EDISON DIAMOND DISC CONCERTS

AN EDISON ACOUSTIC RECORDING SESSION

CONTACT : COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
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EDISON ACOUSTIC & ELECTRICAL (HILL and DALE) RECORDINGS

PRELIMINARY COMMENTS

DIFFICULTIES WITH HILL AND DALE STAMPERS

I grew up in a country town, Bowen , in North Queensland in the Thirties.
Our nearest broadcast transmitter, 4QN, had a power output of 6.6KW and was situated at a distance of about 100 miles.
Static frequently rendered the signal unuseable on summer nights, and entertainment came from recorded music, usually an Edison Diamond Disc - Sheraton Model - although there was also a gramophone which played laterally recorded 78 discs in the house.
The discs were chosen at random and the concerts usually lasted about an hour.
The following concerts are chosen to "re-create" - as Edison would put it - those times.
Each concert lasts about 80 minutes and is a mixture of acoustic and electrically recorded discs.
The discs came from the collections of Mr. Peter Tadman and Mr. John Simpson.
Many thanks to them for their foresight in collecting and preserving these wonderful discs demonstrating the verve and drive of the Edison orchestras, and preserving the memory of almost forgotten melodies.
The discs will probably come as a shock to those used to modern "pop" recordings.
They contain novelties like melody, rhythm, and understandable words : all performed by professional musicians.
The discs "re-create" exactly what went on in the recording studio with no editing : no Auto-Tune!

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THE SUPERIORITY OF VERTICAL RECORDING

DISCUSSION

The statement that lateral recording is ""superior" to vertical recording seems to be almost universal.
This belief seems to have originated from an analysis of tracing distortion by the Cruft laboratory, Harvard in 1941:-
A Theory of Tracing Distortion in Sound Reproduction from Phonograph Records
by W.D. Lewis and F.V. Hunt
The Journal of The Acoustical Society of America pp 348 - 365 1941
The mathematics predicted the absence of even order harmonics in lateral recording while vertical recording produced both even and odd harmonics.
This is not surprising.
The shape of the reproduced waveform when a spherical stylus travels over a "hill" is different from when it traverses the bottom of a "dale".
The tracing distortion from a vertical cut disc shows asymmetry.
On the other hand, left and right deviations in a lateral track produce the same distortion. The tracing distortion in lateral recording is therefore symmetrical.
Now asymmetry produces even order distortion and symmetry produces odd order distortion.
It is not surprising, then, that second order harmonic distortion in vertical recording came out of the above analysis. The first distortion component in lateral recording was third harmonic. This seemed to give vertical recording a bad name and interest was lost.
This is a pity.
The analysis does not tell the full story.
Vertical recording has a lot of desirable characteristics such as: longer playing time: freedom from retracking on overcutting: no problems with stylus fit - its greatest strength.
Vertical recording gives rise to excellent geometry in acoustical recorders and reproducers.
Here the recording or reproducer diaphragm is parallel to the record surface with a very direct linkage to the stylus.
In lateral recording the diaphragm is at right angles to the record surface and a complicated lever system is used to communicate lateral diaplacement to the cutting stylus.
This can only degrade the transient or high frequency response.
It is highly significant that Bell engineers chose vertical recording for their high fidelity experiments in the early thirties.
Tracing distortion decreases with the diameter of the reproducing stylus. The limit on this is set by the pressure on the disc surface set by the dynamic forces in the reproducer.
With modern light weight pickups the diameter of the reproducing stylus in vertical recording can be greatly reduced with a dramatic reduction of ALL tracing distortion.
For Edison Diamond discs I use a 1 thou. spherical stylus at a weight of 1.5 grams. Unlike all my lateral 78s, no tracing distortion is evident on the end of the Edison tracks.
Edison always believed in the superiority of vertical or " hill and dale " recording.
I think his intuition got it right.

EDISON ACOUSTIC AND ELECTRICAL RECORDERS

PICTURES

AN EDISON ACOUSTIC RECORDER
The Edison cutting stylus acted like a plough and met the wax or soap master head on.
Edison recording heads, then, appear to be on the "wrong" side.
In almost all acoustic recorders the recording head and horn were fixed and the turntable moved .
This appears to be the case here.
The main turntable bearing is supported by a steel arm driven by a screw thread at the front.
Many acoustic recorders were driven by a weight for constant torque.
The dynamic behaviour of the acoustic recording head was discussed in the previous section.
Computer studies show that it was virtually impossible to terminate the complex output impedance of the horn with a mechanical cutting head. This gave rise to reflections which, in turn, manifested as horn resonances or "funnel tones" as Edison called them.
Horn resonances cause the characteristic sound of acoustic recording.
it would appear that Edison was well aware of the superior transient response of his acoustic hill and dale recorders and that no opportunity was lost in the recoding studio to exploit this -- such as hitting wooden blocks, symbols etc.

AN EDISON ELECTRICAL RECORDER
It is believed that the adoption of electrical recording was opposed by Edison and developed by his son, Theodore.
So far I have been unable to find details of the Edison electrical recorder.
There are indications that it was based on an RCA lateral recording system with the cutting head modified for vertical recording.
Since the Columbia and Victor studios used the Western Electric recording system, it would be interesting to enquire if the RCA system was used in other studios.
The Edison electricals compare very favourably with lateral discs cut with the Bell - Harrison cutter.

