|
Dear All,
For engineering reasons, I have been compiling lists of American matrix numbers and recording-dates (and later, with microgroove, "mastering dates"), as the most unambiguous way of determining the ideal equalisation curves at any time in America. This is a long way from being at a satisfactory state; but at least I can add the following points to Dick Spottswood's posting below. According to Brian Rust's "American Dance Bands on Record" (under Paul Specht), matrix 351164 was recorded on March 21st 1932 and issued on the Harmony label. But personally, I don't think the 350000 series was really a "Harmony" series. The majority seem to be in the 140000 and 150000 series. In this country these were issued under the British "Columbia" label, which is not surprising because British Columbia had a controlling interest in the American Columbia group at that time. I have hypothesised that these are "true" Harmony matrixes, but being on the other side of the pond where US 78s don't grow on trees, I'd welcome confirmation of this idea. In which case, the latest I have found in Rust is matrix 151507, recorded April 13th 1931 (under Britten), and this was published under Clarion and Velvet Tone - but *not* Harmony. So the first "Other Thing" from my subject-box is, can anyone supply a meaningful description of US Columbia's matrix number-blocks? For example, I hypothesize that numbers 2000 to 2999 weren't used at all; the 47000 and 77000 blocks and the 49000 block were concurrent but the first two were ten-inch and the third twelve-inch; and so on. . Another point : I don't think "The Columbia Master Book Discography" (Greenwood Press) lists the 110000 series of "Foreign" issues, which as far as I know were all recorded in New York. Metalwork was sent to Britain so the stuff could be pressed for continental Europe. This is to tell you that I am gradually piecing together some information about this series for the benefit of the "World Music" community, and there are a number of dating-clues on the EMI microfilms here at the British Library Sound Archive. If anyone needs access to information like this, or can help me (particularly with microgroove before RIAA standards were adopted), I would very much like to correspond with knowledgeable people off-line. My email address is : Many thanks in anticipation,
Peter Copeland
-----Original
Message-----
I vaguely recall that you told me once that while Harmony remained acoustic for a time after the introduction of electrical recording, it did eventually get some sort of electrical system that was inferior, and that some of the Harmony's that I'd described as acoustic were actually crummy electrics... . Is this right? At what point did they get electrical equipment? ************************************************************************** Experience the British Library online at www.bl.uk Adopt a Book this season ! Help the British Library conserve the world's knowledge. www.bl.uk/adoptabook ************************************************************************* The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this e-mail and notify the postmaster@xxxxx : The contents of this e-mail must not be disclosed or copied without the sender's consent. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British Library. The British Library does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. ************************************************************************* | |||||