71 wall, the best result is obtained. (6) With regard to the position of artiste, we refer to the distance at which they should be from the horn. Here experience will help better than theorising. The following are general . directions: (1) Let the singer be distanced according to power of voice; (2) always draw away from the horn slightly when singing a high or loud note; (3) advance towards the horn when singing a very low note; (4) unsteady voices should be taken further back than steady ones. The following general remarks should also be noted :—Wherever possible avoid the use of more than one horn. Two horns mean that the reproduction will seem to be very distant. Set the mandrel to run at 180 revolutions per minute. The resistance offered by the stylus to the blank will reduce this to near 160. The horn should always be connected to the recorder neck by a very short length of rubber tube. After a record has been made it should be carefully brushed before reproducing to remove any chips that may be clinging to the surface. If when reproducing it is found that the record blasts all the way through or exhibits a tendency to overtones, stand a little further away from the mouth of the horn when you are remak ing it. Blanks which have been spoilt may be cleansed with parafiin oil, dried, and polished with a silk hand kerchief. Shaving is the course to be recommended, however. In conclusion, it may be remarked that good recording is the outcome 0.f experience. You re.ally must not expect to make a record as good as the commercial article at the first effort. (See Edison, Matrix-Matrices, Matrixing, Mould, Moulding, Phonograph, Record. Recorder, Recording Horn, Stylus, Talking Machine.) R9¢0rding H0"!-—Instructions for making. Pro cure two sheets of smooth faced mill.board, 32 inches long by 18 inches wide, also a lath, or flat stick, 3 feet long. Lay out the sheets, and having placed two nails 30 inches apart in the lath, use one as a centre and strike out two pieces of the shape and size shown in the diagram. Mark off a line one inch each side of the hole, which formed the pivot, and connect the ends of this with the points at the large end of the segment. Having cut them out, pare the sides -A B down to a thin 72 THE TALKING Macnmr. ENCYCLOPEDIA. edge, one on the inner and the other on the outer side. Now, with a good strong mucilage, such as glue, stick the two firmly together, a-fterwards pasting a strip of ' stout, smooth-faced paper right along the. join on both sides. The joint will be all the better if placed under a weight to set. The millboard being somewhat intrac table and awkward to bend, it is best to make a few

rings of stout wire, varying in diameter from two to nine inches, and having partia-lly bent the shape round, slip them on, the largest first, and gradually work them up one after the other. This will bring the two sides together, and they can then be glued and the join covered as with the previous- one. Leave for a day or so to dry. The cost will be altogether about 10d., exclusive of ena-melling. It is desirable to give a coating of enamel to the inside, as this course will improve the horn con siderably. (See Recording, Trumpets.) R98\l|atin8‘ Pin-—An integral portion of the Edison Model C reproducer; for full description see article under that heading. R9Pl'0d\l¢9r-—This term is here interpreted as referring to the speaking instrument of the cylinder machine only. The original reproducer of the Edison 1877 machine was a fixed reproduoer, under which the record revolved and progressed. It was a somewhat THE TALKING Macramr. ENCYCLOPEDIA. 73 simple affair. The s.hell resembled very m.uch the trans .mitter of a telephone at the present day, at the bottom was a diaphragm of metal, and to this a metal link was .a.ttached. The other end of the link was connected to .a- horizontal spring blade which bore the stylus. By shortening the link the spring was made to exercise a pull on the diaphragm, and here we have the embryo of -the present day tensioned diaphragm. The next step in advance was that registered by Messrs. Bell and Tainter in 1886, who, when they found Edison was in the field, evolved the first type of trailing reproducer. This was followed in 1887 by an improved Edison machine, and here again we notice the building up of the Edison reproducer step by step taking effect. With this machine the recording and reproducing diaphragm were pivoted in such a way that they could be brought under the orifice alternately. It should be noted that the .shell of the reproducer and recorder had not been .evolved in this instance. Step by step advances were made continually over the period from 1887 to 1900, when the Edison Model C was introduced. It will be V.as well to look round at the various models extant at this latter date. The fixed ‘reproducer, as originally known, ceased with the 1887 model, which was fitted with a feed screw to carry it over the reoord surface. In 1900 the definition of the term fixed reproducer had changed to one that was clamped into a containing .chamber in the carrier arm. Such was the Edison sys 'tem'. The graphoprhone or trailing reproducer type had .a great vogue; they favoured a free floating reproducer, the diaphragm of which was fixed parallel to the line formed by the crest of the record, and the tracking 'point was so adjusted that it met the record just behind 'the crown. It was fixed to the carrier by a simple

74 THE TALKING l\IAcmi~u<: ENCYCLOPEDIA. pin and swivel arrangement, elsewhere described. A variant of this was formed by attaching the reproducer direct to the amplifying horn, which was pivoted on a peg, the onus of moving the stylus along being thrown on the revolving record. Later Messrs. Pathé Freres introduced a similar system, but they arranged for the trumpet and reproducer to be carried over the surface by means of a. feed screw. In general there were and are only the two styles, one of which has a fixed shell, the oscillation. being arranged for by various means. (See Model C and Lyric; and the trailing type, see Graphophone.) RePr0d\lcer, Fixed. See Fixed Reproducer. RePrnd\lcer, |-¥l'i¢-—See Lyric Reproducer. RePr0d\lcer, M0del 0. See Mode] C Re|p1-Q ducer. R9|9l'0d\-I69!‘ NBCK-—That portion of the shell which is conveniently shaped for the trumpet to be attached. R9P|'9d\-l¢9l', T|’ai|iP‘l8-—-S’ee Graphophone, Trail ing Reproducer. R9Pr0d\-l¢'|ii0n- The rendering into audible sound of the impressions which are apparent in the track of a record. By suitable mechanical means the record, either disc or cylinder, is sustained and revolved, and the repro ducer or sound box is so adjusted that it can be brought into contact with the record. The scheme of reproduc tion is as follows :—A record having been made, the im pressions, whioh are contained in a helical screw groove in the case of a cylinder, and in a decreasing or increas ing screw circle in a disc, are, in the former case, a series of hills and dales, which are closer together, or further apart, according to the pitch of the various sounds, or deeper or shallower according to their volume. Taking the -case of the fixed reproducer first (see Model C), the sapphire is lowered to the track and the machinery which rotates the record started. The hills and dales it contains meet the point and raise and lower it accord ing to their character. It will be seen that the arm is pivoted, so that each motion of the sapphire is com THE TALKING LIACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 75 municated to the diaphragm through the link, when the sapphire rises the diaphragm is pulled, when the sapphire drops the diaphragm’s spring causes it to fly back ; hence the diaphragm strikes the air in exactly the same way as the original sound struck the diaphragm, the audible reproduction resulting. With a. trailing reproducer (see article thereon) the sapphire is attached to a dome and the dome to the diaphragm. On lowering the sapphire to the rotating cylinder the weight of the reproducer shell presses it into the track, and thus the diaphragm is bent slightly concave towards the record. \Vhen the sapphire meets a depression it drops therein and the diaphragm straightens to be immediately thrown back when the sapphire rises. The effect is the same as in the foregoing case. The disc sound box does not speak in such an obvious way. By referring to article Sound Bowx the iollowing may best be understood. The impressions in the track of a disc record are situated on either side of a V shaped cavity. We speak of the needle disc. Now a needle is placed in the convenient shaped cavity at the end of the stylus bar, and either gripped by a screw, or similar device, the object being to hold it very tightly, and thus simulatively form the needle and stylus bar into one piece. The disc is started and the needle placed in the track. What happens is this. The needle is thrown into both mechanical and molecular vibration, that is to say, the lever action performs the mechanical, and the particles which are touching the record are These communicate their motion to the adjacent ones, and so on, with the astonishing velocity of 16,000 feet per second through the needle and along the stylus bar. Now the stylus bar is so shaped that it affords a convenient surface to be screwed to the diaphragm, and thus the molecular motion is transferred to it. Here the motion is translated into audible sound by the diaphragm striking the air as previously explained. Seeing that the motion of the diaphragm in each instance is a bend, it will be obvious that much of the tonal quality depends on the degree of firmness with which it is held at the edge. To enable this to be adjusted most up-to-date reproducers have the diaphragm clamped into place by an adjustable 76 THE TALKING Macnmr. ENCYCLOPEDIA. screw ring acting on a rubber gasket or washer. In the case of the disc; sound box the tensioning has to be applied to the stylus bar, owing to peculiarities of con struction. (See Berliner, Disc, Disc Machine, Dia phragm, Edison, Graphophone, Lyric, Machine Model C, Record, Reproducer, Sound Box, Talking Maehine, Track.) 3aPP|'\|r9-—Is the same mineral as ruby and c0run dum, A1203, being distinguished chiefly by its blue colour and transparency. There are several varieties of sapphire, in various tints, however, the transparent white or clear being considered the hardest, and, there fore, the best. Star sapphires have the appearance of a six-rayed star when viewed in reflected light. The most valuable stones are those of cornfiower blue, with a velvety lustre, and not too dark in artificial light. Like the ruby, the sapphire is dichroic, and should be cut so that the principal face of the gem is parallel to the basal plane of the crystal. When strongly heated sapphires turn white or grey. The best stones are at present obtained from Siam. They are also exported from Burma and Ceylon, and have been found in Kash mir, South Carolina, Montana, Australia, Madagascar, Borneo, and in Europe. Owing to its hardness the sapphire has been found excellent for recording and reproducing s-tyli. It takes a fine polish, and can be ground into special shapes. readily. (See Stylus.) 3aPP|1|l'9: Ba||-—See Ball Sapphire. $aPP|’\i|'9, B\ltt0n--_See Button Sappllire, Model C. 3¢rBW, 9'aml-'"n8’-—-See- Clamping Screw. $¢r9W, F991-1|-—See Feed Screw. $¢r9W: R9g!-l|a‘HHS-—See Regulating .Screw. 3¢r9W RiI‘lg-—A ring to clamp the diaphragm in place. It having been demonstrated by experience that it was necessary to grip- the edges; of the reproducing diaphragni very firmly, the clamping screw ring was evolved to answver the purpose. The motion of the diaphragm is a bend, not an oscillation as a whole, and by the clamping it is sought to assist the diaphragm Tm: TALKING Macnms ENCYCLOPEDIA. 77 in speedily recovering its normal posture. So successful was this device found that it is now coming into general use. A further advantage gained by its adoption is that the grip may be accurately regulated according to the substance of which the diaphragm is composed; this feature alone has done much to improve reproduc- tions. The screw ring finds a place in the Model C, Lyric.’ and Seymour reproducers.* We may add that. this is also known as adjustable diaphragm tension. (See Lyric, Model C, Reproducer, Tension.) 3¢r9W, T9|’\9i9l'|-—See Tension Screw. 3hifting-—A bar or rod of metal which may be used as an axle or for the transmission of power from one portion of the motor to the other. In talking machine motors we find such parts as spring shaft, the shaft or axle on which springs are mounted; winding crank shaft, the spindle on which the crank is placed to wind the machine; governor shaft, the spindle on which the governor rotates, and so on. (See Governor, Motor.) 3h8ViI‘I8-—The act of planing off any matter that may be on a wax cylinder by mechanical means; also similarly treating a newly-made blank for use. Most models of Edison phonogra-phs, up till a.year or so ago, were equipped with a device for planing or shaving- cylinders. This consisted, in one case, of a containing box, in shape very similar to a metal match box, on one side of which a sapphire was set obliquely. The whole- device was fitted to an advancing screw, by means of' which the sapphire could be brought into contact with the cylinder. It worked (fairly effectively) as follows: The blank to be operated on was firmly pressed on to the mandrel, and the sapphire plane advanced till it almost touched ; it was then necessary to try the cylinder- as to its evenness, and by the first running over the degree to which the plane could be advanced was deter mined. The sapphire cut small ribbons of was from

