What Did King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band Sound Like in the Studio? (2017 High School Project)

Using both modern and acoustic technology, I wanted to see if it was possible to decipher what King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band may have sounded like in the Gennett Studios in Richmond, Indiana on the historic day of April 5th, 1923. The day was a landmark in history because it was the first time the internationally renowned trumpeter Louis Armstrong recorded, as well as famous New Orleans musicians Baby and Johhny Dodds, Honore Dutrey, Bill Johnson and pianist Lil Hardin, not to mention the leader himself, Joe King Oliver. Many famous tunes were cut that day and they were a big success in the jazz community.
Unfortunately the technology of the day was quite limited in both frequency range and sound quality, not helped by the crude and out of date technology used by Gennett (Paramount wasn't much better, though Okeh wasn't bad). Now, however, given what we know about the session's lineup and the styles of the musicians I tried to recreate the sound of the Creole Jazz Band, or more specifically the sound of the Creole Jazz Band in Gennett Studios. With the horns, the two cornettists Oliver and Armstrong were both muted, Johnny Dodds' clarinet very prominent and playing lots of eighth notes, Dutrey's trombone moaning away. In rhtyhm section, Baby Dodds could only use woodblocks and cymbal, because bass drum and snare would overpower the recording stylus (which is a shame since Dodds was famous for his use of the 'press roll' on the snare drum during the Oliver days). Hardin plays a very rhythmic but quiet countermelody on the piano, while Johnson chunks away at the banjo, since his string bass couldn't be recorded (also a shame because of his slap bass technique which was quite famous).
I transferred the digital recording to wax cylinder which resulted in a sound similar to Oliver's band, with the individual instruments melding into a sort of ghostly sound that is characteristic of acoustic recordings.
I hope this is an enjoyable experiment to listen to and is at all informative. The intention was to see if the sound of the band was able to be recreated. I am not comparing myself to the talented members of the band, but I am merely trying to figure out what the group sounded like.

[@gerardvandervelde1928]

King Oliver is smiling from heaven!

[@memotronic697]

amen

[@DoroSusi]

OMFG, how I love this comment!!!

[@brianrose69]

Amazing…and utterly believable! Superb effort, thank you.

[@mickcarlon8147]

Now a century ago! This glorious music will live forever. Thank you for this!

[@DoroSusi]

Cylinder version gives me goosebumps to no end.......

[@retorenfer8702]

Great experiment, and as I understood you also played all the instruments, you are indeed a cool cat!

[@EdisonSquirrel]

Anyone who has ever wished they were a fly on the wall of a '20s recording studio would do better to visit your channel. Excellent re-creation of King Oliver's sound!

[@leonblum7898]

Muchas gracias por subir a estos grandes Maestros del jazz Tradicional

[@devonmoors]

Recording studio? More a furniture shop back then!

[@amberola1b]

Very nice indeed. Sounds so authentic. I like to observe certain things in videos, and what I liked watching was that the stylus on the cylinder machine was so rock steady and there was no bouncing around from the cylinder being out of round that it also helped in giving with solid reproduction with no wow and flutter

[@witkrag4953]

Wonderful rendition. My kind of music. Encore Maestro !

[@mc2mc277]

Interesting re-creation. Kudos to your effort!

[@GramophonicReevolution]

Another brilliant video. I did laugh at the youtube video audio claim though. Beginning to look a lot like christmas - bing crosby :)

[@johncoffin9354]

Gennet records in 1923, did not use cylinders for recording. Worthwhile experiment, and I'd like to hear more. Descriptions of the original recording sessions mention that Oliver and Armstrong were placed far, far away from the horn, with Dodds far to close.

[@yuridanylko]

Not sure what dodds played. Probably to compensate for the difference in volume

[@bobboscarato1313]

Real magic, without a doubt!

[@mgconlan]

Who were the musicians who played on your re-creation? And did you get an "A" for this project? You deserved it!

[@langleybryant8641]

I'd give them extra credit if I were the teacher!

[@ARTVALROCH]

wow... such a good knowledege embodied in this experiment

[@zoraidagarcia625]

Congratulations for the great experiment! October 27/2020.

[@johnwhitehead3360]

Amazing

[@ThePeaceableKingdom]

Perfection. Supercool!

[@IsaacKorn_11]

Excellent job♥

[@cartoontalesans1977]

This is incredible 😀👍

[@Daviej5700]

Excellent

[@Vintage_Ambience]

This was 10 years ago, and instruments now sound as realistic as the ones being actually played in some apps now, i would love for you to recreate this project..

[@RWBHere]

Very interesting. Thank-you. One trick which acoustic recording engineers used for better quality was to make sure that the studio was good and warm, to soften the wax on the recording machines. Temperature makes an huge difference to sound fidelity and distortion. Another trick was for performers to move closer to, and further away from, the recording horn, depending upon which frequencies were being produced at the time. Careful positioning of the different instruments around the horn was also important. Some instruments were replaced with specially adapted recording instruments, such as the Stroh violin. Bass notes were usually performed by brass instruments instead of stringed ones. It was difficult for most people to notice the substitutions on the final recording. And the recording horn would be 5 feet or more in length! A bit different to modern microphones.

