and here is NYT story on the findings http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/science/bismarcks-voice-among-restored-edison-recordings.html On Jan 30, 2012, at 10:03 PM, DanKj wrote:
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 8:20 PM > Subject: [phonolist] Early European Edison Phonograph Recordings Released > > >> >> Thomas Edison NHP News Release >> >> >> >> >> >> For Release: Monday January 30, 2012 >> Contact: Jerry Fabris >> Phone: 973-736-0550 x48 >> >> Early European Edison Phonograph Recordings Released >> >> WEST ORANGE, NJ – Today the National Park Service announces the first-time >> release of 12 >> >> historic sound recordings made by Thomas Edison’s recording engineer Theo >> Wangemann on >> >> wax cylinders during 1889-1890 in Germany, Austria, Prussia, and France. >> The recordings >> >> include the voices of eminent German historical figures Otto von Bismarck >> and Helmuth >> >> von Moltke, and several performances by important musicians of the period. >> The sounds >> >> are available on-line in MP3-format at: >> >> http://www.nps.gov/edis/photosmultimedia/theo-wangemann-1889-1890-european-recordings.ht >> >> m. >> >> >> >> On Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:00 noon, historian Patrick Feaster, >> will present a >> >> one-hour program about the recordings, titled Theo Wangemann: The Man Who >> Made the >> >> Phonograph Musical. This presentation will explore the life and career of >> Theo >> >> Wangemann, who was arguably the world’s first professional recording >> engineer. Also at >> >> the program, collector Stuart H. Miller, M.D. will exhibit the phonograph >> used by >> >> Wangemann in Europe during 1889-1890. The program will be held in the >> Laboratory Complex >> >> at Thomas Edison National Historical Park, 211 Main Street. The entrance >> fee to the park >> >> is $7.00, children under 16 are free. Seating is limited and reservations >> are required. >> >> Reservations can be made by calling 973-736-0550, ext. 89. >> >> >> Museum Curators first cataloged the damaged wooden box containing the wax >> cylinders in >> 1957, found in the library of the Edison Laboratory. In 2005, the National >> Park Service >> completed a multi-year project to individually catalog every historic sound >> recording in >> the museum collection. Curators noted that the box contained 17 brown wax >> cylinders in >> fair and poor condition, several broken with large pieces missing. No >> title list or >> other identification survived in the box with the recordings, so the >> recordings could >> not be identified until they were heard. In 2011, the park's Curator of >> Sound >> Recordings digitized 12 of Wangemann's 17 cylinders using a French-made >> Archeophone >> cylinder playback machine, saving the audio as Broadcast Wave Format files. >> (Five of the >> cylinders could not be digitized due to their condition.) Once the audio >> could be >> heard, historians Stephan Puille and Patrick Feaster identified the sounds >> and wrote two >> scholarly essays, which are included with the recordings on the Thomas >> Edison National >> Historical Park website. >> >> Entrusted by Thomas Edison with the task of applying the newly developed >> wax cylinder >> phonograph to music, Theo Wangemann oversaw the first regular production of >> pre-recorded >> cylinders at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey in 1888-89, >> ushering in >> the beginnings of the American musical recording industry. Then, in >> 1889-90, Wangemann >> played a prominent role in introducing Edison’s invention to continental >> Europe. >> >> >> --------------------------- >> >> Stephan Puille is a conservator of archaeological finds and technical >> employee at the >> Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (HTW Berlin) - University of >> Applied >> Sciences. For more than ten years he studies the history of sound >> recording from the >> beginning up to 1914, holds lectures and writes articles on the subject. In >> addition, he >> is a phonograph and phonogram collector who concentrates on early and >> historically >> significant items. Contact: Stephan Puille, Hochschule für Technik und >> Wirtschaft >> Berlin, Wilhelminenhofstraße 75A, 12459 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: >> [email protected] >> >> Patrick Feaster ([email protected], 812-331-0047) is a researcher and >> educator >> specializing in the history and culture of sound media. A co-founder of >> FirstSounds.org >> and two-time Grammy nominee, he received his doctorate in Folklore and >> Ethnomusicology >> in 2007 from Indiana University Bloomington, where he is currently a >> lecturer in the >> Department of Communication and Culture, a member of the Media Preservation >> Initiative, >> and an instructor for the School of Continuing Studies. >> >> Thomas Edison National Historical Park is a National Park Service site >> dedicated to >> promoting an international understanding and appreciation of the life and >> extraordinary >> achievements of Thomas Alva Edison by preserving, protecting, and >> interpreting the >> Park’s extensive historic artifact and archive collections at the Edison >> Laboratory >> Complex and Glenmont, the Edison family estate. The Visitor Center is >> located at 211 >> Main Street in West Orange, New Jersey. The Laboratory Complex is open >> Wednesday >> through Sunday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. For more information or directions >> please call >> 973-736-0550 ext. 11 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/edis . >> >> -NPS- > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.org _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
