Video of Tangleweed’s wax cylinder recording session
Tangleweed had a chance to record a tune on an early 20th century Edison wax cylinder recording rig. Martin Fisher, audio archivist at Middle Tennessee State University, set up the acoustic recording studio at last week’s Folk Alliance conference in Memphis
This being a pre-electric recording studio, the band was gathered around a single horn, which was connected directly to a lathe that etched the sounds into a blank wax cylinder. Each cylinder blank could hold two minutes, so we had to tweak the arrangement and push the tempo a bit to get it in under the maximum time. We recorded two takes. It’s all live to mono, so there’s no ‘fixing in the mix’, as it were.
The tune is a Tangleweed medley called ‘The Logan Square Dance’.
We will have audio of the cylinder itself soon.
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This is so great. Behold, the inanimate (hydro)carbon rod!
Comment by bill — 3/2/2010 @ 9:32 am
Bill– It was a great experience. Martin brings his rig to various conferences and festivals, so there’s a chance that you might cross paths with him.
My next task will be to record a wax cylinder version of “Yummy Yummy Yummy (I Got Love in my Tummy)”, and file a spurious copyright infringement claim against the Ohio Express.
Comment by Kenneth Rainey — 3/2/2010 @ 9:50 am