Gramophone_record

context: A gramophone record (phonograph record in American English) or vinyl record, commonly known as a "record", is an analogue sound storage medium in the form of a flat polyvinyl chloride (previously shellac) disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. Phonograph records are generally described by their diameter in inches (12", 10", 7"), the rotational speed in rpm at which they are played (16 2⁄3, 33 1⁄3, 45, 78), and their time capacity resulting from a combination of those parameters (LP – long playing 33 1⁄3 rpm, SP – 78 rpm single, EP – 12-inch single or extended play, 33 or 45 rpm); their reproductive quality or level of fidelity (high-fidelity, orthophonic, full-range, etc.), and the number of audio channels provided (mono, stereo, quad, etc.).
qas: answers: text: long playing
question: What does LP stand for when it comes to time capacity?

answers: text: 12", 10", 7"
question: What are common diameters found in phonograph records?

answers: text: analogue sound storage medium
question: What is a gramophone or 'vinyl' record?

answers: text: near the periphery
question: Where does the groove on a vinyl record typically start?

answers: text: rpm
question: In what method is the rotational speed measured in?

context: The phonograph disc record was the primary medium used for music reproduction until late in the 20th century, replacing the phonograph cylinder record–with which it had co-existed from the late 1880s through to the 1920s–by the late 1920s. Records retained the largest market share even when new formats such as compact cassette were mass-marketed. By the late 1980s, digital media, in the form of the compact disc, had gained a larger market share, and the vinyl record left the mainstream in 1991. From the 1990s to the 2010s, records continued to be manufactured and sold on a much smaller scale, and were especially used by disc jockeys (DJ)s, released by artists in some genres, and listened to by a niche market of audiophiles. The phonograph record has made a niche resurgence in the early 21st century – 9.2 million records were sold in the U.S. in 2014, a 260% increase since 2009. Likewise, in the UK sales have increased five-fold from 2009 to 2014.
qas: answers: text: music reproduction
question: What was the primary use of a phonographic disc record?

answers: text: 1991
question: Which year did vinyl records leave the main steam media market?

answers: text: disc jockeys (DJ)s
question: From the 1990s to 2010s who was the primary consumer of vinyl records?

answers: text: 9.2 million
question: Approximately how many phonograph records were sold in 2014?

answers: text: audiophiles
question: What is the niche market of phonograph record fans known as?

context: The phonautograph, patented by Léon Scott in 1857, used a vibrating diaphragm and stylus to graphically record sound waves as tracings on sheets of paper, purely for visual analysis and without any intent of playing them back. In the 2000s, these tracings were first scanned by audio engineers and digitally converted into audible sound. Phonautograms of singing and speech made by Scott in 1860 were played back as sound for the first time in 2008. Along with a tuning fork tone and unintelligible snippets recorded as early as 1857, these are the earliest known recordings of sound.
qas: answers: text: visual analysis
question: What was the original intent of the phonautograph?

answers: text: 2000s
question: In what years where phonautograms converted to audible sound?

answers: text: 1857
question: What year were the earliest known recordings of sound?

answers: text: Léon Scott
question: By whom was the phonautograms patented?

answers: text: 1857
question: In what year was phonautograms patented?

context: In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. Unlike the phonautograph, it was capable of both recording and reproducing sound. Despite the similarity of name, there is no documentary evidence that Edison's phonograph was based on Scott's phonautograph. Edison first tried recording sound on a wax-impregnated paper tape, with the idea of creating a "telephone repeater" analogous to the telegraph repeater he had been working on. Although the visible results made him confident that sound could be physically recorded and reproduced, his notes do not indicate that he actually reproduced sound before his first experiment in which he used tinfoil as a recording medium several months later. The tinfoil was wrapped around a grooved metal cylinder and a sound-vibrated stylus indented the tinfoil while the cylinder was rotated. The recording could be played back immediately. The Scientific American article that introduced the tinfoil phonograph to the public mentioned Marey, Rosapelly and Barlow as well as Scott as creators of devices for recording but, importantly, not reproducing sound. Edison also invented variations of the phonograph that used tape and disc formats. Numerous applications for the phonograph were envisioned, but although it enjoyed a brief vogue as a startling novelty at public demonstrations, the tinfoil phonograph proved too crude to be put to any practical use. A decade later, Edison developed a greatly improved phonograph that used a hollow wax cylinder instead of a foil sheet. This proved to be both a better-sounding and far more useful and durable device. The wax phonograph cylinder created the recorded sound market at the end of the 1880s and dominated it through the early years of the 20th century.
qas: answers: text: 1877
question: In what year did Thomas Edison invent the phonograph?