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SOME NOTES ON PLAY BACK

PICKUP AND PREAMP

A stereo pickup can be made to respond to lateral or vertical recording by adding or subtracting the left and right channels.
The gain of these two channels direct from the pickup is seldom matched, so a better solution is to provide preamps whose relative gains can be changed over at least +(-) 20 % .
To play a vertically cut disc the preamplifier outputs are at first added to respond to the lateral component.
The relative gains are then set for minimum output.
The outputs are then subtracted to play vertically cut discs.
The Diamond Discs were recorded at 80 RPM not 78. This was to facilitate the gearing in slow speed pantograph transfer from disc to cylinder.
The cylinders were recorded at either 120 or 240 RPM.
The discs were recorded at 0 degrees tracking angle, but modern pickups have a vertical tracking angle 15 to 20 degrees from vertical. The thickness of the dicsc on the turntable reduces this tracking angle.
Varying the tracking angle produced no discernable distortion : probably because the maximum peak signal on the disc is only 0.8 thou., so no attempt was made for further correction.

SEE PREAMPLIFIER and DISC EQUALISER

Edison knew about distortion caused by errors in the tracking angle in his 1888 patent.
The diamond disc acoustic reproducers all exhibit quite large tracking errors for a disc recorded with a vertically cut track.
This is illustrated in the drawings opposite.

SEE :: CUTTING HEAD DESIGN : EARLY ATTEMPTS

The low peak displacement ( about 0.8 thou. ) on an Edison acoustic disc probably reduces the tracking angle distortion to a tolerable level.

PLAY BACK RESPONSE

It was shown in the "EDISON" section on this site that the dominance of viscous damping in the acoustic cutting heads produced a constant velocity recording characteristic.
If p(t) is the pressure at the mouth of the recording horn then the displacement depth on the disc y(t) is given by:-
y(t) = K₁ ∫ p(t) dt
For a magnetic pickup the voltage output V_o is given by:-
V_o = K₂ dy(t)/dt
So the raw output from a magnetic pickup is given by:-
V_o = K₂ dy/dt
V_o = K₂ d /dt [ K₁ ∫ p(t) dt ]
So V_o = K₂ K₁ p(t)
There should be direct path through the preamp for Edison acoustics.
ELECTRICALLY RECORDED EDISON DIAMOND DISCS
From listening tests it appears that Edison electricals adopted the recording curve used in lateral recordings at the time:-
Below 250 Hz - constant amplitude
Above 250Hz - constant velocity

STYLUS SHAPE

[1] Circular Grooves

The only groove shape appropriate to vertical ( hill and dale ) recording is the segment of a circle.
Edison realised this very early in the development of recording and patented the groove shape on 17 June 1890 Pat: 430278.
In vertical recording with full modulation, the bottom of the groove can reach the surface.
To maintain contact, the reproducing stylus must sit on the bottom of the groove.
A spherical reproducing stylus with a diameter smaller than the cutting stylus is a necessary but not sufficient condition to track a fully modulated groove.
Note that the problem of "groove fit" does not exist in Edison vertical recording.
The diameter of the spherical reproducing stylus can be reduced until the surface pressure induced by the large forces encountered in acoustic reproducers starts to cause unacceptable disc wear.

The text and diagram from patent 430278 are shown below.

Drawings from other Edison patents indicating a circular grove shape

STYLUS SIZE AND SHAPE

We now have to determine the maximum diameter of the conical stylus which will trace a groove recorded with maximum signal velocity by an Edison acoustic recorder.
Although the stylus may trace the groove, it wlll still produce tracing distortion. The stylus diameter must be much smaller than the maximum to reduce tracing distortion.
Edison Diamond Disc acoustic recorders approximated the ideal constant velocity recording characteristic with the use of heavy viscous damping.
For a constant velocity track we can write:-
A = D_m [ f_o/f ]
where :-
A = peak amplitude of sinusoidal track cut at a frequency f
D_m is the peak deviation cut into the track at the lowest recorded frequency f_o
Note the lowest recorded frequency appears to be about 150 Hz. , but the response is well down at this frequency due to horn miss- matching. (See computer results below)
We can estimate that the maximum response occurs about 400 Hz. so:-
f_o = 400 Hz. :
D_m = 0.8thou.
The sensitivity of the recorder is set in the studio to get this result - maximum loudness without overcutting.

MAXIMUM RECORDED VELOCITY V

For a sinusoidal track we can write for the deviation y :-
y = A sin( 2 Π f t )
V = dy/dt = 2 Π f A cos( 2 Π f t )
V_max = 2 Π f A
But A = D_m [ f_o/f ] from above
V_max = 2 Π f D_m [ f_o/f ]
V_max = 2 Π f_o D_m
From above: f_o = 400Hz. : D_m = 0.8 thou.
So V_max = 2.01 in/sec.
V_max = 5.11 cm/sec.
This is much lower than the peak velocity encountered on a modern microgrove recording.
The peak signal force F_p at the stylus tip is given by:-
F_p = V_max x |Z|
where Z is the mechanical input impedance at the stylus tip.
In vertical recording if F_p is lower than the weight of the pickup, then the stylus will track.
Since V_max is small, F_p is small and very light weight pickups can be used.
I usually use 1.5 grams.
The low peak velocity helps to explain why vertical tracking errors seem to produce little distortion.