[@bobboscarato1313]

Even this early mechanical recordings must have sounded like magic!

[@pisoipisoi7584]

super..,

[@AndrewTheRadarMan]

Can you please possibly recreate the sing "Too Late" by king Oliver?

[@johnedser7695]

A really worth well experiment. What this proves to me is that jazz timing remains as illusive as ever. Your classically trained players were great players but had no hope of capturing the massive syncopated swing that the Oliver band demonstrated.

[@SemperPhonographCo]

This was all me at the age of 16 using overdubbing equipment. I tried my best man. I hope you don’t go around telling other high school kids who wanna play the music of the greats that they have “no hope.” Really weird of you honestly

[@Vintage_Ambience]

@@SemperPhonographCojust add lots of pops and crackling

[@errolhooker747]

Brilliant, you can be proud of yourself.

[@bobboscarato1313]

Sounds like Edison's cylinder recording machine; a piece of history!

[@Gennettor-nc8kx]

It's now possible, using Artificial Intelligence, to make original recordings of Oliver's Creole Jazz Bnd sound as if they were recorded yesterday.

[@patrixspringer2753]

this was very intetesting indeed!! I am curious, on the phonograph, what sort of device is on the reproducer where the horn should be??

[@BlackPatti78s]

I believe a microphone to get the most audio

[@bobboscarato1313]

Armstrong playing the slide trumpet!

[@leonblum7898]

EXPLICAME BIEN ÉSTA FRASE ?

[@bobboscarato1313]

@@leonblum7898 En la imagen se ve a Louis Armstrong arrodillado ejecutando una trompeta a varaque es lo mismo que un trombon de registro alto o soprano.

[@didoudingue1801]

King Creole!

[@yuridanylko]

This video gets *way* too little praise

[@agostinho150]

Música engraçada 😂😂de natureza😂😂

[@bobboscarato1313]

Lots of imagination. Great idea!

[@jourwalis-8875]

Is this the recording or the playback of the cylinder that we hear? How can you transfer a modern digital recording to a mechanical cylinder?

[@MrXnews2]

A few ways - for an "acoustic" sound, you can play the music over a loudspeaker into the recording horn [depending on how much of a live sound you want versus loud, you can play the speaker loudly/several feet from the horn, or play it at medium volume against the horn]. For an "electric" sound, the speaker driver directly operates the recording stylus, instead of the acoustic horn & diaphragm limiting the overall fidelity.

[@MrXnews2]

This looks a little like the Canaphonic pickup, basically a microphone tube connecting to the horn socket of the reproducer. I wonder if it's a dynamic microphone, which means it could be used as a speaker to make cylinder recordings [just attach it to the recorder instead]. That would basically be the "acoustic" sound since there's an air gap and the Edison diaphragm is still involved. If it were "electric" truly, the cylinder grooves directly move the stylus of a pickup [playback] or are recorded directly by an electronic driver.

[@smalljazzband9725]

Al clarinete le falta tocar al estilo de Dodds, no solo en las ideas sino en el sonido profundo y con un gran e inconfundible vibrato. No parece J. Dodds para nada.

[@michaelstair8658]

Yes and No. Many of the recreations lack the spirit and soul of the original players. Yes the new musicians are playing "original" arrangements but they don't have the verve and excitement of the originals. And Gennett, with the technology of the time, really couldn't capture a live performance, in front of a live audience in a big outdoor lakeside pavilion, fraternity dance or post football game celebration. Then was then, and Now is now.

[@fearfeasa1]

The band sounds laboured. They don't swing.

[@sammckinstry]

In my book they do! They're trying for typical band sound. not a swing quotient!

[@philipnestor5034]

This is great. I’m wondering if you should’ve recorded it first acoustically and then if you wanted transfer to a electrical recording. Of course when these songs were recorded it was all acoustic since electrical recordings didn’t start until around 1927.Even then, only one microphone was used.

[@user-bt1wj8ou3f]

What a foolish comment. Pick one: immature 1. Full of hubris 2. inflated ego 3. all of the above 4.

[@davidcollins2400]

Nice relaxed feel, I thought. And full marks for your experiment and attention to detail. Good luck for your futures.

[@SemperPhonographCo]

Hi there. I was 16 years old when I attempted this. Could you do this when you were 16? I doubt it. You probably didn’t even listen to King Oliver. What is the purpose of this comment exactly? To criticize a teenager for trying to get into the music and sharing their enthusiasm. You’re sad.

[@bobboscarato1313]

I'm glad knowing that recording technology overcame those awful sounds and voices.

[@user-ws2ls5st2h]

No use to spend time with such foolish experiment. Just listen to the original recording.

[@SemperPhonographCo]

Ya know, this is exactly what’s wrong with the future of this music. I was 16 years old when I attempted to do this, was trying to find my way into the music and share my enthusiasm. It’s really sad that rather than trying to accept that you’ve chosen to say it was a waste of time. Imagine if I’d read that at that age. I’d have given up, and then that’s one less person trying to keep the music alive. Also, did you even know who King Oliver was when you were 16? Could you play even just ONE of these instruments? Could you make an acoustic recording? If you can answer yes to these then maybe we can chat otherwise, go ahead and step aside so you don’t waste MY time