Paul Whiteman plays Gershwin "Sweet and Low Down" (1925)

[paulj0557]

I could easily find myself becoming an audiophile pertaining to these early Orthophonic recordings. The sound is all there, maybe not in the HIFI way people are inclined to think is the only good way to hear music, but the more I listen to 78's the more I love how it sounds. To me the blending of the band is more important than every instrument sounding like it had it's own slider at the mixing board.

[bsgs98]

@paulj0557 There is something to be said about the recording efforts of this era. There was an effort to minimize reverberation and there was an attempt to get a natural balance by positioning performers at or near one or two microphones. Of course vocalists would sing directly into the microphone. Thus mixing was generally done acoustically rather than electronically. By the 1940s recording technology was vastly improved but sadly fake reveration and other enhancements prevailed.

[fromthesidelines]

It was "Viva-Tonal Recording/Electrical Process" that was billed on Columbia's labels from 1925 through 1930, 'bsgs' (but you were very close!). Thanks...

[fromthesidelines]

This was one reason why Whiteman's band became one of THE most popular dance bands in the '20s. Note the label doesn't mention "Orthophonic Recording", but that's what this is; Victor's patented "electrical recording" process, introduced in early 1925, revolutionized the art of recording, and was prominently listed on their labels by the beginning of 1926.

[bsgs98]

@fromthesidelines Thanks for noting this early Victor electric. They were still using the old "batwing" label design, but the "VE" (Victor Electric) is stamped in the runoff area just above the edge of the label. What a magnificent improvement in fidelity Victor achieve, and Columbia too with their "Vita-tonal" process.