RADIUS OF CURVATURE - R - OF AN ACOUSTIC TRACK

The radius of curvature R is given by:-

R = [ 1 + ( dy/dx )² ]^3/2 / [ d²y/dx² ] -------(1)

For a sinusoidal track:-
If A = peak deviation and λ is the wavelength along the track and b = 2 Π / λ then
y = A cos( b x ) represents a vertical track cut on the disc.
dy/dx = - A b sin( b x )
d²y/dx² = - A b² cos( b x )
Substituting these in (1) we get:-

|R| = [ 1 + b² A² sin²(b x ) ]^3/2 / [ b² A cos( b x ) ]

This has a minimum at x = 0 at the peak of the wave so :-

So R_min = 1/b² A ------ (2)

But b = 2 Π / λ

So R_min = λ² / 4 Π² A -------(3)

Here λ = v/f
Here v is the track velocity and f is the recorded frequency
From above for a constsnt velocity recording
A = D_m f_o / f
Substituting in (3) we get:-

R = [ 1/4 Π² D_m f_o ][ v² / f ] --------(4)

Note that the radius of curvature is inversely proportional to frequency with constant velocity acoustic recording, so the minimum radius of curvature on the track will occur at the highest recorded frequency here taken as 4KHz. We can now calculate the mininum radius of curvature on the inside of a disc: Assumrd minimum inner radius r = 5 cm = 1.9685 inches :
RPM = 80 per minute
Then v = 2 Π r RPM / 60 in/sec
v = 16.49 in/sec
D_m 0.8 x 10^-3 inches
f_o = 400 Hz.
Substituting in (4) we get :
R_min = 5.38 x 10^-3inches
Note that the wavelength on the disc = 4.12x 10^-3 inches
A conical stylus with a diameter of about 11 thou. will just fit into the trough of an acoustically recorded Edison disc, but would produce horrendous tracing distortion. To reduce this distortion to a negligible value the diameter should be reduced by a factor of 10 : say to 1 thou. This will also reproduce high frequency noise on the disc which can be eliminated by low pass filtering - for instance fourth order maximally flat with a cutoff frequency of 6.5KHz seems about right.
This works well for discs in good condition.
For discs with wear and dirt an increase in stylus diameter may lessen the noise and distortion : freedom from tracing distortion is no longer the overriding consideration.
In vertical recording, peaks in the waveform appear as spikes on the track and can be flattened by the large forces produced by an acoustic reproducer. A larger diameter stylus tends to ride over these and specks of dirt on the bottom of the track.

This is a non -linear process and not equivalent to extra lowpass filtering with a 1 thou diameter stylus.

For general work, such as transferring a large number of discs to a CD for home use, a 1thou diameter stylus and low pass filtering seems appropriate.
If more time is available to transfer a worn and dirty disc for archieval preservation, then trials using a progression of conical stylii with diameters from 1 to 4 thou. seem appropriate.

Some physical insight into the radius of curvature can be gained by rearranging equation (3)

R_min = [ 1 / 4 Π² ][ λ ][ λ/A ]-------(3)

The useable stylus size for small wavelengths λ can be increased by increasing the ratio λ/A : that is by reducing the amplitude of the cut A.
An acoustic reproducer has a very high mechanical input impedance to give high forces at the stylus tip. Edison used a reproducing stylus with a diameter of 7 thou to reduce the surface pressure on the disc. The diameter of the recording stylus was 10.5 thou.

Tracing Distortion

It is remarkable that Edison had considered the problem of tracing distortion before 1900, and even more remarkable that he had invented and patented a solution - the cylindrical stylus by 1899.
If a sphere traces a sinusoidal curve , the boundary condition is that the two surfaces be tangental. The result is that the locus of the centre of the sphere is NOT sinusoidal. This is called tracing distortion.
For very short recorded wavelengths there will come a time when the sphere will no longer fit the hill and dale waveform at all.
An extract from the Edison patent describing this is shown opposite.
The language is formal and stilted but, nevertheless, the meaning is clear.

Cylindrical Styli

The aim in designing a reproducing stylus for vertical recording is to reduce the radius of curvature along the groove while maximising the contact area.
Tracing distortion can be reduced by decreasing the width of stylus contact in the groove direction.
This reduces the contact area and increases the stylus pressure.
To recover more area the stylus must be extended across the groove.
In lateral recording the result is the elliptical stylus.
Long before the elliptical stylus, in fact by 1899, Edison had the solution for vertical cut discs - the cylindrical reproducing stylus.
The appropriate patent is shown opposite.
If the edge of a cylinder is used as a stylus the above conditions are fulfilled.
Fig.2 is the plan of a track cut with an Edison circular cutter.
Fig.3 is a side view of a hill and dale track scanned with a spherical stylus.
Fig.4 is the same view, but with a cylindrical stylus.
Fig.5 is a ( somewhat exaggerated ) comparison of a cylindrical and spherical stylus.
With modern light weight high compliance pickups, the stylus diameter can be decreased to a point where tracing distortion disappears. This is a valuable property of vertical recording.
I use a 1 thou. spherical stylus at a weight of 1.5 grams. Unlike all my lateral 78s, no tracing distortion is evident on the end of the Edison tracks.
The shape of the reproduced waveform when the spherical stylus is travelling over a "hill" is different from when it traversing the bottom of a "dale".
The tracing distortion from a vertical cut disc shows asymmetry.
On the other hand, left and right deviations in a lateral track produce the same distortion. The tracing distortion in lateral recording is therefore symmetrical.
The classical paper on tracing distortion is:-
A Theory of Tracing Distortion in Sound Reproduction from Phonograph Records
by W.D. Lewis and F.V. Hunt
The Journal of The Acoustical Society of America pp 348 - 365 1941
Now asymmetry produces even order distortion and symmetry produces odd order distortion.
It is not surprising, then, that second order harmonic distortion in vertical recording came out of the above analysis. The first distortion component in lateral recording was third harmonic. This seemed to give vertical recording a bad name and interest was lost.
This is a pity.
Vertical recording has a lot of desirable characteristics such as: longer playing time: freedom from retracking on overcutting: no problems with stylus fit.

