Edison Museum Wax Cylinder Recording Session (HD)

This was the grand re-opening of the ENHS Thomas A. Edison National Historic Site. A demonstration on the museum grounds of an acoustic recording onto a brown wax cylinder and then played back. ~ OCTOBER 10, 2009

Category:

Education

Tags:

• ENHS
• Thomas
• A.
• Edison
• National
• Historic
• Site
• Museum
• Wax
• Cylinder
• Recording
• Phonograph
• Session
• record

[rweerakkody4565]

who was the gentleman in the white wig and the formal dress? was he an edison mascott / impersonator?

[Phonophan79]

@rweerakkody4565 Exactly, yes. This was their "grand re-opening" weekend after renovations that kept the museum closed for nearly 6 years. He didn't necessarily impersonate Edison, just was a look-alike walking around the grounds.

[SuperEckster]

Melt about 2 cups beef tallow, Mix in 2 teaspoons of powdered graphite, While stirring pour in your water caustic lye solution (like making soap). take a toilet paper cardboard dip it twice into the solution before it saponifies, let it harden, shape it to size make a plaster mold so it fits the mandrel. shape and shave the cylinder and voila you have a blank cylinder for recording

[SuperEckster]

This is amazing

[mliss78]

I ... WANT ... ONE ! :)

[eclecticdufus]

He's eight about the metallic soap compound. NEVER try and clean even a sturdier post 1902 black wax cylinder under the tap. It will fall apart in your hands. I know :((

[kirtley2010]

the tip of the recorder is acctually a glass rod, very small and quite sharp, it is much better recording on these machines than on a modern cassette or other formats, that is why im going to buy a phonograph and recorder, i allready have a decent collection of gramophones and 78s but i want to start moving into phonographs and cylinders, and im only 14!!!

[megabrontes123]

somebody needs to record a 21 century song on to that

[MikeBlitzMag]

@ORUPRANKSTAZ All true. But in their case, it's a bit more than that. Previous inquiries about reissuing this material onto CD were answered with concerns about whether such projects would sell. That comment came from an organization specializing in American history and whose outlet shop's only musical offerings are CDs containing re-recorded versions of overplayed early rock and roll hits.

[ORUPRANKSTAZ]

@merlinchanelle

merlinchanelle = Not so much. It's spelled "g-e-n-i-u-s." ;-)

[ORUPRANKSTAZ]

@MikeBlitzMag

It's because they're purists. It's the same type of people that insist that vinyl sounds better than CD. SOMETIMES it does, but on a CD player, or even a computer/device, I don't have to worry about cleaning a damned stylus...

[MikeBlitzMag]

He even cut an introduction, just as many of the original cylinders had. That's great! If you love acoustic/cylinder era music, please contact Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan relentlessly. They have extensive Edison era recording archives and the rights to reissue them onto CD, but they have long steadfastly refused to do so.