From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad
Hello,
what a mess! It is high time that somebody knowledgeable after 13½ years finally looks inside the book. However, the fact that Stephanie Bonjack's article was published does cause reason for worry about the quality of the "peer review" of the ARSC Journal. They ought to have caught her sweeping statement about the respective diameters of LPs and 78s. But was the book reviewed in the ARSC Journal when it appeared?
If the book does not have a reference to H. Courtney Bryson, "The Gramophone Record", Ernest Benn Ltd., London 1935, then in my view it must be worthless as a secondary source.
I like your review: however, the reference to "pumice" is in itself misinformation. The mineral content of a shellac 78 rpm record is about 80 percent, however it is rottenstone, barytes or synthetic barytes, finely ground.
The Columbia laminated record did have finer grit for the surface layer on paper than the solid mass of the other 78s, and hence the background noise is closer to a hiss than the noise from solid records, which tends to have impulses superimposed.
I thought I had the book, but not yet opened. I do not, and I do not intend to pay for it.
With such a confusion, there is certainly room for a book that does it right.
Best wishes,
George
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:
> > [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ron Roscoe
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2019 12:20 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: [EXTERNAL] [ARSCLIST] Book Review: "Sound Recording" by David L.
> > Morton Jr.
> >
> > Folks;
> >
> >
> >
> > I started reading Stephanie Bonjack's article "The Importance of LPs in a
> > Digital World" in the Fall 2018 ARSC Journal and when I got to the end of
> > the
> > second paragraph and read that "the LP with its larger diameter" [than
> the
> > 78]
> > and also "the 78 which could only hold up to four minutes per side", I
> > wondered
> > where she got this incorrect information. The Endnote cited David L.
> > Morton's
> > book "Sound Recording, The Life Story of a Technology".
> >
> >
> >
> > Folks, this book is full of errors! The 78 records were issued primarily
> > in
> > both 10" and 12" diameters, just like LP's are/were! LPs did not come
> in a
> > larger diameter. And, I believe the 12" 78 could hold 4.5 minutes per
> > side.
> >
> >
> >
> > I have written a review of the first ~100 pages of this book on Amazon,
> > you can
> > read it here:
> >
> >
> >
> https://www.amazon.com/review/R33PN2EA7AQX1W/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_
> > rv0_rv
> > <
> https://www.amazon.com/review/R33PN2EA7AQX1W/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > The 9 major errors I found in the first 100 pages were enough to convince
> > me not
> > to read further.
> >
> >
> >
> > It's really a shame that such a promising book is so full of incorrect
> > information. I hope the author can issue a second edition with more
> > attention
> > to these problems.
> >
> >
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Byron [Ron] Roscoe
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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