UPDATE: Quite a number of people commented that the Standard machine has a separate control to set the speed - the lever is just used for on/off. Thanks for this info. As mentioned in the video - if you need to know more about these machines you should consult an expert in the subject…I’m not one of them.
@danielcook49182 жыл бұрын
Love the appearance of the tonie!! :)
@mrsteamtrains21932 жыл бұрын
For best results wind machine 35 revolutions of the crank when fully un wound
@RWBHere2 жыл бұрын
As a rule of thumb, anything which was recorded before the first commercially produced electrically recorded 78 rpm record is in the Public Domain, and can be played without needing to pay royalties. Therefore, the cutoff date is somewhere around mid-1926. This includes player piano roll arrangements, which you have not yet covered on this channel. I use some of those for the basis of music arrangements for the street organ which you can see in my avatar.
@spaghetti_monster2 жыл бұрын
You do not need to be an expert, just a guy investigating odd finds and even rare finds sometimes. I live vicariously through your hobby. Thanks.
@gunnarthefeisty2 жыл бұрын
@@RWBHere 1923 is the current date, but most of the 1924 and early 1925 stuff is under the radar.
@myleftthumb22942 жыл бұрын
When cylinder records first came out, they didn't have the mold process figured out so as to be able to duplicate them, so they would set up, say, a dozen machines, bunch the horns all together, and have the band play to thus make a dozen "copies." Then, they would set it all up again and have the band/singer play again to make another batch, etc. So the early cylinders of a particular recording were all different.
@communityrags60482 жыл бұрын
wow that's incredible
@e-man20812 жыл бұрын
Yes, and the band would sit in a semi-circle around the recording horns so all the instruments could be heard.
@markhonea24612 жыл бұрын
Imagine having the super rare collector recording that includes the sound of flatulence from a member of the musicians. 🤔😂
@Youtuber-ly6tx2 жыл бұрын
So if I attained all the records, I would have like 12.0 sound? O_O
@MiD2182 жыл бұрын
@@KZbinr-ly6tx Edison Atmos
@Matt-vs4zz2 жыл бұрын
I love that the advertising record is literally just the machine bragging about itself. Classic 1900s flex.
@eltiochusma2 жыл бұрын
Only 1890's kids will understand.
@DarkElfDiva2 жыл бұрын
I'd imagine that is either a demo cylinder that a salesman would play for a potential buyer, or it came with the machine when you bought it.
@richardprice59782 жыл бұрын
either way i feel the new 2022 release was better sounding and or indent for the roll than the mp3/streamlining as the internet makes it sound weird/fake so 1940's media is still not in the public domain no way the guy's are dead by now and if they were alive after 50 years most people/younger generations wouldn't know or probably care to visit ect. and those people that do are kinda different like me/history nerd 🤓😉 😎 it's cool that you can buy repop's of older media as my car had a option for 8-track and LP/vinyl but finding the tape's and useable one's ( and in trying to keep 50 year old automotive parts working is another huddle but one i was considering so i could get the real vibe's on the weekends or at a car show ect. and daily different a digital system the rest of the time ) at that weren't easy ect. and my truck is cuhset/c-d and i figured the best idea was to dich it completely in the truck for digital media player/streaming now im wondering??
@nob22432 жыл бұрын
"Classic 1900s flex"? More like, classic Edison flex. The man was a great inventor, but also a brilliant marketer, promoter and businessman most of all.
@richardprice59782 жыл бұрын
@@nob2243 more marketing than the brains as others seams to be the real inventors
@OuterGalaxyLounge2 жыл бұрын
I loved the way old cylinder singers shout out the record label at the beginning of songs. Probably helped scholars and historians later to have that information right on the record.
@joeshmoe5622 жыл бұрын
They still do this in rap music.
@ladymunch02 жыл бұрын
Agreed. Just think you wouldn't need a light on in the room to put a record on, just listen to the names and pick the one you want that way.
@urphakeandgey63082 жыл бұрын
The information can easily be found on any record sleeve and CD/tape jacket. Many streaming services also have an "about" or "more info" section with info like this.
@ruikazane51232 жыл бұрын
that audacious pun
@petermontgomery6382 жыл бұрын
@@joeshmoe562 was about to say the same thing lol "Yowza! Yowza! I'm Bix Biederbecke on the Cornet, backed by the man on the Bone, Ed King; King of the sliiiiiiiiiiide!!!" "Yo, yo, yo! This is Snoop Doggy Dogg, back by the man on the tables, Dr. Dre; Spin Doctor on the beeeeaats!!!!!!!!!" History repeats itself
@avalonhamakei2 жыл бұрын
I love how we had format incompatibility problems over a hundred years ago
@HUYI12 жыл бұрын
True, even cassette tapes had issues with getting chewed up lol
@3rdalbum2 жыл бұрын
Oh yeah, format wars have always been a thing.
@resentfulsoulofthetoilet5892 жыл бұрын
@mipmipmipmipmip These things are working after more than a century later! And they weren't particularly taken care of! Not so much of a "Planned Obsolescence" back then in my opinion. Now though, panned obsolescence is totally a thing.
@belstar11282 жыл бұрын
Format incompatibility is always worse with new things and gets better over time when things become more standardised but sometimes a worse format becomes the standard or there was a format with some advantages that lost.
@Ugly_German_Truths2 жыл бұрын
@mipmipmipmipmip which still does not mean anybody PLANNED on it. It just was a pioneering era of technology where the development is so rapid that if you want the newest and bestest thing you'd have to change every 2, 3 years into something new. You'd pay a premium for the higher quality, but you would GET better quality. There isn't a similar high speed technological development for media today. But just look at TVs... HD ready, Full HD, 4K, 5K, 8K, coming out with maybe 30 months between them, far faster than anybody would NEED a new television set... it's the same as with the phonographs of various sorts and builds...
@mazda96242 жыл бұрын
Just a truly fun video from start to finish. These videos are filmed in such an intimate way that it truly feels like we're learning about tech together, rather than someone just regurgitating a Wikipedia article they read back to me.
@39zack2 жыл бұрын
Well, he was there when the old formats was current 😸 so he speaks from experience.
@Gadgetonomy2 жыл бұрын
Welcome to the wonderful world of Techmoan! I have been a sub for a number of years and the content is always top notch.
@SimonCoates2 жыл бұрын
If you want intimate watch Mat's dashcam reviews, you can go for a Sunday drive with him. Not too intimate though, no rear seats in his Smart car 😂
@simplyhard2 жыл бұрын
@@39zack Well, in this case, that would make him around 120 years old at the very least.
@mikeos12 жыл бұрын
@@39zack Ouch!
@Norsilca2 жыл бұрын
"I am the Edison phonograph!" I love that full-blown Mid-Atlantic accent and the exaggerated affect. It's become such an old-timey cliche, it's fun hearing the genuine article and remembering that performers actually did sound like that sometimes.
@IkeFoxbrush2 жыл бұрын
I think this was in part influenced by the low audio quality. Performers had to speak clearly to the point of exaggeration and make longer pauses to be understandable.
@Peacock486 Жыл бұрын
Also, alittle bit of language shift since then.
@itsfine58182 жыл бұрын
I am absolutely fascinated with phonographs. The fact that it's completely mechanical gives it some sort of magic.
@ChristopherSobieniak2 жыл бұрын
I'm sure it was back then. Seeing this being run on its own power was probably amazing then.
@8bit_cat72 Жыл бұрын
You should see his video on wind-up gramophones
@uncled39 Жыл бұрын
And acoustic
@vinylarchaeologist2 жыл бұрын
Crazy to think that those old cylinders were recorded WITHOUT ELECTRICITY and you are able to play them back without electricity. Same goes for old phonograph records until around 1924-25 when the microphone became common. (Well, at least in theory - they might have used electricity for a more stable motor, but it all worked without current, too.)
@rexjolles2 жыл бұрын
Not really
@OctavMandru2 жыл бұрын
Electricity is quite new to us
@jansenart02 жыл бұрын
I remember when They Might Be Giants laid down I Can Hear You on wax on The Daily Show's Greatest Millennium special, 22 years ago. It was the best version of the song I'd ever heard.
@jansenart02 жыл бұрын
kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5qlZoR5aLqCfc0
@coast2coast002 жыл бұрын
The Aluminum used in the horn would cost about 20 times what it costs now, because it was manufactured using an electrical process. 50 years before this, aluminum was worth more than gold, because it could only be made chemically.
@Raze_1342 жыл бұрын
As a Christmas gift to my grandpa last year, I cleaned up the cylinder player and record collection that belonged to _his_ grandpa. It was truly amazing to hear music recorded on blocks of wax produced more than a hundred years ago.
@h8GW2 жыл бұрын
Just to make sure, did you research on going about it without damaging the recordings?
@MaxW-er1hm Жыл бұрын
@@h8GW a new needle for every record is the best bet push it to 2 if you want to take chances
@uncled39 Жыл бұрын
Blocks of wax?
@uncled39 Жыл бұрын
@MaxW-er1hm phonographs don't have metal needles, they have sapphire or diamond needles.
