As I sit here listetening to The Great Gildersleve I hear rhythmic scratches on the recording telling me it was done on a circular disk, which I presumed was 78 RPM. But now I’m not sure. The scratches on the disk occur about every two seconds. Question: Is this equivelent to a 78 RPM record or one of those larger disks they used to use for radio recording? (My math sucks)
Every 2 seconds would be 30 RPM, so it sounds like 33 1/3 is more likely.
I was surprised to learn this, but RCA developed 33 1/3 rpm recording in 1932 and it was quickly adopted by the radio networks.
The Great Gildersleeve premiered in 1941.
Hm… I was thinking about those huge recording disks they used to use, apparently in the twenties.
Just for shits and giggles, when did they start using audio tape for radio shows?
My guess: Early fifties. ?
Actually, it was first used in 1947, on Philco Radio Time, whose star, Bing Crosby, was an early promoter of audio tape.
Just did a search for <“radio transcription disk”>. Didn’t find much, mostly rarities on the auction block. Did confirm my memory that they were about 16 inches in diameter; and they did indeed run at 33 1/3 RPM.
Good luck finding a turntable large enough to play one on. Last time I saw a transcription turntable was in 1966. . .
Audio tape did indeed become common in the Fifties, but I can’t give you a date. Their '40s forerunner was the wire recorder. Imagine a spool of fishing line, except that the line is made of steel. Yup; they used to record on stuff like that.
If you’re thinking about the same ones I’m remembering, they were an inch or two bigger than an LP (13 or 14 inches).
My grandfather was in radio in the 30s and had a few of them laying around. Most turntables wouldn’t play them because there’s only a little more than 6" between the center of the turntable and other things like controls and the rest and pivot for the arm, etc. I also seem to remember they played from the inside out.
I thought those records played at 16 RPM, but I may be wrong.
As far as the click every two seconds, the size of the disc is irrelevant. The speed would have to be around 30 RPM (which would fit with 33 1/3) for the click to happen every two seconds…unless there were two cracks in the record 180 degrees apart and the speed is 16 RPM, which would still give a click about every two seconds.
Didn’t they use 16 RPM for records (audio books) for the blind?
Yup.
jasonh300: I think you’re right about transcription disks playing from inside out.
The BBC stored a lot of its archives on old-style disks , even when magnetic tape was available. This was because they reckoned that for long-term storage, disks are better. Tape can suffer from “bleed through” whereby magnetic information leaks between the layers of tape , and the dreaded neutron bomb, which would have affected magnetic recordings.
I don’t know if this policy has now changed, and they have transferred this material to laser type disks or other robust types of storage.
My mom filled in for a friend for a week doing a cooking show. The engineer made a recording for her. 33 1/2, inner-to-outer edge, standard size. Circa 1950.
Strange about the inner-to-outer part. Given fixed rpms, the outer edge would preserve the best fidelity. Any cruft loosened by the stylus would also tend to drift outward too.
By coincidence, I saw this machine (or one of them) at the Pavek Museum just outside of Minneapolis (in St. Louis Park) this past weekend. It’s a really fascinating museum for anyone interested in old radio and early television.
One on the people at the event was the neighbor of the guy who helped bring back the German war technology of audio tape and helped work to develop it in the US.
Thanks all, for the responses. You’re what makes this board great!
Jack