Seeing in through the horn--recording studios of the early years

this is what all of the great singers, instrumentalists and pianists played into to make those records. 

early recording sessions looked a little something like this:

or this, in older terms:

(sorry the picture isn't so good, it was from The Phonoscope though!could that be Hylands in the top right corner? I see a piano there! Its so hard to tell for sure...)

Recording sessions could either be fast going, or an absolute pain in the neck. They were what the artists made of them, and what they were willing to do for the day. The artists got paid based on the amount of songs they did, and after the mass production of cylinders, c.1902-03 they were no longer paid for the amount of takes they did, as they were in the brown wax cylinder days. But recording sessions in general were one of the hardest things to perfect in the 1890's, as everything had to be perfect, and they had not created a room specifically perfect for making records under the conditions that they needed. the days of the brown wax cylinders was always said to be the most dreadful of any era of recording, as each take had to be made, which meant that the artists would do the same song over and over, at least forty to fifty times into five or so horns. So this is why brown cylinders are so fascinating, each one is different. You may hear the same selection by the same artist, with the same cylinder number, but they are very slightly different, and when I say that, the differences are so slight, that one not listening carefully could easily mistake it for the same exact take. 

I recently heard a great example of this amazing fact, with the same artist, same record number same selection, done on the same day, in the same recording room.

This cylinder was "The Anvil Chorus" whistled by John Yorke Atlee in mid-1898.

Here is the clearer and better sounding take, but of course with Hylands, there's always little hiccups on the octaves...

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/9000/9836/cusb-cyl9836d.mp3

Here's the other take done on the same day, and this cylinder came from a different machine than the first one, it's a little bit differently balanced than the first one, proving its differing angle to Atlee:

(you have to be on a computer to play this file, click on the little "real" thing in the box to play it)

http://www.tinfoil.com/cm-1108.htm

Hm! No mentioning of the piano player! I Don't like to see that! Especially if the cylinder is from 1898! 

Well, these records above were clearly recorded in that big wide room at Columbia, as seen below:

Oh Hylands...

(damn that camera flash!)

This recording process was a very meticulous ordeal, and the perfectionists did the best in the early recording business because of this. This is why the Spencer's were very good at what they did at Columbia. But someone like Hylands or Silas Leachman grew very weary of recording after not many years, some did for obvious reasons(Hylands durr...), but it was very hard, having to play a song fifty times in a row, and not all the takes would not be accepted anyhow, as I'm sure this was one of the disadvantages of having Hylands as a house pianist(takes would be thrown out quite a lot). 

Many artists quit the business after a very short time due to it's hard and particular customs. It took ambition and endurance to be in this business in the 1890's, as Hylands and Len Spencer are perfect examples of dedicated but also very worn recording artists of this time. This was also a business that was constantly changing, so if you were on staff, whether it be at Columbia or Edison, you would have to be able to change things if need be. 

Now imagine if you were listening to a cylinder, such as this one:

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/5000/5331/cusb-cyl5331d.mp3

And now listen to this, and imagine you were poking your heard out of the top corner horn of the rack(i.e. use the picture above to get a better picture) and see Hylands and the piano, pounding the waltz time with a blank face or a scowl. And of course, look down at George Watson below, yodeling his heart out. 

(George  P. Watson from about the same time)

It's a fascinating thing to imagine, and being a lookout from on of the horns would be the most interesting place to be at an early recording session anyway, as they would have been through quite a life. Every brown cylinder that still survives has been through quite a life, even if it's perfect condition. 

I hope you enjoyed this!