Consolidated Edison: Pop Transfers by THE VICTROLA GUY

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

I HAVE BEEN EXPERIMENTING WITH ISINGLASS FOR THE DIAPHRAGM IN THE EDISON RECORDER, THIS IS AN MP4 TRANSFER TO AN ORIGINAL BROWN WAX RECORDING BLANK. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN TELL FROM THE VIDEO BUT THIS IS AN INCREDIBLY LOUD RECODING, THIS IS NOT AMPLIFIED IN ANY WAY, THIS IS WHAT IS COMING OFF THE CYLINDER THROUGH A 14" BRASS HORN.

THE NEW RECORDER IS EXCEPTIONALLY EFFICIENT AND IS MAKING SOME REALLY OUTSTANDING RECORDINGS, THIS EXCEEDS THE VOLUME OF ANYTHING EDISON RECORDED AND DOES NOT SOUND AT ALL LIKE A 107 YEAR OLD CYLINDER PHONOGRAPH. AS I SAID WITH THE RIGHT RECORDER AND TECHNIQUE YOU CAN PRODUCE RECORDINGS THAT WILL EQUAL THE ABILITIES OF A CASSETTE TAPE RECORDER.

I MADE THIS RECORDING TONIGHT FROM THE AUDIO I SNAGGED OFF OF A YOU TUBE VIDEO PLAYING ON MY IPAD. I USED THE CANAPHONIC RECORDETTE ON A MODIFIED EDISON TWO MINUTE RECORDER. I HAVE MODIFIED THE RECORDER BY ADDING A STYLUS THAT IS ADJUSTABLE FOR DEPTH OF CUT, AS WELL AS POLYMER GASKETS AND ISINGLASS IN PLACE OF THE ORIGINAL MICA DIAPHRAGM....

BENJAMIN

http://www.youtube.com/embed/e7mC4WtMBUA?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

these are a few of the custom cylinders i have recorded for collectors over the past few months. the transfer process allows me to make copies of any original cylinder that does not sound like a copy, it also allows me to transfer any modern audio file to a cylinder with excellent results.

there are only a literal handful of people in the world still recording on the Edison cylinder phonograph. this is a dead science, most of the information has been forgotten and few people to ask. the Edison chat sites will tell you all of the things you cant do, with little or no real information from anyone who has done any real cylinder recording. shouting " mary had a little lamb " into a recording horn does not make anyone an expert on recording on the cylinder phonograph and yet these same people consider themselves past masters, even though they have little practical knowledge of the process at all. the cylinder recordings i am making do not sound like cylinder recordings at all. in any case, i thought i would post a few of the recordings, should anyone have any questions feel free to contact me. i also have hundreds of original Edison black wax recording blanks in stock, as well as most of the original accessories for the cylinder phonograph. we make floor cranes, speaking tubes, listening tubes, as well as inexpensive fiberboard horns that weigh less than two ounces and sound better than any metal horn of the same size.

i am by no means an expert, but i have spent a few thousand hours developing my recording process and we now sell cylinder recordings and copies all over the world. if you have any questions about recording on the Edison cylinder phonograph i will be happy to answer them as best i can...

Benjamin

thevictrolaguy.com
thevictrolaguy@gmail.com
http://www.todaysvintage.com/spotlight/contentview.asp?c=278177
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JX0FImAW-QY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7YXOCgezSk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBF9PLIKHag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lGlr6QkrhSo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vyIsp-ZU-7Q

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=S_c08swmVFw

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

PINK FLOYD / IGGY POP / CYLINDER RECORDINGS

a demonstration of what the Edison cylinder phonograph is really capable of, with modern recording techniques the cylinder phonograph becomes a record lathe, capable of producing some really outstanding recordings. i think you will agree this does not sound anything like a cylinder phonograph.

Benjamin

https://www.youtube.com/embed/0TO5hIjQ0uo?feature=player_detailpage

https://www.youtube.com/embed/X9AeLwh9N8g?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

A TEST RECORDING ON A BLACK WAX RECORDING BLANK AT 100 RPM. CANAPHONIC TWO MINUTE RECORDER WITH ADJUSTABLE STYLUS, PLAYING THROUGH THE ARCHIVETTE...

BENJAMIN

https://www.youtube.com/embed/JF7BuPYQMYE?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

this is the Edison home b cylinder phonograph playing through a brass morning glory horn. this is the audio from a you tube video playing on my ipad, transferred to the cylinder using the canaphonic two minute recorder.