@MaxW-er1hm Жыл бұрын
@@uncled39 well it depends upon the era you're talking about, these definitely have metal needles and so do all (most?)- [and there are also cactus needles fir quieter playback] -crank gramophones.. google it😇 Once you get into electric era though, of course youre right.
@smakfu13752 жыл бұрын
LOL… vaporwave on cylinder format. Yeah that sounds about right. TechMoan consistently delivers outstanding answers to questions I never knew I had.
@thesledgehammerblog2 жыл бұрын
Good luck getting any more lo-fi than that.
@smakfu13752 жыл бұрын
@@rubiconnn I'd totally pay to see minstrels. Just sayin...
@joshroolf19662 жыл бұрын
@@thesledgehammerblog 🤔 That's interesting territory..::: Thanks! back to the lab!!🙃 Sigur Ros playing rocks with decently accurate pitches... encoded into spider silk with wind power and rose thorns The kelp and molluscs based modular synth Steampunk hurdy-gurdy
@thesledgehammerblog2 жыл бұрын
@@joshroolf1966 I guess music boxes would work, but I think Wintergatan already has that one covered.
@belstar11282 жыл бұрын
Vapor wave is all about putting stuff on obsolete media.
@decameter2 жыл бұрын
Strange how unique electronic music sounds out of this truly analog machine. Absolutely incredible.
@synthlord23682 жыл бұрын
"I can transport you to the realms of music" I always wondered where that sample had come from. It was used in a techno song in the early 90s. It's Edison if course! "Rhythmic Dance" by Scream Therapy
@Gavin-Rice18942 жыл бұрын
At 27:08, this is not the speed control. This is a common thing about later Edison standards. That is just the on/off lever, the speed control is actually that knob to the left that has that curved piece of metal at the end of it. When you bring that out, it will increase the speed by bringing two felts out. This will cause the governor disc to expand out more due to the centripetal force from the weights. The on/off lever will not provide speed control as the governor disc will just push it back out to fully open. You’re lucky to have such a nice model H reproducer on the Edison standard that still has the original green coating over the reproducer. If you’d like, I could possibly send you some blank cylinders and a recorder to make your own home recordings. Also, there is no way to tell manufacture date, but I have access to when each machine left the factory. Your Edison gem (G199279) left the factory in November 1906. Judging the popularity of Gem Model B’s, it was most likely manufactured in October 1906.
@mattgreen53512 жыл бұрын
Oh yes, we need to see Mat recording onto a cylinder! Great idea
@real_yanoosh65532 жыл бұрын
@@mattgreen5351 Didn't he already do that, in a way? In that video about that educational plastic cup/cylinder player thing from Japan, I think. Was quite amusing, I would like him to try and do it on a proper cylinder as well
@Milamberinx2 жыл бұрын
@@real_yanoosh6553 yeah, a look at how it should really work would be nice. That plastic cup thing was around the quality I'd expect from a museum gift shop.
@Gavin-Rice18942 жыл бұрын
@@Milamberinx on my channel I have many videos of me recording music and speech onto a blank cylinder and playing it back
@MagnaRyuuDesigns2 жыл бұрын
was going to say this exact thing about the speed controller
@Jayce_Alexander2 жыл бұрын
When I was a history student I had a professor who was passionate about cylinder music preservation, and we would frequently talk about long obsolete and nowadays obscure formats like cylinders and the kinds of obscure record formats that have been covered on this channel. I lost touch with him years ago, but I kind of hope he sees this video because I think he'd get quite a kick out of this. Shoutout to Dr. Ken Marcus if he does happen to see this. You were an awesome prof, and I loved the song you wrote as an ode to your students at Leiden University.
@tdp26122 жыл бұрын
Hell, he could be the guy with the collection mentioned in the video, not impossible that he couldve moved from a Dutch uni to somewhere in England
@ayoitscat2 жыл бұрын
I decided to look him up and found his email address. I've sent him a link to the video and explained that I read your comment, as well as what the video is about. Hopefully he sees it!
@Jayce_Alexander2 жыл бұрын
@@tdp2612 I doubt it. He was a visiting professor (Fullbright) in the Netherlands who ordinarily teaches at a university in California, so he was with us for only one semester (possibly two at most), and considering California history was very much a focus of his career (California cultural/music history in particular) I kind of doubt he'd make such a big move. But of course anything is possible. I also don't know if he has much of a collection he personally owns, or if it's more something that he has been involved in through his activities as a cultural historian (which can sometimes have perks like getting access to the collections of others ;)), but it sure made for fun classes and conversations. The man is kind of a savant when it comes to the history of music in Los Angeles in particular. He authored a book about it, called Musical Metropolis, that I kind of wish I'd asked him to sign in hindsight. If I remember correctly the CD that comes with the book even contains a number of cylinder recordings he helped preserve. Unfortunately I don't have a CD player anymore, so I can't listen to it, but I'm inclined to just borrow an external DVD drive now so I can have the tracks on my computer. You often hear people talking about that one professor whose class was life-changing to them. His class was mine in that regard. It came at a time where I was kind of lacking a sense of direction in my academic pursuits, and I definitely found that there. It was also the class that convinced me I wanted to teach history. Forever grateful to him, a really wonderful, passionate, and inspiring professor, and a very kind individual to boot. All the students loved him. He's still frequently talked about today among my cohort, and we were the class of 2014!
@Jayce_Alexander2 жыл бұрын
@@ayoitscat That's awesome! I hope he does!
@Eyes0penNoFear2 жыл бұрын
Did you ever get back in touch with the professor?
@JamesR6242 жыл бұрын
Okay. Considering the age of this format, I’m genuinely impressed by the audio quality. Seriously, in 2022, I’ve had cell phone calls over VoLTE and heard microphone recordings on computers with worse quality than these things.
@MCDreng5 ай бұрын
They can be surprisingly good quality if you find a relatively unworn cylinder.
@MarkTheMorose2 жыл бұрын
38:33 I'd heard a sample of that phrase "...always hear the voices of your loved ones, even though they are far away." on a piece of electro/synth music, and wondered where it was from, assuming it to be from a film, as was often the case in that genre. Now, I know for sure.
@CharlieFoxtrot2 жыл бұрын
Sounds like it would be on a Pogo song
@OverMagnet2 жыл бұрын
"I can sing you tender songs of love. I can give you merry tales and joyous laughter. I can transport you to the realms of music." I'm 90% sure this was sampled in a Caravan Palace song.
@molodoy..2 жыл бұрын
Can someone link the song?
@Techmoan2 жыл бұрын
UPDATE: Quite a number of people commented that the Standard machine has a separate control to set the speed - the lever is just used for on/off. Thanks for this info. As mentioned in the video - if you need to know more about these machines you should consult an expert in the subject…I’m not one of them.
@xilnes71662 жыл бұрын
yeah that makes more sense ...I never even seen or heard of cylinders before. wonder how many formats out there... Maybe you could also cover what live equipment was like back in the day...
@deathstrike2 жыл бұрын
I'd look at Techmoan's previous videos, he covers damn near every format imaginable from the normal (cassettes/vinyl) to the truly esoteric like VHD video player, Pioneer MUSE HD LaserDisc, and exotic music players like the Edison cylinder player, Reel to Reel, and Digital Compact Cassette. Maybe he is not an audio engineer, but you would be hard pressed to find ANY content creator who covers what Techmoan covers. Thank you always for the quality content and your frank manner of presentation!
@laserhawk642 жыл бұрын
Thought you'd like to know... I have what I call a "three box" stereo (I don't know the proper term, just your classic dual tape deck + 5-CD changer + tuner set), a record player from my mother's attic (and probably from my grandfather, before that, but I'm not quite sure) although I need to make sure it works, and at least two (and I think three) portable CD players :) I also have multiple anonymous "mini clip MP3 players" from eBay because they fascinate me, but then there's the pair of Rio 500s and the trio of SmartMedia cards to go with them... I should buy more of those cards sometime... Oh... and my TV has a DVD and VHS combo player under it. I don't bother with cable or satellite, or even an antenna. Nearly everything that's on is either bad news, worse politics, cartoons by people who can't draw, or stuff on the munitions-grade brainrot level that is "Survivor' clones and dumb sitcoms... and what very little actually good stuff there is out there just isn't worth the effort to find. I've a ChromeCast, a gift from a friend, but I've not yet hooked it up... same for the Blu-Ray player I got at the local thrift shop (I think in the UK you call those secondhand stores? Ours is specifically a PTA Thrift Shop here in town, profits go to support the local school system) as I've no actual Blu-Ray media yet! ...and, as I'm sure you've forgotten from the very few emails we exchanged on the subject: YOU are the reason I have a MiniDisc player :) it's quite nice!
@Lendorien2 жыл бұрын
Edison was the inventor of recorded sound and was the first to commercialize it with the stuff shown in this video. The oldest recordings in the world were cut on Edison machines. It was later supplanted by flat records. Everything else came after.
@FreeManFreeThought2 жыл бұрын
Also, when handling the cylinders, try not to touch the grooves of the wax ones (personally I do the two finger V sign method on the inside, it is the best way to handle them. They are super easy to scratch. The bakelite ones are fantastically durable (the Edison "Amberola" brand cylinders or Columbia's "Indestructible" brand records for example). I actually have rebuilt several of these old edison machines at the local museum where I volunteer, they are absolute marvels. Also, as for speed, don't worry about it :) even when these were commonplace, people would just play them at whatever speed sounded right.
