The Best Early 10 inch 78 Audio Recordings — Now

The Evolution of Audio Recordings

While Edison mastered taking credit for being the first to make a recording, that honour actually goes to a Frenchman who recorded the song, Au Clair De La Lune, in 1857, decades before the Edison claim. Based on his research on how the human ear worked, he created a device that recorded sound waves focused at a membrane and stylus that wrote on oil lamp unburned carbon residue (i.e. soot). That paper drum recording was called a “Phonautograph”.

The 1877 process Edison patented in 1878 eventually entered the commercial market when a cousin of Alexander Graham Bell patented the “Gramaphone” in 1886. It used a wax covered cardboard disk that made replaying the recording more durable. In 1888-89 Emile Berliner introduced the flat disk and the first playback machine called a Gramaphone. Edison engage this evolution in 1888 with a improved wax cylinder and the race for audio fidelity was off. Between 1896 and 1913 Edison marketed his Standard, Home and Gem versions of disks while Bell pursued the more more profitable vending machine versions of music distribution. Berliner on another hand focused on the market when he opened the “Gramophone Company” offices at Covent Garden in England. His gramophone featured better clockwork style motors, wire playback needles, more solid rubber with record surfaces using bits of slate and shellac. These changes meant needles now wore out before the record and more consistent reliable playback. His changes were a key turning point that came in with the new century in 1900.

Diamond Disc Sleeve 80 rpm Notification
Diamond Disc Phonograph 80 rpm Notice

Then in the first decade, as record speeds varied between 68 and 80 RPM, along came the French company Pathe. It’s work to perfect sound used the Edison grove modulation technique rather the Berliners side to side, on a flat disc. It also reversed the play to run from the inside to the outer grooves at a 90 plus RPM speed. This brought forward the impact of end of performance crescendos. Its Tournaphone player also featured a bigger makes better horn. Unfortunately by the end of World War I however only the Berliner records remained available to the consumer.

Pathe Record and Gramaphone

In 1925 the record industry of the time settled on the speed of 78.26 RPM. Of course there were exceptions like Columbia Records ‘Speed 80’ records and Pathe’s 86 RPM records. As the second World War arrived so to did the electric era of phono cartridges, motors, amplifiers and real speakers. The 78 RPM, with one song on each side, dominated music until after the Second World War and well into the Big Band Ear of music.

The end of the 1950’s brought a new turning point that included vinyl records, reel to real recording with tape recorders, and stereo. Hi Fidelity truly meant something and transistor radios were opening up music to a broader consumer markets.

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A Dream, The Rosary by Ernst Albert Couturier - Collectors Edition
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Anvil Chorus & Miserere from Il Trovatore  - 82516

Anvil Chorus & Miserere from Il Trovatore – 82516

$70.00
“Anvil Chorus” from the Opera Il Trovatore…
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Ave Maria by Frieda Hempel - 82549R & L

Ave Maria by Frieda Hempel – 82549R & L

$69.95
This record, released in 1918, features the…
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Chanson D' Amour & Là ci darem la mano on Edison Diamond Disc # 82178
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Dardanella & Wild Flower Waltz - Columbia Disc - A2851

Dardanella & Wild Flower Waltz – Columbia Disc – A2851

$20.00
Wild flower waltz by Yerkes Jazarimba Orchestra…
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Father O'Flynn & Little Alabama Coon - 82562

Father O’Flynn & Little Alabama Coon – 82562

$42.75
Father O’Flynn is an Irish folk tune…
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Hallelujah Chorus & Gloria - 80292

Hallelujah Chorus & Gloria – 80292

$77.99
Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah, written by…
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Intermezzo and Barcarolle on Edison Diamond Disc # 80178

Intermezzo and Barcarolle on Edison Diamond Disc # 80178

$59.99
Intermezzo – Cavalleria Rusticana from Mascagni -…
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Light Cavalry Overture & La Danseuse - 80096

Light Cavalry Overture & La Danseuse – 80096

$27.99
Light Cavalry Overture, written by Franz von…
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Long, Long Ago and Emmets Lullaby by Frieda Hempel - 82550
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Macushla & The Land Of Golden Dreams - 80133

Macushla & The Land Of Golden Dreams – 80133

$59.99
Macushla, by Dermot Macmurrough (Harold R. White)…
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National Emblem March & Lights Out March -18498

National Emblem March & Lights Out March -18498

$72.25
National Emblem March, composed by Edwin Eugene…
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On Yonder Rock Reclining &  The Soldiers Chorus - 80121
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Pagliacci - Selection & The Bohemian Girl Overture - 50131

Pagliacci – Selection & The Bohemian Girl Overture – 50131

$34.60
Pagliacci – Selection, written by Leoncavallo (i.e.…
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Poet and Peasant Overture - 80342

Poet and Peasant Overture – 80342

$59.66
Of all of Von Suppe’s creations Poet…
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Praise Ye & Coronation March - 50335

Praise Ye & Coronation March – 50335

$39.50
Praise Ye (the right side of the…
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Rigoletto - 803960

Rigoletto – 803960

$39.99
Rigoletto by Verdi performed by the American…
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Sextet & Norma Overture - 80239

Sextet & Norma Overture – 80239

$81.00
“Sextet” from Donizetti work ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’,…
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Somewhere In Hawaii & Kiss Me Again Waltz - 50498

Somewhere In Hawaii & Kiss Me Again Waltz – 50498

$36.49
Somewhere In Hawaii, written by John Alfred…
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Stabat Mater PalmBranches-A880

Stabat Mater PalmBranches-A880

$12.97
This Columbia 1910 release of Palm branches…
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The Sunshine Of Your Smile and Dreams on Edison Diamond Disc 80357
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The Wren & The Echo - 16047

The Wren & The Echo – 16047

$28.90
The Wren ( La Tourterelle) by Eugène…
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