WOW.

For some reason I'm having a hard time finding the recordings to actually listen to them. Would be interesting... if I could find them.

They suck.

JohnnyC: For some reason I'm having a hard time finding the recordings to actually listen to them. Would be interesting... if I could find them.

Link

The real Festivus miracle was finding naked pictures of Donna Life.

/fap achieved

cmunic8r99: JohnnyC: For some reason I'm having a hard time finding the recordings to actually listen to them. Would be interesting... if I could find them.

Link

Thanks

I understand wanting to keep it authentic and not wanting to remove the crackling, but you think they could at least reduce the crackling or boost the actual important sounds or something. I can barely hear anything over the incredibly loud crackling. Bells? If you say so, all I hear is krskrskrksrksrks.

robohobo: The real Festivus miracle was finding naked pictures of Donna Life.

/fap achieved

Donna REED. REED. I have no earthly idea why I typed Life.

How'd they do it? Lasers?

Can I just say...

Whoopty f'n do.

Ya gotta be careful with those wax cylinders. Especially if you're old and kind of Parkinsons-y.

yourmomlovestetris: Ya gotta be careful with those wax cylinders. Especially if you're old and kind of Parkinsons-y.

Didn't even have to click the link to know what you were linking.

"Oh, f--- shiat."

the_chief: How'd they do it? Lasers?

They've invented a number of "wear free" methods. Lasers, an ultrasonic beam, or infra-red light. You can buy these record players today, but they're not among the highest quality.

yourmomlovestetris: Ya gotta be careful with those wax cylinders. Especially if you're old and kind of Parkinsons-y.

Somehow I knew what clip that was going to be before clicking on it. I've seen that countless times, but that old dude's reaction still cracks me up.

Neondistraction: yourmomlovestetris: Ya gotta be careful with those wax cylinders. Especially if you're old and kind of Parkinsons-y.

Somehow I knew what clip that was going to be before clicking on it. I've seen that countless times, but that old dude's reaction still cracks me up.

It is pretty funny, although I still feel sorry for the guy.  But really, most of those Edison cylinders are actually not worth very much.  We don't know what the specific contents were of the one he broke, but it was probably nothing too special (or he wouldn't be carrying it off to TechTV).

I picked up a few of those cylinders in an antique shop a while back for someining like three bucks each.  Never did get anything to play them on, so I don't even know what they are.  Probably early Milli Vanilli.

Austinoftx: the_chief: How'd they do it? Lasers?

They've invented a number of "wear free" methods. Lasers, an ultrasonic beam, or infra-red light. You can buy these record players today, but they're not among the highest quality.

Hm. When we experimented with some of these techniques in an exhibits lab where I worked, we found that, between things like the laser's ability to focus onto a single groove and maintain track on the (usually distorted or wobbly) cylinder was next to impossible. It'd be interesting to see what's been done since. I would guess that they bit the bullet and actually played them with a stylus, taking care to get the recording in one take.

Or scan the whole thing as a complex surface and sort it all out of the 3d model.

JohnnyC: For some reason I'm having a hard time finding the recordings to actually listen to them. Would be interesting... if I could find them.

Forgive me if I've already mentioned this to you. WFMU is a listener supported commercial free volunteer driven radio station with a wide variety of shows. Their website is wonderful. One of their programs features a schtick with a straight man announcer who tries in vain to keep a grizzled old fellow in line. The old geezer character has access to a plethora of vintage recordings he shares with listeners ion between story telling tangents. Good fun is had by all. The other DJ's do much different formats/genres.  (wfmu.org)

'ad a real East End accent 'e did. Not the way the rich folk talk these days.

KrispyKritter~

Thanks for the heads up on WFMU. Looks interesting.

Those wax cylinders have a warmth and richness that you don't get with modern digital recordings.

Approves.

0Icky0: Those wax cylinders have a warmth and richness that you don't get with modern digital recordings.

