Tangential versus linear speed

Band of H.M Welsh Guards

Under the direction of Lieut. Andrew Harris

Tchaikovsky: Casse Noisette Suite

1. March   2. Overture Miniature  3. Danse Arabe  

4. Dance Russe  (Trepak)  5. Danse des Mirlitons  

6. Danse Chinoise  7. Valse des Fleurs

Vocalion Long Playing Record W-39

(B.C 529 & B.C. 530)

Recorded 1925 

Flac file, Here at Mediafire. [about 46Mb]
Another version in 'Stereo' Here at Mediafire. [about 83Mb]
(see foot of page for an explanation)

One real problem to bedevil 78s before the advent of the LP age was the how much music could be fitted on each side.

Noel Pemberton Billing (1881-1948) had an aswer as he realised that if the needle could be made to travel through the groove of a disc at a constant speed then more could be recorded on each side.

Noel Pemberton Billing

Pemberton Billing was eccentric to say the very least. His biography on Wikipedia reads like some Boy's Own story. Early aviation pioneer and pilot in the WW1, independent Member of Parliament, politically very right of centre, getting carried out of the House of Commons for hurling abuse, publishing periodicals including one called the The Vigilante including such purple stuff by him as 'The Cult of the Clitoris', then defending himself in the ensuing liable case and winning, homophobic, inventor, the list just goes on and on, if not insane he made a very good impression of being barking mad. But this is getting off the point for his claim to fame on this blog is through the invention and marketing of World Records.

Some technical stuff. At 78rpm a standard 12 inch or 30cm record gets through some 275 metres of groove – at a constant 78rpm the outer edge of one turn of the disc traverses about 0.95 metres groove with the needle travelling at some 1.25 metres per second. By the time the record enters its last turn needle only has to get through 0.38 metres at about 0.50 metres per second.

Pemberton Billing noted that this 275 metres of groove was being traversed faster than was really necessary at the outset of a disc and it would be better if the speed could be made constant through the groove. At about 0.50 metres per second a record side could accommodate 9 minutes of recording time without any loss of recording quality.

World Record Controller

His invention, a fearsome looking lump of wheels and governor had to be screwed to the side of the turntable to manage the speed of the turntable. The patent explains the concept in the usual patent language but in simple terms a large rubber wheel ran on the record surface this was connected by a worm drive to a governor, this governor restricting the wheels rotation to a constant speed. The large wheel is also connected through a thread drive which allows it traverse across the record to the centre, something like a liner pick-up arm traverses the record towards the centre. By this arrangement the turntable speed could be slowly increased in speed from 30 to 80 rpm however the speed at which the groove travelled under the needle woodlouse be constant - maybe read the original patent as it is easier to show than explain [Patent]

Anyway this can be done by using software as long as we can know the initial and end pitch of the record and calculating the rate of acceleration over a side – I have pitch the record at A at 452Hz the standard Military Band pitch in the UK at this time. Each side actually has a timing printed on label; the first side comes to exactly 8m 50s the second side is printed at 8m 10s although I make it 8m 12s at A 452Hz– quite probably the pitch could have gone to A453.8 as the room temperature increased but this is so slight I have left both sides at A452. These timings printed on the labels must mean a stopwatch was probably used during the recording session – maybe printing on the labels was part of the advertising. An oddity in the recording is the slight hum on side one reducing from 216-210-204Hz and on side 2 moving through 222-211-213Hz – this must be to do with the recording mechanism but can't fathom what would cause such inconstancy – anyway it is not annoying

Enough of this waffle. World Records never had any star names – The performers included military bands, dance bands, quite a number transferred of which came from Emerson masters, vocal records that included Carrie Herwin, Robert Carr and John Thorne, a few educational records, Scottish Pipers and then good bit of Chamber music by Leo Abkov String Quartette – records I have never seen nor heard of anyone having; anyone out in the æther have any of these?

Vocalion Records manufactured the records with only 163 examples known to have been issued between 1922 and 1924.

Pemberton Billings left for Australia in 1923 endeavouring to further the export of the records and did not return to Britain until 1926. In the meantime Vocalion purchased all the rights to the records in January 1925 and began to issue there own Vocalion Long Playing Records Only 19 of these are known but the venture proved hopeless and by middle of 1926 the venture had stopped. These records are very uncommon, they must have been sold in very small quantities and of those sold very few seem to survive.

