LittleNipper
Gold Member
- Jan 3, 2013
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I really love the music of the 1920's. It tended to be happy and upbeat for the most part! Midway through this decade electric recording is the latest breakthrough. It would be the use of microphones that would allow for a much wider spectrum of sound. And this can be appreciated as one compares recordings before 1925 with those that came later. This first recording is from 1927 and is THE VARSITY DRAG. It is a "Hot number!" in the vernacular of that day. Realize that movies with sound were "new". There had been movie shorts with sound, however: acoustic recording was not an easy process. It always meant special placement of the various instruments. Some instruments recorded quite poorly. Example: Special violins were designed so the that they would sound "fuller" acoustically. Electrically recorded sound was a lot easier though not simple (watch SINGING IN THE RAIN to get the jest of the matter -- which is an excellent representation). As long as the artists remained stationary, electrical recording was a profound change in recorded sound... Oddly, the early electrical records were still played on acoustical equipment. And while the "new" sound was dramatic on the older talking machines, the ORTHROPHONIC "VICTROLAS" were designed with longer and wider horns with thinner shaped and sealed aluminium diaphragms and were wonderfully matched to the new records. ANYWAY, here is THE VARSITY DRAG -----