Old Black Joe by the Haydn Quartet on E. Berliner's Gramophone no. 0411 recorded Aug. 7, 1899

Описание: This is an E. Berliner's Gramophone disc of the Haydn Quartet singing "Old Black Joe" recorded on August 7th, 1899 on disc number 0411. There is an N stamped on the disc indicating that this was a recording of a quarte. I recorded this disc at just a smidge above 60 rpm sort of "flavoring for taste", dialing it in until it sounded right. I imagine this might be different for everyone but a general consensus amongst collectors is that these were recorded "somewhere between 60-70rpm" with no real guide as to which discs were recorded at which speed. This was recorded using a Grado 78rpm cart with a 3 mil stylus on a Technics SL-D2 that has been modified for customized rpm playback of between 55 and 85 rpm.

Whilst revolutionary at the time, the rather crude way in which these were recorded also makes it hard to pinpoint pitches and track them with a tuner or by playing a reference instrument. Add to that the fact that there was no standard A=440 back in the 1890s (France being flat of 440 and the UK and the US being sharp) makes that point moot anyhow.

So hopefully you can sit back and enjoy this for what it is; an incredibly old recording of human voices harkening back to a time from which nobody alive on Earth has ever walked.

I have a collection of Berliner discs that I will be featuring in the coming days and weeks. This is one out of that series.