tags: mus-407 recording-technology

Gramophone

(box with a horn)

The gramophone is an early [mechanical recording] device similar in some ways to the [phonograph]:

• impressionable, wax medium
• stylus to cut into wax
• creates grooves into the wax

Different mechanism avoided patent infringement:

• lateral-cut wax disc
• pressure variations as lateral stylus cuts
• inverted disc as master copy for mass reproduction

vs. Phonograph

The debate between using the gramophone vs. the phonograph was the first "media format war"

Lateral disc commercially overtook cylinder ca. 1920

• more convenient to store
• slightly cheaper to manufacture
• slightly louder in sound reproduction

mechanical improvements: stable spring-wound motors

This debate marked the beginnings of the music industry

Sources

• MUS 407 Recording Technology