List of phonograph manufacturers

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An advertisement for the Columbia Grafonola Columbia Grafonola 1912SAP ad.jpg
An advertisement for the Columbia Grafonola

This is a list of phonograph manufacturers. The phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone, record player or turntable, is a device introduced in 1877 for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound.

Contents

Phonograph manufacturers

A Lyricera Phonograph Company phonograph Lyric phonograph - Bayernhof Museum - DSC06375.JPG
A Lyricera Phonograph Company phonograph
An RCA Victor Special Portable Phonograph, circa 1935 RCA Victor Special Portable Phonograph, c. 1935, aluminum, other metals, plastic, felt, leather - Brooklyn Museum - DSC09673.JPG
An RCA Victor Special Portable Phonograph, circa 1935
A Technics turntable SL-QL1 DA14-21C159 R4-1 IMG 7651p2.JPG
A Technics turntable
A Victor Talking Machine VictorTalkingMachine2008.jpg
A Victor Talking Machine

By region

United States

In 1890 in the United States, many phonograph companies existed that had state- and region-based names, such as Alabama Phonograph Company, Colorado and Utah Phonograph Company, Kansas Phonograph Company, New England Phonograph Company, etc. [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phonograph</span> Device for analogue recording of sound

A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of recorded sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physical deviations of a spiral groove engraved, etched, incised, or impressed into the surface of a rotating cylinder or disc, called a "record". To recreate the sound, the surface is similarly rotated while a playback stylus traces the groove and is therefore vibrated by it, faintly reproducing the recorded sound. In early acoustic phonographs, the stylus vibrated a diaphragm that produced sound waves coupled to the open air through a flaring horn, or directly to the listener's ears through stethoscope-type earphones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phonograph cylinder</span> Medium for recording and reproducing sound

Phonograph cylinders are the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their heyday, a name which has been passed on to their disc-shaped successor, these hollow cylindrical objects have an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which can be reproduced when they are played on a mechanical cylinder phonograph. The first cylinders were wrapped with tin foil but the improved version made of wax was created a decade later, after which they were commercialized. In the 1910s, the competing disc record system triumphed in the marketplace to become the dominant commercial audio medium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phonograph record</span> Disc-shaped analog sound storage medium

A phonograph record, a vinyl record, or simply a record or vinyl is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the outside edge and ends near the center of the disc. The stored sound information is made audible by playing the record on a phonograph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Talking Machine Company</span> Former American record and phonograph manufacturer

The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became the RCA Victor Division of the Radio Corporation of America until late 1968, when it was renamed RCA Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Graphophone Company</span> Record company in the United Kingdom

Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laser turntable</span> Turntable that plays records using laser beams

A laser turntable is a phonograph that plays standard LP records using laser beams as the pickup instead of using a stylus as in conventional turntables. Although these turntables use laser pickups, the same as Compact Disc players, the signal remains in the analog realm and is never digitized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graphophone</span> Phonograph

The Graphophone was the name and trademark of an improved version of the phonograph. It was invented at the Volta Laboratory established by Alexander Graham Bell in Washington, D.C., United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sound recording and reproduction</span> Recording of sound and playing it back

Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vestax</span>

Vestax Corporation was a Japanese musical instrument, turntable and audio equipment firm founded by Hidesato Shiino in 1977. The company started by designing and manufacturing electronic guitars. In the 1980s, Vestax produced multitrack recorders and later moved to making DJ mixers, professional turntables, CD players and signal processors. Debt troubles led to the company's bankruptcy at the end of 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Hunting</span> American comic entertainer and pioneer sound recordist

Russell Dinsmore Hunting was an American comic entertainer, pioneer sound recordist, and an influential figure in the early years of the recorded music industry. He was described as "the most popular pre-1900 recording artist".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acoustic Research</span>

Acoustic Research was a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company that manufactured high-end audio equipment. The brand is now owned by VOXX. Acoustic Research was known for the AR-3 series of speaker systems, which used the 12 in (300 mm) acoustic suspension woofer of the AR-1 with newly designed dome mid-range speaker and high-frequency drivers. AR's line of acoustic suspension speakers were the first loudspeakers with relatively flat response, extended bass, wide dispersion, small size, and reasonable cost. The AR Turntable remains a highly sought vinyl record player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dictation machine</span> Device for recording human speech

A dictation machine is a sound recording device most commonly used to record speech for playback or to be typed into print. It includes digital voice recorders and tape recorder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volta Laboratory and Bureau</span> U.S. National Historic research laboratory

The Volta Laboratory and the Volta Bureau were created in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., by Alexander Graham Bell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pro-Ject</span>

Pro-Ject Audio Systems is a manufacturer of audiophile equipment, founded in 1991 by Heinz Lichtenegger and located in Mistelbach, Austria. Pro-Ject Audio Systems designs the products in Austria and produces them in Europe. It produces a range of audio equipment including a family of turntables, which are often quoted as reference entry-level models. Pro-Ject Audio Systems also manufactures a range of micro hi-fi components such as Amps, CD Transports, Phono Stages, Streaming Devices, Loudspeakers and more. Today, Pro-Ject Audio Systems ship into more than 80 countries world-wide. Since 2015 Pro-Ject has released limited edition turntables in cooperation with the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Hans Theessink, Parov Stelar, and the Vienna Philharmonic.

inMusic is an American enterprise that is the parent company for a family of brands of varying audio products used in the DJ, music production, live sound, musical instrument, pro audio, software, stage lighting, and consumer electronics industries. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Cumberland, Rhode Island, with additional offices in Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, and Bulgaria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North American Phonograph Company</span> Record label

The North American Phonograph Company was an early attempt to commercialize the maturing technologies of sound recording in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Though the company was largely unsuccessful in its goals due to legal, technical and financial problems, it set the stage for the modern recording industry in the mid 1890s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Grafonola</span> Brand of early 20th century American phonograph

The Columbia Grafonola is a brand of early 20th century American phonograph made by the Columbia Graphophone Company. Introduced in 1907, Grafonolas are internal horn alternatives to the same company's external horn Disc Graphophones.

Edison Bell was an English company that was the first distributor and an early manufacturer of gramophones and gramophone records. The company survived through several incarnations, becoming a top producer of budget records in England through the early 1930s until, after it was absorbed by Decca in 1932, production of various Edison Bell labels ceased.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Talking Machine Company</span>

The Chicago Talking Machine Company was a manufacturer and dealer of phonographs, phonograph accessories, and phonograph records from 1893 until 1906, and a major wholesaler of Victor Talking Machine Company products between 1906 and at least 1928.

IRENE is a digital imaging technology designed to recover analog audio stored on fragile or deteriorating phonograph cylinders, records, and other grooved audio media. It is in use by several archives and preservation institutions in the United States seeking to preserve and digitize historical audio.

References

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  16. The Absolute Sound. Absolute Sound, Limited. 1995.
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  20. Douglas, A. (1999). Radio Manufacturers of the 1920s, Volume 3. Sonoran Pub. pp. 106–107. ISBN   978-1-886606-04-3.
  21. "TechDAS". techdas.jp.
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  25. "Well Tempered Lab".
  26. Bonnier Corporation (July 1978). Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation. pp. 50–. ISSN   0161-7370.
  27. Proceedings of First Annual Convention of Local Phonograph Companies of the United States Held at Chicago, May 28 and 29, 1890. Phonograph Printing Company. 1890. p. 98.

Further reading