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To: vocalist
Subject: Re: Interesting Renee Fleming quote from Opera News...
Date sent: Tue, 01 Feb 2000 10:42:26 PST
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Also, keep in mind that in acoustic recordings (made before c. 1925), the
only thing pushing the recording needle along was the vibrations of the
sound being recorded. So, one pretty much had to have a good strong voice
in order to record at all.

For interesting descriptions of all the gyrations involved in making both
acoustic and early electrical recordings, take a look at the Albertson
biography of Bessie Smith (published in 1971).

Liz


>From: Sopran-at-aol.com
>
>
>In a message dated 2/1/00 10:03:25 AM, michael.chesebro-at-worldnet.att.net
>writes:
>
><< If one listens to the old recordings, you also hear bright tinney
>quality coming from the instruments. What does that tell you? >>
>
>Thank you for making that point! The primitive recording apparatus was
>downright scary for many singers, and it did not capture many at their best
>(Nordica, for example).


Elizabeth Finkler
mightymezzo-at-hotmail.com

Consider the singular wisdom learned from animated sages like Bugs Bunny.
The irrepressible, Oscar-winning rabbit and his cartoon cohorts have taught
millions of American children precisely the sort of powerful, subversive
truths from which adults try to shield them: that smart-alecks have more
fun; that mocking authority is often the right thing to do; that tortoises
beat hares (especially when tortoises cheat); that the world is often a
cruel and desperate place that would just as soon drop an anvil on your head
as give you a hand up; and, most important of all, that a sense of humor and
resilience is the only way to make it through the years to come.
---Nick Gillespie


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