* The inventor has since alban.doned the principle in taw our of an equally effective and more simple method of .affixing the diaph-ragm, and one which n.utomaticall frees or- stilfens it. according to the li ht or heavy work it is called upon to do. This refers to t' e 1908 model. 78 THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

the cylinder and left it highly polished, but it took a long time, the cylinder usually having to be gone over at least twenty times. Hence it was finally dropped, so far as reproducing machines were concerned. Shaving is, however, almost universally resorted to by record manufacturers, as the cylinder is left with a much finer polish than any that can be obtained by other means. A fast running machine, which acts in a manner similar to that explained, is used for the purpose, and in this way the operation may be oompleted in a few minutes-. she||-—The shell of a reproducer or sound box is the outer husk, of metal or vulcanite, which holds the diaphragm. (See Lyric, Model C, Sound Box, Trailing Reproducer.) 3h9||a¢-—A resin prepared from. the exudation re sulting from a puncture of the branches of ficus indica and similar East Indian trees by an insect coocus laoca. The product, or stick lac, is removed, forming seed or grain shellac, which, after melting in boiling water and being poured out on a cold surface, forms semi .transparent brittle flakes of a deep orange colour called shellac. Shellac melts when heated, and burns with a .luminous flame, giving off a not unpleasant odour. It dissolves in alcohol, and in solutions of borax and of alkalis, and is largely used in the preparation of var nishes, French polish, lacquer, disc record composition, and sealing wax. Owing to the fact that it sets quickly after heating, it is largely used to set sapphires in the domes of trailing reproducers, for setting gaskets, and many other unions of parts. 30n0m9t9r, lit. sound measure. An instrument devised to measure the intensity of sound. (See Sound.) . 30‘-"\d, or Acoustics (fr. Greek, to_ hear), is that branch of natural philosophy which treats of the nature of sound. Mayer terms sound “the nervous sensations peculiar to the ear.” The subject is of the utmost interest and importance to the talking machine enthu siast, and, as such, calls for more extended treatment than it is possible to give within the limits of the present volume. Having then defined sound as sensa tions peculiar to the ear, it remains to be seen how those THE TALKING Macnms ENCYCLOPEDIA. 79

sensations are generated and conveyed. Sound is due to vibrations. This can easily and readily be deter mined. Take an ordinary glass jar and strike it hard enough to make it yield an audible sound, the existence of the vibratory motion may be felt by lightly applying a finger to the edge ; it will be found that on increasing the pressure so as to destroy this motion, the sound forthwith ceases Small pieces of cork placed in the jar will be found to dance about during the continuance of the sound ,. liquids poured into the glass will, under the same circumsrta-ncee, present a ruffled surface. But the mere fact that sound is vibration is not enough, there must of necessity be some suitable media to convey those vibrations to the ear, otherwise we could not per ceive sound. Such a medium- exists in air, which forms the most important medium. of communication of sound to our organs of hearing. Air, as is well known, sur rounds and envelope everything, a11d when a sounding object is set into vibration, the air which surrounds it being elastic absorbs those movements and conveys them. The manner in which this operation is performed is best shown by the following experiment: Place a num ber of balls in a smooth channel, for the sake of clear ness, say 12, 11 of which should be so placed that they touch one another. Now take the twelfth, and run it .along, so that it will strike number 11. "What happens‘! The impulse imparted by the blow passes through each of the balls, very quickly, but successively, and number 1 will move away from number 2, but no other motion will result. The result would be the same were twice the number of balls employed, and this will furnish an .ocular demonstration of what happens when a vibra ting surface strikes the air. The motion is taken up by each particle in succession, in every direction, with the point of prlopagation as the centre, and thus an audible area is created, or, in other words, an area. in any part of_ which the sound may be heard. It must be distinctly understood that the air particles do not make a. progression, the motion is merely an excursus to and fro, in exactly the same manner and to the same extent as the agitating influence. That air is thus necessary to the propagation of sound was first proved by Robert 80 Tim TALKING Macnma Eucvcnormnu.

Boyle. His experiment, after an interval of apparent. oblivion, was revived by Hawksbee in 1705. A bell. was so fixed within the receiver of an air pump that it could be rung when the receiver was exhausted. Before the air was withdrawn the sound of the bell was heard within the receiver; after the air was withdrawn the sound became so faint as to be hardly perceptible. If hy.drogen gas, which is fourteen times lighter than air,. is allowed to enter the receiver, the sound of the bell. is not augmented, although the receiver may be filled with this attenuated gas. By then working the pump (with up-to-date appliances) a more perfect vacuum than that of Boyle or Hawksbee can now be attained; and now, though the bell be most violently struck, not the faintest tinkle of a sound can be discerned. If, while the bell continues to vibrate, air is permitted to gradu ally enter the receiver, the sound will at first rise feebly and become louder as more and more air enters, until when artmospherio density is attained the volume is normal. Hence we learn sound cannot pass through vacuo. That volume 0.f so.und also depends on the density of the air can easily be demonstrated. At great elevations sound is sensibly diminished in loud- ness. De Saussure thought the explosion of a pistol on the summit of Mont Blano to be about equal to that of a common cracker below. Professor Tyndall several- times repeated this experiment. He says, “ what struck me most was the absence of that density and sharp ness in the sound which characterise it at lower eleva tions. The pistol shot resembled the explosion of a ohampagne bottle, but it was still loud. The withdrawal of half an atmosphere does not very materially affect our auditory nerve. That highly attenuated air is able to convey sound of great intensity is forcibly illustrated by the erxplosrion of meteorites at great elevations, where the tenuity of the atmosphere must be extreme. Here, however, the initial disturbance must be exceedingly great.” The motion of sound, like all other motion, is enfeebled by transference from a light body to a heavy one. An illustration of this may be found in the follow ing: Obtain some well purified hydrogen gas in an india» rubber bag; let a person stand over the valve and,. Tm: TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 81

emptying his lungs, inhale the gas and then speak. The effect is so cu_rious that the speaker can hardly rid him self of the idea that he is imposing upon the heater. The reason for this is that the voice is formed by urging air from the lungs through an organ called the larynx, where it is thrown into vibration by the vocal chords, sonorous waves being thus generated. But w.hen the lungs are filled with hydrogen, the vocal chords on speaking produce a vibratory motion in the hydro gen, which then transfers the motion to the outer air. By this transference from a light gas to a heavy one the voice is so weakened as to become a mere squeak. The intensity of sound depends on the density of the air in which the sound is generated, and not that of the air in which it is heard-. It has been said that sound travels in every direction from the point of propagation, and as the motion produced by the vibratory impulse is being diffused over a continually augmenting mass of air, it is perfectly manifest that this cannot occur with out an enfeeblement of the motion. “ Take the case of a thin shell of air, with a radius of one foot, reck oned from the point of propagation. A shell of the same thickness, but of two feet radius, will contain four times the quantity of matter; if its radius be three feet, it will contain nine times the quantity; if four feet, sixteen times, and so- on. Thus the quantity of matter set in motion augments as the square of the distance from the centre. The intensity or loudness of sound diminishes in the same proportion. We express this law by saying that the intensity of the sound varies inversely as the square of the distance, or the intensity of the sound is proportional to the square of the maxi mum velocity ” (Tyndall). The distance through which the air particle moves to and fro, when the sound wave passes it, is called the amplitude of the vibration. The intensity of the sound is proportional to the square o the amplitu.de. ' Pitch.-—Our sense of hearing is not merely confined to the apprehension of sound per se, since we are able to detennine various sounds as being high or low. This quality we term pitch. Now it is obvious that some well-defined law governs this perception, as we are able

G \ ‘82 Tim TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

-to distinguish minute gradations of tone one from the other. In the latter part of the 18th century a French philosopher, Savart, experimenting to discover what this law was, devised a wheel, very similar to the ratchet wheel of a talking machine, and so arranged an .oblong plate,. that it was pressed on to the teeth and dropped successively on to them as the wheel was rotated. Find ing‘, that when the wheel was revolved rapidly a higher note was generated than when he moved it slowly, he clearly demonstrated that the pitch depended on the rapidity of the vibrations. The apparatus was very crude, and one can readily imagine that his notes were somewhat unmusical, but his discovery led the way to the evolution of the siren, an instrument which not only conclusively .proved that sound was vibration, but which has enabled scientists to give the exact number of vibrations per second necessary to produce each'note. Before going on to describe this instrument, we should like to call attention to the fact that pitch is more a relative term than an unalterable law. We here in tend following the scientific philosophical pitch, which makes each octave a- multiple of two, whereas modern high concert pitch recognises no such liniita.tion. To give an example, upper treble C=5l2 philosophical .pitch, but=528 English concert pitch. The concert pitch of different countries also varies; thus the French pitch their C nearer to the philosophical than we do. The siren consists of a drum or air chest, the top of which is perforated with rings of apertures, the exact number of which are known, and which are openable or closable at will. This is fixed, while above it is a rotating plate (fitting closely down), which is also drilled with rings of apertures coinciding with the drum beneath. Connected to the axle, on which the moving plate works, is a speed recorder, so adjusted that the exact number of revolutions which the plate makes per second are accurately recorded. Air is forced into the drum, and one of the rings of apertures opened. On rotating the plate the air rushes out with a slight pufi each time the apertures coincide. We will suppose there- are '14 of such apertures in the circle, and that Tnn TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. 83 -

the plate revolved twice in a second, a simple sum in multiplication will then give us the number of puffs which occurred—28. By opening the second ring of apertures, which are not exactly opposite the others, the number of pufls is increased and the pitch is pre portionately raised. Thus given a certain note, the siren can he worked up to it and the number of vibra tions simply, speedily, and accurately calculated. No doubt can therefore exist that pitch depends on the number of vibrations in a second of time. The lowest note which the human ear is capable of perceiving has approximately a vibratory rate of 14 per second, but some are :una|ble to discriminate between noise and musical sound at this depth. The same applies to the extreme upper register. Strike the last four notes at the top of the piano, for instance, and you will find it is much more difficult to appreciate that the periods are the same as between notes of the ordinary vocal compass. The fact that pitch depends on the rate of vibration is of the utmost importance to the talking machine; since, if no such fixed law controlled pitch recording would not be possible. Volume is that quality which sounds have to impress our sense of hearing more or less forcibly. It depends on the strength of the agita ting infiuence. The best visible analogy is to be found in the waves of the sea, although it must not be thought that by using this as an illustration that we commit ourselves to the now exploded theory that sound pro gresses through the air exactly as waves pass through the water. Bearing this disclaimer in mind then, one will often notice that some sea waves frequently rise Higher than others, although the distance between the crests is exactly the same as when they are not so high. Now, supposing that it were possible (which it is not, by the way) to see a number of waves following one another, all of the same height (say four feet), and at another time a similar presentation with a height of one foot, the former would represent loud sounds, the latter quiet. Volume then depends on the width of “the pulsation. Quality.—By quality the difierence that exists be 8'4 Tun Tanxmo l\IAcnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA.