@firehawk1282 жыл бұрын
I don’t know why but this technology just seems so impressive. Just seeing the gears and governors is amazing.
@VauxhallViva19752 жыл бұрын
Amazing to think that the basic concept of this thing, never really changed right up to the 1980's when CD's started to replace records. Right up to the 80's, the concept of a needle(stylus) wiggling in a groove to reproduce the sound never really changed at all from these cylinder things. Sure, better processes, stereo grooves, electro-magnetic pickups etc, but the concept was still the same - a wiggling needle in a groove to reproduce the sound. Possibly one of the oldest and most successful(in terms of longevity) recording mediums. I still have all my LP records from the 80's when I was a teenager. I never threw them out. I WOULD have also saved all my father's 78's had he not thrown them all out one day when none of us in the family knew he did it!
@firehawk1282 жыл бұрын
@@VauxhallViva1975 Yeah, even more so that there’s nothing wrong with the tech and unlike a lot of CD players or cassette players, the original materials still work. No disc rot or tape rot to worry about, or rubber parts melting into sticky black goo after decades. These things have lasted 80 years and could probably hold up for 80 more. It’s just impressive what we could come up with to make music more accessible.
@God-yb2cg2 жыл бұрын
Electronics is much more amazing, but since you can't see it, even if you understand how it works, you can't visualize it. Clockwork gear is visual, it's 3D and makes sense in a way that that other tech seems more "abstract".
@firehawk1282 жыл бұрын
@VaderxG I do think it's great that music is more accessible (payment to artists aside) but the transient nature of distribution is something that I feel is kind of sad. I assume there will be no one who can fix CD players in the future because no one will be making the laser assemblies, so at some point even if CDs are still around, there may be no way to easily retrieve the data. Streaming abstracts it a whole other level, where we're counting on corporations to keep copies for us and hope that licensing deals don't cause music to disappear into the ether. I don't fetishize physical media too much, but it just strikes me as something that someone should worry about. Even this video could disappear in the future, whether because KZbin is bought and shut down by some mega corporation in the future, or simply because some executive thinks its absurd for them to keep videos more than 20 years old online and decides to start culling old material. It's possible that at some point the only copy will be the one Techmoan has kept as part of the production process, assuming he even archives the videos after he uploads them. I don't really have a value judgement I guess, but it's just interesting to me that in 2122, it's more likely someone will be able to play a wax cylinder of that vaporwave song than they would an MP3 or CD of the same song.
@firehawk1282 жыл бұрын
@@God-yb2cg Maybe now I understand the appeal of Steampunk, because looking at the player I get the feeling that if I had to, I could build it. Meanwhile I'd have no idea how to even start with a PCB and soldering iron if someone told me to build a CD player.
@davidg58982 жыл бұрын
Piezo speakers/buzzers can easily be modified into surface-mount pickups to give an analog output that can connect to a stereo system (into a pre-amp first, of course). If you experimented with placement location on the reproducer horn or the needle's frame, I bet you'd be able to get some really good quality results that a horn just can't capture. It wouldn't be audiophile by any stretch, but still much better frequency response than a reproducer horn could ever achieve. I'm certain there's some low midrange and bass captured on those cylinders that isn't heard via the horn. Since this channel isn't about form-factor purism/snobbery, I think it would be a worthwhile experiment.
@MushookieMan2 жыл бұрын
Or he could play the mp3
@davidg58982 жыл бұрын
@@MushookieMan I don't think his record player can play MP3s. 🧐 Sarcasm aside, if this were a review of the music itself then I would agree with you. But since it is a review of the format (as a trendy resurgence), I think there's merit to be had in deeper exploration of the audio quality captured on those cylinder records that the tinny reproducer horns may be hiding.
@Ugly_German_Truths2 жыл бұрын
You probably also could improve the regularity and timing of the spin (exact numbers of rotations instead of "best guess"/"sounds like a normal voice" attempts) by building a modern repro using electric motors directly on the cylinder instead of the belt drive. Maybe even mount the cylinder vertically for the looks if you do not use a horn but an digital readout for the reproducer-signal... just for the geekery or it, of course, but then people truly buy into the whole "vinyl just sounds better, man" nonsense and are going nuts over it... paying hundreds of dollars for collections they could get as MP3 for a tiny percentage...
@jeejeeikifi2 жыл бұрын
I was also wondering how's the sound quality on the cylinder without the bad quality reproducer. Here's a video that I found of somebody modifying a vinyl stylus to pickup the sound from the cylinder. Sounds like the quality on the cylinder isn't that much better than through the horn. 😂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6HWpGVmobimbas
@victor95012 жыл бұрын
Well, it would certainly be great to listen to Edison's voice with better sound quality! Interesting that in cylinder players & 78s, the frequency response was probably flatter than on LPs & 45s. These use RIAA equalisation to reduce the lower frequencies & boost the higher ones during recording, & do the opposite during playback.
@chetjohnston76872 жыл бұрын
My parents bought three different wind up record players in the late '60's: an Edison 2-minute cylinder, an Edison "thick" disc, and a big "modern" 78 player. Playing with those as a kid probably influenced my pursuing a career as a mechanical engineer. I'm not sure that I was impressing my friends as a teenager in the '80's, though, when I cranked up the antiques. All of those machines, along with plenty of media for them, are now here in my house. With their simplicity, they are more likely to play just fine after years of neglect than anything with old capacitors. Despite their presence here, the non-romantic reality is that I stream nearly 100% of my music, just like everyone else. There have been many clever formats along the way, and I encourage format-fans to relish their hobbies, however, the erosion of physical media is a reflection that the content has always actually been the point for most consumers. I thank Techmoan for so enthusiastically cataloging the history of physical media, great and small!
@steelman862 жыл бұрын
The "thick" phonograph records you are speaking of is a diamond disc player. The needle was mounted at a 90 degree angle to the record and floated in the producer. Mine is in a floor model fumed oak case.
@Locutus2 жыл бұрын
60s, not 60's. 80s, not 80's. Sixties, not Sixtie's. Eighties, not Eightie's.
@JamieLeece2 жыл бұрын
My grandmother still has a cylinder player. It's a big wooden case, with the player in the top and a cabinet in the bottom to store the cylinders. We never really listened to anything on it. But we always liked opening it up and playing something when people would visit the house. I should take a look and go through the cylinders and see what's on all of them next time I visit.
@melskunk2 жыл бұрын
Goodness, how old is grandma?
@BBC6002 жыл бұрын
I think my Grandma may have one too. Although, never tried using it. I think it sits in her closet.
@killerbee25622 жыл бұрын
I'm guessing she got it from her parents or grandparents?
@Lucius19582 жыл бұрын
Is it an Edison? sounds like an Amberola of some sort: if it's a 1A or 1B, that's fantastic.😃
@Volodimar2 жыл бұрын
Your grandma's name is Elizabeth? )
@seancurtin51312 жыл бұрын
Wow, that is impressive. The ancient player actually gives the music completely different tonal timbre. Most fascinating.
@ryanmoore80032 жыл бұрын
I have to respect the dude you bought that machine off, I'm a die hard tape head with a rather nice stereo set up at home and my mates all think I'm absolutely mad. My hat goes off to this chap who only listens to tunes on tube pre war.
@edprogs12 жыл бұрын
When I worked at the Beeb the Sound Archive library had a cylinder player built by BBC engineers so that their collection could be transferred to tape on demand. It had a modern Shure cartridge with various stylii for the best reproduction. In this case the cylinder pulled the cartridge along via a parallel tracking arm.
@highpath47762 жыл бұрын
I feel like the quality should be higher, are some frequencies lost in the recording - given it was never intended for music but as a commercial dictation machine in the first instance !
@mrb.56102 жыл бұрын
Seen that too on a visit to Perivale ! Got a photo of it somewhere ....
@johnr61682 жыл бұрын
edprogs1, I remember seeing that being designed and made around 1987. The parallel tracking system was a modified Revox one from one of their vinyl decks. The two channel coils in the Shure carridge were wired in what woujld normally be anti-phase to take account of the fact that the grove modulation is only vertical on the cylinder system. A bit of trivia: - The department head at that time became one of the founders and still present owner of PMC loudspeakers.
@kaitlyn__L2 жыл бұрын
@@johnr6168 fascinating. And much more reliable and high fidelity than sticking a mic in the horn I presume!
@edprogs12 жыл бұрын
Yes, the quality was surprisingly good, and if you used the Cedar noise reduction system most of the crackles could be eliminated.
@kylepeckham41332 жыл бұрын
This video has brought back some great memories of mine. My late grandfather was an engineer at Westinghouse in the 1950s and 1960s and was an amateur radio buff, but his fascination was in music. Besides maintaining a meticulous collection of antique radios, he had numerous phonographs and other machines (like a nickelodeon orchestrion and a restored player piano he had rebuilt) and a massive collection of cylinders and rolls. Growing up and getting to see how these old machines worked was fascinating, and they still bring a smile to me even today. When we were forced to liquidate the estate and the collection, we honestly weren't sure what would happen in the future as far as preservation of these machines goes. Glad to see there are still companies making reproductions and that there is a small contingent of folks who are making new music on them. It's so eclectic, I love it!