Benjamin

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ryJeLym2To4?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

https://www.youtube.com/embed/j7exdxHbegw?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

this is a modified Edison two minute recorder, i have added a thumb screw that allows you to adjust the depth of the cut. i used a 6-32 nylon knurled screw, but to be really efficient this needs to be very finely threaded, the adjustments are extremely fine and this screw is really too course to to be optimal. the recorder works quite well for this application. this is a test recording of new equalizer settings, playing through a 10" fiber board horn, recorded with the recordette elecustic driver.

this is an ongoing series of empirical experiments to build the most efficient recorder possible. i will eventually replace the spring drive in the Edison recorder with an electric motor. we are making enough cylinder recordings now to justify the modification. also swarf is a real problem as this gets into virtually every moving part of the machine. of course there is no vacuum system, normally you just blow the swarf away, bu we are recording dozens of cylinders a month and need to eliminate this much build up. the stuff settles like dust on everything in the room. i had to remove the carpet as it was full of swarf, this is actually soap, so once it gets moist from the air it turns to a sticky film. when you are listing to these recordings it is really easy to forget that this machine is 107 years old

Benjamin

https://www.youtube.com/embed/IyHdsWGVcWw?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5M_1nCaFf58?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

this is the phonograph i use as my dedicated recorder, this has been completely rebuilt using original parts, it runs well and makes really first rate cylinder recordings. i always say never overlook the junk machines. i paid $ 85 for this as a box of rusted parts, even the case had fallen apart. i rebuilt it, repainted it and use it daily now for making custom cylinder recordings.

my wife robin and i do this for a living, we buy and sell antique acoustic phonographs, i do repairs on all makes of phonographs and of course we make custom Edison two minute cylinders. there is a lot of interest in this and we are looking to expand the business into custom disc recordings.

in any case i thought i would do a quick video on the machine itself, if you have any questions about recording on the cylinder phonograph or if you are looking for a source for recording blanks, i have hundreds in stock. we can also transfer any audio file to a cylinder, new music, old music, voice recordings, etc...

Benjamin

THEVICTROLAGUY@GMAIL.COM
EBAY / WIZARDOFMENLOPARK
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WyyYdiE6W-w?feature=player_embedded

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

the new recorder is producing some surprisingly loud recordings, this was an mp4 playing on my ipad, using the elecustic driver. this is completely mechanical so to get this kind of volume without distortion is quite amazing. the sound is echoing off the walls and floor. this is a black wax dictation cylinder that has been trimmed and shaved for use on the Edison cylinder phonograph.

Benjamin
https://www.youtube.com/embed/HepUEfniqE4?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

this is the first cylinder copy with the new recorder. this is streaming audio from an online archive playing on my ipad. the new recorder is being powered by my elecustic driver and a guitar amplifier. this sounds exactly like the original audio file. the original cylinder was recorded by Edison in 1905. a noiseless perfect copy is impossible to find, but not impossible to make.

benjamin

https://www.youtube.com/embed/vnDo5dh42kg?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

this is a direct transfer from the hit of the week card board disc to a black wax recording blank. the new recorder is producing some very accurate copies of the original audio files. the new recordings are equal to and in may cases better than the original Edison recordings.

the new recorder uses a diaphragm of isinglass with a neoprene gasket. the stylus is a cupped point sapphire .042" in diameter glued directly to the isinglass diaphragm mounted in a copper foil stylus holder. i am using the canaphonic recordette to drive the recorder diaphragm. it is a piezo crystal mounted to a bifurcated piece of white balsa wood mounted inside a copper tube that slips on to the recorder in place of a horn. it takes an incredible amount of energy to power the recordette, i am using a 40 watt guitar amplifier to power the driver, the external speaker output is plugged directly into the recordette. the audio source is an mp3 file playing on my ipad through a five band equalizer plugged into the guitar amp input.

Benjamin

https://www.youtube.com/embed/R8eJwPwErZM?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

this is the Edison home B cylinder phonograph playing the new cylinder recording through an original 10" witches hat horn. the new recorder is making some really first rate recordings. this is an mp3 transfer from a durium hit of the week card board disc.

Benjamin

https://www.youtube.com/embed/uNW_Igjctto?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

BLACK WAX MP3 TRANSFER
https://www.youtube.com/embed/VHpW_a6hFj4?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

BLACK WAX RECORDING BLANK, MP4 TRANSFER...

https://www.youtube.com/embed/-3YUBIaWvnI?feature=player_detailpage

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

this is an flv video file playing on my ipad...

http://www.youtube.com/embed/S2Vuqk63nng?feature=player_embedded

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

i do a lot of custom cylinder recordings. this is HANCOCKS JAZZ BAND playing SWEET LOVIN' MAN, A BLUES FOX TROT. this is a studio recording for direct transfer to an Edison two minute cylinder. this is the first studio recording for cylinder release in 100 years or so. this was recorded in budda texas at SEMPER RECORDS, a small cylinder record company dedicated to preserving the Edison two minute cylinder by recording new audio files for transfer to Edison recording blanks.

this is going to be a special series of ten cylinders and will become collectors items. the cylinder recording is extremely loud and rivals anything Edison produced on a two minute cylinder, the first offering will be on ebay.

Benjamin

https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Eu2a3tt6u0?feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/user/SemperPhonographCo?feature=watch

[Steve E.]

For ease of findability, let's see if we can merge some of the fantastic posts of our VICTROLA GUY.

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

doing some experiments with the new recorder, i cleaned up the audio file and transferred it to a black wax recording blank. this is playing through a brass morning glory horn using the Edison home phonograph, an excellent cylinder recording....

https://www.youtube.com/embed/8f2qi0GR_qE?feature=player_detailpage