Making the Perfect Record: From Inscription to Impression in Early Magnetic RecordingMain MenuAboutAbstract for “Making the Perfect Record,” American Literature 85.4 (December 2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00029831-2370230, Duke U PIntroductionIntroduction to Making the Perfect Record: From Inscription to Impression in Early Magnetic RecordingNotesNotes for “Making the Perfect Record,” American Literature 85.4 (December 2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00029831-2370230, Duke U PMediaMedia for “Making the Perfect Record,” American Literature 85.4 (December 2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00029831-2370230, Duke U PAcknowledgmentsAcknowledgments for “Making the Perfect Record,” American Literature 85.4 (December 2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00029831-2370230, Duke U PTechnical InformationTechnical Information for “Making the Perfect Record,” American Literature 85.4 (December 2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00029831-2370230, Duke U PReferencesReferences for “Making the Perfect Record,” American Literature 85.4 (December 2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00029831-2370230, Duke U PJentery Sayersbecbfb529bffcfafdfad6920ed57b30ccdca5339This essay is part of the “New Media” special issue of American Literature (volume 85, number 4, December 2013). See http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00029831-2370230. Version 1 of the site is (c) 2013 by Duke University Press.
Fidelity and Deceit
12013-10-11T13:09:45-07:00Jentery Sayersbecbfb529bffcfafdfad6920ed57b30ccdca53392497The high aesthetic quality of recordings enhances the clarity of communications and induces alienating effectsplain2013-12-19T10:21:18-08:00Jentery Sayersbecbfb529bffcfafdfad6920ed57b30ccdca5339Smith (1888, 116) hypothesized the results in aesthetic terms: “The cord . . . therefore contains a perfect record of the sound, far more delicate than the indentations in the tin-foil of the mechanical phonograph.” Not only would it be cheap and flexible; it could also “talk back” if rewound on a reel and redrawn through the helix at roughly the same speed of recording. Importantly, though, a recording could occur on the receiver’s end of the telephone, too. For example, Smith (1888, 116) writes: “our hypothetical young lady might, while listening to the impassioned pleadings of her chosen young man, be preparing the evidence for a future breach-of-promise suit.” Comments such as this one correspond with contradictions common to early representations of magnetic audio and the forms of listening it enabled: its noise-free character facilitates fidelity and deceit, immersion and distance, authenticity and disembodiment. By eliminating any audible mediation between a playback mechanism and its source medium, Smith’s inscriptionless process would enhance the clarity of communications and induce alienating effects.
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12013-10-12T17:13:12-07:00“Talk Back”6Manual Playback Meets the Perfect Recordplain2013-12-26T18:28:55-08:00Redrawing the cord through the helix at exactly the same speed of the recording would be incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to manage if the device was operated by hand.