answers: text: capable of both recording and reproducing sound
question: How did the phonograph differ from the phonautograph?

answers: text: reproducing sound
question: What was unique about Einsteins invention?

answers: text: 1880s
question: At what era was the recorded sound market introduced?

context: Lateral-cut disc records were developed in the United States by Emile Berliner, who named his system the "gramophone", distinguishing it from Edison's wax cylinder "phonograph" and Columbia's wax cylinder "graphophone". Berliner's earliest discs, first marketed in 1889, but only in Europe, were 5 inches (13 cm) in diameter, and were played with a small hand-propelled machine. Both the records and the machine were adequate only for use as a toy or curiosity, due to the limited sound quality. In the United States in 1894, under the Berliner Gramophone trademark, Berliner started marketing records with somewhat more substantial entertainment value, along with somewhat more substantial gramophones to play them. Berliner's records had poor sound quality compared to wax cylinders, but his manufacturing associate Eldridge R. Johnson eventually improved the sound quality. Abandoning Berliner's "Gramophone" trademark for legal reasons, in 1901 Johnson's and Berliner's separate companies reorganized to form the Victor Talking Machine Company, whose products would come to dominate the market for many years. Emile Berliner moved his company to Montreal in 1900. The factory which became RCA Victor stills exists. There is a dedicated museum in Montreal for Berliner.
qas: answers: text: gramophone
question: What is the name of lateral cut disc records?

answers: text: poor sound quality
question: What was an issue found with Berliner's records initially? 

answers: text: United States
question: Where were lateral cut disc records developed?

answers: text: RCA Victor
question: What is 'Victor Talking Machine now known as?

answers: text: Montreal
question: Where is the museum dedicated to Berliner located?

context: In 1901, 10-inch disc records were introduced, followed in 1903 by 12-inch records. These could play for more than three and four minutes respectively, while contemporary cylinders could only play for about two minutes. In an attempt to head off the disc advantage, Edison introduced the Amberol cylinder in 1909, with a maximum playing time of 4½ minutes (at 160 rpm), which in turn were superseded by Blue Amberol Records, which had a playing surface made of celluloid, a plastic, which was far less fragile. Despite these improvements, during the 1910s discs decisively won this early format war, although Edison continued to produce new Blue Amberol cylinders for an ever-dwindling customer base until late in 1929. By 1919 the basic patents for the manufacture of lateral-cut disc records had expired, opening the field for countless companies to produce them. Analog disc records would dominate the home entertainment market until they were outsold by the digital compact disc in the late 1980s (which was in turn supplanted by digital audio recordings distributed via online music stores and Internet file sharing).
qas: answers: text: Blue Amberol cylinders
question: What was the name of the discs Edison introduced in 1909?

answers: text: 1919
question: What year did the patent for lateral cut discs expire?

answers: text: digital compact disc
question: What format dominated the market in the late 1980s?

answers: text: Amberol cylinder
question: What disc format was the least fragile prior to 1919?

answers: text: celluloid
question: What was the playing surface of the blue amerbol cylinder discs made of?

