[NJARC] Record speeds

[Harry]

Alex,

I'd be very interested in getting a copy of your dissertation when it
is published.  Will you be making a general announcement through the
club when it becomes available?  What is the subject?  Thanks.

Harry

--- amagoun <amagoun at davidsarnoff.org> wrote:

> Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> _______________________________________________
> Jim,
> 
> Actually Berliner's challenge with earlier patents wasn't form or
> speed,
> but the manner in which he made the grooves.  When he developed disc
> recording, Edison and Columbia were selling in a quite different
> market
> for different purposes.  In 1887 neither record format nor speed were
> a
> patent issue; the method of making grooves was.  Instead of engraving
> or
> indenting, Berliner traced vibrations in soot on glass, photoengraved
> them, and made a reproduction master by etching the grooves with
> acid.
> He used a disc because mass production was simpler and he traded off
> fidelity for loudness.  He cranked his initial records at 30 rpm and
> then doubled it to 60.
> 
> Through mass production of discs for the new market of home
> entertainment that Berliner envisioned, he could sell records for
> less.
> His first commercial records were intended for playback around 70
> rpm,
> with the stylus's movement activated by the lateral movement of the
> groove walls.  Edison and Columbia used vertical, "hill and dale"
> recording on cylinders for the sake of playing time, driven by a feed
> screw.  The playback stylus was duller than the engraving stylus
> because
> otherwise you'd simply gouge the groove.  The volume was much lower
> because the stylus didn't draw on the up and down motion of the
> groove,
> requiring an earphone.  But at that time, Edison nor Columbia were
> still
> pushing phonographs and graphophones for commercial stenography,
> while
> their lessors were beginning to adapt them to jukebox parlors.
> 
> As for price, after Victor began cleaning Columbia's clock, it fought
> back by doing outrageous things like songs on both sides of the disc
> for
> the same price.
> 
> You can read about this at much more length in my dissertation, which
> I'm looking forward to revising for publication by the end of the
> summer.
> 
> cheers,
> Alex
> 
> Message: 7
> Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2007 20:44:58 -0800 (PST)
> From: Jim Whartenby <antqradio at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: Re: [NJARC] Record speeds
> To: New Jersey Antique Radio Club <njarc at mailman.qth.net>
> Message-ID: <212580.20795.qm at web82703.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
> 
> Alex and Nick
> It is my impression that Berliner and Johnson got around Edison's
> patents by making some obvious changes in method.
> 
> Using a disk instead of a cylinder.
> 
> Encoding the sound in the record grove sides instead of the grove
> bottom.
> 
> Changing the speed from 80RPM to 78RPM.
> 
> Most important from the consumer point of view, charging less then a
> buck for a record!
> Regards,
> Jim
> 
> --
> Alexander B. Magoun, Ph.D.
> Executive Director
> David Sarnoff Library
> 201 Washington Road, CN 5300
> Princeton, NJ 08543-5300
> 
> 609-734-2636
> amagoun at davidsarnoff.org
> (f) 609-734-2339
> www.davidsarnoff.org
> www.davidsarnoff.blogspot.com
> 
> 
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