EQUALISATION OF ACOUSTICS

All the acoustically recorded Edison discs were played back with a constant velocity transfer function.
This is equivalent to play back on a perfect acoustic reproducer.
It is noted in the previous section on acoustic recording that Edison acoustic recorders approximated the ideal constant velocity curve, but there were errors.
It would appear that the small recording horns were used as a high pass filter to reject low frequencies where they would occupy valuable space on the track, but contribute nothing to the "loudness" : the small reproducing horns would not respond to the low frequencies.
The output impedance of a conical horn goes highly reactive around the cutoff frequency and produces a slow rolloff of low and intermediate frequencies rather than a sharp cutoff.
This can be seen in the computer simulation of the recorder steady state response in the last section.
This low frequency "droop" can be roughly approximated and equalised giving a sound with more "body".
Equalisation is only successful in the absence of noise, so discs with a good surface offer the most improvement.
For convenience the steady state results of the computer simulation are repeated here.

Steady State Response given by Computer Simulation

The response to a sinusoidal pressure wave of varying frequency at the mouth of the horn is shown.
Reflected waves add at some frequencies and cancel at others giving a rippled response curve.
It is this behaviour which gives acoustic recording its characteristic sound.
Note the decrease in response of the green displacement curve across the audio band. This is a characteristic of constant velocity recording.
As predicted by the transient response, the performance of a conical horn at the low end of the spectrum ( 150Hz.to 400Hz.) is poor.
The sound of acoustic recordings can usually be greatly improved by equalisation in this region.
The phase change due to horn delay has been removed to give the equivalent phase change for a minimum phase transfer function.

The response to a sinusoidal pressure wave of varying frequency at the mouth of the horn is shown.
Reflected waves add at some frequencies and cancel at others giving a rippled response curve.
It is this behaviour which gives acoustic recording its characteristic sound.
Note the decrease in response of the green displacement curve across the audio band. This is a characteristic of constant velocity recording.
As predicted by the transient response, the performance of a hyperbolic horn at low frequencies is much better than that of the conical horn.
Any recordings made with this horn would have more "body", since the horn is much better behaved around cutoff.
The phase change due to horn delay has been removed to give the equivalent phase change for a minimum phase transfer function.

Horn Shape


The shape of th conical horn used in the simulation is shown.	The shape of th hyperbolic horn used in the simulation is shown.

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DISC PLAYBACK DETAILS

PLAY BACK DETAILS

ACOUSTICS

Playback characteristic:
Constant velocity.
Signal Filtering:-
4th Order Maximally Flat Low Pass 6.5KHz.
4th Order maximally Flat High Pass 100Hz.
Stylus Diameter: 1 thou. Spherical.
Tracking Weight: 1.5 grams.

ELECTRICALS

Playback characteristic:
Constant velocity above 250Hz.
Constant Amplitude below 250Hz.
Signal Filtering:-
4th Order Maximally Flat Low Pass 8KHz.
4th Order maximally Flat High Pass 50Hz.
Stylus Diameter: 1 thou. Spherical.
Tracking Weight: 1.5 grams.
Electrically Recorded Discs are denoted by an Asterisk on their Matrix Number: 18000*

Note: The average depth of cut on an Edison acoustic disc seems to be about 0.8 thou., so the maximum displacement with modulation is +(-) 0.8 thou..
The maximum displacement on a 78 lateral is about +(-) 2 thou., so the output from an Edison diamond disc is about 10 db down on a lateral.
An Edison acoustic reproducer is much easier on a disc than the lateral equivalent, which also had the nasty habit of sheddig slivers of steel onto the track. Nevertheless Edison discs did wear, and all the discs featured show signs of wear.
Some of the distortion on heavily cut transients is due to wear - not the recording or reproducing equipment.

TWO VERSIONS OF THE CONCERTS ARE PRESENTED

[1] CONSTANT VELOCITY AS REPRODUCED ON AN IDEAL ACOUSTIC REPRODUCER

[2] EQUALISED TRACKS TO CORRECT DYNAMIC ERRORS IN THE ACOUSTIC RECORDER

Note: The computer analysis shows that these low frequency dynamic errors are greatly reduced with the use of a hyperbolic recording horn. Unfortunately this was developed after acoustic recording had ended.

THE CONCERTS

CONCERT NO 1

PLAY WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
PLAY EQUALISED VERSION
DISC DETAILS

CONCERT NO 2

PLAY WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
PLAY EQUALISED VERSION
DISC DETAILS

CONCERT NO 3

PLAY WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
PLAY EQUALISED VERSION
DISC DETAILS

CONCERT NO 4

PLAY WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
PLAY EQUALISED VERSION
DISC DETAILS

CONCERT NO 5

PLAY WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
PLAY EQUALISED VERSION
DISC DETAILS

CONCERT NO 6

PLAY WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
PLAY EQUALISED VERSION
DISC DETAILS

CONCERT NO 7

PLAY WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
PLAY EQUALISED VERSION
DISC DETAILS

CONCERT NO 8

PLAY WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
PLAY EQUALISED VERSION
DISC DETAILS

CONCERT NO 9

PLAY WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
PLAY EQUALISED VERSION
DISC DETAILS

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DISC DETAILS

CONCERT NO 1

Note: All the discs in Concert No 1 are acoustically recorded.

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[1]	11,372	51900-R	1927	Where Do You Work-a John? - Earl Oliver's Jazz Babies
[2]	11,373	51900-L	1927	Pretty Lips - Earl Oliver's Jazz Babies

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[3]	10937	51745-R	1926-1927	Chick, Chick, Chick, Chicken. - Earl Oliver's Jazz Babies. Vocal: Tom Howard
[4]	10938	51745-L	1926-1927	Show That Fellow The Door - Earl Oliver's Jazz Babies. Vocal: Tom Howard.

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[5]	9772	51418-L	1924-1925	Tea for Two - Green Brothers' Novelty Band
[6]	9770	51418-R	1924-1925	Somebody Loves Me - Nathan Glantz and His Orchestra

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[7]	10759	51679-L	1926-1927	Love Bound - Jack Stillman's Orchestra
[8]	10758	51679-R	1926-1927	Dreaming of a Castle in The Air - Jack Stillman's Orchestra.

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[9]	11178	51826-L	1926-1927	Measley Blues - Joe Candullo and His Everglades Orchestra
[10]	11177	51826-R	1926-1927	Bass Ale Blues - Joe Candullo and His Everglades Orchestra.

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[11]	10293	51538-L	1925-1926	On The Oregon Trail - Golden Gate Orchestra
[12]	10290	51538-R	1925-1926	Little Peach - Jack Stillman's Orchestra

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[13]	8929	51155-L	1923-1924	King Tut - Billy Jones and Ernest Hare
[14]	8923	51155-R	1923-1924	Barney Google - Billy Jones and Ernest Hare

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[15]	10565	51568-L	1925-1926	The Old Grey Mare - Billy Jones and Ernest Hare
[16]	10505	51618-R	1925-1926	How's Your Folks and My Folks - Billy Jones and Ernest Hare

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[17]	7075	50661-L	1920	Alice Blue Gown - Helen Clark
[18]	7077	50661-R	1920	Irene - Helen Clark

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[19]	8618	51089-R	1922-1923	Lonesome Mama Blues - Fred Van Eps
[20]	8635	51089-L	1922-1923	Frolic of The Coons - Fred Van Eps

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CONCERT NO 2

Note: The electrically recorded discs in CONCERT 2 are denoted by "*"

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[1]	18,314*	52258-L	1928-1929	That Wonderful Night and You Jack Stillman's Orchestra Vocal:Happy Jack
[2]	18313*	52258-R	1928-1929	Little Mother Jack Stillman's Orchestra Vocal:Happy Jack

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[3]	18165*	52229-R	1928-1929	Old Plantation Melody Vernon Delhart and Company
[4]	81166*	55229-L	1928-1929	A Memory that Time Cannot Erase Vernon Delhart

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[5]	11235	51852-R	1926-1927	Brown Sugar Joe Candullo and His Everglades Orchestra
[6]	11243	51852-L	1926-1927	I Found a Million Dollar Baby in a Five and Ten Cents Store Joe Candullo and His Orchestra

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[7]	9581	51362-R	1924-1925	You'll Never Get To Heaven with Those Eyes Atlantic Dance Orchestra Song:Billy Jones
[8]	9575	51362-L	1924-1925	I'll Keep on Dreaming The Merry Sparklers Sung by George Wilton Ballard

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[9]	11762	52057-L	1927	Rosa Lee Oreste and His Orchestra
[10]	11760	52057-R	1927	Gonna Get a Girl B.A Rolfe (Trumpet Virtuoso) and His Palais D'Or Orchestra

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[11]	9880	51455-R	1924-1925	Nightingale Polla's Clover Garden Orchestra
[12]	9777	51455-L	1924-1925	Me and the Boyfriend Meadowbrook Dance Orchestra

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[13]	9619	51379-R	1924-1925	Lonely Little Melody Atlantic Dance Orchestra
[14]	9620	51379-L	1924-1925	My Dream Girl Atlantic Dance Orchestra

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[15]	18460*	52305-R	1928-1929	Girl of My Dreams Al Friedman's Orchestra Vocal: Theo Alban
[16]	18469*	52305-L	1928-1929	No Label

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[17]	9698	51404-L	1924-1925	Someone Loves You After All (The Rain Song from Kid Boots) The Top Notchers
[18]	9697	51404-R	1924-1925	Along the Old Lake Trail The Top Notchers

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[19]	10938	51745-L	1926-1927	Show That Fellow The Door Earl Oliver's Jazz Babies Vocal: Tom Howard
[20]	----	----	----	----

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CONCERT NO 3

Note: The electrically recorded discs in CONCERT 3 are denoted by "*"

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[1]	11559	51972-R	1927	There's A Little White House Hotel Commodore Dance Orchestra under the Direction of Bernard Levitow
[2]	11555	51972-L	1927	You're The One for Me B.A. Rolfe and His Palais D'Or Orchestra

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[3]	9718	51407-L	1924-1925	Words of Love Harry Raderman's Dance Orchestra
[4]	9670	61407-R	1924-1925	Haunting Melody Harry Raderman's Orchestra