context: Early recordings were made entirely acoustically, the sound being collected by a horn and piped to a diaphragm, which vibrated the cutting stylus. Sensitivity and frequency range were poor, and frequency response was very irregular, giving acoustic recordings an instantly recognizable tonal quality. A singer practically had to put his or her face in the recording horn. Lower-pitched orchestral instruments such as cellos and double basses were often doubled (or replaced) by louder wind instruments, such as tubas. Standard violins in orchestral ensembles were commonly replaced by Stroh violins, which became popular with recording studios.
qas: answers: text: Sensitivity and frequency range were poor
question: What were two drawback of early recordings?

answers: text: face in the recording horn
question: How would one make to early recordings?

answers: text: Stroh violins
question: What types of violins worked best with early recordings?

answers: text: Lower-pitched orchestral instruments
question: What instruments did not record well?

answers: text: very irregular
question: How was the frequency response in early recordings?

context: Contrary to popular belief, if placed properly and prepared-for, drums could be effectively used and heard on even the earliest jazz and military band recordings. The loudest instruments such as the drums and trumpets were positioned the farthest away from the collecting horn. Lillian Hardin Armstrong, a member of King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, which recorded at Gennett Records in 1923, remembered that at first Oliver and his young second trumpet, Louis Armstrong, stood next to each other and Oliver's horn could not be heard. "They put Louis about fifteen feet over in the corner, looking all sad." For fading instrumental parts in and out while recording, some performers were placed on a moveable platform, which could draw the performer(s) nearer or further away as required.[citation needed]
qas: answers: text: moveable platform
question: What tool was used to improve sound quality in early recordings for special effects?

answers: text: farthest away from the collecting horn
question: Where were loud instruments best placed for good sound quality?

answers: text: fifteen feet
question: How far away has a trumpeter been known to stand?

answers: text: drums could be effectively used
question: Were drums heard on early jazz recordings?

answers: text: collecting horn
question: What was the item called that recorded the sounds?

context: During the first half of the 1920s, engineers at Western Electric, as well as independent inventors such as Orlando Marsh, developed technology for capturing sound with a microphone, amplifying it with vacuum tubes, then using the amplified signal to drive an electromagnetic recording head. Western Electric's innovations resulted in a greatly expanded and more even frequency response, creating a dramatically fuller, clearer and more natural-sounding recording. Distant or less strong sounds that were impossible to record by the old methods could now be captured. Volume was now limited only by the groove spacing on the record and the limitations of the intended playback device. Victor and Columbia licensed the new electrical system from Western Electric and began issuing electrically recorded discs in 1925. The first classical recording was of Chopin impromptus and Schubert's Litanei by Alfred Cortot for Victor.
qas: answers: text: vacuum tubes
question: What was an early took used to amplify sounds?

answers: text: Western Electric
question: What company was vital in progression of quality sound recordings?

answers: text: 1925
question: How early were electrically recorded discs made available for purchase?

answers: text: microphone
question: What was new about the way Western Electrics method of capturing sound?

answers: text: fuller, clearer and more natural
question: How could the sounds produced by Western Electric be described?

context: Electrical recording preceded electrical home reproduction because of the initial high cost of the new system. In 1925, the Victor company introduced the Victor Orthophonic Victrola, an acoustical record player that was specifically designed to play electrically recorded discs, as part of a line that also included electrically reproducing Electrolas. The acoustical Orthophonics ranged in price from US$95 to US$300, depending on cabinetry; by comparison, the cheapest Electrola cost US$650, the price of a new Ford automobile in an era when clerical jobs paid about $20 a week.
qas: answers: text: high cost
question: What was a drawback of early home recording systems?

answers: text: US$95 to US$300
question: What was the initial cost range of early recording devices?

answers: text: 1925
question: What year  was the  Victor Orthophonic Victrola released?

answers: text: $20
question: What was the typical weekly pay of a worker in 1925?

answers: text: cabinetry
question: What options were available that effected the cost of the Victor Orthophonic Victorla?

