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Source for historical recordings --Edison, etc.

I just read Greg Milner's Perfecting Sound Forever, which I highly recommend to any serious audiophile. It caused me to be very curious to hear some of the earliest recordings, particularly the "acoustic" vs. "electrical" recordings from the early days. A CD companion to the book would be the bomb (including the Led Zep stuff, early sampling, Auto-Tune and all the rest), but absent that, the early wax, cylinder and disc stuff must have been transferred to CD and be out there somewhere. Any pointers?
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Hi Dan,

If vinyl will do, rather than CD, try to hunt down some of the releases from Mark56 Records. I have no. 827, a two-LP set transcribed from wax cylinders and released in 1979, "The First Commercially Successful Recordings 1889-1894." Primitive sound, of course, but interesting to listen to.

A lot of their other releases seem to have been of old-time radio programs. Perhaps some of them go back far enough to have been recorded acoustically.

For lots of other material that is readily available in CD format, check out OTRCAT.com. I have no experience with their releases. Note that the menu at the left allows you to browse by decade.

Best regards,
-- Al
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drubin OP
3,274 posts
 
Thank you, Al !!
rcprince
3,070 posts
 
You also might want to contact the Edison Museum over here in NJ, they have transferred their recordings to digital files, not sure if any are available to the public.

Too bad you didn't post this before our November NJ Audio Society meeting, I would have invited you, as we recorded our NJSO concertmaster Eric Wyrick playing his violin with piano accompaniment on a digital recording system, an analog tape machine and the Edison Cylinder. A lot of fun. I'll keep you in mind for an upcoming meeting where one of our members will demonstrate a high-end system from the 1930s or so, if you'd have an interest.
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