Phonograph.Pdf

SILS - Spring 2020 HI307 MEDIA HISTORY: Four Modern Revolutions Graham Law Sound & Sight (1): Phonograph Structure of today’s presentation  I Phonograph Technology – Precedents & terminology – Early choices – Phonograph timeline – After the phonograph  II Phonograph Sociology – Phonograph functions – Production/Consumption models – Economic indicators – Subculture: Phonograph & Fashion I. Phonograph Technology Precedents & Terminology <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"> Precedents </li><li style="flex:1"> Terminology </li></ul>– photography – electric telegraphy – telephony – wireless telegraphy – “registering sound” (Ozanne) – “talking-machine” (Edison) – musical scores – music boxes – phonautography (registering sound visually) – “phonograph” (US/Edison) – sound – writing (Gk) – “gramophone” (UK) – character – sound (Gk) – phonography (phonetic shorthand) Nadar (Fr. Photographer) predicted in 1860s: “an acoustic daguerreotype which faithfully …reproduces all the sounds subjected to it” “a box in which melodies can be caught & fixed, as the camera obscura does with images” Edison: “I was experimenting on an automatic method of recording telegraph messages on a disk of paper laid on a revolving platen … From my experiments on the telephone I knew of the power of a diaphragm to take up sound vibrations …” F.D. Dyer & T.C. Martin, Edison: His Life and Invention (1910) I pp. 206-8 Early technical options  Recording/playback media  Recording/playback device – cylinder vs. disk • fidelity – mechanical vs. electrical power (motor) – horn vs. speaker – metal needle vs. crystal stylus • reproducibility • storage – tinfoil (embossing) vs. wax (engraving) – vertical (up-and-down) vs. lateral (side-to-side) tracking Rough Phonograph Timeline <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"> Technical </li><li style="flex:1"> Institutional </li></ul><ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">– double-sided disks (1910s) </li><li style="flex:1">– Edison, Berliner, Bell, etc (1880s) </li></ul>– Columbia, Victor, HMV (1890s-) – song-charts (US Phonoscope, 1896) – magazines (UK Gramophone 1923) – radio airing (1920s) – radiograms (1930s) – shellac >> vinyl (1940s) – auto-players (1940s) – long-playing records [lps] (1950s) – mono >> hifi/stereo (1950s) – elaborate sleeve artwork (1960s) – colored discs (1970s) – radio “disk jockeys” & coin “juke boxes” (1930s) – TV chart shows (1950s) After the Phonograph  Analog  Digital (1970s-) – early strip and wire recorders (1890s-) – DAT – CD (& MD) – reel-to-reel magnetic tape (1930s-) – cassette tape (1960s-) – streaming (mp3 etc) – computer storage (HD etc) – portability • portable radio-cassette players • car stereos – portable digital audi devices • walkman II. Phonograph Sociology Phonographic Functions  Edison’s 10 practical applications – as dictation machine – to create auditory books for the blind etc. – to record lessons e.g. in elocution – for recording musical performances – for creating auditory family records – in musical boxes and toys  Writing/Reading Sound – record (production) – playback (reception)  Sound Content – speech – in speaking clocks – for auditory advertising – music – for preserving celebrity speeches – as answer-phone machine – other (natural, mechanical, …)  Social Function – informational “The Phonograph and its Future” North American Review – educational #126 (May-June 1878), pp. 527-36 – aesthetic (art/entertainment) User models: <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1"> Consumption-oriented </li><li style="flex:1"> Creation-oriented </li></ul>– recording focus – user active – like photographs – playback focus – user passive – like books – cf. sheet music & piano – bourgeois society – media (records etc.) as commodities – pub singalong – serial issue – still consumption of – major device updates – added intellectual property rights hardware, blank media, etc See: Michael Chanan, Repeated T a kes (1995)  Booms and slumps in phonograph / Economic Indicators: record sales, e.g. Edison Co. Quantity of Disc Phonographs and Disc Records Sold Radio-Phonograph Division Accounting Department Report to W. H. Meadowcroft, April 9, 1929) Disc Phonographs Domestic Export Disc Records Domestic 3,446,070 Export <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Total to Dec. 31st, 1915 </li><li style="flex:1">95,889 </li></ul>73, 332 77,304 68, 749 121,539 140,149 32,963 59,606 65,925 31,900 13,977 9,906 ...... 252 ...... <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">16,590 </li><li style="flex:1">Jan. 1, 1916 to Feb. 28. 1917 </li></ul>Mar. 1, 1917 to Feb. 28, 1918 Mar. 1, 1918 to Feb. 28, 1919 Mar. 1, 1919 to Feb. 29, 1920 Mar. 1, 1920 to Feb. 28, 1921 Mar. 1, 1921 to Feb. 28, 1922 Mar. 1, 1922 ro Feb. 28, 1923 Mar. 1, 1923 to Feb. 29, 1924 Mar. 1, 1924 to Feb. 28, 1925 Mar. 1, 1925 to Dec. 31, 1925 Jan. 1, 1926 to Dec. 31, 1926 Jan. 1, 1927 to Dec. 31, 1927 Jan. 1, 1928 to Dec. 31, 1928 2,621,113 3,351,098 3,260,534 7,163,028 7,596,856 4,595,030 3,626,481 3,877,450 2,732,163 1,586,336 1,422,599 685,247 1,707 791 42,086 65,478 2,135 1,758 1,273 2706 4,226 4,211 4,718 4,496 3,085 2,403 131,612 124,224 144,826 157,739 145,028 200,006 193,105 212,643 122,515 88,733 7,311 <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">12,917 </li><li style="flex:1">405,797 </li></ul>Source: Edison National Historic Site <http://www.nps.gov/edis/home.htm> Subculture: Phonograph, Dance & Fashion  Pre-war, e.g. – ragtime (e.g. Scott Joplin)  Inter-war, e.g. – tango, big bands, & jazz  Post-war. e.g. – 1950s: rock and roll – 1960s: mods & rockers – 1970s: glam rock & punk rock See: Dick Hebdige, Subculture: The Meaning of Style (1979) Discussion Session Over to You Questions & Comments

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