@Zveebo2 жыл бұрын
For me, I always try to listen to music on Edison cylinder when possible - I find the sound much “warmer” than cold and soulless digital, tape, or vinyl recordings.
@harveywallbanger31232 жыл бұрын
Too new-wave and hissy. I only listen to my stuff on hand-chiseled granite tablets. If you're looking to get into it, slate is a cheaper way to start.
@woldemunster92442 жыл бұрын
I listen music in sauna.
@blazed852 жыл бұрын
I dig down deep in the earth and listen to the rumbles.
@Rust_in_Time2 жыл бұрын
@@harveywallbanger3123 Better make sure it's Welsh slate though - you need that cool, wet, flinty sound that you just don't get from new-fangled foreign slate...
@zeggyiv2 жыл бұрын
@A J What? you don't have an orchestra?
@TheVintageApplianceEmporium2 жыл бұрын
One of the best videos you've ever made sir! Watching this makes me think - how magical was it for the people in 1905 to sit down and listen to pre-recorded music? We take it all for granted today, everything that technology has brought us. But back then it was like actual magic. Incredible when you sit down and think about it :)
@bletheringfool2 жыл бұрын
Exactly, really fascinating to see and hear from this amazing technology. So long ago yet modern at the same time.
@yoymate63162 жыл бұрын
Thomas Edison might’ve been a dick, but it’s hard not to get goosebumps reading the story of the day he first tested his phonograph. It’s said that he did so in front of his engineer the moment he got the machine made; he sung Mary Had a Little Lamb at the top of his lungs and then set it to play. They both were so taken aback by the machine actually singing it back to them that they just listened to it, and his first reaction was along the lines of “so THAT’S how I sound?!”
@coast2coast002 жыл бұрын
There was already digital music at the time, and quite large copyright issues, digital music was taxed at 2 cents per piece to try and provide funds to artists who had their IP stolen. It was magical, but still relatively common place, and big business.
@kaitlyn__L2 жыл бұрын
@@coast2coast00 are you referring to the player piano reel copyright controversy?
@pigs182 жыл бұрын
@@yoymate6316 Another thing we take for granted but it's weird to think that in hundreds of thousands of years, no one had ever heard their actual voice.
@DocLathropBrown2 жыл бұрын
I found the promotional cylinder played over your typical end credits to be fascinatingly haunting. The sound of technology over a century old, set against a showcase of formats that were yet to be.
@RAM-cj1hr2 жыл бұрын
As a fan of the genre, Matt saying "v a p o r w a v e" just made my day.
@Ozzy_20142 жыл бұрын
Not a fan of the DMOD community I suppose. Poor Matt. 😅 DMOD= Dead Malls of Discord. Recording the dying malls/dead malls and retailers for posterity's sake.
@kaitlyn__L2 жыл бұрын
@@Stevie-J couldn’t that be said about every genre once it’s codified and commercially successful? Plus, it erases the experimentation and differentiation which is going on within vaporwave, which isn’t exactly regarded as a whole genre unto itself anymore but rather as an umbrella term, much like a rock enthusiast specifying exactly which flavour and era they like. But if your preference is for anti-meta genre-defying experimental stuff, then I’ve plenty of respect for you. Though I will add that if any of them still use music theory or common chord progressions, there’s generations of experimental composers who’d still refer to them as reusing safe ideas and not coming up with their own, no matter how interesting the instrumentation or rhythms are. There’s always layers upon layers, every artist has to choose which conventions they’ll stick to and which ones they’ll challenge.
@selenamertvykh64812 жыл бұрын
@@Stevie-J It's not all sampling if that's not your thing. I would encourage you to check out dreampunk for something that preserves the same aesthetic but consists of original sound design. 2814 is a good place to start. Vektroid's most recent album, Seed and Synthetic Earth, is also a banger and it's a shame more people don't know about it.
@dfishpool70522 жыл бұрын
Thank you for a most entertaining and interesting presentation. For the first 12 years of my life my family lived in a rural location with no electricity supply - a wind-up gramophone was an important part of the home entertaiinment! We moved in 1956 to a flat that had electricity and one of the first things that dad bought was a Regentone radiogram - we were in seventh heaven!
@robertstredde67982 жыл бұрын
FYI, in this situation it’s not a worm gear (there’s no worm wheel being driven) it’s a lead screw, converting rotary motion to linear motion. Awesome video though, thanks for all you do!
@Bialy_12 жыл бұрын
"A worm drive is a gear arrangement in which a worm (which is a gear in the form of a screw) meshes with a worm wheel (which is similar in appearance to a spur gear). The two elements are also called the worm screw and worm gear. The terminology is often confused by imprecise use of the term worm gear to refer to the worm, the worm wheel, or the worm drive as a unit. The worm drive or "endless screw" was invented by either Archytas of Terentum, Apollonius of Perga, or Archimedes, the last one being the most probable author." I think that the name "endless screw" is also a very good description as you would instantly know that the mechanism from the video have nothing to do with "endless screw".
@henryokeeffe58352 жыл бұрын
@@Bialy_1 I'm not sure how this quote helps matters. Using the terminology given, there is no worm wheel in Techmoan's setup. The lead screw drives a stationary "nut" to drive the nut linearly.
@tenchuu0072 жыл бұрын
I really, really would love to hear "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" on a cylinder player.
@KLondike52 жыл бұрын
Around the tube, a round the tu ube
@theantiveganchannel35962 жыл бұрын
Bird is the word?
@HUYI12 жыл бұрын
I expected him to play something modern like Rhiana but I know that would be impossible because of copyright strike, still would have been hilarious tho
@-Tris-2 жыл бұрын
Darude - Sandstorm
@infernaldaedra2 жыл бұрын
@@-Tris- Honestly I wonder how fast that would wear down the reproducer.
@KClark2 жыл бұрын
I appreciate that you put "paid promotion" on the video. It's what everyone who gets free stuff should do. Keep it up!! Thanks Mat, excellent video.
@oz_jones2 жыл бұрын
He is required per UK law
@FranNyan2 жыл бұрын
The trouble is, is that looking at the box he checked, the statement is false. There was no sponsorship, product placement or endorsement. KZbin is being very fuzzy with it's definitions and there is a contrast of what it says ("anything of value") and what it specifically asks. They really need a "product received for free" button because there is a huge difference between a review or commentary on an item received for free and someone being paid to promote a product. One, the person is free to say what they one, the other, they have a script they have to follow. That they both use the same "includes paid promotion" banner is really misleading.
@Raletia2 жыл бұрын
I agree very much! There's a big difference between receiving a review copy and being free to share your viewpoints, which is common in in the tech industry, and actually promoting something. There's a channel I've watched, "Lon TV" -who does it really well, he always says something like 'full disclosure I have received free of charge from , however the opinions are my own, no one has paid for this review, and no one has reviewed or approved this video.' Edit: Had to remove the (.) between Lon and TV because KZbin was making it out to be a link when it's just his channel name.
@FranNyan2 жыл бұрын
@@Raletia Yeah, a lot of channels use that wording or similar, which I appreciate! Tells you what you need to know to properly assess the review, which the youtube provided button really doesn't.
@philgallagher12 жыл бұрын
Interestingly enough (to me at least!) it has recently been announced that the biggest selling "physical" music media is now no longer CDs, but Vinyl. Whether people listen to them or not is a different matter, but they are at least buying them!
@JoshPrzy2 жыл бұрын
Up until about 4 years ago I still regularly bought all of my music and hadn't switched over to streaming. One thing that I found funny was that, rather than buying just a digital album from Amazon/iTunes/etc., it was often cheaper to buy the CD from Amazon which usually included a digital download of the music. So even fairly recently I ended up with a decent collection of CDs despite mostly listening to my music digitally.
@westelaudio9432 жыл бұрын
CDs are digital.
@HUYI12 жыл бұрын
I still always prefer cd's but the convenience of streaming music now is hard to bypass and the quality is surprisingly good!
@ExtremeMetal2 жыл бұрын
If I remember correctly, iTunes actually sometimes offers higher than cd quality digital albums, which could have some extra value to people. I personally prefer to buy physical or digitally from band camp. It's amazing how many CDs you can buy for a pound in charity shops.
@sbrazenor22 жыл бұрын
@@westelaudio943 They are, but I think they mean 320kbps MP3s vs CD quality, which is higher. I usually convert the CD to FLAC and then my streaming is via a higher end DAC, so the music sounds good everywhere.
@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge2 жыл бұрын
I just prefer having something physical in my hand, and CDs are so cheap I just buy them up because I know the same fate as cassettes awaits them they'll soon disappear off store shelves. I still prefer cassette tapes, mostly due to me still driving cars so old they have tape decks in them.
@RCAvhstape2 жыл бұрын
"If you are able to play a CD people might think you're a bit odd." I guess I should feel pretty odd indeed, since I picked up a 110-year-old Victrola record player from an antique shop, and now have about 12-15 shellac records...