tween the same note as rendered by various instruments is meant. It is a matter of considerable difficulty, in the necessarily limited space at our disposal, to enable a clear conception of this feature of sound to be formed. It would be as well to read the article Overtones, as quality largely depends on the strength of the lower harmonic overtones. Thus a sounding string, such as we mention there, is particularly rich in upper partials, hence we have a full rich note from it. On taking up a piccolo, and sounding a few notes, a decided thinness orpoorness of quality cannot fail to be discerned. Helm holtz demonstrated that this instrument was character ised by an almost total absence of overtones, hence the poorness. Graphic tracings of the notes of various in struments have been taken, by means of the Phonauto graph (see Talking Machine), and it has been demon strarted that there are modifications existing between them. An open note would be represented by a curved 1ine,'but various instruments, although showing exactly similar general curves, cause lines which are wavy to a greater or less degree, according to the richness of the overtones. Enu'nc'iation.—The meaning of the term is obvious, i.e., those differences which enable us to distinguish .words one from another. As everyone knows, one’s sense of hearing words exists simultaneously with all the other modifications previously dealt with, and it merely remains to show that this is but another series of subsidiary vibrations underlying the general or tonal vibrations. Again using the phonautograph to help us in elucidating the point, the graphic tracings obtained from words, do not alter the general curves induced by the tones accompanying them in vocalising, they merely cause the tracing to diverge further from the fiml straight line. Anyone who is constantly handling records bearing the three-way cut can readily say whether they have any vocal partsfrom the regular series of impressions, which‘ demonstrates that this feature considerably modifies the movements of the dia phragm also. . Motion of Sound.—It is habitual to speak of sound

.,. - 1 .... Tris TALKING Macnnm Encvcnoranm. 85

as passing through air in waves, and there can be no doubt that from this a general assumption that the motion is similar to that of the waves of the sea is arrived at. This, however, is hardlv correct; the only similarity existing between the two is that both present periodical phases in uniform succession. We will explain somewhat more clearly. Air, as we have before had occasion to point out, is an elastic substance, and as it surrounds every object, the vibrations of a sound gener ator are taken up in all directions, the motion belng termed wave~like, merely because it presents alternate condensations and rarefactions over the audible area which coincide with the crest and trough of a wave (water) respectively. How does this come about‘! Well, we have seen that pitch represents the number of vibra. tions in a second of time; now sound travels at the rate of 1,120 feet (approximately) in the same period; hence in travelling this distance the sound must have performed the number of vibrations coinciding with its pitch; each Vill)I‘a|l'd0!1, therefore, becomes a wave of a certain length. Observe that a wave includes both trough and crest. Taking a specific case: 0 in the bass clef =64 vibrations philosophical pitch; now dividing 1,120 feet by 64 will give us the length of the vibration =l7ft. 6in.- The first crest or condensation of the air will be that distance from the point of propagation; the trough at 8ft. 9in. distance. Nor must it be thought that the air travels 17ft. 6in. It does not. Each particle of air in the distance is temporarily com pressed against its fellow, which acts on the next, and so on ; they merely make an excursus to and fro, but do not otherwise move at all. There is an exact analogy to be found, which will provide an ocular demonstration of the motion. Observe the effect of .a gust of wind on a field of ripe corn. It will be seen that a motion, which for want of a better. word is perforce termed wave~like, passes from end to end of the field, in such a manner that at one place the corn stalk is standing straight up, its fellows beings, trifle- inclined towards it on either side, those next being still further inclined, and so on, till a maximum inclination is reached, when 86 Tim TALKING Mncmxna Eucvcnorsnu. those beyond begin to become more upright, till they eventually incline to another stalk. Harmony.—When a combination of different notes- exercises a pleasing efl"ect on the ear it is said to be in harmony, the antithesis being discord. The subject is a vast one, and also one to which most voluminous treatises have been solely devoted. We cannot- do more than touch on the subject here, but we will at the same time endeavour to make the theory understood. Let us ex amine an octave or the eight recurring notes of the diatonio scale. The rates of vibration are as follows,.- beginning from the lowest note: 24, 27, 30, 32, 36, 40, 45, 48. From this we learn, first, that the octave of a given note requires twice as many vibrations as its prime to produce it. These form unison. Next, as to the fifth (or soh in the tonic sol-fa notation), this, in con junction with the prime or its octave, forms a simple harmony, and we see that its vibration number is just midway between the two, the relation being 2, 3, 4 in proportion. The third is midway between soh and the prime, the proportion being 4, 5, 6. Whart, then, does this show? That harmonies are formed only by not9s whose proportions can be expressed in the simple pm gressive numbers, e.g., 2, 3', 4, or 4, 5, 6. Change of key does not affect this law; the fact that D is used as the doh, at the same time alters the relation which the other notes of the scale bear to tonic, so that the proportion is always the same. Discord, or rather par tial discord, is sometimes purposely introduced into harmony for the sake of the effect, e.g., the use .06 accidenta.ls, as sharps or flats are termed, and in certain well-defined relations the result is pleasing. This hur ried glance is all we are able to take at the subject, and we must pass on. Noise, as distinct from musical sound, is caused- by the simultaneous propagation of various sets of vibra tory impulses which have no proportionate relation to one another, or by the fact that the pulses have no accurate periodicity, which alone enables a .sound to aifect our ears in the musical or pleasing sense. Discord, in music, is caused by the simultaneous pro Tm: TALKING Macnnvz ENCYCLOPEDIA. $7 pagat.ion of two or more tones, whose proportionate rates of vibration cannot- be expressed in the simple numbers quoted previously. Nodee.—Are points of rest in an otherwise vibrating whole. The existence of nodal points is interdepen dent with pitch. Let us first examine a sounding string. The monochord form, previously cited, is the .most obvious example for our purpose. Now it is well known that by shortening the length of a stretched string the pitch of the resultant note is raised, e.g., a violin, guitar, or banjo are examples of this law, as witness the faot that by placing a finger in certain positions on the strings various notes may be obtained from the same string. Reverting to the monochord, if a bow be drawn across it a certain note results; but when the finger is placed in the exact centre and the bow drawn across one .half, both halves move, and the octave off the first note is sounded. Similarly the double octave is obtained by quartering the string. Observe that, although. the string be halved or quartered by damping, and only one of the parts so formed is agitated by the bow, yet the other parts move also; observe, further, that if haIf the string gives an octave and a quarter of the string the double octave, the string itself must divide into well-defined halves and quarters, otherwise the pitch would not rise. That this ac.tually happens can readily be demonstrated on our monochord. Take two pieces of paper, adjusted to sit on the string so as to form riders, and place them at the exact quarter and half length, place the finger at the three-quarter and draw a. resined bow across any of the divisions so formed. What happens? The pieces of paper make no move ment, although the string is sounding: loudly. Now take . two more riders and place- them at the three-eightha and five-eighths line, and again draw the bow across. The last two are thrown off violently. From this, then, we learn- that the string divides itself into moving parts, according to the damping, which are termed ventral segments, and each of these segments is divided from the otliersrby points of no .vibration, termed nodes. A parallel may also be found in a suspended rope or piece 88 Tur. TALKING Macums Encvcnoraznra. of string. By taking hold of it at the bottom and quickly moving the end backwards and fOl'W'fllTdS, the motions pass from the hand to the point of suspension in well-defined waves or undulations; the string or rope doing the same as our monoehord, dividing itself into moving segments and points of rest, Sounding air columns also divide themselves in a similar manner. Take up a piece of tube, and by placing the thumb over one end to close it, blow gently across the edge of the other. A certain note results; by blowing harder a note an octave above is obtained. What, then, has happened in this case? The enclosed air has divided itself into two portions with one node in the centre. Like every other truth, this can. be proved, although the means by which it is proved are somewhat beyond the average enquires‘. An organ pipe of sufficient diameter is used for the purpose, the only other neces saries being apparatus to produce a sufficiently -power ful air current, and a tambourine fixed to a piece of string. The fundamental note of the pipe is then sounded, and the talmbourine, lowered through the whole length of the} pipe, rattles continuously. On striking the octave by a more powerful current of air, and again lowering the tambourine, it rattles, but the rattle becomes quieter as it nears the centre, entirely ceasing at the exact centre, and again commencing to rattle as it descends to the bottom. The nodal point is thus clearly demonstrated. Circular plates may also be divided into nodes and ventral segments in the same way as strings, the modus operandi. being to scatter some fine grains of sand over the disc, damping it with the finger at a point 90 deg. from the equatorial line and drawing the bow across at a spot 45 deg. distant from the finger. The plate divides itself into four parts, the sand being thrown .05 the ventral segments and being piled up thickly along the nodal lines. Bcats.—The phenomena of beats may be easily observed with two organ pipes put slightly out of tune by placing the hand near the open end of one of them, with two musical strings on a resonant chest, or with two tuning forks of the same pitch held over 8- wsonwfi Tl-IE Tanxme Macrmu-2 Eucvcnoraznu. 88 cavity, one of the -forks being put out of tune by load ing one prong with an small lump of beeswax. Beats are really silences interposed between a period of sonorous pulses. We will endeavour to explain more clearly. We have seen that pitch depends .on vibration rate, and that sound progresses in waves; now carefully bear these points clearly in mind. Supposing, for instance, two notes are generated simultaneously, one of which has a vibration rate of 24 per second and the other 26 in the same period. Now the distance between our ear and the point of propagation is an audible area, and the first sound in passing that vibrates 24 times (it would be as well for the reader to draw a wavy line with 24 .crests and troughs therein) ; at the same time a note having 26 vibrations passes the same area. By drawing a line with 26 curves in it, it will beseen that half-way through the space the vibrations will be directly opposed to each other, and thus for a moment they destroy one another; the same thing happens at the end of the dis tance. Thus we get two silent periods which come across our ear in betweenn the sounds, and these are called beats, from the effect they exercise on our organs of hearing. Beats of greater or less persistence may be also gemerated by chords or close harmonies. They are invaluable to the pianoforte tuner, who is able to caleu— late exactly how much a string is out by the number of beats which occur in a second. Sound- can be readily trans'mitted through metals, and a table of "velo'cities- is subjoined., according to Wertheim.. Velocity at Velocity .1: *- 20° Cent. 100° Cent. Name of Metal . ln feet In feet ' per second. pei_seeond. Lead 4,030 3,951 Gold 5,717 ' 5,640 Silver 8,553 8,658 .c6p;per 11,666 - 10,802 Platinum 8,815 8,437 ' ' Iron 16,822 17,386 Iron wire (ordinary) 16,130 16,728 Cast Steel 16,357 16,153 Steel wire (English) 15,470 17,201 Steel wire (Foreign) 16,023 16,443 90 THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. '~ It will be observed that temperature a.fi‘ects.the velocity,._ and this also holds true of air, the speed being height ened by raising the temperature, and lowered by de creasing it. Overtones are dealt with separately. The following works on Sound are recommended to the reader-—-Lectures on Sound- (Tyndall), Acoustics, En cyclopoedia Britannica, Musical Acoustics (Broadhouse), Sound and Music (Taylor). (See also Overtones, Vibra-- ' tions; and sound is germane to an understanding of Cylinder, Disc, Edison, Gra.phophone, Phonograrph, Record, Recording, Reproducer, Reproducing, Talking Machine.) 30\lnd Arm-——See Tone Arm. $0!-ind B0X-—The reproducing device (of a disc machine. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the reproducing devices of cylinder machines and disc machines are not called by a common term, but they seem to be fixed by custom, as reproducer (cylinder), and sound box (disc). On comparing the two, the first line of divergence that strikes one is that the diaphragm is maintained in a vertical position instead of lateral (cylinder reprod.ucer). They differ fundamentally, how ever. \Ve should like to direct attention to the accom panying diagram, which represents the Gramophone Co/s Exhibition Sound Box in section. The parts are as follows: Diagram A—(A) Stylus bar; (B) stylus bar s9tting; (C) gaskets; (D) diaphragm; (E) shell; (F) needle clamping screw; (G) needle ; (H) detachable back plate; (I) insulator ;. (J) brass core of insulator; (K) chisel blade. Diagram B is drawn to show the tension ing1 device: the parts being (A) stylus bar; (B) chisel blades; (C) stylus bar plate; (D) adjustable tension screw; (E) screw holding tension spring; (G) front view of D, one being at the front, the other at the back ; (H) clam.ping screw; (I) needle. To facilitate reference, the letters in the diagrams are referred to as 1 and 2, respectively. To examine the most important parts in detail. The stylus bar is made of brass, and from a circular needle holder, three eighths of an inch in diameter, tapers to one-thirty second at the diaphragm fixture. The tensioning device Tm: TALKING IIIACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 94: is very perfect. A plate is fixed to the diaphragm holder El, which has lateral projections at both ends, one towards the front and the other towards the back of the sound box, while from the bottom two chisel 1'-ledes DIAGRAM A SIDE Vusw

