Ever Wonder How They Made Records in the 1940s?

[stopbush]

Watch the video from RCA:


Great fun.

http://tinyurl.com/2qugme

Check out part two as well:

http://tinyurl.com/36vt54

And, while you're at it, "What is Living Stereo?"

http://tinyurl.com/2nvxvn

[Cleita]

1. I don't have to wonder. Much of that "technology" was what I

had to use in the fifties and early sixties.

[mitchtv]

2. Haha my first record was a 78

"Maybelline" Chuck Berry

[Redstone]

3. And, of course, they had NO idea back then how toxic chromium is; it makes me shudder

to see how casually they drag those discs into and out of the plating baths.

Redstone

[TlalocW]

4. Ever wonder how they make musical instruments

So you can play music that will make you feel like a happy king?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KF5bY53jokQ
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kfuQMBYNRv0

TlalocW

[bbernardini]

5. Curse you people that post YouTube links!

It's blocked at work. (Kids, you know.) I suspect I know what you're posting a link to, though.

[Occulus]

6. I wonder what it would sound like if you used

one of those "living stereo" records on a record player that wasn't compatible with the record? From their illustration, you need a stylus with two ceramic bars instead of just one. I'm sure they planned on people mistakenly using the "wrong" record in the "wrong" player, though, so... what does it sound like?

The method used to inscribe sound onto the wax in the first place, to my knowledge, is why many hardcore audiophiles decry CDs. They claim the sound is purer from a record.

This is, however, true of other audio work as well. I used to have a guitarist friend I went to high school with who swore that vacuum tube amps were far superior to those without. I did a little reading and discovered many other guitarists agreed.

I know little about the technical side of audio recording beyond what I've picked up from other people, which is almost embarassingly little, though, so I don't have a lot of room to comment on which method is "preferable".

[populistdriven]

7. Meet "The Lac"

http://www.tolaramshellac.com/product.html

http://cs-exhibitions.uni-klu.ac.at/index.php?id=516

[BrotherBuzz]

8. Cool, totally cool, but it's also interesting to note that that film was made in 1942..

and WWII had just started. I understand most of the exotic ingredients used to make the record would soon be directed toward the war effort, and record companies had to scramble to find acceptable substitute materials. I think more expensive synthetic shellac and resins came into use, but that was all before my time.

[Sukie1941]

9. My dad "cut" a record at home in late 1940's

I remember that voices of various members of the household were featured on the record, including my great-grandmother's.

The record was a lime green.

It was in our home for decades until mommy dearest threw it out along with other family heirlooms.

[soothsayer]

10. bummer.

[ljm2002]

11. So sorry to hear your mom did that...

...I still get mad when I think about some of the stuff my family let go, beautiful pieces of furniture and a claw-footed bathtub from my great grandmother's house, and a Karl Marx book that was a prized possession of my great grandfather, who was active in the labor movement. I guess my auntie was embarrassed about that connection, so she took it upon herself to just quietly get rid of all the books without telling anyone else in the family until they were long gone. Grrrrr...