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For the first time we presented our exhibit in a booth on the exhibition
floor (photo, left), in order to be more visible to visitors. There were
in fact many more visitors than previous years, because everyone goes by
the booth, instead of needing to go to a special room.
A collection of old time recording equipment, from mechanical music instruments and microphones to cassette recorders (from the Philips Museum in Eindhoven) was exhibited in our display cases. Several old audio fellows were present to answer visitors' questions.
Tape recorder and loudspeaker.
Test instrument and tape recorder.
Model of a Philips-Miller recording system.
Several interesting presentations were given, as described below. We
suggest that, in the future, these presentations be given at scheduled
times, so visitors can plan to attend them. Preprints were not available.
RECORD CUTTING HISTORY AND DEMOS by Tim de Wolf.
De
Wolf is a knowledgeable historian of record cutting techniques. He gave
a presentation (photo) of the history of record cutting up till the fifties.
After his presentation he gave demonstrations of record cutting on an old
transportable cutting machine. There was a high attendance.
OLD TIME MEASURING EQUIPMENT by Wim van Barneveld
Was planned, but not presented due to family circumstances.
CLASSICAL PRODUCERS VIEW ON VINTAGE AUDIO RECORDING by Willem Hellweg.
Hellweg is a producer combining musical talent and knowledge of recording
techniques. He gave his view of recording methods used for the classical
Philips label between 1960 and 1990. He pointed out the limitations of
equipment, and also the possibilities for experimenting. He ended his presentation
with the status of quadraphony, and a link to the surround hype of today.
(This presentation will be repeated at a NL section meeting in the season
2003/2004.)
ANCIENT ELECTRONIC MUSIC by Kees Tazelaar.
In the early days of electronic music development, the project of the
specially composed Poème Electronique at the 1958 Brussels World
Fair was a major landmark. A presentation outlining this pioneering project
of composers Edgard Varèse and Lannis Xenakis in combination with
a light show and decorations designed by Le Corbusier and Philippe Agostini,
who were also the architects of the Philips Pavilion, will be given by
expert Kees Tazelaar. He is in the process of preparing an overview with
pictures and music excerpts on CD.
HISTORY OF MECHANICAL MUSIC by Kees Nijssen.
Pianolas,
music boxes, and other music artifacts were the forerunners of recorded
music, back in the twenties. Kees Nijssen (photo, at the pianola) an avid
collector of these special automated pianos and other mechanical instruments
gave an overview of their history. He will be preparing a small booklet
with text and pictures of this presentation.
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW ON STEREOPHONY by Hans Lauterslager, Senior Recording Engineer.
Hans Lauterslager played and discussed a series of musical excerpts
from a specially compiled CD. The excerpts illustrate the different recording
techniques used in the early days of stereophony and the results obtained.
(The CD is not available for public release.)
Alex Balster,
Project Leader for the Historical Exhibit at the 114th AES Convention
Edit & html by J McKnight