(SECTION)

K1 and B2 project one at each end. The stylus bar has a fiaote plate C2, which is adjusted to rest on the chisel 9dges C1, while to the stylus bar plate A1 are attached two flu.t spring blades C2 ; these last are depressed by means of screws, which work from the projections of the 92 Tina: Tanxmc Macnmz ENCYCLOPEDIA. plate attached to the dia-phragm holder El. It will be- seen that accurate adjustment is a very simple matter, so perfect are the means provided. The objecm of mak ing the stylus bar rest on chisel blades is that the con tact is thus made with the smallest possible area, and further by interpoeing rubber, see diagram I, between DIAGRAM. B. FRONT Vnzw

the sound box neck and tone arm, the escape of vibra tory impulses into the tone arm is obviated and the trouble we have remarked under False Vibrations eannot arise. The back plate is fixed to the diaphragm holder E1 by three screws, and this, again, is a device which must commend itself to all, inasmuch as the dis Tm: TALKING Macaw]: ENCYCLOPEDIA. 93 mounting of the parts for repairs, should they ‘owo.m~e necessary, is simplified and facilitated. The reproduc tion is obtained in the following manner: A. needle is placed in the stylus: bar Al, and clamped in position by the screw F;1 ,' and the turntable being set in motion, the needle point is placed in the groove. Now the groove or track is in the shape of a V, the sound impressions -being al-ternaste sinuosities appearing in the same. As the track passes under the needle these alternate sinu osities mechanically guide the needle, causing molecular vibrations, which passing up to the diaphragm are trans ferred thereto. Thus, by setting the diaphragm in vibration, the sounds are again rendered audible. (See also Berliner, Disc, Disc Machine,-_Gramophone, Record, Recording, Reproducer, Reproducing, Talking Machine, Two-way Cut, V Cut.) ' '

30\lnd 9|'l8m|-'19r-—The hollow curved chamber in the top of a trailing reproducer or recorder shell. So called from the fact that it collects the vibrations of the diaphragm and urges them towards the trumpet, or converges the sounds on the diaphragm. (See Grapho phone Reproducer, Trailing Reproducer.) ' 30\lI‘ld Magl'li‘|‘¥|l'\8'-—T'he term refers to means for amplifying the intensity of the sounds generated by the passage of the stylus over the impressions. There are three different machines exemplifying as many various ways 0.f reinforcing1; they are: the Hig'hamo phone (Columbia Company), Auxetophone (Gramo -phone Company), and the Orphone (Parthé Freres). Dealing with these in the order named, the Highamo phone is a cylinder machine. As will be apparent from a study of the article Reproducing, to which the reader is referred, it is the bend of the diaphragm. that is used for reproducing the sound. The Highamophone has a diaphragm, four inches in diameter, and composed of very stout built up mica; directly behind this is an amxber wheel, which is arranged to revolve all the while the motor is in motion, and it also travels with the diaphragm along the record. The stylus is held by a pivoted arm, which is connected to a vulcanite band "94 Tar; T.u.xn~zo Macramr. Eucircnorznnm.

that passes over the amber wheel and is firmly attached to the diaphragm-. The wheel has a roughened surface - and revolves so as to eucercise a pull on the diaphragm by frictional contact with the band. We remarked that the sapphire arm was pivoted, hence when a hill is met in the record track the sapphire rises, deflects the other , end of the arm, which in turn increases the strain on the band, and thus the diaphragm is violently pulled by the wheel; the reverse holds when a- dale is met, and the tension slackening, the diaphragm flies back, to be pulled again when another hill is met, and so on. The Auxetophone is on a different principle altogether. In this case compressed air is used. A diaphragm, somewhat resembling the comb ocf a musical box, is used, and the vibrations into which it is thrown by the sounds admit more or less air as the case may be. The Orphone acts in a similar manner, excepting that in this case: no diaphragm is used, the various sounds acting on to an adjustable valve, which auto-matica1ly controls the inflow of compressed air within the confines of the horn. (Se9 Disc, Graphophone, Phonograph, Reproducer, Repro duction, Sound Box.) 30'-Ind WGVQ-—-Sound being vibration, which is motion, it follows that this motion will be rhythmical in common with every other form of motion. When one drops a stone in calm water a circular ripple is clearly seen, which extends in every direction from the point where the stone disturbed it. This ripple takes the form of a small wave, inasmuch as crest and trough alternate. So also with sound; the vibratory impulse having by superior force to overcome the resistance offered by the mass of air to its progress alternately condenses and rarefies as it goes. It having been deter mined that pitch depends on the number of vibrations per second, and knowing that sound travels through air at the velocity of 1,120 feet per second with a tem perature of 50 deg. Fahr., it will be apparent that the length ofrthe wave of any musical note may be com puted. Thus, let V=velocity and N vibration number, then‘; = x = wa.ve length. It should be understood Tm-: TALKING Macnmn Eucvcnormnm. 95 that a wave includes both trough and crest. (See Sound.)

3P9'3k9r Arm--—(1) An integral portion of the Edison Model C and Lyric rerproducers. (See articles under those headings.) (2) An alternative term for the bridge or arm that carries the reproducer on an Edison Phonograph. 3P¢9d 3¢r0W-—See Regulating Screw. 3P|d9r D0m9-—A dome for graphophone or trail ing type reproducers, so called from the circumstance that it resembles a spider in form. This type of dome was originally introduced by Dr. Berliner, his object being to pick out the nodal points which he considered .existed in a diaphragm. From one cause or another the s1p~ider' has persisted up to the present day, although the cause of its introduction has long since been con sidered as an exploded- idea-. (See Berliner, Dome, 'Graphophone Reproducer, Trailing Reproducer.) 96 Tar. TALKING Macnmn Eucvcnorannn.

$P|nU|9-—Alternative term for shafting. SPlit Gask9t.—We deal with the gasket as such under that heading. The split gasket is so called from the fact that it resembles a ring of rubber tubing split right round. This being stretched round the diaphragm it is thus gripped on both sides, and an air cushion formed by the tubular shape is interposed between it and the shell. Its use was very effective, but is be coming obsolete with the advance o

3Pl'irl8' Barr9|-—The barrel or drum-shaped box in which springs are enclosed. The primary object of their introduction was to enable the spring to be wound while the motor was in motion. (See Horizontal Motor, Independent Wind, Motor, Vertical Motor.) 3Prin8‘ Bind-—-—A mechanical means whereby.the winding crank shaft is gripped to retain the power of the spring when wound. 1t is a variant of the ratchet and pawl. The device consists of a piece of stout wire, which is tightly coiled round and round the winding shaft, one end being fixed to a stable portion of the motor frame. It is so arranged that the revolving of the crank to rewind the spring unloosens its grip on the shaft, in other words, the coiling is in an opposite direc tion to the winding revolution. The cessation of for ward motion on the shaft causes it to spring back into its gripping posture, and the strain of the spring to fly back merely caruses it to hold tighter. It is a distinct advance on the ratchet wheel, or ratchet and pawl, and is being widely adopts.d by talking machine motor makers. (See Ratchet and Pa-wl.) 3P|’irlg T9l‘l$i0l'\-—Onlv one example of this most effective form of . diaphragm tension is at present on the market. We refer to the Columbia Lyric repro ducer. On referring to this article it will be seen that a spiral spring has been fitted in such 21. manner, that when the stylus is resting on the track the strength of the srpringis exercised on the diaphragm. The rising and falling motion of the sapphire is thus assisted, and as there- is always a pull on the diaphragm it is des- . cribed as a tension (spring tension). The system is‘ a variant of the Edison system of balance weight tension, and we refer readers to these two models for comparison. The results obtain-ed are very good; indeed, a consider able increase in volume accruing from the assistance whichModel the G.) sprin g gives to the dia P hra gm . ( See ' L y ric,