Of the artist on this particular example a short history can be found [here]  from which I quote:-

'The Welsh Guards are the youngest of the foot guards, being raised in 1915. On 8 September of that year, Mr Andrew Harris, of the Royal Artillery (Gibraltar) was appointed to be the first bandmaster, and in November the band itself was formed. The regimental history tells us that the funds to buy the instruments were provided by the City of Cardiff.

Band of H.M. Welsh Guards in London 1929

'With the prospect of having to live up to the high standards set by the existing guards bands, the Welsh Guards faced a tough challenge. Their first appearances on 1 March 1916, St David's Day, however, dispelled any doubts that may have been harboured; a guard mounting at Buckingham Palace followed by a performance at a Welsh Patriotic Meeting at the London Opera House with Lord Harlech and Major-General Sir Francis Lloyd in attendance, demonstrated clearly the musical quality of the new band.

'Coming together in the midst of The Great War, it was not long before the bandsmen were sent overseas. On 28 October 1916 they proceeded to France for duty with the Guards Division, meeting the 1st Battalion, then returning from the front line, a few weeks later and playing the guardsmen back to their billets.

'In May 1917 the Band, resplendent in full dress, formed part of the massed bands of the Brigade of Guards which gave concerts at the Trocadero and the Tuileries Gardens, Paris. Later the massed bands visited Italy performing in Rome and Milan; during the tour, each musician was presented with a silver cigarette case by Queen Elenor. In May 1918, at the request of the American Embassy, the Band played at the Memorial Service in Paris, and in July 1919 it took part in the great Victory March in Paris, where it had the honour of playing the Colours of the British Army through the Arc de Triomphe.

'Bandmaster Harris was commissioned as Lieutenant on 1 March 1919, and went on to become senior Director of Music, Brigade of Guards, finally retiring in the rank of major at the end of 1937. At his final appearance at the Albert Hall for the Festival of Remembrance, he was able to tell the audience that he would be sitting with them the following year as an old comrade having completed fifty years service.'

Pearl issued a CD of the band under Harris but mainly of short pieces – The performance oin this World record is good efficient stuff.

Two films on the Pathe site show the band in 1926 and 1929 Two short films of Pemberton Billing can also be found on Pathe too.

Much, if not all, of my information comes from World Records Vocalion "W", Fetherflex and Penny Phono recordings: a listing by Frank Andrews; Arthur Badrock; Edward Samuel Walker, 1992

'Stereo' version

For those of you who got this far I had better explain the 'Stereo' version. This is a piece of kit which can give a virtual ambience to a recording. Possibly not very purist but worth playing around with. The plug-in was developed by Dallas Hodgson, he has called it Sheppi  an acronym for Stereo Haas Effect Ping Pong Inverter. This is all explained at his site from which the plug-in can also be downloaded free. Many people not accustomed to listen to historic recordings can be put off by the odd sounds, by giving something closer to a modern soundscape it might just make it a bit easier. Anyway you choose, I'm only playing.

Making music from bamboo

The Pipers' Guild Quartet

Dorothy Barnard, treble; Gertrude Enoch, alto; 

Kay Connel, tenor; Annie Z. Miller, bass

Columbia DB 1833-1834

(CA17174-1, CA17175-3, CA17176-3, CA17177-1)

Take 1 recorded Wednesday 2nd November 1938 & 

Take 3 recorded Wednesday 30th November 1938 

4 Flac files and a pdf in a RAR File, Here at Mediafire. [about 40Mb]

The four sides have in all 13 short tracks. I have tried to pinpoint exactly where the tunes are from although I  have not had access to the  music, anyway they are all jolly tunes and they run together very nicely.

Track 1 - DB 1833, Side 1
Purcell, Henry: ‘Suite’ arranged for 4 pipes by Margery Olsson (1938)
a) The Old Batchelor, Z. 607 : Movt. 2, Hornpipe in E minor.
b) The Virtuous Wife, Z. 611 : Movt. 8, Minuet.
c) The Prophetess, or The History of Dioclesian, Z. 627 “Dioclesian” : Third Entry
Movt. 34, ‘Canaries.’
d) The Indian Queen, Z . 630 :  Second Music - Second Aire Hornpipe.