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[5]	18078*	52159-L	1928-1929	What'll You Do? Vaughn De Leath (The Radio Girl) with Muriel Pollock at the Piano
[6]	18077*	52159-R	1926-1927	There Must be Somebody Else Vaughn De Leath (The Radio Girl) with Muriel Polock at the Piano

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[7]	11769	52068-L	1927	Danube Waves Waltz Joe Green and His Novelty Marimba Band
[8]	11768	52068-R	1927	Spring Beautiful Spring Joe Green and His Novelty Marimba band

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[9]	10457	51581-R	1925-1926	Funny Jack Stillman's Orchestra Note: This side is coupled with Track 14

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TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[10]	11299	51717-L	1926-1927	Where Do You Work-A, John? Guy Hunter and Chorus (The Blind Entertainer)
[11]	11276	51917-R	1926-1927	Give Me a Ukulele (and a Ukulele Baby) and Leave The Rest to Me National Male Quartet

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[12]	9547	51355-L	1924-1925	Love is Just a Gamble Nathan Glantz and His Orchestra
[13]	9538	51355-R	1924-1925	Driftwood Harry Raderman's Orchestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[14]	10458	51581-L	1925-1926	Day Dreaming Jack Stillman's Orchestra Note:This side is coupled with track #9

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[15]	10333	51552-R	1925-1926	Who Takes Care of The Caretaker's Daughter ( while the Caretaker's Busy Taking Care ) Bud Birmingham and His Uke
[16]	10291	51552-L	1925-1926	We're Gonna Have Weather (whether or not) Bud Birmingham and His Uke

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[17]	51873-R	51745-L	1925-1926	Son of the Shiek Clyde Doerr and His Orchestra

return

CONCERT NO 4

Note: All the discs in Concert No 4 are acoustically recorded.

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[1]	10254	51527-L	1924-1926	Chromatic Xylophone: George Hamilton Green Piano: Frank Banta
[2]	10253	551527-R	1925-1926	No Label

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[3]	11260	51863-L	1926-1927	My Pal Jerry Duke Yellman and His Orchestra Vocal: Hall and Ryan

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[4]	9501	51343-R	1924-1925	Spain Harry Raderman's Dance Orchestra
[5]	9506	51343-L	1924-1925	Don't Blame It All On Me Tommy Monaco's Orchestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[6]	8560	51031-R	1922-1923	Cow Bells Harry Raderman's Orchestra
[7]	8559	51031-L	1922-1923	My Southern Home Harry Raderman's Orechestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[8]	8635	51089-L	1922-1923	Frolic of The Coons Fred Van Eps (Banjo Solo)
[9]	8618	51089-R	1922-1923	Lonesome Mama Blues Fred Van Eps (Banjo Solo)

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[10]	10917	51730-R	1926-1927	Rhythm of The Day Geogia Melodians
[11]	10918	51730-L	1926-1927	Everybody's Charleston Crazy Georgia Melodians

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[12]	9602	51374-R	1919-1920	The Side Walks of New York Billy Jones
[13]	3586	51374-L	1915-1916	I'm Just a Ragged Newsboy But my Heart is True Blue Walter Scanlan

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[14]	10815	51686-R	1926-1927	Always (part only) Walter Scanlan
[15]	10834	551686-L	1926-1927	My Little Nest of Heavenly Blue (part only) Walter Scanlan

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[16]	11513	51982-R	1927	I'm Looking for a Girl Called Mary James Doherty
[17]	11456	51892-L	1927	That's What I Call a Pal James Doherty

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[18]	11004	51765-R	1926-1927	Truly I Do Arthur Hall and John Ryan

return

CONCERT NO 5

Note: All the discs in Concert No 5 were acoustically recorded.
The surfaces of many of the discs used in this concert were so bad that it was difficult to recover a useable signal.

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[1]	9501	51343-R	1924-1925	Spain Harry Raderman's Dance Orchestra
[2]	9506	51343-L	1924-1925	Don't Blame It All on Me Tommy Monaco's Orchestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[3]	9028	82297-R	1923-1924	Long Ago in Alcalar Arthur Middleton Piano:Charles A Baker
[4]	9029	82297-L	1923-1924	Down Deep Within the Cellar Arthur Middleton with Orchestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[5]	11260	51863-L	1926-1927	My Pal Jerry Duke Yellman and his Orchestra Vocal:Hall and Ryan
[6]	11004	51765-R	1926-1927	Truly I Do Arthur Hall and John Ryan

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[7]	8560	51031-R	1922-1923	Cow Bells Harry Raderman's Orchestra
[8]	8559	51031-L	1922-1923	My Southern Home Harry Raderman's Orchestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[9]	2490	Black Label	1913-1914	Glow Worm Edison Concert Band
[10]	2630	Black Label	1913-1914	Garden of Roses Waltz Edison Concert Band

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[11]	4250	83063-L	1915-1916	The Bandelero Arthur Middleton
[12]	4934	83063-R	1916-1917	Stille Nacht ! Hellige Nacht ! Marie Rappold

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[13]	3764	80293-R	1915-1916	Mother Machree Walter Van Brunt
[14]	4168	80293-L	1915-1916	My Wild Irish Rose Walter Van Brunt

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[15]	10254	51527-L	1925-1926	Chromatic Xylophone: George Hamilton Green
[16]	10253	No Label	1925-1926	No Label

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[17]	11513	51982-R	1927	I'm Looking for a Girl Called Mary James Doherty
[18]	11456	51982-L	1927	That's What I Call a Pal James Doherty

