I need a quick answer!!

[Midnight Palace]

Can anyone tell me exactly what a transcription record is? There's an auction for a transcription record from a 1920s film. It says they were played in the theatre along with the film before there was such a thing as sound on film. But, what exactly can I expect to hear?! Anyone have any idea? Thanks!!!

There are 2 records, reel #2 and reel #4

 

[Hondo]

transcription

If not mistaken its a script, transcription record of the film, people spoke weird in those days

 

[Midnight Palace]

Yes but are the stars of the film the ones speaking on the record, or is it just someone they hired to vocally transcribe the script?

 

[Hondo]

auction

Is that all the auction states, nothing about paper, or CD recording? I'd ask before placing a bid.

 

[Midnight Palace]

This is exactly what it says:

These are two heavy very thick, 16" transcription records on the COLUMBIA PHONOGRAPH CO. label. In the trail off of each is the date 11-3-28. Also in the trail off is reel #2 & reel #4. They also have the title etched in trail off as well as MGM-165 & MGM-167. They were played in the theatre along with the film before there was such a thing as sound on film. Both are in very good condition, each has the title etc in orange crayon around outside of label , not on playing surfaces. Both are very glossy with NO dulling groove wear, or scratches. However, each record has a few faint light small cracks around the outside edge, they will not affect play and do little to the integrity of this thick, solid record.

 

[Hondo]

My apologies I wasn’t paying attention :eusa_doh:
Two recordings (78?) I’d be careful on biding on these if I was you,
Unless you are familiar with them, and of course the winning bid (price), good luck!

 

[Midnight Palace]

I believe they're 33's

 

[Naphtali]

33-1/3 in 1928??? I would question this as being and anachronism.

The best source for this information I am aware of is Joseph McGuire, president of A-R-T Audio Productions. The E-mail I have for him is joseph@sos.com

 

[Senator Jack]

I seem to recall reading the studios briefly experimented with synching discs to film. Obviously, it didn't work out. I imagine that has to be a set of them

 

[Miss Neecerie]

random mentions of transcription records

http://www.kempa.com/blog/archives/000050.html

Records with inverse grooves were also used to accompany silent films. Details from this newsgroup thread:
"Yesterday, I went to a movie at one of the few remaining old-time movie houses, you know, the kind with only one screen with a curtain, a marquee over the entrance, and a bubble-like ticket window on the outside.
Anyway, inside the theater, they had some display cases containing old cinema artifacts. One of these was a 15-inch record that was used as a soundtrack to a 1920s movie -- not a movie soundtrack in today's sense (e.g. "I got the soundtrack to Titanic"), but the actual audio component to a movie being played. This was how it was done in the days before sound was encoded on the film itself, and yes, sometimes the record got annoyingly out-of-step with the film.

I took a close look at this ancient record, and I noticed that there was no spiral on the lead-in area. Rather, there appeared to a single lock-groove around the perimeter. Then upon looking at the lead-out area, not only did the penultimate groove come to an abrupt tapered end, but the word START was carved on the vinyl at that point. It therefore appeared that the record was designed to play backwards, or from the inside out.

Were inside-out records common back then, for that or other purposes? I did hear that there are a number of novelty records being made that way today, but with caution that they wreak havoc on modern tracking systems. Could one reason for using inside-out records in movies be that, with the assumption that outer tracks sound better than inner tracks, it saves the best quality sound for last?"

The only reply that this post garnered was the following:
"Sixteen-inch transcriptions were done in the days before hot-stylus cutting, so audio that was crisp and clear at the edge of a 33 1/3 rpm record would become muddy and muffled near the label. Therefore, transcriptions were usually done alternating outside-in for side 1, inside-out for side 2, outside-in for side 3, etc. This meant that the sound quality would change gradually over a 30 minute cycle, rather than a jarring difference every 15 minutes when the record sides switched."





http://www.songofthesouth.net/movie/audio/index.html