The Phonogram, Vol. 1:2 (1891-02)

THE PHONOGRAM. 39 themselves, arrangements would be speedily made for the establishment of a manufac- tory of such records under Mr. Edison's personal direction, and we have little doubt but that perfection of quality together with cheapness of production would soon be reached. Until that is done, however, we cannot see any encouragement for improve- ments in this line. • 44 Stage Fright” Produced by the Phonograph. HE first appearance of an actor, or singer before the phonograph is a study by itself, and well worth r the observation of a - student of human na- ture. It would natu- rally be supposed that these people, who pass their lives in the glare of publicity, wojjld approach the machine with the same sang froid and self-possession which char- acterizes them on the stage, and, in most cases, this is a fact. But some of the most collected of them when before an audience, become victims of “stage fright" before Che phonograph, and when they succumb to .this it is most difficult to secure a good rec- orclT- Scores of actors and actresses have stood before the large horns attached to phonographs, who never felt the slightest qm^er when facing an audience, but who. when subjected to this ordeal, have become like bashful ^schoolboys forced by a stem master to “speak their first piece" on a seven-by-ten platform. The collection referred to above includes O'oice phonographs of actors and actresses, ranging from such men as Jefferson and Florence to the smaller artists of the variety stage. In the cas£ of Jefferson and Florence the collector took his phonograph to the dressing-room of Mr. Jefferson dur- ing an engagement at Palmer’s. The veteran actor 'listened to the reproduc- tions of some songs and recitations, half- clad in the costume of Dr. Pangloss, and painting his face to the proper make-up the while. Mr. Florence stepped into the room and listened, too, and lx>th finally consented to give a portion of the scene from “ The Rivals," in which Sir Lucius O’Trigger is arranging with Bob Acres the details of the proposed duel. There was not the slightest evidence of “stage fright" exhibited by these two finished artists. They were as easy and natural, as they stood before the big-mouthed horn, as they are upon the stage. Mr. Florence began with the snatch of song, 11 For He loved a Bold Dragoon," and the two men fastened their dialogue upon the cylinder until Jefferson ended with the speech, “You oughtn’t tb talk to a man like that, at a time like this, to a man like that.” The peculiar high voice of Jefferson and the rich brogue of Florence were all ac- curately recorded, and can now be produced at will by the owner of the cylinder. Jef- ferson and Florence may be thousands of miles away, but their voices are held firmly here in New York, and their little bit of ex- quisitely funny dialogue from “ The Rivals " can be repeated at any time with as much effect as though the two noted actors were present to recite it. % ♦ The Tariff on Phonographs. Congress and the custom-house officers are threatened with a new tariff difficulty in the shape of the phonograph. And it is easy to see that so remarkable an invention must have a material influence on the com- mercial relations of men. Its peculiarity isf that its value as a commodity will depend entirely bn what it contains. A phono- graph charged with the mongrel music of an amateur would have no other value than that of the wax and other material of which the instrument was composed. But stocked with a speech of Gladstone, Bis- marck or the pope, or a song by Patti, of a new opera by Verdi, it would have a large cash value, and as such would seem to be • within the field of taxable imports.