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[19]	10815	51686-R	1922-1923	Always Walter Scanlan Note: Start of Disc Unplayable

return

CONCERT NO 6

Note: All the discs in this concert are acoustically recorded

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[1]	10706	51677-R	1926-1927	Hokey Pokey Diddle Dee-Dum Cliff Hass and Wendell Hall Billy Jones and Ernest Hare
[2]	10756	51677-L	1926-1927	I Wish I Was in Peoria Billy Rose, Mart Dixon, Harry Woods Billy Jones and Ernest Hare

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[3]	9907	51470-L	1924-1925	Laff It Off Bert Kalmar Harry Ruby Billy Jones and Ernest Hare
[4]	9885	51470-R	1924-1925	On My Ukulele Lou Herscher Mike Morris Mitchell Parish Billy Jones and Ernest Hare

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[5]	10381	51577-L	1925-1926	The King Isn't King Anymore Edgar leslie James V Monaco Al Bernard Billy Jones and Ernest Hare
[6]	10426	51577-R	1925-1926	The Farmer took Another Load Away Hay! Hay! Edgar Leslie Charles O'Flynn Larry Vincent Billy Jones and Ernest Hare

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[7]	10201	51526-L	1925-1926	I'll Make the Pies Like Your Mother Made ( If You'll Make the Dough Like Dad! ) Billy Curtis and Harry von Tilzer Billy Jones
[8]	10236	51526-R	1925-1926	I'm Looking for a Union Sweethart Ben Smith

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[9]	9791	51430-L	1924-1925	Ain't You Comin' Out Tonight? Robinson and Massey Vernon Dalhart and Company
[10]	9779	51430-R	1924-1925	It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo' Wendell Hall Billy Jones and Ernest Hare

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[11]	10962	51755-L	1926-1927	The Lunatic's Lullaby Leslie Moore Johnny Tucker Edgar Leslie Billy Jones and Ernest Hare Dave Kaplan at the Piano
[12]	10961	51755-R	1926-1927	The Pump song Sammy Lerner Buddy Fields Richard A Whiting Billy Jones and Ernest Hare

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[13]	11318	51884-R	1926-1927	Schultz Is Back Again ( with his Boom, Boom, Boom ) Billy Jones

return

CONCERT NO 7

All the discs in this concert are acoustically rcorded

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[1]	11559	51972-R	1927	There's a Little White House Hotel Commodore Dance Orchestra under the direction of Bernhardt Levitow
[2]	11555	51972-L	1927	You're the One for Me B A Rolfe and His Palais D'Or Orchestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[3]	9718	51407-L	1924-1925	Words of Love Harry Raderman's Dance Orchestra
[4]	9670	51407-R	1924-1925	Haunting Melody Harry Raderman's Dance Orchestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[5]	10725	51666-R	1926-1927	The Prisoner's Song Kaplan's Melodists : Vernon Dalhart
[6]	10726	51666-L	1926-1927	I'll Take You Home again Kathleen Kaplan's Melodists : Vernon Dalhart

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[7]	10333	51522-R	1925-1926	Who Takes care of the Caretaker's Daughter ( when the Caretaker's Busy Taking Care ) Bud Birmingham and His Uke
[8]	10291	51552-L	1925-1926	We're Gonna Have Weather ( whether or not ) Bud Birmingham and His Uke

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[9]	9982	51565-L	1924-1925	Old Lady Imperial Marimba Band
[10]	9981	51565-R	1924-1925	Colnel Bogey March ( part only ) Imperial Marimba Band

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[11]	8695	51111-R	1922-1923	On a Moonlight Night Kaplan's Melodists
[12]	8696	51111-L	1922-1923	Underneath the Mellow Moon Kaplan's Melodists

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[13]	10850	51706-R	1926-1927	Lo-Nah Mike Speciale and His Orchestra
[14]	10851	51706-L	1926-1927	Tentin' Down in Tennessee Mike Speciale and His Orchestra Vocal by Bud Kennedy

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[15]	9563	51356-R	1924-1925	Somewhere in Napoli Harry Raderman's Dance Orchestra Vocal by Vernon Dalhar
[16]	9564	51356-L	1924-1925	In Dreams with You

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[17]	11302	51887-R	1926-1927	Because I Love You Dan Vorhees and His Orchestra Vocal: Arthur Hart
[18]	11380	51906-R	1927	Still Waters jack Stillman's Orchestra

return

CONCERT NO 8

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[1]	9547	51355-L	1924-1925	Love is Just a Gamble Nathan Glantz and His Orchestra
[2]	9538	51355-R	1924-1925	Driftwood Harry Raderman's Orchestra Vocal: Arthur Hall

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[3]	18744*	52418-R	1928-1929	Somewhere a Voice is Calling Frank Munn
[4]	18743*	52418-L	1928-1929	Mavis Frank Munn

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[5]	10457	51581-R	1925-1926	Funny Jack Stillman's Orchestra
[6]	10458	51581-L	1925-1926	Day Dreaming Jack Stillman's Orchestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[7]	18078*	52159-L	1928-1929	What'll You Do? Vaughn De Leath [ The Radio Girl ] with Muriel Pollock at the Piano
[8]	18077*	52159-R	1928-1929	There Muat be Somebody Else Vaughn De Leath [ The Radio Girl ] with Muriel Pollock at the Piano

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[9]	9602	51374-R	1919-1920	The Side Walks of New York Billy Jones
[10]	3586	51374-L	1915-1916	I'm Just a Ragged Newsboy but My Heart's True Blue Walter Scanlan