3tal"ld-—(1) For machine. The advances that have been made in the quality of reproductions during the past few years have occasioned a demand for record H 983 THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. cabinets and other articles of furniture for convenience and ornament. Many firms have hit .on the idea of combining a record cabinet and machine stand, which has become very p0p3ular.-' '(2) For trumpet. There are three or four dilferent forms of trumpet stands: (1) Telescopic folding floor stand; (2) table stand; (3) 001 lapsible crane arm ; (4) cabinet arm. They are necessary for the large size trumpets at present used for phono graphs, as atta.ching these to the reproducer neck alone would either throw too great a strain on the motor- or overbalance the machine. (See Machine, Recording, Talking Machine, Trumpet.) 3tartin8' L9V9r-—A lever placed in a convenient position, which either works on to the same arm as the regulating screw, or has a separate arm. provided to work direct on to the friction disc of the governor. The moving of the lever in one direction withdraws the arm from the disc, and the motor is able to start, while reversing causes the arm to again come in contact with the friction disc, and thus stops the motion. (See Friction Pad, Friction Disc, Governor, Motor, Talking Machine.) $‘l19l‘I‘l-—The tapered portion of an amplifying horn. (See Trum-.pet.) 3t¥|ll$--—-(1) Recording, usually a short sapphire or diamond ground to the desired shape. (See illustration.) It should be pointed out that the thread of a record track is usually 100 to the inch, and it is necessary to so grind the service edge that a deep channel may be ll! cut in the blank, while the widenings and narrowings, or hills and dales, are also well impressed. To this end .the face of the sapphire is hollow ground, and this further serves to lift the chips out of the channel. (See Recording, Sapphire, Edison, Graphophone, Phono THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 99 graph, Talking Machine, Trailing Recorder.) (2) Re producing, generally a sapphire, but in some cases crystal and even glass are used. The shape is either globular, or a ball point on the end of a short stem, or button, so called from the resemblance which the point bears to an inverted button fixed to the end of a short stem. (See Ball Sapphire, Button Sapphire, Edison, Lyric, Model C, Phonogra.ph, Reproducer, Reproducing, Talking Machine.) . 31'-¥|l-l$ Ba!‘-—An integral portion of a disc sound box ,. the metal rod which grips the needle and conveys its vibrations to the diaphragm. (See Disc Machine, Reproducing, Sound Box.) ' 3t1"" H0|d9l'-—The small tubular device which holds the stylus of a recorder. (See Recorder, Record ing.) 3W|V0|-—A joint which permits of free movement. The fact that a certain amount of oscillation and side movement have to be allowed for necessitates two swivels . -('one for each direction) being placed on the neck of a trailing repreducer. (See Graphophone, Graphophone Reproducer, Trailing Reproducer.) Ta|k9r-—Diminutive of talking machine, which see Tamin8‘ Ma¢h|I‘l9-—The term is used to cover machines of both varieties, disc and cylinder, and is the. only comprehensive phrase effecting that end. It is a misnomer in more senses than one, but has grown into general use, and in the absence of a better will no doubt continue in vogue. Hietory.—T'he first known attempt to record sound vibrations is that of Leon Scott. He constructed a machine which was designed to show a tracing on blackened paper, to which he gave the name Phon'aruto ‘graph. The apparatus consisted of a barrel about 18 inches long, 12 inches at its greatest diameter, and made of plaster of paris. One end was left open and the other closed by a solid bottom; in the centre of this was a brass tube, bent at anelbow and terminated by a ring, on which was fixed a flexible membrane 100 THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

which could be stretched to the required amount by means of a second ring. To the membrane, near the centre, a hog’s bristle was fixed by means of sealing wax, which obviously served as a stylus or recording point. Placed in front of the membrane was abrass cylinder, turning round on a horizontal screw axis, which was rotated by a handle, and round the cylinder a sheet of paper covered with a thin layer of lamp black was placed. It was used as follows: The bristle being brought in contact with the blackened paper the cylin der was rotated, and so long as no sound- was made the bristle merely traced the helical line of the screw axis, when a sound was made the diaphragm and bristle being agitated thereby, graphically traced an undulat ing line, which varied according to the sound made. It was found by this means that whenever a certain word or sentence was spoken, an absolutely indentical tracing resulted. Having got thus far, it does not seem to have occurred to the inventor that it might be possible by adopting suitable means to again render the soundls audible. The next step was made by Herr Koenig, who invented an apparatus to render sound visible. This consisted of a pear-shaped chamber divided in the centre by a gas tight india-rubber mem brane. Leading into one end of this was a coal gas» supply pipe, and also a pin hole gas burner, while the other finished in a speaking tube. A box-shaped, rotatable mirror being so adjusted that the gyrations of the gas flame from the pin hole burner might be observed therein, words were spoken into the tube, and the flame being alternately lengthened and shortened, a band of light, which rose into sharp crests and anon sank, was observable. In April, 1876, a Frenchman, Du Cros, deposited with the Academie des Sciences in Paris a. sealed packet, which, when opened at the December session of that institution, was found to con-- tain a theory as to how sound might be recorded, his idea being to construct a machine somewhat similar to the disc variety of the present day. Observe, however, he did notconstruct a machine, he only wrote a treatise Sta.ting his idea of how the desired end might be Tris TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 101

attained, and it remained for Edison to construct the first practical sound recording instrument, thus putting into practice what Du Cros had formulated in theory. Edison patented his first phonograph in Great Britain in 1876, and this was followed by an exceedingly detailed and improved machine, or rather machines, in 1877. It should be pointed out that Edison’s system of -record ing difi"ercd from that which has now been adopted. His first ma.chine consisted of a mandrel 0.f brass, scored with a deep helical groove, mounted on a screw axis, and so arranged that rotating the cylinder or mandrel caused it to advance in exactly the same period as the groove upon it. The cylinder was covered with tinfoil, and on one side of it the recorder (phonograph as Edison terms it) was fixed, on the other the repro ducer. The recorder was arranged to indent the foil into the prepared groove of the cylinder, and, says Edison in his 1877 specification, after considerable experim.ent and research he had succeeded in obtaining very fair results.

ELEVATION OF ED.ISON‘S ORIGINAL PHONOGRAPH.

It should be added that his 1877 machine used wax as a backing for the foil, Edison remarking that he was unable to use wax alone, as he forund it choked the point. In 1886 Messrs. Bell and Tainter became associated, and -the graphophone system resulted. They remark in their original patent specification: “We prefer to cut 102 THE TALKING MACHINE Encvcnoraanra.

our record in wax in contradistinetion to indenting.” f“The reader is referred to Phonograph for fuller details on these points Late in the nineties Dr. Berliner introduced hisdisc system, and although his methods of recording were crude, and the results obtained simply awful on account of the terrible scratch which the pas sage of the needle across the record generated, yet some degree of public favour was attained. Improvements were gradually effected, and the gramophone as we know it at the present day resulted. To follow out all the various improvements which have been eflected from 1886 to date would take more space than the present

PLAN OF EDI}S.Oi\"S ORIGINAL PHONOGRAPH.

volume affords ; in most instances they are merely modi fications and improvements of pre-existing types, in proof of which it may be pointed out that the Edison up-to-date machine is in ewentials the same as the 1877 model, while graphophones differ only slightly from the original models. In 1906 three different models of sound magnifying machines were introduced which really mark the first decided advance on the original- methods. They are graphically described elsewhere. There are three systems of sound reproducing at present in vogue: THE.TALKING Macnrms ENCYCLOPEDIA. 103

-(1)- The phonograph, using a- cylindrical ‘record; (2) disc machine, which reproduces a needle disc; (3) d1S.C machine using a disc.with a phonograph track. (l) The phonograph is deservedly- popular, in/asmu'chas ll- -enables its possessor to make .records at .home... The cylindrical record has a very smooth track, and thus -there are no scratching sounds to spoil the reproduction; further, the diameter being ..the same throughout an even repro.duction is assured throughout the selection. The disadvantages are that.the records are fragile, and beyond that a short standard has been fixed ; thus the selections have to be cut short. They also occu.-py. a relatively large space compared with disc records. (Z) _The needle disc machine has an extremely wide circle of They enjoy the following advantages: Owing Qto its form there is no need to limit records to a stan '“'clard size, hence the whole, or at least a large proportion “of -a.1-1y selection can be included.. From one causeor 'fanother the greatest u"ngers of the world have mostly made disc records only, thus the choice of artistes is greatly widened; thediscs take up little room, a large - number may be stored in a small so.ace, and this has fur ther been .economised byma.king double-sided records. .Tlie compensating disadvalntages are: an uneven repro duction due to the narrowing- of the circle as the record proceeds, frictional scratch which accompanies all repro -ductions, higher price of records as compared with cylinders. The phone discfcolnbines many of the 'a-dvantages of the former and latter types, and as such seems to have a big future before it. The system has not been before the public long, but it is already making rapid' strides in- favour. The -only disadvantage it possesses is that the circle of the track must be either -ever widening or ever narrowing as the record proceeds. By using a sapphire instead of a needle the scratch is .m-inimised'to suchan extent as to be practically- absent. .' 'Uses.—The uses of the talking machine are legion. -To' tanbulate a. few of the most important: (l)-H0rn.e entertainment ; (2) substitute f0r.orchestras for dancing; .(3)'record'ing sound; (4)-substitute for stenographer in business houses; (5) in newspaper. Qflicos, where, its 104 THE TALKING Macnmn Eucvcnomsnra. use will enable the reporter to read his copry instead of transcribing it; (6) public entertainment; (7) .pol1t1 cal weapon; (8) teaching of singing; (9) teaching of elocution; (10) teaching of languages; (11) aid to melmorising in general teaching; (12) demonstrating sound phenomena; (13) ethnological aid; (14) dissemi nation of music, and so on through a long category of benefits. Besides the above its effects are also impor tant.- Take, for instance, the fact that high-class music is by its agency taken to folks who would not otherwise have heard it, and you have an important factor in the musical education of the public here. Then, again, by its world-wide ramifications it brings the band or singers -of the most remote nations to your drawing-room, and thus the tendency to international amity and good feeling cannot but be strengthened. It is already being extensively used as a public entertainer, as witness the many concerts which have been given during the past season 1907-8. Its first appearance as a political weapon of any importance was in the London County Council elections of 1906. By its aid the party leaders and popular favourites are practically endowed with ubiquity, being able to address any number of meetings simultaneously. The Unionist party at the present time have many machines travelling up and down the country addressing the electors and endeavouring to win support for their cause. For teaching languages it has long been used ; records are procnrable which enable the student to attain absolute accuracy of pronunciation of the words and phrases in the accompanying text-books. Singing masters find it valuable in showing singers where their vocalisatiorn is at fault; it enables them, in efl’ect, to hold a mirror up for the pupil to see his or her errors in. As an ethnological instrument its value is simply incalculable. No longer is the science dependent ou the memory of the traveller alone. He takes a- machine with him and secures records of song and speech of the tribes visited. In this way a Vienna professor has collected recordsl of over 3,000 different languages and dialects, the value of which: it would be quite impossible to estimate. For sound experiments» it is THE TALKING Mncnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. 105 obviously pre-eminently fitted, such, for instance, as the .generation of beats, harmony, interference, etc., and 1t is needless to say the phono.graph is being largely used for this purpose. (See Berliner, Disc, Edison, Graphoe phone, Phonograph, Record, Recording, Reproduce)-, Sound Box.) TaP9l'95 Arl'T‘l- The to-nerarm fitted to the Gramo phone. It consists of a tube, cast in one piece, and tapering from the diameter of the'neek- of the sound box, about hzalf-an-inch to about 1% inches, the length being about nine inche in all. The horizontal swing is allowed for in the tone-a-rm bracket, a goose-neck on ..a simple swivel being put in to hold the sound-box and permit of the necessary up and down motion. (See Tone .Arm.) T9n$i0n-—Used in. connection with the talking machine to denote stretching or latera1 strain. (See 'T'ensioned Diaphragm, Tension Plate, Tension Screw, Tension Spring.) T9nsl0n9d DiaPhragm.-—A g¢.ret,¢he-¢1 dia_ phragm. The means usually adopted to effect this end are a screw ri11g and gaskets. The diaphragm is laid in place on a flat rubber ring (gasket), and another gasket is placed on top. A clamping screw ring is then screwed up, which creates a strain in tangential lines from the centre to the edge of the diaphragm. The Edison Model C, Lyric- (Columbia Company), and Sey mour Reproducer are examples. (See Reproducer, Lyric, Model C, Tension.) T9"5i0n P|at9-—~The plate which forms an integral part of the stylus bar of a needle sound box, which is -either vertically or laterally adjusted to the lower part .of the shell. By means of screws acting 0n to this plate, through small srpiral scprings, the strain on the centre of the diaphragm may be accurately adjusted. .(See Sound Box, Tension, Tension Screw, Tension Spring.) T9n9|0n PiV0t-—The means adopted by Messrs. 'Pathé Freres for creating a push on the centre of the diaphragm. The stylus bar has a conical projection on .106 THE TALKING Macnms ENCYCLOPEDIA.

either side, just above the stylus, both ends of which are continued to an apex; these rest in adjustable screw cups, clamped in turn by screw nuts. The reproduction is, therefore, a continual pull or push onthe diaphra-gm,. the whole stylus ba-r being a lever, the fulcrum of which is formed by the cones mentioned. Hence a tension pivot defines the device. T0l"l$i0l‘l 30l'9"!--—The small screws which are the means of increasing or decreasing the pressure 0n the tension plate of a disc sound box. (See Sound Box, Tension, Tension Plate, Tension Spring.) T9n$i0n 3PP‘ing-—(1) The means whereby the sapphire of the Lyric relproducer is deflected to the record. (See Lyric.) (2) The small spiral spring which is interposed between the screw head and tension plate of a| disc sound box. The object is to enable a strain to be placed on the plate without the screw touching- it, and thus conveying the sound to the sound box shell- The strain is also tensile, a distinct advantage. (See Sound Box, Tension Plate, Tenmon Screw.) T|"'99'VVaY Cl-lt, also termed phonograph cut; so called from the fact that the impressions rest all round. a U~sha-ped track. A sapphire with a hollow ground. face isused for recording, which scores the movements of the diaphragm at the same time as it cuts the helical groove. Hence the impressions are on both sides and at the bottom of the -U, i.e., on three sides, hence the

term. The system was introduced by Messrs. Bell and‘. .Ta'inter in 1886, as distinct from the original Edison method of indenting in tinfoil.- By this means the. Tm: TALKING Macnmn Excvcnoraazma. 107 whole of the sound wave, both trough and crest, finds a 'place in the track instead of trough only. (See Edison, Graphophone, Phonograpll, Record, Recorder, Reproducing, Talking Machine.) T0n0 Arm-—~A system now universally adopted for disc reproductions. It consists of a tube, one end of which is fixed so as to allow of the necessary movements to a conveniently shaped bracket, while the sound box is fitted to the other. The original method of disc repro duoing was to attach the sound box direct.to the end of the trumpet. It was felt that this left something to be desired, inasmuch as it was difiicult to adjust a large trumpet to the instrument, and beyond that the horn could only project in one particular direction. The tone-arm consists of a. tube cast in one piece. The trumpet is put on a collar, which drops in the bracket immediately above the orifice of the tone arm, this latter, therefore, forming a stem or taper, which gradually amplifies the diaphragm’s vibrations. S0 successful has the system proved [while the tonal results are made much better by suppressing defects in records considerablyl, that the tone arm has come into universal use. The Columbia Company have evolved a cast aluminium tone arm, which they fit to all models of their disc machines, and they have introduced a phono graph lately which embodies the first adaptation of the tone arm principle to the cylinder machine. (See Disc Machlne, Goose Neck, Gramophone, Tapered Arm.) .T0n9 Arm ‘Bra¢k9tl-—

-EXAMPLE: SEYMOUR R.EPRODUCER..

.Tr\ll"l'\P0'l-—A tapering tube, the effect 0.f which is to amplify the vibrations which the diaphragm renders audible. As with most things the trumpet was gradually evolved rather than immediately hit upon.. Studying the original Edison machine we find the nucleus of the trumpet, as we know it to-daly, in the small mouthpiece that was attached to the reproducer. The inventor appeat'.s to have considered that the mouth piece might be considerably improved upon, for in his 1887 model we find the first real attempt at a trumpet in an acutely tapered stem, a few inches long, which was attached to the reproducer neck. When talking machines were first put on the market the possibilities in this direction had not apparently been realised, for we find a series of small india-rubber hearing tubes were THE TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. 109

fitted, the number varying according to the audience that it was desired to entertain. We believe it was in 1896. that the first large trumpet was introduced, under the name of the loud speaking phonograph; we remem ber that the first demonstration created quite a sensa tion. From that time the hearing tubes began to decline, until now they have almost entirely disappeared. The theory of amplification will be apparent from a study of the accompanying diagram. It will be seen- that the lines (which are theoretical and not of any actual note) are ever widening as they pass along the horn; thus they increase in width, which, as we learn under the heading Sound, is amplitude or intensity.

TRUMPET WITH SOUN D W7-\\'ES (THEO.RETICAL). The principal shapes of horns at present on the market are: (1) Tapered seamed brass, with a flare; (2) tapered seamless brass; (3) seamlem spun aluminium ; (4) flower horns. We will take them in the order named. (1) These are made in many sizes, ranging from 14 inches to 56 inches in length, and from 7 inches to 21 inches 110 THE TALKING MAC}lINE EN(.‘.YCLOPzED.|.A

in width. They are made by cutting out a segment of sheet brass and seaming it, a curved bell or flare portion being then mounted thereon. (2) Seamless brass horns are not seamless in reality, only in effect. They are made by cutting out a segment of sheet brass, tongueing the edges, bringing them together and brazing; afterwards they are hammered out to give them. a bell or flare on a conveniently shaped block. (3) Aluminium horns are spun from a flat sheet of metal on the chuck of a lathe, and are, therefore, seamless. (4) Flower horns are made of several pieces joined together by folding the edges one in the other. Experience having proved that brass lends a colouring to the repro duction, which, however va.luable it may be for band and instrumental work, is not desirable for vocal, it is best to coat numbers one and two with enamel, which deadens the effect. The following points may be said to summarise the position with regard to trumpets: (1) Metal horns cannot be used for recording, owing to the fact that they have a fundarmental note, which may be excited in the course of rendering the selection. (2) The best length for a horn for ordinary reproducing purpose is 42 inches by 14 inches across the hell. (3) Various metals give different results. For vocal work lead is good, as it has the lowest sound conducting velocity, yet steel, second only to iron in the velocity with which it conducts sound, is if anything better. (4) This postulates a further consideration, which we find in gauge of metal used. If brass were used of the same -gauge as hammered steel it is to be assumed that it would give a better result. (5) The thicker the metal used, up to a certain point, the more solid will the resul tant reproduction be. (6) Metal horns must be insu lated from tone arm. brackert, floor stand, or reproducer neck. (7) Seamless horns are much better than seamed, inasmuch as they have no loose joints to rattle. (8) The choice is, therefore, directed to a. brass horn, of solid material, which should be enamelled to deaden it. (9) Seams being discriminated against, it follows that the flower hoctn, with its multitudinous seams, cannot be recommended for a p-hQnQ-gq-a,ph.. (10) MM“, THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 111’ horns being spun are necessarily very thin, and so alas) is the resultant reproduction. (11) \Vhere a. seamed horn is used, the tendency to rattling can be overcome by stretching rubber bands at intervals along its length, or by gumming some fabric along the seams. (12) The object of fitting a flare to a trumpet for reproducing 1s to provide a solid body behind the sounds, thus bodying- them up and assisting in giving the sound direction. Where -the reproduction. leaves the diaphragm well spread out into detail, as is the case with the cylindrical type of machine, a long, gradual taper, with a small flare, is naturally the best form for the trumpet to take. The disc reproducton is different, however; the vibra tions leave the diaphragm in a mo.re condensed state, and here a gradual taper, with a wide opening flare, proves the most effectual. The reason why a heavier gauge of rnetal gives a better reproduction, is that it is less liable to be set into sympathetic vibration by the passage of sonorous impulse through it. It being impossible to .a|tta-ch a large horn direct to the reproducer neck, a stand becomes necessary to sustain it, and a flexible tube to join the horn to reproduoer. We advise the use of a moulded rubber connector which can be obtained almost anywhere. Recording horns must not have any flare, as this feature will prevent much of the sound entering, by throwing vibration back across the path the other sound is travelling, deertroying part 0.f the effeot by in .terference. The reader is referred to Recording Trum pets for full informatiorn on this point. From the fore going it will be obvious that to get a good reproduction a large horn is essential, the object being to open out the otherwise intense sounds that leave the diaphragm. To test this it is only necessary to listen to a record without the aid orf a trumpet, the sounds generated being so intense as to become painful to listen to. Signs are multiplying on every hand that the trumpet, as an instrument for amplifying, will soon become a thing of the past. In this direction we notice the Gramophone Grand, the amplification being performed by the lid of the cabinet, which closes the instrument. This provides an adjustable volume and is an advance in every way. 112 THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Another instance is the Klingsor Cabinet .machine, where the amplification is assisted by a sounding board and wires similar to the string board of an autoharrp. (See Recording, Recording Horn, Reproducing, Talking Machine, Trumpet Collar, Trumpet Connector.) Tr\lmP9t C0lla-r.--'l‘he curved union fitted to the trumpet to provide a convenient means of attaching it to the tone arm bracket. lt is curved so as to prevent the trumpet from projecting vertically upwards, and thus directing the sound towards the ceiling, and also to allow 0.f the sound being projected in any direction without moving. the machine. Usu.ally the trumpet is arranged to screw on, but it is also slotted in, and in some cases soldered. (See Disc Machine, Tone Arm, Trumpets.) T"-lmP9t Uni0l‘l-—Another name for the connec tor used to attach the ferrule to the reproducer neck in the case of a cylinder machine. They are of two differ ent varieties: (1) Moulded rubber; (2) braided wire, fitted with metal ends. (See Connector, Trulnpets.) T\lrntabl9-—The circular plate of metal, covered with baize or velvet, fitted to a disc machine to bear the record. (See Disc, Disc Machine, Horizontal Motor.) T\"‘n‘|Iab|9 AXi$-—The spindle which bears the turntable, and also, by being made to project above the turntable, forms the pivot for the record. Owing to the fact that the weight of turntable (often as much as 2§l-bs.) is continually pressing downwards, it has been found that the lOw€l1' bearing quickly wears out. To obviate this as much as possible, a small plate of hardened steel- is so screwed to the frame that it bears a portion of the weight. (See Disc, Disc Machine, Hori zontal Motor, Motor.) TW0'WaY c0l‘ltl'0|-—A two-ended friction pad. Experience has demonstrated that where both speed screw and start and stop lever work by the same arm on to the friction disc of the governor, that having only- one friction p.ad means pressure will be exercised on one side of the disc only when the motor is at rest. As we

.___.._-_4P_.-,-d...... —---.—-A-_ _ A THE TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. 113

have pointed out elsewhere, a spiral spring is fitted to the free end of this arm, and the whole strength of this spring pressing on to the disc in one spot has a tendency to throw it out of truth. At first the effect may be slight, but a continued strain results in one of the governor blades pulling at its end setting and thus becoming looser, and so spreading wider than its fellows. When this happens the governor describes an elliptic course, instead of a perfect circle, and the effect is much the same as if one of the gear wheels were bent, intense vibration is set up» in the motor, and it does not run evenly. The device under notice is to end the arm in a horseshoe, with a pad at each end. This is pivoted- to the main portion of the arm, and the pads exercise even pressure on the governor disc; hence the effect mentioned can never be generated in a motor which knows this contrivance. (See Friction Disc, Friction Pad, Governor, Motor.) TWQ-Way Cl-It The needle disc cut is so-celled from the fact that the track it bears resembles the letter V, the vibrations being alternate sinuosities on either

side thereof. See diagram. (See Berliner, Disc, Disc Machine, Needle, Record, Recording, Rerp-roducjngy Sound Box.) Ul’\|0nu T"-lmP9t-—See Trumpet Union. U-C\lt-—See Three-way Cut. V-Cl-It-—See Two-way Cut. VaO\l\lI1‘l-—An empty clhamber devoid of air. The usual method of obtaining a- vacuum is to nest a bell I 114 THE TALKING Macnmn ENCYCLOPEDIA. glass into a rubber washer, the receiver of an air pump being connected with the interior. By pumping the air in the glass is exhausted. A vacuum is a necessary feature to the gold moulding process of duplicating records. (See Gold Mould, Moulding.) V9l'ti0aI |V|0t0r- A motor so fixed in the frame that all the parts work in a vertical direction. Motors of this type are invariably fitted to phonographs and all cylinder machines. The term is used to distinguislh this form from the horizontal motors of disc machines. A horizontal motor works on vertical spindles, and a vertical motor on horizontal spindles. For a description of the motor scheme the article Motor should be referred to. The vertical motor has an advantage over the hori zontal in that the stress of wear and tear is evenly dis tributed between the two end bearings of the shafting ; we do not know that any other‘ advantage can be claimed for it. Where the inertia is, as in the cylinder machine, a horizontal mandrel revolving vertically, it will be sufliciently obvious tha - it is most convenient for the transmission of power to arrange for the motor to work in the same manner. (See Gear, Governor, Motor, Phonograph, Talking Machine.) Vibra‘!i0n$-—The vibrations which .concern us here are sonorous vi-b.ratiorns. As will appear under that article, Sound is a vibratory motiorn ; were it not so it would not be possible to obtain an engraving from which to reproduce it, i.e., recording would be impossi ble. The number of vibrations per second determine the pitch, another fact which is relied on to make a record. This is most clearly demonstrated from the result obtained. Carefully inspect a. record of a piccolo for example, and note how close the small hills and dales are together in the track; as a contrast, look at a record of a bass voice, and you will notice the marks are much farther apart. Now you will be aware that both records run at the same speed, and there must be some reason why the marks are closer in the former than they are in the latter instance. Clearly as there are more for a high note, there are more vibrations in a- given space of time, and as there are less for a low THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 115 note there 'are less vibrations required to produce it. Now we have said sound is vibration, therefore, when sounds are made at the mouth of the recording horn, vibrations pass down it, and striking the diaphragm cause it to move in exact unison with them. It is by this means that the stylus is made to engrave the im pressions which enable us to ensure sound reproduction. (See Edison, Gramophone, Grapliophone, Phonograph, Record, Recorder, Recording, Reproducecr, Reproducing Sound, Talking Machine.) Vibrat|0n$: Fa|$9-—See False Vibrations, Blast ing, Overtones. Vl~l|¢ani1l9, or Ebonite, is formed by making a mix ture in the following proportions: 70 to 80 per cent. india-rubber, and from. 20 to 30 per cent. sulphur, sub jecting them to a certain temperature by steam heat, the resultant product differing entirely from rubber, being a black, hard, horny substance, which takes a high polish and is an excellent non-conductor of elec tricity. Vulcanite is used for making sound box, repro ducer, and recorder shells, and has also been extensively experimented with as a material for diaphragms, but not very successfully, owing to the fact that it is not homogeneous enough, and therefore does not render all sounds equally, some being rich and full, others inclined to whistle and shrill. wax 39tting-—Refe1rs to a method of fixing the -diaphragm by cementing down with resin wax. This fixing has fallen into desuetude, so far as reproducers are concerned, but many recording diaphragms are fixed in the frame by this means. It gives a very firm grip to the diaphragm, which is valuable for recording, but has been superseded by the adjustable screw ring in the reproducer. (See Screw Ring, Tension.) W9ights Ba|anC9-—See Balance Weight, Model C. W0l'm F996-—-A mechanical device, by means of which a vertical spindle is rotated by a horizontal shafting. The spindle ha.s a number of teeth set at the .correct angle to meet a screw worm, which is fixed at 116 THE TALKING Macnmn Encvcnormnm. the end of the shaft. Rotating the latter causes the spindle to revolve, and a very silent and steady motion. is thus obtained. It is usually adapted to the disc motor, where this is set to work vertically. (See Motor.) W|'l99|$: 00g-—See Cog Wheels, Gear Motor. X¥|0n|t9, or \Cellu,'loid, consists essentially of a solid solution of the lower nitrates of cellulose in cam phor. The process of mauufacture is a lengthy one. The cellulose, in the form of bleached cotton or tissue paper, is immersed in a mixture of certain proportions of nitric and sulphuric acids. The nitric acid must not be too strong, so as to avoid the formation of the explosive and insoluble hexanitrate or gun cotton. As, however, the water produced in the chemical reaction progressively weakens the acids, the temperature of the bath has to be so regulated as to compensate for the loss of strength, and ranges from 20 deg. to 30 deg. Cent. After about half an hour the acids are run ofi and finally squeezed out of the pulp as far as possible- by a hydraulic press. The nitro-cellulose, now in a compact cake, is broken up, thoroughly washed, bleached by the aid of permanganate or bleaching- powder, and again washed and freed from water by pressure. The cake is again broken up, mixed with flake camp-hor, pigment, or dye, and often with napthalene, oils, or other substances. The mixture is then filled into boxes, each layer being sprinkled with a bare sufiiciency of alcohol or other solvent, and the whole is allowed to soak for some time, when it settles down into a dough. To render the mass homogeneous, it is cut in pieces and kneaded under steel rollers that can be warmed by steam. From these it is again cut in sheets, a number of which are placed together and welded into a solid block by hydraulic pressure. A planing machine cuts from the block sheets of any thickness required, and these can be moulded into shape. Weeks or, in the case of thick pieces, months are occu pied in drying off the solvent used for the camphor. The process is carried out in heated chambers, and is always attended by more or less shrinkage. When finished the material is tough and hard, and in elasticity Tan TALKING M»-cr11NE Eucvcnoraanm. 117

rivals ivory, like which it may be planed, carved, or turned in the lathe. The colour without pigment is bull, and the nature of the pigment used affects the specific gravity, which averages about 1.4. It is not explosive, but is easy to kindle, and burns vigorously. Oelluloid becomes plastic at 125 deg. Cent., and it can be readily welded at this temperature. It was first made in England by Parkes of Birmingham in 1856. Many attempts h.ave been made to use celluloid in the manufacture of disc and cylinder records, and also for diaphragms. Heavily backed with plaster of paris it was fairly successful for cylinder records, but the ten dency of the plaster to chip out and make the machine dirty- led to its being dropped. We believe that the Columbia Company are experimenting at the present time with a view to using xylonite as a materal for their new flexible discs, but it is yet too early to say with what success. The principal objection to its use for diaphragms is that it is speedly affected by heat. On a warm- day, for ;instance, it will -bend right out of shape, and it may or may not resume a correct level on the weather becoming cooler. Apart from this, it gives a powerful clear reproduction, which is in many features better than that obtained with any other substance. It has a ready recovery, practically instantaneous. is easily flexible, and takes a small dome best. (See Diaphragms, Reproducer, Reproducing, Talking Machine.) ADDEN DA.

Amb9r0| R6¢0rd-—The term refers to a new cylinder record, the invention of Mr. T. A. Edison. From one cause or a-nother the usual thread of a cylin der record has become standardized at 100 threads—or turns—to the inch; such is the ordinary cylinder. Now the speed at which a record is played is 160 revolutions per minute, as appears elsewhere, hence 1 3-5 inches pass under the reproducer in that time, and, as the recrded surface is only anbout 3% inches in length, the average playing time is about two minutes. It is therefore impossible to record compositions in their entirety, and thus much beautiful music has been ruined by the “ cutting” that has been resorted to in order to compress it into recordable oom pass. Realising this Edison has spent a long time —about two yea.rs—in perfecting a system of recording with 200 threads to the inch. The difiiculties in the way were enormous. As we have pointed out under Recording, it is a matter of extreme difliculty to manu facture a blank which will allow of 100 threads to the inch being engraved on its surface; add to this the care which we have seen has to be expended in grinding and polishing thestylus, and the wonder of this achieve ment will be enhanced. The Amberol is claimed to be the longest playing record on the market, having a reproduction e¢xtending—on an average—over four minutes. Many compositions, which it is impossble to place on a standard size cylinder, can now be re corded, and most songs rendered in full. (See Edison, Phonogra-ph, Record, Recording.) B|ank-—T'he blank cylinder or disc on which selec tions are originally recorded. Owing to the fact that the blank has to be mechanically engraved, and that the engraving force is weak, the blank must of neoossit be formed of a soft material, e.g., wax soap», to which \-.‘ THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 119 article the reader is referred for information as to the compound. When engraved the blank is copied by suit able means (see M.atrixing, Moulding), and from the permanent moulds or dies the commercial record is made. CablI"l9t MaOl'l|I‘l9-—-Th'at form of machine which does not require a trumpet, the amplification of the sounds arising from the diaphragm being attained by a sound chamber. The design is somewhert as follows. A cabinet of varying shape, four feet in height, is con structed, and at the top the usual clockwork motor and turntable are fitted. The tone arm curves downward instead of upyacrd, and is continued to a chamber, the shape of which is somewhat in the form- of the ordinary horn, the walls\ being composed of thin wood to serve the purpose of a sounding board. This chamber is located under the motor, as aforesaid, and is usually closed by double doors. A means of modification is thus provided, as when the doors are wide open the fullest volume is 0.btained, the volume being reduced by pushing them to. The pride of these ‘machines is naturally high, as, generally speaking, the cabinets are made of the best woods. The demand is, however, con siderable, the talking mac1l1ine'—in this form~—be=ing a handsome piece of furniturre. -C0nV9rsi0n D9Vi¢9s.-—We use the term in refer ence to devices for converting ordinary needle sound boxes into sound-boxes for reproducing phono-cut discs. Such, for example, as the sound-boxes fitted to the Tournaphone and Star disc machines, and also the Trois Sapphire needle. The reader is referred to Two-Way Out for a descriptioni of the needle disc track; and, further, it will be well known that the position of the needle sound-box diaphragm is vertical from, and parallel along, the track of the disc. The phono-disc bears what is known as the three-way cut, the motion being up and down. This necessitates the diaphragm being in- a different position for reproducing purposes, usually vertical from and facing right across the track. The conversion devices mentioned as fitted to Tournaphone and Star machines are eccentric swivels 120 THE TALKING Macnmr. ENCYCLOPEDIA.

of one form or another, either placing the diaphragm at an angle of 45 deg. to the plane of the phono-d1-W (.star), or making the diaphragm face the record (Tournaphone). DiaPhragm-—See page 10 for general remarks. . F'ilamentz'ne.—A diaphragm made of three composi tions, the formulae of which are a secret. Briefly, the process consists of lacquering two mutually neutralising compounds on to a suitable base. Hence the effects of heat and cold are neutralised, the resultant reproduction being alike in all conditions of temperature. Flea:.—A diaphragm compom of a composition, de tails of which are a; secret. The principal feature of the diaplmagm. is that ray-like ribs pass from a point near the centre to the edge of the film, narrowing as they go, hence the resistance is less at the edge than in the centre. A simulation of a built-up diaphragm is thus obtained. (See Built-up Diaphragm, Diaphragm, etc.) G73-Vity F996-—A means whereby the tone-arm is urged across the surface of the needle disc record. It consists of a slpirral spring placed in the tone arm bracket, and acting on the tone arm itself. The object of the device is to relieve the record track of the onus of moving the sound-box across the surface. K||ng$0r-—The term refers to a form of talking machine which is enclosed in a casing, the object being to effect an increase in the fulness of the sound and enrichment of the tone. A casing is provided with a series of strings, which are caused to vibrate by the sound waves, by placing the said strings on a sound ing", board, on to which board the reproduced sound im pinges. In appearance the machine resembles an up right bookcase, the upper part containing the stringed sounding board and the lower part the motor and tone arm.. It should be remarked that this is a machine for disc records only. Pa15519 30\"\d B0X-—~A sound box constructed to reproduce the phono-cut disc only. It diff*‘e|zs consider ably from the needle sound box, elsewhere described, the following being the principal points in which .it varies therefrom: (1) The diaphragm faces across the surface of Tm: TALKING Macmma Eucvcnormnm. 121

.the disc record track, whereas the needle sound box faces along the said tnanok ,' (2) It is so constructed that the head of the stylus bar presses against the centre of the diap|hragm., wllllfill is arranged by pivoting the stylus bar on the sound box shell in a convenient manmer; (3) The reproducing point is an unwearab1e ball sapphire -~ointed needle, which does not require changing, whereas the needle sound box uses an sharp-pointed steel needle, which has to be changed for each reproduction. As will be apparent from a perusal of the article Phono Disc, the track or groove tl1ere'0f difl"ers' from that of the Ber liner disc, in that it is a U-shaped groove with the sound impressions located around the lower portion of 'theU, while the latter bears a V-shaped track, which ex

poses altornate widenings and narrowings in its passage under the needle. \Ve have said that the dianhrragm of the Pathe Sound Box faces across the track, and a fur ther point to be noted is that the stylus engages the record at an angle of 45 deg. to the plane formed by the turntable (see illustration). As the record revolves under the sound box the series of hills and dales in the track (which form the sound waves) momentarily raise or lower the stylus,.. which action is conveyed to the dia phragm in the form of a pull or push, by means of the stylus bar pivot previously mentioned. By making that portion of the stylus bar which moves the inertia (dia phragm) longer than that on which the force acts (the needle holder), the agitation, or power, is amplified. 'Tlre arrangement is that of a simple mechanical lever, the fulcrumr being the pivot of the stylus bar. 122 THE TALKING MACHINE Encvcnoraanm.

Pr0min9nt Talking Ma¢hin9 Firms and their 3P9¢ialiti9s- Rnconns AND MACHINES.—~ALPHABETICAL Lrsm. BARNETT SAMUEL AND Sons, LTD. Dulcephone.—Disc machines. Fonotipia|.—D0rub1e-sided disc records (needle cut)- —12-in., 65. to 25s. ; 10%-in., 65. to 12s. and higher- Jumbo.—Double-sided disc records (needle c.ut|).— 10-in., 3s. Ode|orn.—Do1Lb1e-sided disc; records (needle cut).— 12-in., 6s.; 102--1111., 4s. BEKA Rnconn C0. Double-sided disc records (needle cut).—Meister 12 in., 691. 6d.; 10-in., 3s.; 8-in., ls. 10d.; 7-in., 1s. 6d. . Single-sided disc records (need.le crut).—11-in., 25 6d.; 10-in., 2s.; 8-in., 1s. 3d.; 7-in., ls. Bmmnnnn ANDRES AND Co. Homophone disc records (needle cut).—10-in., double sided, 3s. BRITISH Zouopnomz Co. Zonoprhone disc machines. Disc records. Single-s1'ded (needle cut).—10-in.. (Grand Opera), 3s. ;. 10-in. (ordinary), 2s. COLUMBIA Pnonocrmrn Co. Graphophones. Disc and cylinder machines. Double-face disc records (needle cut\).—12-in. (Cele-- brita.), 6s.; 12-in. (ordinary), 5s.; 10-in., 3s. Single--face (needle cut).~—-12-in., 39. ; 10-in. (Grand' Opera), 3s.; 10-in. (ordinary), 2s. Cy1inders.—X.P. Standard, 1s.; Premier 6-in., 2s. EDISON BELL CONSOLIDATED PHONOGRAPH Co., LTD. Ph-0nographe. Disc machines for both needle amf phone cub records. Cylinders (N.P.), 1s.; Xtra long, 9d. Double-sided discs (needle cut).—10-in., 2s. 6d. Doulble-sided discs.—phorn0 eut.—10-in., 2s. ; 8%-in., 1s. 6d. GRAMOPHONE Co., LTD. Gramophones. Disc maohines. Single-sided disc- 1‘€|cord‘s1 (needle cut).— THE TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA. 123

Celebrita, 10-in.,. from 6s. to 30s. ; 10-in., from 6s. to 25s. Concert, 12-in., 5s. 6d.; 10-in., 3s. 6d. INTERNATIONAL FAVORITE Rnconn Co., LTD. Excelsior diso machines. Double-sided records (needle cut(..—12.,- 5s. ; 10-in., 3s. S.ingle-scidedl records (needle eut).—12-in., 4s. H. LANGs’s Succnssons. Klingsor Cabinet machines. NATIONAL PHONOGRAPH Co., LTD. Edison phonographs. Amberol cylinders, 1s. 6d.; Sflandiacrd cylinders, ls. PATHE FRERr.s,, Lrn. Pathephones (machines for phorno-cut discs). Double sided records (phone .cut),—11-in. (De Luxe), ' 4.51.; 9%-in. (Standard), 2s.; 8%-in. (Popular), 1s. 6d. PREMIER MANUFACTURING Co, LTD. Clarion double-sided dies records (phono cut).—10-in. in., 2s. 6d. Clarion cylinder records.—Standard, 9d. TWIN Rnconn Co. ' D0~uble-sided disc. records (needle cut).—1“O-in., 2s. 6d. R9¢0l'd R9ViV9r$-—The terms refers to substances used for reviving worn records and reducing the scratch which arises from the roughened surface thereof. There are two such oompounds on the market: (1) Voxo; (2) Shlflfiflld. Record Reviver; both of which partake of the nature of dry lubricants and improve the reproduction by smoothing the worn portions of the track. The formulas of these compounds are secrets. R98‘!-l|at|l18' 3(=l'9W-—This feature is common to practically every model of talking machine made, both disc and cylinder. It is a mechanical device, by means of which an arrn is depressed on’ to the friction disc of the governor, which is thus nrevented from running at a greater speed than the position of the screw permits. (See Friction Disc, Friction Pad, Governor, Motor.) 30\lnd B0x, C0nV9rtib|9.-—A S01md.b»0-x which can be used- for reproducing either needle or phono-cut 124 Tm: TALKING MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

discs. The conversion is accom-plished; in various ways. (See Conversion Devices). S0\lnd M0d\llat0r-—Means of decreasing the vol ume of sound generated by the diaphragm’s motion. There are at present two methods of accomplishing this adjutedend: (1) A to screw press capped on the with centre washleather, of the sound-box which may dia

phragm, according to the degree of loudness desired, the modification being achieved by checking the motion of the diaphragrn. This is adopted by the Columbia Phono gvaph Company. (2) By placing a suitable contrivance in the tone-arm, the means adopted in the Star machines. This consists of a trumpet-shaped fitting, the 'fervru1e end being drilled with several small holes. A slide is provided on the outer surface of the tone-arm, and. by pushing this slide towards the sound-box the perfora tions are sealed and full volume results. When the slide is drawn away from the sound-box the perforations are exposed and fully 50 .per cent. of the sound escapes to be choked in a hermetically sealed chamber. WaX 30aP-—(1) The composition of which blank cylinders are composed. The requirements of the com pound are as follows: (a) That it shall be insoluble in water; (b) humid weather must not affect it; (c) as it must invariably give a dry chip both in recording and shaving; (d) it must not volatise, otherwise a rough surface will result when the cylinder is subjected to the copper bath ; (e) it must be clean cutting; (f) and must be capable of taking a deep cut without chinoing in any way. and the cutting itself must have perfectly smooth, highly polished walls. Amongst others the following materials may be used: Stearine, ceresin, beeswax, para ffin, czketrite, canruba, spermacertti, and many less im portant mineral and vegetable waxes. Any of the above are quite useless alone, hence they are used in varying quantities, according to the degree of hardness, dryness, and fnee cutting. without a tendency to viscosity, de sired in the finished cylinder. Ceresin is generally the base and principal ingredient of the compound, as this wax is the nearest approach to the desired condition. The exact formula is one of the most jealously guarded Tnn TALKING Macnmn Eucvcnormnm. 125 secrets of the trade, and although it is an open secret that many of the above-mentioned waxes are used in the compound, we are in a position to say that various manufacturers use different quantities. (2) A some» what similar combination of waxes is used for the manu facture of the material of which the commercial moulded- record is made, pitch or other material being added to- make it hard. W00d9fi H0l'l1-—A form of sound amplifying trum pet lately introduoed, which is claimed to considerab'ly' improve the quality of the reproduction. It is formed of various woods, and owing to the difficulties of b,end' ing to shape, is somewhat highly priced. Z0ra—A sound-box designed to play both phono cut and needlecut discs, arranged in such a manner that . the fitting of the needle lifts the sapphire out of en gagement, and when the needle is removed sapphire discs may be played without the trouble of fitting a. sapphire needle.

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All machines are of best and solid wood, either in Oak. Mahog any or Walnut. British made throughout. and are specially adapted for transport. as they will stand any change in temperature.

THE SULLIVAN £5 10¢. (Open)

They are fitted with the best motor in the Market: “the well known and famous Excelsior Motor.”

H. |.8l1!IB’S SIIBBBSSUPS, 2|, Little Portland Street, Oxford Circus, W. Tl-IE SULLIVAN. £5 10!. ESTABLISH ED 1 854. (Closed). Oak or Mahogany. :T€Ieph0nc Ho. : 12239 Central. Telegraphic ficldress: “ Langius, London.”

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