context: The earliest disc records (1889–1894) were made of various materials including hard rubber. Around 1895, a shellac-based compound was introduced and became standard. Exact formulas for this compound varied by manufacturer and over the course of time, but it was typically composed of about one-third shellac and about two-thirds mineral filler, which meant finely pulverized rock, usually slate and limestone, with an admixture of cotton fibers to add tensile strength, carbon black for color (without this, it tended to be a "dirty" gray or brown color that most record companies considered unattractive), and a very small amount of a lubricant to facilitate mold release during manufacture. Some makers, notably Columbia Records, used a laminated construction with a core disc of coarser material or fiber. The production of shellac records continued until the end of the 78 rpm format (i.e., the late 1950s in most developed countries, but well into the 1960s in some other places), but increasingly less abrasive formulations were used during its declining years and very late examples in truly like-new condition can have as low noise levels as vinyl.
qas: answers: text: hard rubber
question: What materials were discs made of in 1889-1894?

answers: text: a shellac-based compound
question: What was the standard material for discs around 1895?

answers: text: Columbia Records
question: What company was known for laminate construction of discs?

answers: text: carbon
question: What material give the vinyl records their known black color?

answers: text: lubricant
question: What material is used in order to release the vinyl records from their molds?

context: Flexible or so-called "unbreakable" records made of unusual materials were introduced by a number of manufacturers at various times during the 78 rpm era. In the UK, Nicole records, made of celluloid or a similar substance coated onto a cardboard core disc, were produced for a few years beginning in 1904, but they suffered from an exceptionally high level of surface noise. In the United States, Columbia Records introduced flexible, fiber-cored "Marconi Velvet Tone Record" pressings in 1907, but the advantages and longevity of their relatively noiseless surfaces depended on the scrupulous use of special gold-plated Marconi Needles and the product was not a success. Thin, flexible plastic records such as the German Phonycord and the British Filmophone and Goodson records appeared around 1930 but also did not last long. The contemporary French Pathé Cellodiscs, made of a very thin black plastic, which uncannily resembles the vinyl "sound sheet" magazine inserts of the 1965–1985 era, were similarly short-lived. In the US, Hit of the Week records, made of a patented translucent plastic called Durium coated on a heavy brown paper base, were introduced in early 1930. A new issue came out every week and they were sold at newsstands like a weekly magazine. Although inexpensive and commercially successful at first, they soon fell victim to the Great Depression and production in the US ended in 1932. Related Durium records continued to be made somewhat later in the UK and elsewhere, and as remarkably late as 1950 in Italy, where the name "Durium" survived far into the LP era as a trademark on ordinary vinyl records. Despite all these attempts at innovation, shellac compounds continued to be used for the overwhelming majority of commercial 78 rpm records during the lifetime of the format.
qas: answers: text: Great Depression
question: What was a major downfall of the success of Durium records?

answers: text: 1932
question: What year were Durium records no longer released in the US?

answers: text: shellac compounds
question: What are most 78 rpm records made of?

answers: text: surface noise
question: What was a common problem found in early flexible records?

answers: text: Durium
question: What was the thin translucent plastic most successfully used to make discs called?

context: In 1931, RCA Victor introduced their vinyl-based Victrolac compound as a material for some unusual-format and special-purpose records. By the end of the 1930s vinyl's advantages of light weight, relative unbreakability and low surface noise had made it the material of choice for prerecorded radio programming and other critical applications. When it came to ordinary 78 rpm records, however, the much higher cost of the raw material, as well as its vulnerability to the heavy pickups and crudely mass-produced steel needles still commonly used in home record players, made its general substitution for shellac impractical at that time. During the Second World War, the United States Armed Forces produced thousands of 12-inch vinyl 78 rpm V-Discs for use by the troops overseas. After the war, the wider use of vinyl became more practical as new record players with relatively lightweight crystal pickups and precision-ground styli made of sapphire or an exotic osmium alloy proliferated. In late 1945, RCA Victor began offering special transparent red vinyl De Luxe pressings of some classical 78s, at a de luxe price. Later, Decca Records introduced vinyl Deccalite 78s, while other record companies came up with vinyl concoctions such as Metrolite, Merco Plastic and Sav-o-flex, but these were mainly used to produce "unbreakable" children's records and special thin vinyl DJ pressings for shipment to radio stations.
qas: answers: text: vinyl-based Victrolac compound
question: What material was used by RCA Victor for special purpose records?

