Antique Phonograph

A search for traces of the voice before the phonograph, reconstructing a series of ancient soundscapes from Aristotle to Augustine. Long before the invention of musical notation, and long before that of the phonograph, the written word was unrivaled as a medium of the human voice. In The Ancient Phonograph, Shane Butler searches for traces of voices before Edison, reconstructing a series of ancient soundscapes from Aristotle to Augustine. Here the real voices of tragic actors, ambitious orators, and singing emperors blend with the imagined voices of lovesick nymphs, tormented heroes, and angry gods. The resonant world we encounter in ancient sources is at first unfamiliar, populated by texts that speak and sing, often with no clear difference between the two. But Butler discovers a commonality that invites a deeper understanding of why voices mattered then and why they have mattered since. With later examples that range from Mozart to Jimi Hendrix, Butler offers an ambitious attempt to rethink the voice—as an anatomical presence, a conceptual category, and a source of pleasure and wonder. He carefully and critically assesses the strengths and limits of recent theoretical approaches to the voice by Adriana Cavarero and Mladen Dolar and makes a rich and provocative range of ancient material available for the first time. The Ancient Phonograph will appeal not only to classicists and to voice theorists but to anyone with an interest in the verbal arts—literature, oratory, song—and the nature of aesthetic experience.

Antique phonographs enjoyed a vigorous commercial existence 100 years ago, and have come to symbolize the romance and elegance of days gone by. To present the fascinating accessories, horns, storage cabinets, advertising and ephemera which surrounded the early years of recorded sound, the authors display here over 500 color photos which illustrate nearly 700 items.

The commercial development of the phonograph, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, inspired a host of adjunct technology, from fancifully-painted flower horns to record storage disguised as furniture. Here are gadgets to make any snake oil salesman proud. A lively tour of these utterly entertaining objects is illustrated with 555 color photographs. To aid the collector there is a guide to current values.

Out of the authors' latest explorations, this gorgeous new book has come to life---illustrating entirely different talking machines from those in their previous books. Follow the progress of the acoustic talking machine from its crude beginnings in the 1870s to its most splendid and sophisticated heights in the early 20th century. An unparalleled archive of rare, fascinating, and previously undocumented objects has been assembled. The story behind the beautiful, bright machinery is told through clear and insightful descriptions, and many previously unpublished facts are revealed.

First published in 2006. This guide is an A to Z trade reference aimed at music students, technophiles and audio-video computer users. The world of music technology has exploded over the last decades thanks to introductions of new digital formats. At the same time there has been a renaissance in analog high fidelity equipment and resurgent interest in turntables, long playing records and vintage stereo systems. Music students, collectors and consumers will appreciate the availability of a guide to all things musical in the technological universe.

First Published in 2005. The Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, 2nd edition, is an A to Z reference work covering the entire history of recorded sound from Edison discs to CDs and MP3. Entries range from technical terms (Acoustics; Back Tracking; Quadraphonic) to recording genres (blues, opera, spoken word) to histories of industry leaders and record labels to famed recording artists (focusing on their impact on recorded sound). Entries range in length from 25-word definitions of terms to 5000 word essays. Drawing on a panel of experts, the general editor has pulled together a wealth of information. The volume concludes with a complete reference bibliography and a deep index.

Herb Streifer was born in the Bronx in 1915, an area where upward, aspiring immigrants-Jewish, Italian and Irish-went to escape the ghettos of the lower East Side. When his father died in 1930 at the beginning of the Great Depression, Streifer was fifteen. He and his siblings helped their mother run the family grocery in Elmhurst, Queens through the depression years. Cash became so tight they had to give up their large apartment and move to the back of the store. Once Streifer finished high school, he continued working and went to City College nights. He graduated in 1941 with a BS just in time to be drafted into the army. Streifer married during WW II and, after the war, earned an MBA by night at NYU, and started a family. From these experiences, his wry humor, and an appreciation for a great anecdote, the stories came.