Phonograph
Related: gramophone - turntable - records - sound - playback
The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the 1870s through the 1980s. In more modern usage, this device is often called the turntable or record player. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the alternative term talking machine was sometimes used. [May 2006]
Era: 1870s - 1880s - 1890s - 1900s - 1910s - 1920s - 1930s - 1940s - 1950s - 1960s - 1970s - 1980s
Advertisement for the Edison New Standard Phonograph, in Harper's, September 1898.
In American English, "phonograph" was the most common generic term for any early sound reproducing machine, until the second half of the 20th century, when it became archaic and "record player" became the universal term for disk record machines. Emile Berliner's Gramophone was considered a type of phonograph. "Gramophone" was a brand name, and as such in the same category as "Victrola," "Zon-o-phone," "Graphophone" and "Graphonola" referring to specific brands of sound reproducing machines. Similarly, in German, "das Grammophon" (literally "the Gramophone") was the most common generic term for any sound reproducer using grooved records, hence the brand name Deutsche Grammophon. --source [May 2006]
Definition
The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common devices for playing recorded sound from the 1870s through the 1980s. Usage of these terms is somewhat different in British English and American English; see usage note below. In more modern usage, this device is often called the turntable or record player. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the alternative term talking machine was sometimes used. The phonograph was the first device for recording and replaying sound. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph [Jun 2004]
In the age of the phonograph
In the age of the phonograph, repeatability became a criterion for evaluating music; it was frequently remarked that the best works rewarded numerous hearings while lesser pieces palled upon repetition. Predictably, popular music was said to wear poorly, while "good music" continually paid aural dividends. As one writer claimed of popular music in 1931, "Repeated listening makes it recognizable for what it is and turns liking into loathing."(17) Psychologists even tested the idea. Two sets of experimenters concluded in 1924 and 1927 that while young people immediately enjoyed listening to popular selections, their interest waned upon repeated hearings; on the other hand, the subjects found the classical discs more appealing after each playing.(18) One must wonder, however, what the results would have been had the Kismet Fox Trot or Sultan One Step been replaced with works by, say, Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington. --text sourced here. [Sept 2005]
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