Track 2 - DB 1833, Side 2
a) Creme de Minthy, Irish Jig – from Quartets for Treble, Alto, Tenor and Bass Pipes. Selected and arranged by L. A. Margerison.
b) Salterelle – from Huit danses héerlandaises du 16e. siècle, arrangées pour quatuor de pipeaux ar.r Antonio M. Taufstein  (1938).
c) Nicolas Furlong’s jig – from Quartets for Treble, Alto, Tenor and Bass Pipes. Selected and arranged by L. A. Margerison.

Track 3 - DB 1834, Side 1
Fitzwilliam Virginal Book etc arr. by Edgar H Hunt.
a) Byrd, William : La volta in g minor, No.1, Lady Morley (MB 90).
b) Rosseter, Phillip : Ayre ‘And would you see my Mistress' face.’
c) Farnaby, Giles : Tower Hill.

Track 4 - DB 1834, Side 2
a) O you’re pretty,  English Jig – from  Quartets for Treble, Alto, Tenor and Bass Pipes. Selected and arranged by L. A. Margerison.
b) Butter’d Please,  English folksong  – from  Quartets for Treble, Alto, Tenor and Bass Pipes. Selected and arranged by L. A. Margerison.
c) Nancy wants her own share  – from Pipers of Eireann. Fifteen Irish Tunes for Pipes. Arranged by Annie Z. Miller.

Below is an extract from the website of the still active Pipers' Guild, this gives a succinct description of what these recordings are about :

The Guild was founded in Britain in 1932. Its main aim is the threefold craft of making, playing and decorating bamboo pipes. Pipes are made for personal use, and are not sold - i.e. if you want to play one, you'll have to make one! The idea of making bamboo pipes has spread around the world, with groups and guilds in Great Britain, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, the U.S.A., and Japan. All of the guilds are members of a federation, which meets every five years at an international course.What are 

Bamboo Pipes? The bamboo pipe is a simple hand-made wind instrument, similar to a recorder but with a gentler tone. While looking for a recorder-type instrument to use with her schoolchildren, Margaret James stumbled across a Sicilian shepherd's pipe. After many experiments the simple treble pipe in D was perfected. Later a full quartet of pipes of alto in A & G, tenor in D and bass in G was developed. This range has since been extended to include sopranino in G, quartbass in D, and great bass in G. In addition, treble, alto, and tenor extended pipes with a range of an octave and a sixth or more are also made.

Why Bother? Firstly, for the satisfaction: there is a special thrill in playing an instrument you have made yourself. Secondly, it makes you a craftsman as well as a musician. Thirdly, it is an ideal way of learning the rudiments of music. Pipes are made and tuned one note at a time; the complete beginner (of any age) learns to play their pipe as they make it. For more advanced players there is the pleasure of ensemble playing in trios, quartets and larger groups.

I believe the recordings included Dorothy Barnard, treble; Gertrude Enoch, alto; Kay Connel, tenor; Annie Miller, bass for it is recorded that these instrumentalist gave first performance of Vaughan William Suite for Pipes (1939) given at the Chichester, Pipers' Guild Summer School, August 1939. I don't think that the make-up of the group would have changed much if at all in the intervening period. 

I have included with the recording a pdf of a talk given by Margaret James, the founder of the guild, which she gave to the Royal Music Association in 1946 under the title Development of the Traditional Hand-Made Pipes. An Account of The Pipers' Guild, with illustrations by a Quartet. This makes fascinating reading - well to me it does - on how the instruments are made etc.

The Gramophone placed the record under 'Educational' for review purposes in the February 1939 issue. The records were withdrawn in 1942 but reappeared again under DB 2281-82 in 1947 but with different takes for two of the sides -  dubbings from damaged shells? I suppose these records were intended to be played to attentive school boys and girls, how many got sold to general record buyers is open to question. 

"Before his regretted decline as a composer"

Stravinsky: Petrushka (1911 version)

Russian Ballet Orchestra conducted by Henri Defosse

Edison Bell  X503 & X504
(1650-1, 1651-1, 1652-1, 1653-1 & 1653-2)
(recorded early June 1927)

5 Flac files in one RAR File, Here at Mediafire. [about 63Mb]

I have included two takes of the last side: the first take has a couple of fluffs and was probably never intended to be issued, but thought it would be worthwhile including. As the work is supposed to last something around 35 minutes it means at least 20 minutes of the music has had to be edited out of this recording. 

The conductor Henri Defosse pops up now and again on records but it is very difficult to get any good idea of his career. His full name was Émile-Henri-J.-B. Defosse and he was born at Nogent-sur-Seine, France, on the 28th March 1883 and died in 1956. He was apparently Diaghilev favourite conductor, they appear to have always been in agreement on interpretation – I have not been able to gather if this means that Defosse was under the thumb of the great Russian impresario, and knew where his pay cheque came from.

Henri Defosse in 1919

Defosse was a pupil of Gabriel Faure and had composed a number of piano pieces before the Great War. From 1918, and probably before then, he gave classes on conducting at the Paris Conservatoire. Also at this time Guillaume Apollinaire had written an opera bouffe Casanova for Defosse who had begun to write music for the first act before Apollinaire's death from Spanish flu in 1918. In the 1940s Poulenc considered setting the libretto too but this also came to nothing.

Defosse conducted the Russian Ballet at the London Coloseum Theatre in 1918 and the following year when the Diaghilev company was performing at the Alhambra Theatre. Defosse together with Ernest Ansermet  were the two music directors for the company, towards the end of the season the young Adrian Boult took over Ansermet's duties, also in this season Defosse conducted the world premier of Rossini/Respighi La boutique fantastique on 5 June 1919. Throughout the 1920s Defosse continued to conduct for the Russian Ballet with other work coming from his being one of the conductors at the Paris Opera. His name appears more often in the late 1920s and early 30s as a house conductor on Odeon records and later the Columbia label, mainly to conduct the accompaniment to several operatic records. Defosse really fades from sight from the mid 1930s although he pops up again in 1944 as the director of the Algiers Conservatoire and conductor of a number of concerts broadcast on Radio France. Possibly he had fled France for political reasons but this is speculation. He is given passing reference in various books on Diaghilev but I have drawn a blank on any detailed information - I would be interested to know more of his career.

The records were made during the Russian Ballet's 1927 London season that opened on the Saturday 11th of June at the Prince's Theatre [now Shaftesbury Theatre], the company having closed in Paris two days earlier on Thursday 9th at the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt. Eugene Goossens is known to have already started to rehearse three ballets in London on the Thursday as the Paris end of things was still closing down – this begs the question of who exactly made up the Russian Ballet Orchestra, possibly it was composed of a core group of players who travelled to London to be augmented by local talent, thus leaving Paris to fend as best it could on the final performances there. This logistical feat did not quite come off for although Petrouska and Henri Sauguet's new ballet La Chatte were announced to be given on the opening night the Sauguet had to be postponed due to the costumes being stopped at customs over arguments about silk duty! Other novelties of the London season included Milhaud's Train Bleu, Lord Berners's Triumph of Neptune and Prokofiev's Le Pas d'Acier. 

Rumours that the Prokofiev piece was Bolshevist propaganda had Diaghilev seated next to the first flautist with a revolver threatening to fire it at the first sign of demonstration - the audience loved it however and Diaghilev left the pit more than ever perplexed by the unpredictable British public. It must have been something of a crush in the orchestra as the pit was much too small and some of the brass players had to be seated with the audience. Goossens seems to have conducted the season but having fallen ill Malcolm Sergent stepped in midway through the run.

Prince's theatre showing the tiny pit

The recording dates of Edison Bell records have yet to be adequately pinned down, the first mention of the records I can find is in the July issue of The Gramophone.

'Edison Bell Specials. - Welcome to a new issue by a great house. These records will be of high class music, played by expensive performing units, but the prices are to be only 3s. and 4s. 6d. for the 10in. and 12in. records respectively. The first list comprises two 10in. and six 12in., entirely of modern Ballet Music, played by the orchestra of the Russian Ballet, under M. Deffosse [sic]. The 10in. pair of discs is of The Three Cornered Hat, and then there is a 12in. pair of discs each of The Fire Bird, ***Petrouska and Prince Igor. The recording is exceptionally good, the harp and timpani always being convincing.' [New Poor Records The Gramophone June 1927 p. 66 - the periodical used a three star grading system at this time for popular and cheap records]

Clearly the reviewer had heard the recordings, probably as advanced pressings. To take into account the time to process these discs they would have had to have been recorded, at the very least, early in June. Defosse may have come with an advanced party on or before the 9th-11th of June to rehearse in London before Goossens took over. The fact is we just don't know, but these dates would make it feasible to have sample records pressed in time for the July issue of the magazine. As these recordings were to be the first issues in Edison Bell's new Electron series it makes sense that the recording sessions had been prearranged. Goossens and Sargent in any case conducted for HMV so could not have made these records for Edison Bell even if they wanted to.

The Gramophone gave a full review in September 1927

'More cheap records. This is a welcome enterprise of Edison Bell. The best of the Russian Ballet‘s products are extremely fine, though it does throw in some of the feeblest stuff of modern times-which is duly applauded, of course, by the new shrieking sisterhood and brotherhood of the gods, avid of sensation at any price. No one need fear to buy these records, as far as the quality of the music is concerned. Before his regretted decline as a composer, Stravinsky had happily given us two or three pieces of very fine art, and some of the most attractive portions of these are included on the records. (Why their French titles) I believe the Edison Bell people were very early on the scene with some Stravinsky and Borodin. The new electrical records give excellent volume without harshness. To get the full sonority of, say, the beginning of the Danze Finale of the de Falla, without offending the ear at fairly close range, is an agreeable achievement. The characteristics of the instruments are not, it seems to me, quite as sharply differentiated as I should like. The music hangs together well, but the orchestration loses something of its piquancy. The tone at the end of The Fire Bird is not perfectly sweet, but the blend and proportion is good, save in odd corners, where possibly some acoustic property of the place of recording (it is presumably not a theatre) has its effect on the result. Petrouchka I like especially. The amount of tone from a full concert room orchestra is sometimes overwhelming. Here it is moderate, but sufficient, and the instrumental quality has a better chance to come through the mass than in some of the other discs. The hurdy-gurdy imitation, rather curiously, is less life-like than usual. The piano comes out particularly well in this record. I have put 503 and 504 together, and 505 and 506, but of course any record can be had separately, since the story is episodic in Petrouchka, and the dances in Prince Igor can be taken in any desired dose; but I think you will want to get these four, and probably most of the others also. You should get the pamphlet of descriptive notes given with the series, by the way. [Gramophone September 1927 p. 147]

The most interesting facet of this recording is that it is as near the sound of a Diaghilev production as we are likely to get. The orchestra may not have been the best, and the conductor may not have been of the first rank but that is not what matters. What I believe does matter is what it could have been like in 1927 to attend the Diaghilev Russian Ballet.

Alexandre Benois set design for Petrushka 1911 

What marked this 1927 London season out, and also makes the recording still more interesting, is the arrival of Stravinky late in June to conduct his own works at the Prince's Theatre.

'Stravinsky conducts The Russian Ballet'  Did I, or did I not witness a horrid little scene on the stage last Monday two of our special favourites (no name no pack-drill) squabbling in full limelight over their claims to it, while acknowledging our delight in Pulcinella I'm afraid I did. Anyway, it was understandable and I mention it only to show what a state of excitement we were all in. It was really Stravinsky's fault. he had come over, taken up the baton for the evening, and in the most businesslike but least showy manner, electrified three of his popular ballets. You should have seen how Petroushka pulled himself together, how radiant was Pulcinella: what raptures animated The Fire Bird. It was as though father himself had paid a purposeful visit to the nursery. Every dancer from A to Z was on the tiptoe of form, and the evening in the happier sense of the term was a spanking one. Like some of his old admirers, Petroushka has suffered many vicissitudes. We have been in and out of love with him. This performance revived old raptures. The drummed-up vision of the Old Showman, cloud-enthroned among the stars; the hurdy-gurdy dancer who recalls Heine's Mademoiselle Lawrence; the ostler of the fair, and the puppet tragedy leading to Petroushka's marrow-freezing apotheosis, had never seemed ore charming. Puncinella too, that fickle fantasy by Stravinsky out of Pergolesi, with its blanched decor, choral exclamations, and artful puerilities, was delight itself. Then came The Fire Bird with Danilova and all the dancers on their mettle, to say nothing of the presence oft he King of Spain to intensify the atmosphere that so patently exhilarates these temperamental artists. It was such an evening as might have graced the triumphs of the past. H.H.' [Observer July 3 1927]

I take this ecstatic review with a pinch of salt, I think the orchestra playing was probably well up to the mark even before Stravinsky arrived but needless to say, had the reviewer heard the preceding performances in which to compare Stravinsky's own?  – yet more uncertainty. Did Diaghilev and Stravinsky have a row on stage, or was it Goossens? Are we hearing only a perfunctory everyday performance? I would like to think it is better than that.