I used to think so, too, but they'll never match the honesty of a live pianoforte performance.

Radak: "Oh, f--- shiat."

Ok that...can't be good.

The two cylinders that were *not* recovered:

"Women of the street using saucy language for Daddy"

and

"Daddy drank too much cider and starts ranting and shouting abuse halfway through Christmas Carol with family, 1904"

/oblig

The sound is thought to be the oldest Christmas recordings on record, as they date back to 1902.

This one is possibly older, 1899-1901.

/tinfoil.com FTW

p4p3rm4t3: [img191.imageshack.us image 480x360]
/oblig

Even though I can't seem to verify this on Snopes, this is assuredly fake.

(1) It's not brown, so it's most probably not rare. Probably past 1903 or newer, since cylinders were black by then and were mass produced ("molded") from a master recording, unlike the brown 1890s cylinders that had to be individually recorded. I can't see on the video if there is a label embossed on the top of the cylinder, but that would be a dead giveaway that it's newer and not rare. Older, more valuable ones had paper labels glued on them or just came with slips of paper inside the carton.

(2) He's not handling it properly and sounds like an idiot. Certainly no authority on the matter. "You can see the tracks go this way...it records much more accurately..." Huh? It's a goddamned cylinder record. The grooves go "the same way" on all of them, and they're all acoustically recorded (meaning no electricity is used in the recording process). If anything, the ones that would be better recorded are newer and not the rare ones.

(3) No explanation is given to why it's rare, what it contains, etc. I cannot seem to find a longer clip that might yield more information. It's vague...because it's probably fake.

/record nerd

Ow My Balls: Even though I can't seem to verify this on Snopes, this is assuredly fake.

It's not fake.  It was on Tech TV back before it became G4 (was this The Screen Savers?).  Everything you say about the cylinder, however, is correct.  It's almost certainly not one of the rare ones.  I remember seeing a comment from the guy later where he claimed that the hot studio lighting had weakened the cylinder.  Why heat would make a wax cylinder  more breakable is beyond me.

It's not fake.

By "fake," I mean the authenticity of the cylinder being a rare, valuable one. This guy has a $2 cylinder in the clip that he's brought to break on purpose and troll the show.

robohobo: robohobo: The real Festivus miracle was finding naked pictures of Donna Life.

/fap achieved

Donna REED. REED. I have no earthly idea why I typed Life.

It's a wonderful Reed?

Oh crap, now I just pictured naked Reed and naked Betty White in hot 1940s Sapphic action.



Rivet that, Rosie.

I refuse to listen unless it came from 180g hand-cut wax stock.

p4p3rm4t3: [img191.imageshack.us image 480x360]
/oblig

That was priceless when I watched it.

'Festivus'?

You're than enamored with a sit-com that has been off the air for more than a decade that you need to use that in a headline?

Get a life.

douchebag/hater: 'Festivus'?

You're than enamored with a sit-com that has been off the air for more than a decade that you need to use that in a headline?

Get a life.

You should take your own advice there, Francis.

I'm spending some of Xmas converting VHS to DVD which I can later rip to mp4s.
I have a turntable I used years ago to convert vinyl into CDs.
My question...
I have a dozen or so 78s, but the turntable only supports 33 1/3 and 45 rpm.
The obvious solution is play at 45 and change the sample rate.
Any software that does that?
Yes... One is Christmas music.

Eeek. Get a 78 stylus, at least. That way it won't be skating around down in the bottom of the great big groove, and you'll get at least as much music as noise.

cmunic8r99: JohnnyC: For some reason I'm having a hard time finding the recordings to actually listen to them. Would be interesting... if I could find them.

Link

Thanks, that's a great link -- I've been sitting up listening to people celebrating their Christmas 108 years ago, absolutely fascinating. I wonder what happened to that 7 year old kid who was singing "The Minstrel Boy"? He would have been prime WWI fodder ten years later; here's hoping that song wasn't too prophetic of his eventual fate.