answers: text: children's records
question: What was Metrolite and Sav-o-flex materials primarily used for?

answers: text: 1931
question: What year was the Victrolac compound released?

answers: text: light weight, relative unbreakability and low surface noise
question: What were advantages of vinyl in the 1930's?

answers: text: higher cost
question: What was a downfall of ordinary 78 rpm vinyls in household house?

context: In the 1890s, the recording formats of the earliest (toy) discs were mainly 12.5 cm (nominally five inches) in diameter; by the mid-1890s, the discs were usually 7 in (nominally 17.5 cm) in diameter. By 1910 the 10-inch (25.4 cm) record was by far the most popular standard, holding about three minutes of music or other entertainment on a side. From 1903 onwards, 12-inch records (30.5 cm) were also sold commercially, mostly of classical music or operatic selections, with four to five minutes of music per side. Victor, Brunswick and Columbia also issued 12-inch popular medleys, usually spotlighting a Broadway show score. However, other sizes did appear. Eight-inch discs with a 2-inch-diameter (51 mm) label became popular for about a decade in Britain, but they cannot be played in full on most modern record players because the tone arm cannot play far enough in toward the center without modification of the equipment.
qas: answers: text: 10-inch
question: What was the most popular sized disc by 1910?

answers: text: four to five minutes of music per side
question: How long could a recording be on a 10 inch disc in the 1903?

answers: text: 12.5 cm
question: How small were the earliest discs released?

answers: text: modification of the equipment
question: What was one requirement issue with discs popular in Britain?

answers: text: 10-inch
question: Which disc could hold about three minutes of recording on either side?

context: The playing time of a phonograph record depended on the turntable speed and the groove spacing. At the beginning of the 20th century, the early discs played for two minutes, the same as early cylinder records. The 12-inch disc, introduced by Victor in 1903, increased the playing time to three and a half minutes. Because a 10-inch 78 rpm record could hold about three minutes of sound per side and the 10-inch size was the standard size for popular music, almost all popular recordings were limited to around three minutes in length. For example, when King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, including Louis Armstrong on his first recordings, recorded 13 sides at Gennett Records in Richmond, Indiana, in 1923, one side was 2:09 and four sides were 2:52–2:59.
qas: answers: text: turntable speed and the groove spacing
question: What factors would effect playing time of a phonograph?

answers: text: two minutes
question: What was the playing time common in the early 20th century?

answers: text: 13
question: How many recordings did Kind Oliver's Creole Jazz band require?

answers: text: 10-inch
question: What was the normal size disc for popular music?

answers: text: three and a half minutes
question: What was the recording time available on a 12 inch disc?

context: In January 1938, Milt Gabler started recording for his new label, Commodore Records, and to allow for longer continuous performances, he recorded some 12-inch records. Eddie Condon explained: "Gabler realized that a jam session needs room for development." The first two 12-inch recordings did not take advantage of the extra length: "Carnegie Drag" was 3:15; "Carnegie Jump", 2:41. But at the second session, on April 30, the two 12-inch recordings were longer: "Embraceable You" was 4:05; "Serenade to a Shylock", 4:32. Another way around the time limitation was to issue a selection on both sides of a single record. Vaudeville stars Gallagher and Shean recorded "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean", written by Irving and Jack Kaufman, as two sides of a 10-inch 78 in 1922 for Cameo. An obvious workaround for longer recordings was to release a set of records. An early multi-record release was in 1903, when HMV in England made the first complete recording of an opera, Verdi's Ernani, on 40 single-sided discs. In 1940, Commodore released Eddie Condon and his Band's recording of "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" in four parts, issued on both sides of two 12-inch 78s. This limitation on the duration of recordings persisted from 1910 until the invention of the LP record, in 1948. In popular music, this time limitation of about 3:30 on a 10-inch 78 rpm record meant that singers usually did not release long pieces on record. One exception is Frank Sinatra's recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Soliloquy", from Carousel, made on May 28, 1946. Because it ran 7:57, longer than both sides of a standard 78 rpm 10-inch record, it was released on Columbia's Masterwork label (the classical division) as two sides of a 12-inch record. The same was true of John Raitt's performance of the song on the original cast album of Carousel, which had been issued on a 78-rpm album set by American Decca in 1945.
qas: answers: text: Columbia's Masterwork label
question: On which label did Frank Sinatra release his recording of Soliloquy?

