The Edison phonograph monthly (Mar 1905-Feb 1906)

EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY. AN INTERESTING ARTICLE. The May issue of Strand contained an illustrated article on Mr. Edison, written by Francis Arthur Jones. The article treated of the life of Mr. Edison and his many inventions, and referred to Mr. Edison's work in connection with the Phonograph, as follows : Perhaps the room having the greatest amount of interest for the general public is that presided over by A. T. E. Wangemann, and known as Room No. 13, or the Phonograph Experimental Department. Everything connected with the "talking machine" is shown here — hundreds of Records, forests of horns, ranging in length from a few inches to eighteen feet, Phonographs of all sizes and shapes, Records, etc. In this room efforts are being constantly made to obtain better all-round results and superior Records. "All the work done in this room," Mr. Wangemann said, "is of an experimental nature, and all our efforts are centered on obtaining better apparatus for recording and reproducing, better raw materials for cylinders, and better Records, both blank and moulded, etc. In fact it is here that every effort at improving and advancing the present way of Phonograph productions and reproductions is made. We are constantly experimenting with new Records, new speakers, new compositions for blank Records, new horns or funnels, and, in fact, there is nothing we do not try in order to obtain absolute perfection of sound reproduction." Mr. Edison has spent many weeks and months in this room, often working until two and three o'clock in the morning. He has a small room partitioned off from the experimental department, and here he sits and listens to Records for many hours at a time, scribbling on scraps of paper his opinion of the various Records. No one is allowed in this room under any consideration. Last year Mr. "Edison spent the best part of seven months in this room, endeavoring to render the Phonograph more perfect. He spends much of his time finding out the reasons for poor work, for he believes that more can be learned from things going wrong than from things which go well. As readers may be aware there is no substance known which is proof against influence by sound vibrations, or which will not transmit sound at some velocity. If it were possible to find a substance which would be absolutely dead to sound, and yet solid enough to be used in mechanical construction, then one could obtain for superior reproductions of sound-waves, both vocal and instrumental. * * * The story of how Mr. Edison came to invent the Phonograph has been told many times and with many variations, and it may not, therefore, be without interest to relate exactly how the wonderful "talking machine" came into existence. Briefly, then, the invention of the Phonograph was the result of pure reason based upon very happy inspiration. In his early work with automatic telegraphs operating at high speeds Mr. Edison had occasion to exper iment with embossed strips impressed with dashes and dots thereon which were moved rapidly beneath a stylus to vibrate it. It was observed that this stylus in vibrating produced audible sounds. A small thing such as this would pass unnoticed by the ordinary ob as of no interest, but to a mind that is not only intensely alert but highly analytical it was regarded as a curious phenomenon. At this time Mr. Edison was actively working on his telephone experiments, so that his attention was largely absorbed by matters connected with acoustics. Simply as a matter of inspiration the idea of a talking machine occurred to Mr. Edison, and, remembering his experiences with the automatic telegraph transmitter, he concluded that, if the undulations on the strip could give the proper form and arrangement, a diaphragm could be vibrated so as to reproduce any desired sounds. The next step was to form the proper undulations in the strip, and the idea was then suggested to Mr. Edison's mind that these undulations could be produced by sounds themselvesy which could be then reproduced. When this complete conception was reached the Phonograph was produced. Obviously, the change from a strip of material capable of being impressed by sound-waves to a cylinder of such material on which the sound-waves could be impressed in a spiral line was a refinement of the original conception which simply involved mechanical considerations. It is, therefore, rather an interesting fact that in the development of the Phonograph tbe reproduction of the sounds preceded the original production of the Record. Readers may also be interested to learn that the first patent on the Phonograph was filed in the United States on December 24th, 1877, and was granted February 19th, 1878, No. 200,521. In this patent is disclosed the now historic instrument in which the sounds are recorded on a sheet of tinfoil applied to a spiral grooved cylinder. Prior to this, however, in an application filed in Great Britain on July 30th, 1877, No. 2,909, Mr. Edison disclosed not only a cylinder Phonograph, but also an apparatus embodying his original conception of an embossed strip. * * * There seems to be a generally expressed belief that Mr. Edison dislikes the Phonograph, and some papers have gone so far as to affirm that he will not allow one in his house. Again I asked Mr. Edison to corroborate this, but he could not do so. "I am very fond of the Phonograph," he said, "and can listen to good Records by the hour. I do not, perhaps, like the records that are most popular with the public, for I am not particularly fond of socomic songs or "rag-time" music. My favorite composer is Beethoven, and I never tire of listening to his symphonies." Mr. Edison has never spoken into a Phonograph for the purpose of making a selling Record, and seemed surprised when I suggested that if he did so it would certainly have an enormous sale. But he shook his head and modestly declared that he did not think so. He might some day speak into the Phonograph the story of how he invented the talking machine, but he did not consider it very likely.