a cylinder OF its day, I meant.

UD

On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 2:04 AM, David Lewis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> DDR wrote:
>
> Someone must have already treated the subject so there will be more
> information soon to appear.
>
> >>>
>
> Alas, DDR, not all such treatment is created equally. Ergo:
>
> A musically talented youngster, [Gaisberg] encountered the fledgling
> recording technology in the early 1890s and got a job working for the
> Graphophone <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphophone> company in
> America. Poor sound quality and short playing time, however, meant that
> recordings were more of an amusing novelty than a serious means of
> reproducing music. In this decade the first of the recording industry's
> format wars was taking place, with the original cylinder recordings<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylinder_recording>gradually being ousted by the superior and more convenient Berliner flat
> disc. Gaisberg played an important role in this war, helping to establish
> 78 revolutions per minute as the standard playing speed and shellac as the
> standard material for making discs. [From the Wikipedia article on Fred
> Gaisberg.]
>
> >>>
>
> If a Berliner is superior to a cylinder to its day than that is news to
> me, and certainly the ousting of the cylinder took much longer than this
> implies. I thought that 78 rpm wasn't established until about 1930, and
> with some
> companies, never. I don't know about Gaisberg's role in establishing
> shellac as the main medium for manufacturing records, though I thought that
> too was somewhat evolutionary, though earlier. Companies that manufactured
> poker chips also pressed early records because they similar kinds of
> products from a manufacturing point of view.
>
> What I'm getting at is that there is an awful lot of confusion and malarky
> concerning such matters still. While someone can be an A&R man and a
> producer they are not quite the same hat to wear, but these terms are used
> interchangeably to mean one or the other. A lot of factors determine the
> job description of such a person; whether a person is working for a large
> company, or running a small one, is coming from an engineering aspect or
> handlng talent. Meaning Tommy Rockwell and Nesuhi Ertegun and Mo Ostin all
> did not do quite the same job, even though all can qualify as either "A&R"
> or "producer" or both.
>
> I remember dipping into the "Encyclopedia of Record Producers" at AMG and
> being disappointed that I couldn't seem to find the really old guys like
> Gaisberg; just rock people. But it was a short look, and I just ordered one
> for a quarter, so I will try again.
>
> Dave Lewis
> Lebanon, OH
>
> On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 1:28 AM, Dan Nelson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Rosario Bourdon  in addition to  being an "operative" for Victor
>>  conducted  salon orchestras  for transcription companies. Here is one of
>> those multi talented men in the music business.
>> d nelson ward
>>
>> Beautiful Music you will never forget, at;
>> http://www.americanbeautiful.podbean.com/
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>>  From: Dennis Rooney <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 8:55 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Does anybody know when the various recording
>> companies realized that they needed an Artist and Repertoire administrator?
>>
>> A&R wasn't always called such, but the job was around since the dawn of
>> the
>> commercial phonograph industry. Usually, someone with musical training was
>> spotted and developed. Fred Gaisberg began as a teenager in Washington,
>> D.C. before he moved to London. Columbia had Charles Adams Prince when
>> Walter B. Rogers performed the same function at Victor. "Recording
>> Directors", they were called. They often had relationships with orchestras
>> and bands, which made them useful for engaging personnel. Later Victor
>> operatives included Calvin Child, Joseph Pasternack, Rosario Bourdon and
>> Charles O'Connell. Someone must have already treated the subject so there
>> will be more information soon to appear.
>>
>> DDR
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 2:40 PM, Eric <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> > Does anybody know when the various recording companies realized that
>> they
>> > needed an Artist and Repertoire administrator?  Is it possible to obtain
>> > from some archives the requirements for the position?  Any help would be
>> > greatly appreciated.
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dennis D. Rooney
>> 303 W. 66th Street, 9HE
>> New York, NY 10023
>> 212.874.9626
>>
>
>