Entry No. 09-005: Unorthodox Site, But Having a Treasure Trove of Old Recordings.
Have you ever heard of an "Edison Amberol Record"? Neither did I until I came across freemusicarchive.org, in response to a posting I saw to one of my law practice discussion groups. This is actually a repository of many different genres of music under the GNU license (which allows for unlimited downloading and playback for personal use). I haven't yet explored the entire site to see what I would enjoy or not, but I noticed that "Old Time/Historic" recordings were listed separately, so I went there, as represented by the following URL?--
http://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Old-Time__Historic/
Right now, there's a group of about 100 recordings, nearly all from around 1910-1920, each about 3-4 minutes in length (the maximum recording time of a typical record of the era). Some of the recordings are so old that they even pre-date 78 RPM recordings, being in the form of a cylinder rather than a disc. My favorite is "Rainbow," found near the bottom of the first page of listings.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Review: Southernmedia-NMSA.com
Entry No. 09-004: A Central Repository for Local News Themes.
The website at http://www.southernmedia-nmsa.com/ doesn't take you directly into the history of television, but they seem to have a nearly comprehensive and growing library of local news themes dating back into the 1960's, including the famous "Cool Hand Luke: Tar Sequence" that was used for many years by ABC affiliates.
The website at http://www.southernmedia-nmsa.com/ doesn't take you directly into the history of television, but they seem to have a nearly comprehensive and growing library of local news themes dating back into the 1960's, including the famous "Cool Hand Luke: Tar Sequence" that was used for many years by ABC affiliates.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Review: Phonetrips.com
Entry No. 09-003: How Telephones Used to Work.
I'm not quite sure how I came across this, but there is a website, established circa 1996, that is dedicated to archiving how the original Bell Telephone system (that's AT&T before the court-mandated 1984 breakup) used to work. I'm not sure I even know who runs the site, known as phonetrips.com and groupbell.com, because pseudonyms were used, like Evan Doorbell and Ben Decibel. At least one of the individuals I speak of literally drove through much of the United States, deliberately recording the telephone line as calls were placed, and in most cases, reaching operators, busy signals, and intercept recordings.
How peculiar, you say. I would agree: Playing with the telephone and dialing seemingly random numbers is a bit off the beaten path. Be that as it may, the resulting recordings, from the 1960's through 1980's, provides one of the few detailed (and at points, quite technical) looks at how the telephone system used to work, before the age of fiber optic cable, satellites, or voice-over-IP.
Real Player is required to listen to the recordings straight off the web site. Or, you can go to ftp://ftp.wideweb.com/GroupBell to download MP3's of most of the same clips.
I'm not quite sure how I came across this, but there is a website, established circa 1996, that is dedicated to archiving how the original Bell Telephone system (that's AT&T before the court-mandated 1984 breakup) used to work. I'm not sure I even know who runs the site, known as phonetrips.com and groupbell.com, because pseudonyms were used, like Evan Doorbell and Ben Decibel. At least one of the individuals I speak of literally drove through much of the United States, deliberately recording the telephone line as calls were placed, and in most cases, reaching operators, busy signals, and intercept recordings.
How peculiar, you say. I would agree: Playing with the telephone and dialing seemingly random numbers is a bit off the beaten path. Be that as it may, the resulting recordings, from the 1960's through 1980's, provides one of the few detailed (and at points, quite technical) looks at how the telephone system used to work, before the age of fiber optic cable, satellites, or voice-over-IP.
Real Player is required to listen to the recordings straight off the web site. Or, you can go to ftp://ftp.wideweb.com/GroupBell to download MP3's of most of the same clips.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Called to Serve
Entry No. 09-002: Tabernacle Choir Video Highlights Media Evolution.
This 2008 video was a joint effort between BYU and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. While the hymn itself is worthy of discussion, it seems to highlight the evolution of audiovisual media from black and white film all the way to streamed content over the Internet. Perhaps the message behind this piece is how a devine Creator is able to inspire his children to invent things for the purpose of spreading His message.
This 2008 video was a joint effort between BYU and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. While the hymn itself is worthy of discussion, it seems to highlight the evolution of audiovisual media from black and white film all the way to streamed content over the Internet. Perhaps the message behind this piece is how a devine Creator is able to inspire his children to invent things for the purpose of spreading His message.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
High Definition TV, Circa 1933
Entry No. 09-001: An Introduction.
In writing to this blog for the first time, I thought it would be appropriate to post what I think has got to be the earliest surviving photograph of an electronically scanned test pattern, from the RCA system. This image comes from the collection of Steve Restelli in Vermont, from his website at http://framemaster.tripod.com/. For everyone who has ever thought that television did not come into its own until the late 1940's following World War II, it is amazing to consider that a number of successful tests had been conducted very early in the 1930's, and this 1933 photo represents one of them. It is even all the more amazing when one considers that radio itself was still in its infancy.
At only 200 lines of resolution, it's rather fuzzy by today's standards. But in the early days of experimental television, this must have been something of a breakthrough. Bear in mind that some competing systems, such as the one made by John L. Baird as first demonstrated in the 1920's, involved a mechanical method of scanning and receiving images that involved the use of rapidly spinning discs. Such a system was said to provide about 50 lines of resolution, more or less.
In the coming weeks and months, I hope to share my perspectives on the history of media. Some posts may focus on content, but for the most part, my focus will be on that happens behind the scenes. Some of it may even be technical. Whether there will be a common thread in these posts remain to be seen, but at the very least, I want to share my fascination with how these events unfolded and how they still leave an impact with us today.
In writing to this blog for the first time, I thought it would be appropriate to post what I think has got to be the earliest surviving photograph of an electronically scanned test pattern, from the RCA system. This image comes from the collection of Steve Restelli in Vermont, from his website at http://framemaster.tripod.com/. For everyone who has ever thought that television did not come into its own until the late 1940's following World War II, it is amazing to consider that a number of successful tests had been conducted very early in the 1930's, and this 1933 photo represents one of them. It is even all the more amazing when one considers that radio itself was still in its infancy.At only 200 lines of resolution, it's rather fuzzy by today's standards. But in the early days of experimental television, this must have been something of a breakthrough. Bear in mind that some competing systems, such as the one made by John L. Baird as first demonstrated in the 1920's, involved a mechanical method of scanning and receiving images that involved the use of rapidly spinning discs. Such a system was said to provide about 50 lines of resolution, more or less.
In the coming weeks and months, I hope to share my perspectives on the history of media. Some posts may focus on content, but for the most part, my focus will be on that happens behind the scenes. Some of it may even be technical. Whether there will be a common thread in these posts remain to be seen, but at the very least, I want to share my fascination with how these events unfolded and how they still leave an impact with us today.
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