AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
33 1 3 rpm12/3/2023 ![]() I wish I could give you a more authoritative answer, but that`s the way these things go sometimes. The reason that the three speeds seem unrelated is that they are. So, apparently, the origin of all the record playing speeds is that, given technological limitations and market considerations, each speed seemed like a good way to go at the time each was introduced. I recall, however, endless hours of amusement gotten by playing Mom`s classical music albums on 16 2/3. That apparently was the sole domain of speaking records music didn`t sound good on that format. ![]() You may recall a turntable speed of 16 2/3 (I do) on some record players. had become the format for single records, and 33 1/3 r.p.m. While changing sides no more than once, if at all. The big appeal, of course, is that listeners could hear entire symphonies or Broadway selections on 33 1/3 The jukebox industry gave a big boost to the 45, but classical music and Broadway cast albums, from such shows as ''South Pacific,'' made 33 1/3 the format of choice. (The development of multi-speed turntables made this a bit easier.) For a brief time, many recordings were available in 78, 45 and 33 1/3 formats, but as far as sales were concerned, plummeting figures suggest that many consumers headed to the sidelines and waited out the fight. record the following year, and the struggle that followed is referred to as ''the battle of the speeds,'' and it went on for years. RCA Victor responded with the seven-inch, 45 r.p.m. RCA was less thanĮnthusiastic, so CBS went at it alone, offering the new discs, as well as inexpensive players, in 1948. 1 competitor, RCA Victor (they of the earlier, disastrous flirtation with 33 1/3), to facilitate the mass conversion to 33 1/3 format. The CBS folks were so convinced they had the record of the future in their hands that they offered their new technology to their No. (Goldmark`s Microgroove could last up to 23 minutes per side). Heimers says that the 33 1/3 figure was essentially an arbitrary number, or more precisely a final compromise between sound quality and length of play The record, dubbed the Columbia Microgroove LP, was designed to rumble along at 33 1/3 r.p.m. Peter Goldmark devised a record that held between 224 to 300 grooves per inch (up until then, 85 grooves per inch was the norm) and delivered high fidelity, according to Gelatt`s book. In 1944, CBS commissioned more research into the long-playing record, and in 1947, achieved success. But getting more music out of the same size disc proved to be a perplexing technical problem the slower the record spun, the worse the sound quality became, and moving the grooves closer together was unworkable for several reasons. Presumably, it is powered by the spinning 33 RPM platter, and gears this down to 16 RPM for the record placed on top.But the notion of a slower playing speed persisted, the obvious attraction being that more music would fit on a record that didn`t spin so fast. While the mechanical details are not explained, it allows a 16 RPM record to be played on a 33 RPM turntable. The article does include an interesting adapter, shown here. While 33 1/3 RPM are possible they are sometimes prone to distortion. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me, and I checked out a 16 RPM talking book from the library, just so that I could play it at home. Recommended maximum program lengths: 12' 33 1/3 RPM 22 minutes per side. If you search eBay today for 16 RPM records, the most common search result is this talking Bible.Īs a kid, my record player had the setting for 16 RPM. The format was used mostly for “talking books.” The best seller was probably the Bible, which was recorded in the early 1950’s at the lower speed. At the time, the maximum frequency response went only to about 9000 Hz. ![]() But the article noted that the speed, while longer playing, had inherently lower fidelity than higher speeds. Most notably, some records were produced for the benefit of Chrysler’s Hiway Hi-Fi experiment, which included a record player for the car. The 1957 article predicted, erroneously it turns out, that “the growing catalog of recorded material and new playback equipment in all price ranges proclaim that the tide may yet turn to 16 rpm and roll into the arena with quite a splash.”Ī few musical recordings were issued on 16 RPM. More precisely, the records played at 16-2/3 revolutions per minute, and most moderately priced phonographs in the 1960’s would play the speed, along with the more common 33, 45, and 78 RPM speeds. Sixty years ago, the August 1957 issue of Popular Electronics carried an article about the forgotten stepchild of audio recording: The 16 RPM record.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |