Reading through some old magazines again…

This time, it’s The Gramophone magazine from October, 1930. In the editorial, Compton Mackenzie says

What caught my eye was the discussion of gramophone needles made of “hard wood”, and also the prediction that “the growth of electrical recording steps … to grapple with that problem of wear and tear.”

The fact that electrical (instead of mechanical) recording and playback was seen as a solution to “wear and tear” reminded me of my first textbook in Sound Recording where “Digital Audio” was introduced only within the chapter on Noise Reduction.

Later in that same issue, there is a little explanation of the “Electrocolor” and “Burmese” needles.

The March 1935 issue raises the point of wear vs. fidelity in the Editorial (which starts by comparing players with over-sized horns).

I like the comment about having to be in the “right mood” for Ravel. Some things never change.

What’s funny is that, now that I’ve seen this, I can’t NOT see it. There are advertisements for fibre, thorn, and wood needles all over the place in 1930s audio magazines.