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[11]	11769	52068-L	1927	Danube Waves Waltz Joe Green and His Novelty Marimba Band
[12]	11768	52068-R	1927	Spring, Beautiful Spring Joe Green and His Marimba Band

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[13]	11270	51873-R	1925-1926	Son of the Shiek Clyde Doerr and His Orchestra
[14]	5258	50410-L	1917-1918	The New Colonial March New York City Band

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[15]	5259	50410-R	1917-1918	American Eagle March New York City Band
[16]	5273	50455-R	1917-1918	One, Two, Three, Four Waikiki Hawaiian Orchestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[17]	5107	50455-L	1916-1917	Ellis March Ford Hawaiians
[18]	6912	50671-R	1919-1920	Semper Fidelis March New York Military Band

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[19]	6114	50671-L	1918-1919	Trumpeter's Carnival New York Military Band

return

CONCERT NO 9

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[1]	10918	51732-L	1926	Everybody's Charleston Crazy Gerogia Melodians
[2]	10917	51730-R	1926	Rhythm of The Day Georgia Melodians

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[3]	10929	51737-L	1926-1927	What a Man! Golden Gate Orchestra Vocal: Arthur Fields Part only
[4]	10930	51737-R	1926-1927	Shake Golden Gate Orchestra Vocal: Arthur Fields

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[5]	11034	51786-R	1926-1927	My Dream of The Big Parade Arthur Fields
[6]	10948	51786-L	1926-1927	Gone! Manuel Romain

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[7]	11083	51793-R	1926-1927	Breezin' Along with The Breeze Johnny Marvin
[8]	11086	51793-L	1926-1927	Who Wouldn't ? Johnny Marvin

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[9]	3726	Black Label	1915	The Stars and Stripes Forever Sodero's Band
[10]	9187	80867-L	1924	Danube Waves Waltz Peerless Orchestra

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[11]	8742	51208-R	1923	Who's Sorry Now ? Ernest L Stevens : Piano
[12]	9084	51208-L	1923	Broken Hearted Melody Ernest L Stevens : Piano

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[13]	4122	50968-L	1915	Dominion of Canada March Sodero's Band
[14]	5761	50968-R	1918	The Three Republics Grand March New York Military Band

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[15]	10577	51624-R	1925	Pardon Me Ha! Ha! Ha! While I Laugh Billy Jones and Ernest Hare
[16]	10583	51624-L	1925	Old Uncle Bill Al Bernard [ The Boy from Dixie ]

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[17]	10268	51528-R	1925-1926	By The Waters of Minnetonka Mel Craig's Orchestrta See below for comments on distortion.
[18]	10269	51528-L	1925-1926	In The Garden of Tomorrow Mel Craig's Orcherstra See below for comments on distortion.

return

TRACK	MATRIX	CATALOG	YEAR	TITLE - ARTIST
[19]	7118	50674-R	1920	The Homeward march Accordion Solo : john J Kimmel

return

DIAMOND DISC MANUFACTURING DIFFICULTIES

DISTORTION with EXAMPLE

As discussed in the previous section, the (non-linear) distortion in the acoustic hill and dale recording process is inherently low.
The disc cutting force presents a non-linear load to the cutting head, but this can be made small compared with the viscous damping force: and so reduce distortion to a low value.
Nevertheless, non-linear distortion does occur on playback.
This is mostly due to wear and has a significant signiture: the distortion increases towards the centre of the disc.
High frequency transients produce a sharp spike or hill on the track. The width ( and the structural strength) of this decreases with velocity, and so more damage is done by the large dynamic forces of the acoustic reproducer towards the centre of the disc.
In some discs the distortion is uniform across the surface, and it can be inferred that the distortion occurred in the manufacturing process.
Tracks 17 and 18 in concert No. 9 are good examples of this.
They are repeated here for convenience.
PLAY DISTORTED TRACKS
The fact that the same type of distortion appears on both sides of the disc strongly points to manufacturing faults.
Unlike their lateral counterparts, the stampers for hill and dale recording are fragile and highly susceptible to damage and wear.
This presented an enormous manufacturing problem, and was frequently the source of distortion.
This is discussed in the next section.

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DIFFICULTIES WITH HILL AND DALE STAMPERS

High frequency transients appear as thin hair like spikes protruding from the surface of hill and dale stampers.
Their structural strength is very low and they are very easily damaged - particularly if the stamper is laid on a flat hard surface.
They are unable to support the weight of the stamper.
The damage is equivalent to clipping the peaks on the audio and the result is horrendous distortion.
Edison describes this in his patent 1417463 of 1919.
I quote:-
"These minute projections of the sound record matrices are subjected to considerable wear and are very apt to be injured by the record blanks disposed between the dies."
The full patent is shown below:-

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CORE MANUFACTURE

The composition and full directions for constructing the cores are given in the following patents:-

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CONDENSITE SURFACE A

Frequently insufficient condensite was applied to the surface of the blank and the rough surface penetrated into the track causing surface noise.
The process is described here:-

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CONDENSITE SURFACE B

The surface layers of condensite sometimes shrink on the blank causing rough patches.
These cause "rumble" and low frequency surface noise.
This effect is particularly disastrous on electrically recorded discs since these require low frequency boost for the equalisation of their recording characteristic.
The effect is evident in tracks 3 and 4 of Concert No. 2
This is discussed in the following patent:-

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