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.
Talk Back
12013-10-12T17:13:12-07:00Jentery Sayersbecbfb529bffcfafdfad6920ed57b30ccdca53392494Manual playback meets the perfect recordplain2013-12-19T10:24:30-08:00Jentery Sayersbecbfb529bffcfafdfad6920ed57b30ccdca5339Redrawing 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.
12013-11-16T22:12:19-08:00Jentery Sayersbecbfb529bffcfafdfad6920ed57b30ccdca5339NotesJentery Sayers5All Notes for Making the Perfect Record, American Literature 85.4 (December 2013), http://10.1215/00029831-2370230, Duke U Pplain84242013-12-19T08:30:20-08:00Jentery Sayersbecbfb529bffcfafdfad6920ed57b30ccdca5339
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12013-10-11T13:09:45-07:00Fidelity and Deceit7The high aesthetic quality of recordings enhances the clarity of communications and induces alienating effectsplain2013-12-19T10:21:18-08:00Smith (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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12013-10-11T13:09:45-07:00Fidelity and Deceit10The High Aesthetic Quality of Recordings Enhances the Clarity of Communications and Induces Alienating Effectsplain2013-12-26T09:26:06-08:00
12013-11-16T23:17:22-08:00Some Possible Forms of Phonograph (1888)5Oberlin Smith, The Electrical World, 116-17media/possibleforms.pngplain2013-12-19T08:44:31-08:00