@nerfnerfification2 жыл бұрын
One downside with streaming is that the version or the song you like may suddenly vanish due to copyright or other issues. The flash drive should serve to record some stuff. One thing I've allways wanted to do is record a piece on an authentic edison machine and at the same time on a high quality device. Digitise both then use a computer to create a 'correction' curve between them so that if that curve is applied to an old cylinder recording, it should bring it back to a normal range/sound.
@nicwilson65872 жыл бұрын
I swear Mat is getting to the stage where he will end up being the guy to contact if you want to transcribe anything from an unusual music format
@sbrazenor22 жыл бұрын
I'm waiting for a point where he does a video on some music format that an archeologist found that reads stone etchings. 🤣
@mrrandomperson31062 жыл бұрын
He'll definitely say he doesn't want to go into that line of work but honestly he might be your best chance for something like that!
@bsadewitz2 жыл бұрын
Flippin' 'eck!
@mrfluffytailthethird2 жыл бұрын
@@haweater1555 there was a episode of x files that had a similar plot but it was jesus bringing the Lazarus back from the dead and they used a fictional laser scanner to read it
@SenileOtaku2 жыл бұрын
@@haweater1555 CSI might have based that episode against some experiments being made on clay pots from archaeological excavations.
@rosemeyer19392 жыл бұрын
The first thing I wonder.... Where on earth are the band getting these manufactured? It's a great effort to get them done!
@Techmoan2 жыл бұрын
It might be www.vulcanrecords.com (but I'm just guessing).
@Simplebutsandy2 жыл бұрын
One day we'll probably reach a point where the resolution of 3D printing is high enough to manufacture cylinders and records.
@draketungsten742 жыл бұрын
@@Simplebutsandy And maybe the player 😯
@westelaudio9432 жыл бұрын
@@Simplebutsandy That's almost impossible and doesn't make much sense to do either. That printer will cost more than a record cutter and a normal printer together.
@lunakoala50532 жыл бұрын
@@westelaudio943 actually it makes a lot of sense. You wouldn't get those just to cut records obviously. But a lot of places would have those anyway and for such small merch runs it would be easier and cheaper to just book printing time on those machines.
@bronzstar4822 жыл бұрын
The message on the last cylinder is so poignant. 120 years later and technology is still making the same promises and can we truly say that it has delivered and does that truly matter or is it the experience that were after?
@ablacknambercat2 жыл бұрын
I love the fact there are enthusiasts that will produce stuff like this. And people like you who appreciate it.
@tedrobinson3722 жыл бұрын
The timeline for commercial consumer records: 2 minute 1896-1911. 4 minute 1908-1929. 4 minute disc record (12" 78) 1903-1955. record 9727 dates from early 1907. The Gem was introduced around 1899 and through model updates through 1911. The speed control is under the metal bed plate to the left. The switch lever is to switched fully on with the control underneath set to 160 RPM.
@AaronSmart.online2 жыл бұрын
There were also Edison Disc Records from 1912 to 1929. They functioned quite differently to 78s
@tedrobinson3722 жыл бұрын
@@AaronSmart.online Agreed. I only referred to the Edison 2/4 minute cylinders against the shellac 12" disc as it was a reference as to what was immediately discussed.
@jamesslick47902 жыл бұрын
@@AaronSmart.online Yep! The Edison "Diamond Discs" used vertical deflection of the stylus (as did the Edison cylinder format,BTW!) Every other 78 RPM disks used horizontal deflection. "Diamond Disks" can be damaged on non Edsion record players. Also, they are about twice as thick as normal 78s. Fun Fact: Modern stereo records use BOTH verticle and horizontal deflection.
@jamesslick47902 жыл бұрын
@@tedrobinson372 You could add the Edison "Diamond Discs" to your time line, as it WAS a separate format. They are not compatible with regular 78s. They were 80 RPM and like the cylinder records, a gear, NOT the groove drove the tonearm. It's an interesting format.
@antilogism2 жыл бұрын
@@jamesslick4790 I've played them on my KD-2070 that I modded to cover 78 rpm. The 3.0 mil 78 stylus is close enough to the 3.5 mil Diamond radius that it plays well. The cartridge needs to be stereo so that one side channel can be inverted. After that, the two channels are combined which reduces the surface noise somewhat. Audacity makes inversion and averaging pretty easy. Another thing that came up was that this pre-dates equalization and certainly RIAA eq. so a straight preamp without eq. is nice, allowing eq. entirely in Audacity. Finally, that signal is Massive! I needed attenuation ahead of the pre-amp. It's almost like running an old ceramic cartridge. For fun I should put my disk's contents up on KZbin to see what happens.
@dj1NM32 жыл бұрын
The truly sober thing about Edison cylinder records is that it was the *only* way to record sound at the time, so each recording was basically done "live to cylinder" and so there were apparently banks of recording machines set up in the studio, to make as many recordings at once as was physically possible.
@lcalvom2 жыл бұрын
Wow I absolutely love this video, the history with the cylinder player and the fact bands try and release these old formats
@mikewifak2 жыл бұрын
And now we wait for the retro tech channels to try loading Ultima onto a C64 from an Edison cylinder.
@negirno2 жыл бұрын
That would be another level of self-inflicted pain. And hilarious. :-)
@shadowmixx2 жыл бұрын
Today I am claiming this gentleman to be the 'Guru" of sound formats. A wealth of knowledge and physical devices. I pray that years from now when all of the older generations of us have passed on, everything that he owns and has showcased will be preserved for generations to come. Salute.
@robertknight46722 жыл бұрын
The first cylinder sounded a lot better than I thought it was going to sound. I actually did see someone on Tik-Tok the other day demonstrate a 2-speed Edison player.
@Zerbey2 жыл бұрын
I love this idea, I recently bought a ZX81 game distributed on cassette from an independent publisher in the UK. I have nothing to play it on (they sent me the download link so I could play it on an emulator) but owning the physical media is quite magical, and I'm of an age were I bought these myself back when they were current. Not sure I'd go to the extreme of buying a phonograph!
@Electronics-Rocks2 жыл бұрын
What game was that I still have my zx81, vic20, Commodores c128 which i added a BBC b and BBC master too.
@Safetytrousers2 жыл бұрын
There wasn't much magical about trying 20 times to get a game to load from tape on the Spectrum. Or when it did wait 3 minutes for it to finish loading. I have no nostalgia for that.
@948320z2 жыл бұрын
If you like DIY hobby computers, there are ZX81 clone kits you can buy and build now! I built a ZX80 kit a while ago, it's a lot of fun if you're into that.
@fattomandeibu2 жыл бұрын
@@Safetytrousers It's not much different these days when you take system boot time and all the splash screens into account. No idea where the trying 20 times to get a game to load comes from, either. Unless that was a Spectrum thing, my C64 and cousin's Amstrad always went first time unless the tape drive was dirty, which wasn't often.
@Chris-rg6nm2 жыл бұрын
Was that Planet X2 from the 8 Bit guy? I bought the same thing, likewise I have nothing to play it on.
@trublgrl2 жыл бұрын
Wow. I love recording technology, I have worked on many records over the years, but I never really was interested in Edison Cylinders. Listening to "Who Do You Love?" though, it felt like listening to a real piece of history. It was literally a bit of a transcendent experience, listening to the past, the precursor of everything I've done in my career and enjoyed in my life with music. Thank you, sometimes I learn something about myself when I watch this channel, as much as I learn about the technology.
@WizardOfOss2 жыл бұрын
Great video! There's something magical about hearing such old recordings, just knowing that there probably won't be anyone alive anymore that will have played those back in the day. Just like with very old photographs, these are some of the oldest bits of (literally) recorded history. And it is kind a cool that some artist keep making this stuff, even knowing that 99% of it will never be played. I realized myself a few years ago that physical media was going away when I wanted to buy a new audio system with CD-player, and I recently found out that both my 20+ year old DVD-player and somewhat more recent Bluray-player had died, and I have nothing anymore to play my 1000+ discs on. And sure, digital/streaming formats are more practical, but I nevertheless still like having a physical product. And it's not just about having a true product in your hands, my CD-collection represents over 3 decades of my life. A playlist just doesn't feel the same...
@robredz2 жыл бұрын
You could get a 4K Blu Ray player that should play most format from VCD to UHD, and also audio CD. My Sony UHD player plays virtually anything I throw at it including UHD video and music from a USB stick.
@GumikoVT2 жыл бұрын
I agree with physical music mainly being merchandise. I collect records because it's a cool way to listen to music while supporting artists in a much more direct way than streaming.
@ShockingPikachu2 жыл бұрын
I still buy CDs after so many songs I like being removed from streaming services and put on others…
@isegrim19782 жыл бұрын
@@ShockingPikachu I had several songs disappear from my Amazon account and that was a good reminder that even if I bought them digital they are still not mine. Happy to have CDs of most of my music.
@ShockingPikachu2 жыл бұрын
@@isegrim1978 and it’s not just songs it’s also very specific versions of songs. For example they choose remasters over original prints and a lot of the time the remasters muddy the mix and the quiet parts are too loud and just not great. Only way to get some of them is physical
@kevinbissinger2 жыл бұрын
Very few bands make money from album sales. Unless you're buying the vinyl from their personal website or a live show you're actually supporting them less directly than streaming.
