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Robert's Music Page

Old records, spiffed up and streamed to your computer

If you haven't got The Real Player now's the time to get it!
The music you're about to hear is sampled from period disks or cylinders, cleaned up, and streamed from the server to your computer. The disks were sampled using a modern belt-drive turntable adapted especially for playing 78RPM disks, fitted with a 60-micron stylus. The cylinders were tracked with a Stanton cartridge, adapted for vintage cylinder players by Bob Lomas at The Edison Shop. Without his help, I could not be doing this.

The resulting "WAV" sample was processed first with "ClickRepair", which is great shareware written by a mathematics professor in Australia, and then with "Diamond Cut Audio Restoration Tools"; clicks and pops were removed, the "tinny" sound of the acoustically-recorded source equalized a touch, and surface noise was reduced (I've found it a good practice to not remove all of the surface noise - it can take some music with it sometimes!).

A further technical note: some systems have difficulty with the newer Real Players. With that in mind, I've coded these samples so that they are "backward compatible" with RealPlayer 5.0, which can still be downloaded (if needed) by using the link at the top of this page.

You will derive maximum enjoyment from these recordings if you've got a modem connection running 33.6K or better. Click on the one you want to hear, and your Real Player will pop up and play it.

Enjoy!

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"La Ronde Des Lutins"

by Vasa Prihoda

When Czechoslovakia's wunderkind Vasa Prihoda made this record for Edison Labs, in January of 1921, he was a mere lad of 20. Playing behind him is fellow Czech compatriot Asta Doubravska. This opus was written by Antonio Bazzini, a composer and concert violinist of very high repute in the mid 1800s (see this entry in Wikipedia for more info), and is a challenge for any violinist to complemplate let alone play. Vasa would record it at least twice: this acoustic version, then electrically in 1935 (which can be found on the Symposium reissue LP "The Violin Volume 10," available through Amazon.com). This is an amazing rendition, particularly the string-mangling finale, one good enough to turn the heart of the staunchest anti-classical listener. The record was not particularly loud but was in nice shape, needing a little bit of noise reduction but not too much, mostly to remove rumble from the Diamond Disc surface.

 

"Rondo Capriccioso"

by Albert Spalding

Charles Camille Saint-Saens, one of the better composers to emerge from the industrial soup of Paris in the mid-1800s, spins a wonderous spell through this melodically intense and notoriously difficult opus. Albert Spalding, the first American violinist to appear with the Paris Conservatory Orchestra, does Saint-Saens a good turn with this wonderfully nuanced performance. With Andre Benoist providing brilliantly undestated support on the piano, Spalding channels the composer for just a little over four minutes on this Edison waxing. The first takes were recorded in July of 1913, but this is a later one - take "J" - so the exact date is not known. The sonic qualities are beautiful, and the record was played on good equipment so there was very little wear.

 

"The Bulgar Dance"

by Kirilloff's Balalaika Orchestra

Each major record company, to court the tastes of recent immigrants to America, maintained catalogues of ethnic music played by artists that came from the "old country." This was one of the Yiddish sides for Victor, a spirited instrumental performed on balalaikas. The leader was Aleksandr Kirilloff who recorded many sides for Victor from 1920 through the electric era. The sonic quality is quite good for an acoustic waxing of stringed instruments which are notoriously difficult to record. The disc from which this sample was taken had been played quite a bit, but on good equipment, so the wear was limited to the loud notes and some groove stress toward the end. It responded very well to noise reduction.

 

"Monastery Bells Waltz"

by Henry W. Lange

One of the more prolific pianists of the post-WWI era, Henry recorded for both Brunswick and Edison as well as a number of piano roll companies. This is an Edison side from December 8 of 1922, take "A." It has the distinction of being the flip-side to Zez Confrey's only Edison recording, a solo version of "Kitten On the Keys," which can be heard at "Library of Congress American Memory" web site. The tune Henry's playing was written by Pete Wendling who was a legendary Tin Pan Alley composer, penning "There's Danger in your Eyes Cherie" and "Red Lips Kiss My Blues Away" plus many others. An alternate take of Lange's performance, relased on cylinder, can be heard over at the "University of Santa Barbera." This disc was in very nice shape and only needed a once-over to remove some rumble.

 

"Dainty Miss - Novelette"

by Duke Yellman

Duke was one of two "rising stars" from the Midwest in 1925, along with the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks, while broadcasting from WDAF in St. Louis, Missouri. The Nighthawks became a real favorite once they moved to New York. For a while it looked like Duke would make his mark in the Big Apple as well, but history has not favored Duke Yellman: his work is entirely obscure today. This side, which is just him on a solo piano recorded for Edison Labs on May 31 of 1927, is nicely done even though he gradually ratchets the tempo up as he goes. It would be one of the last acoustic sides that Edison would make, when the advertising department would defensively chant "no distortion" (which there wouldn't be because it was acoustic). The tune was written in 1924 by Bernard Barnes who was a composer from Seattle: he also played the organ behind silent films at the Liberty, Coliseum, and Strand theaters. The disc from which this sample was taken was beautifully preserved and only needed rumble removed.

 

Hear all these recordings by clicking the jukebox below

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If you are looking for a recording that used to be posted on this page,
I've moved it to my Archives.

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Requests? Comments? Kudos?

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(Keep in mind, please, that I am currently limiting my offerings to those recordings on which the original copyrights have expired. Any recordings which have been commercially issued since then will be voluntarily removed when I learn of the re-issue. These files are streamed from the server, and are not intended to be downloaded or duplicated without permission. Also, the opinions and attitudes expressed or implied in these recordings are not necessarily those of the web master.)
 

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rev 11.15.09, RAE Productions Written with VIM