Gaisberg’s Travels #2

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“8-8-1898”

The young Fred Gaisberg arrived in Liverpool and made his way to London to set up his studio. Despite the long journey and unfamiliar country Gaisberg was in high spirits and recalls

“Arriving in London at the tail end of a strawberry glut of which I took the fullest advantage.”

– Fred Gaisberg

Before any recordings could be made he needed to find the correct space for the studio and purchase all the necessary materials and chemicals. His Notebook is filled with a long list of items such as:

–        A gallon of coal oil

–        Jars and pitchers of earthenware and glass

–        A soldering iron

–        Acid

–        Gasoline

–        An etching tank

–        Scissors

–        Oil cloth

–        Linoleum

–        Cotton cloth

–        A bucket

All parts were necessary to make the discs after the…

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Friday mystery object #1 Answer

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The Hound knew you where a knowledgable bunch, points awarded all round for getting the correct answer to last weeks question…BRAVO!

Special mention goes to Rob Spenser for not only knowing the right answer but adding an interesting piece of information on this weeks Mystery Object of the Week!

Answer

The ‘Style No.5 Gramophone’ was the first machine sold by the Gramophone Company Ltd. in 1898. It used a clockwork motor and soundbox designed by Eldridge Johnson. The wooden case is cut away at the rear to allow the semi-circular spring casing to protrude. The Style No.5 is also known as the ‘Trademark Model’ as it is the machine which Nipper is listening in the painting by Francis Barraud.

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Mystery Object # 3 Answer

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Full points to Rob, Andy and Russell who deftly identified last weeks Mystery Object of the Week as an early Tin Foil Phonograph.

Object: Modified Tin Foil Phonograph Maker Archibald H.Irvine, 1877

This is a rare hand-driven modified Edison tin foil phonograph on a heavy mahogany base with mahogany trunnions and speaker/reproducer mounts (one with diaphragm). It has brass fittings and an iron mandrel on a shaft threaded at each end, with a spoked hand-wheel. It has now been raised on wooden supports for angled display. It was constructed by Archibald H. Irvine (M.Inst. C.E.) for the first Phonograph demonstration and lecture, and exhibited before the Royal Institute by Sir William Priestly in December 1877. It was presented to the Gramophone Company by Sir Francis Fox (M. Inst. C.E.) in December 1912. Sir Francis Fox also donated some original tin foil strips to The Gramophone Company.”

This is a sample…

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Recording Pioneers- Part 4

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Trevor Lloyd Williams

 

“The money behind the music”

Name:                       Trevor Lloyd Williams         

Born:                         18 July 1859, Deudraeth Castle, Penrhynd, Merionethshire, Wales

Resident:                  London

Occupation:             Solicitor, The first major British investor and registered The Gramophone Company in the United Kingdom in 1898 with William Barry Owen

Loves:                      Classical music, Law, Travelling, Investing in new inventions from across the pond

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In the very early days of the Gramophone Company Emile Berliner (inventor of flat discs and the gramophone) sent his partner William Barry Owen to London to generate some interest and investors in the gramophone to launch the company.  After many months of high profile engagements in London Owen wasn’t having much luck.  In a final attempt for investment he gave his young solicitor, Trevor Williams, a gramophone to take home for one evening. Williams was unimpressed by the…

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The Hound in Malang Java

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Thank you to Richard Lyttelton for sharing this fine image.

‘A friend of mine saw this in a small restaurant in Malang Java and I thought it might be of interest.  The hound certainly used to get around!’   

 

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Mystery Object # answer 4

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Our last posting must have been a bit too easy for our regulars hound contributors, but for those still biting at the bit  here is the answer ….

The Klingsor Gramophone was invented in Germany in 1907, and featured a group of strings stretched across the horn opening which resonated as the sound was emitted. There many styles and sizes available, including coin-op and ones with dancing figures in the recess below the horn. They were sold in the UK through Murdoch, who was still offering machines in the 1920’s.

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Recording Pioneers- Part 5

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Francis Barraud 1856 – 1924

“The whole world saw it and succumbed to its charm”

-Alfred Clark comments on the painting

Name:                   Francis Barraud

Born:                    June 16, 1856

Resident:             Born in London

Occupation:         Artist, Painter, stray dog lover

Loves:                 Painting, animals

Francis James Barraud was born into a family of artists in London. He studied art at the Royal Academy School and in Antwerp. An accomplished technician, he was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy and else where. One of his early works An encore Too Many is displayed in the Liverpool Walker Art Gallery, and the painting His Master’s Voice brought him world wide fame.

Barraud was never to recapture that success, however and by 1913 he was in financial straits. When he learned of this situation Alfred Clark commissioned Barraud to paint a copy of His Master’s Voice for the…

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Inside The British Sound Archive

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