@bigchungus7112 жыл бұрын
I just pirate my music. Easy and free.
@itoibo42087 ай бұрын
You are not a true audiophile unless you are listening to your music on cylinders, the way the music was MEANT to be heard. Records, cassettes, CDs, MP3s, all rubbish.
@bluedistortions5 ай бұрын
You forgot WMA, OGG, and FLAC. Rubish!
@iwearLingerie3 ай бұрын
Your mom, rubbish.
@AhDollar2 ай бұрын
ikr, like we got it right the first time smh
@janetsbrick2 күн бұрын
I used to say that sarcastically but I can’t be nearly as sarcastic when modern cylinders are being produced!
@Thingsthatgopew222 жыл бұрын
If the bloke that sold that machine reads this, please consider letting techmoan film at your location with you telling the story about some of the items. If you want to remain anonymous I bet Techmoan will blur your face or omitt your likeness when filming. It would make a quite interesting video.
@durmphoto2 жыл бұрын
Just flew back to Oregon from Mexico. My bag was pulled aside for search and the young TSA agent was most interested in my portable CD player and CD wallet. An older female agent came over and said "you've never seen one of these have you? It plays these discs and you listen on headphones". My wife was cracking up over what an old weirdo I am with my retro tech music devices. The TSA agents were very amused.
@markm00002 жыл бұрын
I have an old iPod and I still get looks using it. That CD player must be so foreign to someone that has never seen one.
@JPWack2 жыл бұрын
I'm amazed by the deceptive simplicity of these machines, and also your presentation style and content is ever increasing in quality (including the mini-matt-the-editor at the corner!)
@jakublulek32612 жыл бұрын
Couple weeks ago I was reminded how amazing physical formats are. Tell me, on what streaming service you can get gems like my LP "The Old Bolsheviks' Recollections of Lenin"? Played maybe twice since 1971, mint sleeve with painting of V.I.Lenin, urging workers on. The best disc in my collection by far, even before you listen to the content on it, which is hysterical.
@albanana6832 жыл бұрын
It's fun to collect vinyl oddities. Somehow I've found myself collecting LPs with the recordings made during NASA space missions. Just found one in Dutch, pretty sure it doesn't exist on any popular streaming service. Everyone thinks I'm nuts.
@alphaomega33742 жыл бұрын
@@albanana683 78rpm (and various other speeds) make up a good portion of my collection. I love finding things that aren't available anywhere else, and then resharing them with the world.
@greatquux2 жыл бұрын
Before this video the only time I’d heard sounds from an Edison cylinder is the song “I Can Hear You” by They Might Be Giants which they recorded with their full (acoustic) band at the Edison Laboratory in NJ. Of course I heard it on a CD so I’ve yet to hear how this actually sounds in person!
@marsilies2 жыл бұрын
@@samuelfellows6923 While not the recording on the album, you can search KZbin for "They Might Be Giants - I Can Hear You (Live)" to see performance on the Daily Show recorded to wax cylinder to see the band and arrangement, likely near identical to the album version. TMBW has an article on the "Wax Cylinder Recordings" that has some additional info. "Singing directly into a huge horn (a precursor to the modern microphone), John Flansburgh lead the band through I Can Hear You. Next up, John Linnell sang James K. Polk. A strong tuba line punctuated the bottom end, highlighted by a tuba/vocal break in the middle. The band finished the session with a smooth version of The Edison Museum featuring vocals by "The Pride of the Oranges" (as John Flansburgh introduced him), WFMU's Nick Hill. After finishing each recording, the cylinder was taken over to a window ledge to cool. While waiting it to harden sufficiently for playback, the band, NPS staff and the audience enjoyed very informal question and answer sessions." They recorded 4 songs, only "I can Hear You" made it to the album Factory Showroom, but the other 3 were eventually released in other ways, such as part of their podcasts.
@jeremimcdonald2 жыл бұрын
This car is protected by viper!
@medes55972 жыл бұрын
kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5qlZoR5aLqCfc0 here they are using a reproducer to do it live
@moosemaimer2 жыл бұрын
Guess where I am? I'm calling from the plane! I'll call you when I get there.
@AKADriver2 жыл бұрын
what's your order? I can supersize that. please bring your car around
@huntrrams2 жыл бұрын
This is taking lofi to another level. Super impressive!
@lunakoala50532 жыл бұрын
I've seen so many weird formats I never heard of before on this channel, it was hard to believe we didn't already have a video on those.
@HUYI12 жыл бұрын
I've never heard of this device before, I've seen the old record player with the gold cylinder on them but not this format so it's intriguing for me
@freeculture2 жыл бұрын
@@HUYI1 The early ones were made from actual wax which break when dropped (also the discs) before they went with vinyl and the like. So they were expensive, sounded awful, were very short duration and could easily break. And that's how it started...
@atariboy772 жыл бұрын
"I wonder if anyone's ever found anything interesting inside one of these" Didn't find it inside of an edison, but inside of an old columbia 78 player. I found some wartime newspapers and a shorthand school notebook
@gunnarthefeisty2 жыл бұрын
I've heard of people finding (old!) cash and even a wedding ring. Most common is old needles, records in the larger machines and grease/oil.
@6JM6tube2 жыл бұрын
Very interesting, I have a friend who has a few cylinder gramophones. Apart from the original cylinders of the time, he has made some molds and makes his own hard wax cylinders, shaves them and then engraves or cuts them with an engraving head with the songs he likes the most, he has achieved an extraordinary fidelity. He has recorded a 2-minute cylinder for me with the song "Yesterday" by The Beatles and it sounds extraordinarily good. A very entertaining video. Greetings.
@anthonymartin73142 жыл бұрын
Cylinder phonograph not gramophone.Gramophone refers to a machine that plays flat disc records!
@mistie7102 жыл бұрын
I look at it from the point of view that I have seen too many people stung by streaming and network based services going unavailable, either temporarily due to a line or modem outage or permanently because a service was shut down due to the company going out of business or because it didn't make enough money. The Edison company stopped producing cylinders a very long time ago but if you have the machine and the cylinder that you want to play then you can still play them. That's one reason why DVDs, CDs, cassettes and even vinyl still persist, even if they no longer get produced in the numbers they once were.
@debranchelowtone2 жыл бұрын
If you want to go the modern way and don't rely on an usure service, just download files or rip CD to and hard disc drive. No need for vinyl or else, you can sell back the CD afterwards. As long as you copy the files to a new HDD before the old one breaks it can be safe.
@CarrotConsumer2 жыл бұрын
@@debranchelowtone You can build a media server with redundant hard drives if you want to be extra safe.
@debranchelowtone2 жыл бұрын
@@CarrotConsumer Ah true, like RAID ?
@FatNorthernBigot2 жыл бұрын
I’ve known about wax cylinders for some time. I had no idea they were tapered to prevent slipping. I’ve learnt something!👍
@trope51052 жыл бұрын
I went so long not listening to cds, that I was blown away when I started listening to them again. Sound quality is so much better than pretty much any other format imo
@Roxor1282 жыл бұрын
Probably because it's not compressed. Most audio formats use lossy compression algorithms that toss out part of the data to save space, but lose some quality in the process. Now, you can compress data in such a way that you get back _exactly_ what you originally put in, but it won't compress as well. We're talking a difference of 5-10% vs 50-60% of the size of the original for lossy vs lossless. General data compression formats like ZIP, RAR and 7Z are all lossless. There's no way to know what kind of data the user might throw at it, so there's no room for throwing anything out. All you can do is find patterns in the data and store them more compactly. Images, audio and video, however, are well-defined domains that have been subject of extensive research into what can and can't be thrown out and still having acceptable results. Said extensive research has also uncovered methods for compressing images and audio losslessly better than you'd get from a general algorithm. PNG actually uses the same underlying algorithm as ZIP, but adds a few processing stages in front to turn general image data into something that's both easier to compress, and most importantly, _reversible,_ so a PNG decoder can reconstruct the original image data from the compressed file. FLAC, on the other hand, is wholly designed for audio. It finds a compact approximation of a chunk of the input and stores that along with a compact encoding of the difference between the approximation and the input. Combine the two, and you can reconstruct the original data.
@GoIdenApple2 жыл бұрын
Putting all our eggs in the digital basket is fraught with so many dangers, and the control required to make sure those dangers are never realized is making for a miserable existence. Value the real and the physical for a happier life.
@BenHeckHacks2 жыл бұрын
Very true. An EMP or solar flare could wipe out decades of our history.
@mickeyBtsv2 жыл бұрын
Mat, I love your story telling. So detailed and explanatory. I too tell stories like this. You're a pleasure to listen to/watch. I really enjoy your videos
@WeAteYourHorse2 жыл бұрын
I was in a pretty famous band in the later 2000s (Metal Music). We did a few international tours and have 2 gold albums so i know a bit about this. Where we made money: Album Sales: Retail $2.50 a CD, Tour CD $7-$10, $1 for Cassette, $4 for a Vinyl, Digital 10¢-15¢ a song (we didn't have streaming yet but i know it's lower than digital downloads) Small Tours $5-$10 a ticket Big Tours we'd have a lump sum Shirts: $3-$5 a shirt Pullovers: $5-$10 Hats/Balaclavas: $3-these were crazy profitable. Stickers made us $1 a sticker and we sold the most of these. So just an idea.. Some small context
@luna0102 жыл бұрын
is this with record labels taking some cut?
@WeAteYourHorse2 жыл бұрын
@@luna010 yeah, that's why selling albums on tour was so much more profitable. If you ever want to support an artist buy their music and merch at a show not through a vendor.
@av.punk.8012 жыл бұрын
As someone in music I can confirm. I also wanna add this little tidbit for those who complain about the price of merch/physical copies/concert tickets. This isn't the 70s anymore. Not only are we fighting inflation, but also streaming. Back then the ONLY way was vinyl records and tapes, so they could make more selling them, then tour to support it. A tour to support an album, keep that in mind. Nowadays its the dead opposite, with streaming services like Spotify that a majority of people use free and that notoriously pays like shit, the money comes (as previously stated) from selling on the tour as well as tickets, and it becomes an album to support a tour. Tl:Dr, 70s: a tour to support an album Now: an album to support a tour
@WeAteYourHorse2 жыл бұрын
@@av.punk.801 yeah a lot of my friends really didn't stay in the industry very long after streaming. it really didn't seem like they could make any money especially as adults
@av.punk.8012 жыл бұрын
@@WeAteYourHorse If you're in it just for the money it's totally not worth it, but I also feel like it created a comeback in the "music for the sake of music" mindset. A lot of the people I see doing stuff rn are not only aware, but even PROUD of the fact that they won't make it
@SharkNinjaBlueStar2 жыл бұрын
God, I distinctly remember my teacher bringing out a record player when I was in third grade, and remembering how old and antiquated it seemed to me that music was on huge disks, and this was still in the era of the floppy disk and the cassette.
@sgtcreasegrease Жыл бұрын
Oh man! Most DJs were still spinning vinyl at all their gigs back then too. The market for indie 12" singles exploded in the 90s.
@U014B2 жыл бұрын
Given that they're vaporwave tracks, I think it's only appropriate to play them on the 2-minute machine at half speed.
@ThatOneGuyfromMars2 жыл бұрын
That fellow you were describing whom you bought the player from sounds like quite a character! I hope he one day speaks up about why he enjoys prewar tubes over everything else, or does a collection video, would love to see it!
@kintustis2 жыл бұрын
I'm too young to have ever owned physical music, and my idea of ownership is getting a DRM-free flac file. But this channel endlessly fascinates me. Always well thought out glimpses into interesting technology.
@gregdaweson4657 Жыл бұрын
My idea of ownership is burning that flav file on cd and playing it on my Blu-ray player.
@drwatson32bit2 жыл бұрын
You nailed it with the novelty aspect of physical releases. I love to buy colorful records and cassettes, and do play them for fun sometimes, but really listen to the .flac files that accompany them.
@mialemon61862 жыл бұрын
Same for me. I do occasionally play my records, I have a perfectly good turntable after all. But 99% of my purchases are simply to enjoy the large format physical artwork and to support the artists since streaming pays so poorly. But I spend all my time listening to mp3s/flac or streaming if I'm away from home. 😂
@ThemelisPikos2 жыл бұрын
These videos are probably my favorite part of Saturday morning. Thank you for the interesting and entertaining content!
@MaybeHarvey11 ай бұрын
38:11 “I will always have something new to offer” he’s not wrong
@Keanu2522 жыл бұрын
On the Gem, the belt seemed to be looser compared to the standard. Got no clue about these things, but that might be the reason why the standard sounds better and has better speed control
@quentendeclercq91652 жыл бұрын
Was thinking the same. The belt on a belt drive turntable can affect the speed as Well.
@gunnarthefeisty2 жыл бұрын
It's possible it wasn't tightened properly. The size of the horn is what really affects quality, as well as if the reproducer is rebuilt and the diaphragm of the reproducer. 4 minutes are later and thus sound better than 2 minute recordings.
@RetroGameStream2 жыл бұрын
Is this the oldest music format you've featured on your channel? I really enjoyed this one. I wish I could live long enough to see if any vcr, cassette player, etc. could be fixed up to play more than a hundred years after they were made. I seriously doubt it.
@Techmoan2 жыл бұрын
Well it's the oldest one I have - although you might remember I mentioned in a Patreon update video about an even older format playing Cuba Baion kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3XKaIKmatSKkJY So I'm sort-of connected to that happy occurrence in a very minor way.
@RegebroRepairs2 жыл бұрын
It's the oldest audio format in existence, so... :-D There were two formats released in 1888, the Graphophone format, which used wax on paper cylinders, and the 2-minute Phonograph cylinders. After a bit of fighting over patents a patent sharing deal was made, and the Graphophone format was abandoned. The ones Techmoan has are post 1900, so they are made of plastic, and not wax, but the format is the same otherwise, as far as I understand.
@RegebroRepairs2 жыл бұрын
@@charlesachurch7265 Yeah, but that's not a format. It's just a theory that sound may have been recorded. Also, people who investigated how sounds worked in the 18th/19th century made trails on papers from sound, and they have been converted back to (very bad) sound. But it's not a format.
@namebrandmason2 жыл бұрын
Next up, player piano!
@debranchelowtone2 жыл бұрын
@@Techmoan Hello, maybe the Phonautographe, but it's a recording only device.
@michaelmcchesney66452 жыл бұрын
About 4 years ago, I bought my mother a "Victrola" record player as a gift because she had mentioned how she wanted to play some of her vinyl records. It was not an antique, but a reproduction that includes AM/FM radio and also plays CDs and cassettes Unfortunately, she never got around to playing any of her records before she passed away in 2019. We sold her house the following year and ever since I've had the Victrola sitting on an end table in my living room. I do not, however, own any vinyl records. There are probably some records that I bought as a kid that are mixed in with my mother's collection, but those records ended up in my brother's garage. I asked if he wanted the Victrola but he declined. As a result, I have a way to play most music formats other than 8 Tracks, reel to reel, or cylinders. However, I haven't even turned it on since the day I set it up on the end table. I have a 4K Bluray player that I assume could also play a CD. I also have a PC with a Bluray drive connected to the TV in my bedroom. I have an external floppy drive (that I have also never used) so I suppose I could play music on a floppy disk. But I have no way to play a VHS tape. I remember there was a time that new VCRs were selling for well under $100, but the ones I have seen listed for sale are much more expensive. I've thought about getting one anyway, but really I have no use for one. I got rid of all my old videotapes over a decade ago. I have as much use for a VCR as I have for a record player.
@kek23k2 жыл бұрын
The recording on the outro really sets off the tinnitus in one of my ears, marvellous stuff!
@Takeshi3572 жыл бұрын
Personally I dread a streaming only future. Imagine not having any control over your own purchases, that someone can just delete everything you've paid for because they felt like it or because of some bollocks copyright arrangement you had no involvement with. I mean some companies already treat selling used media as tantamount to piracy and that is completely insane.
@matthewbowen58412 жыл бұрын
To my knowledge, it hasn't really seemed to happen in audio yet, but streaming services have already removed episodes of TV shows they consider "problematic" in the current sociopolitical climate.
@Takeshi3572 жыл бұрын
@@matthewbowen5841 Not to mention every studio wanting to start their own streaming platform just so they don't have to share the revenue with anyone, only creating a situation similar to the one that caused people to drop cable in the first place. No wonder DVD sales are still strong. But yeah, music doesn't quite seem to have the same issue. Personally I can't imagine not owning a CD player.
@negirno2 жыл бұрын
It's not streaming itself I dread, but the disappearance of local storage options. At present you could still buy USB hard drives or thumbdrives but it could not be possible to get those a decade or two later.
@debranchelowtone2 жыл бұрын
Or with fully digital currency, you don't own it, it's on the bank account, and there are already laws that allows states to close the banks or steal on the accounts in case of financial crisis.
@rosssmith84812 жыл бұрын
There are lots of good albums out there, that aren't streamed. I think there's about 7 XTC albums you can't stream. Thievery Corporation albums. I've done the comparison between streaming through my system on Spotify's highest setting versus playing CD's, or stored CD quality on a hard drive. CDs still sound the best. Not by much, but enough.
@xwiretapx12472 жыл бұрын
This is my favourite channel on KZbin. Thank you for what you do mate
@marcischneider90932 жыл бұрын
You're so right about the physical format thing, some people see my cassettes and tell why "why you don't put them on display or in your wall", well because I play them. Cassettes are my favourite format for albums, I'm obligated to played all the way without skipping songs, enjoying how the artists intended.
@rosssmith84812 жыл бұрын
That's awesome! I recently made a mixed tape. I recorded some old Jazz Butcher interspersed with Richard Burton reading Malcolm Lowery's " Under the Volcano." I thought it was a good match.
@UtilityPro2 жыл бұрын
Love the Cylinder records. I’ve got a few. I have to say that hearing new music on a cylinder record…priceless.
@nelsonianb12892 жыл бұрын
your channel is part of why i still support youtube, your content is brilliant and well thought out. thanks for the history lesaon along with the novelty of something id love to indulge time, money and space into these items but i cant, thanks buddy, i wish you the best.
@Ice_Karma2 жыл бұрын
29:30 I appreciate your integrity in not just ticking the 'Paid Promotion' tickbox, but also going into the reason you did. I agree with your assessment that they sent you the cylinder without explicit strings attached, although their message does read a little bit like the quiet part was "and we figure/hope you'll do a video about it, too". I also agree that there are an awful lot of KZbinrs who don't seem to realize just how broad a territory is covered by the relevant legal terms. One thing I'm curious about, though, having no idea, is how this interacts with being merely *_loaned_* something to do a review of, which you don't get to keep afterwards, whether by a company, or a mate; does that still technically count as "accept[ing] anything of value from a third party"? (If I made content on KZbin, I'd probably lean towards ticking the box anyway in such a case, just to be safe.)
@YensR2 жыл бұрын
I think it depends on whether the loan is of value. Ask a stranger in the field to give you a pen so you can write something down? Probably fine. Getting to drive an expensive car for an hour? Probably "of value".
@Ugly_German_Truths2 жыл бұрын
KZbinrs have astonishingly few worries about legalities, the whole "fair use" subject is treated very casually and many people feeling 100% sure behind their FU wall are actually doing stuff that is wide open for civil processes.
@qwertyTRiG2 жыл бұрын
Tom Scott's two videos about KZbin the platform, one on Copyright and one on Advertising, explain some of the legalities here. (Short version: KZbinrs are held to a much higher standard than television studios are. The law is outdated and needs to change.)
@albertocabezas2822 жыл бұрын
Wonderful! I remember this machine and a Victrola on my Mom's older aunt living room when I was a small kid (circa 1974). Cute machines. Too bad those machines were out of order and I don't remember if some shellac or cylinder was played on them ever.
@garymattscheck90662 жыл бұрын
Victrolas are for shellac 78s.
@brettster33312 жыл бұрын
Thank you for showing this , I am sure somewhere in the comments someone told you that Edison records cylinder or flat risk produce sound with the bottom of the grove having bumps to produce sound while Victor, Columbia and most others used a grove of a single depth and the needle guided side to side, this design could produce more volume without skipping over the bumps like Edison. Edison usually used a diamond stylus and only a very slight amount of weight was on the stylus on the record, while on the side to side motion of the Victor stylus the full weight of the assembly was on the record the whole time and the needle needed to be changed very often, the Edison needle was mostly permanant.
@MoonDoggie9992 жыл бұрын
Really enjoyed this video! I have never heard the expression “takes the biscuit” ha but will immediately start working that into conversation. Congrats on 1.2m!! Oh and thank you for putting that mp3 of the song on for comparison.
@tonyjones94422 жыл бұрын
Biscuit is a different thing here in the UK. Its more like what the Americans call Cookie. Actually the American word for Biscuit is correct- Bi-Scuit. Stale bread that's been double cooked - Bi cooked/cooked twice. Roman treat. The word cookie is Dutch.
@MoonDoggie9992 жыл бұрын
@@tonyjones9442 very interesting and good to know thank you!
@draketungsten742 жыл бұрын
This is so cool. I am fortunate enough to have heard one of these in person ages ago at a collector's house. It was really nice to hear about your experience. I can imagine how these things would have felt pretty magical back when they were new.
@draketungsten742 жыл бұрын
And surprisingly enough, I ran into some of these cylinders in a museum the same day after watching the video, so I understood What I was looking at with the 2 minute vs 4 minute versions.
@lain_from_lain2 жыл бұрын
I do get what you mean by cassettes and other outdated forms of media being merchandise and I'm probably guilty of collecting them as that (though I do play them often). I am genuinely happy when I purchase a new album on cassette, slot it into my Walkman, and find it was reproduced with care. The experience of listening to a cassette, while possibly much less precise than digital, is more fun for me and knowing that someone put work into improving my listening experience is heartwarming. Thanks for getting me into the format three or so years ago!
@RudalPL2 жыл бұрын
Hi Matt. I am 45 now. Few years ago me and a friend of mine decided to resurrect our band from when we were 15 or 16. We recorded the songs and released an album 2 years ago on CD. We were so surprised how many of our friends asked for files or internet link instead of a CDs!
@killerbee25622 жыл бұрын
I would say why don't they just put the cd in their computer to make it into mp3s. But many new computers don't have a optical drive anymore.
@RudalPL2 жыл бұрын
@@killerbee2562 I was going to say. Most people use laptops now and how many new laptops have CD/DVD drives nowadays?
@debranchelowtone2 жыл бұрын
Wow it is some kind of my dream too to resurect my old band, but i don't know it was actually possible for someone to do this ! Congratulations !
@RudalPL2 жыл бұрын
@@debranchelowtone Thanks :) Well, there's only two of us so that simplifies a lot of things. I do my own mixing and music production so that simplified things even more. :D
@PaulaXism2 жыл бұрын
@@RudalPL I'm gonna need a Necromancer.. I'm game to have a go if anybody knows one.. I'm the only living member since our drummer died in 2019
@youtubeuserovrg7452 жыл бұрын
This video was extremely enjoyable to watch! Thanks Mat! Also congrats for being #17 on trending!
@mathmanmrt2 жыл бұрын
i have a friend who is a rockabilly artist. he has released some singles over the past couple of years in 78 r.p.m. format which is not a simple format to use with modern turntables. thanks for bringing this format to light.
@mattwuk2 жыл бұрын
Great video Matt, I've heard of these but it's a generally long forgotten technology and that made me think, these are well over a hundred years old now and still work. Imagine the state of todays tech in 2140. Pretty awesome thinking about it. Thanks for doing what you do 👊
@Debbiebabe692 жыл бұрын
Most of todays music collections will be unplayable in 5-10 years (when the company streaming it goes bust) let alone 100....
@solarbirdyz2 жыл бұрын
One of my bands gave a serious look at making a 4-minute cylinder release, using the same company who made your reproductions! But with them being in the UK and all that, it was just too expensive, once you added in shipping. But yeah, obviously, it was entirely for the purposes of being fun merch. Since we couldn't do that, we did a video that was nothing but a 4-minute Edison player playing through an unrelated cylinder, with our song dubbed over it. ^_^
@spring8992 жыл бұрын
Who's the band ? Can we find the video on YT?
@solarbirdyz2 жыл бұрын
@@spring899 It's been a while so that's a good question... um... [searches] [searches harder] [searches REAL hard] HA! FOUND IT. I'm on Irish Bouzouki if you're wondering: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKjTmpZvnqmemrc
@oackgourmandi6061 Жыл бұрын
imagine being a kid or anyone and hearing a song played from one of these for the very first time, it would've been magical
@michaelmiguelsanchez2 жыл бұрын
I really love how you take us on the journey with you with these sorts of videos.
@cbygelightbulb2 жыл бұрын
Techmoan: young people probably don't have anything that spins a disk anymore Me: I think I'm going to watch my copy of the Shining on laserdisc today
@beardsntools2 жыл бұрын
he didn't mean hipsters like you, but in general young people no longer have anything that can play cds, yet alone anything older than that
@cbygelightbulb2 жыл бұрын
@@beardsntools I understand what he meant, I just thought the contrast was funny
@ct924042 жыл бұрын
@@beardsntools "young people" has just become a euphemism for air-headed, skinny jeans wearing Millennials. Ironically, I know plenty of actual Gen Z teenage kids who DO want to listen to CDs and other real physical formats. It's the Millennials who are still stuck on "digital-everything" like it's 2010.
@beardsntools2 жыл бұрын
@@ct92404 maybe that's the definition by old men yelling at a cloud. Btw that's your anecdotal evidence, not supported by any actual evidence. The vast majority of young people, especially gen Z never listen to any "real" physical media anymore. That doesn't mean they are "airheaded" or that they wear skinny jeans. Quite opposite actually. They found better, more convenient ways to enjoy their media. No more big bulky devices playing tapes, cds, or even vinyls(ew) when the smartphone connected to a bluetooth speaker can do it all with a single tap
@ct924042 жыл бұрын
@@beardsntools LOL I just told you that it's MILLENNIALS who are air-headed and are the ones who have no interest in real physical media. Not Gen Z. Sorry, but you Millennials aren't the "new kids" anymore. You're not the "young people" anymore. This isn't 2008. I know you're jealous of Gen Z and you still want to be in the limelight, but everyone has moved on from the Emo Generation. Gen Z is much more aware of the world and I actually HAVE seen plenty of Gen Z teenage kids who DO want CDs and even records (even tape cassettes, which is hilarious). 25 year olds don't represent "youth" anymore, so save your "old man yelling at clouds" remark - sorry, but you are now the old man. 😂
@k4ruchi2 жыл бұрын
These old formats give me a really comfortable retro chill when watching. I really respect you for putting these together and I hope you'll keep them comming for quite some time. Thank you.
@DumahBrazorf2 жыл бұрын
Hearing the voice of dead people, what an incredible machine!