answers: text: about 3:30
question: What was a typical recording time of a song in 1948?

answers: text: release a set of records
question: What was a way musicians got sounds such short recording times?

answers: text: two sides
question: How many sides of a disc commonly held a recording?

context: German record company Odeon is often said to have pioneered the album in 1909 when it released the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky on 4 double-sided discs in a specially designed package. (It is not indicated what size the records are.) However, Deutsche Grammophon had produced an album for its complete recording of the opera Carmen in the previous year. The practice of issuing albums does not seem to have been widely taken up by other record companies for many years; however, HMV provided an album, with a pictorial cover, for the 1917 recording of The Mikado (Gilbert & Sullivan).
qas: answers: text: 4 double-sided discs in a specially designed package
question: What was unique about Odeon's 1909 release of the Nutcracker Suite?

answers: text: The Mikado (Gilbert & Sullivan)
question: What was one of the first releases with a photo on the cover?

answers: text: 1909
question: When were albums said to be pioneered?

answers: text: Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky
question: What was one of the very first albums released?

context: By about 1910,[note 1] bound collections of empty sleeves with a paperboard or leather cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as record albums that customers could use to store their records (the term "record album" was printed on some covers). These albums came in both 10-inch and 12-inch sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them.
qas: answers: text: 1910
question: When could record album covers first be found?

answers: text: empty sleeves with a paperboard or leather cover
question: What were early record album covers made of?

answers: text: 10-inch and 12-inch sizes
question: What sizes were record album covers available in?

answers: text: upright
question: How were record album covers intended to be stored?

answers: text: protecting them
question: What was the purpose of record album covers?

context: In the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78 rpm records by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled albums, typically with artwork on the front cover and liner notes on the back or inside cover. Most albums included three or four records, with two sides each, making six or eight tunes per album. When the 12-inch vinyl LP era began in 1949, the single record often had the same or similar number of tunes as a typical album of 78s, and was still often referred to as an "album".
qas: answers: text: 1930s
question: When were albums as we currently know them widely released?

answers: text: artwork
question: What is typically found on the front cover of an album?

answers: text: three or four
question: How may records were commonly found in an album?

answers: text: 1949
question: When did the vinyl LP records Era begin?

answers: text: six or eight
question: How many songs did most albums contain?

context: For collectable or nostalgia purposes, or for the benefit of higher-quality audio playback provided by the 78 rpm speed with newer vinyl records and their lightweight stylus pickups, a small number of 78 rpm records have been released since the major labels ceased production. One of the first attempts at this was in the 1950s, when inventor Ewing Dunbar Nunn founded the label Audiophile Records, which released, in addition to standard 33 1/3 rpm LPs, 78 rpm-mastered albums that were microgroove and pressed on vinyl (as opposed to traditional 78s, with their shellac composition and wider 3-mil sized grooves). This was done by the label mainly to take advantage of the wider audio frequency response that faster speeds like 78 rpm can provide for vinyl microgroove records, hence the label's name (obviously catering to the audiophiles of the 1950s "hi-fi" era, when stereo gear could provide a much wider range of audio than before). Also in the late 1950s, Bell Records released a few budget-priced 7" microgrooved records at 78 rpm.
qas: answers: text: collectable or nostalgia purposes
question: What are reasons for recent releases of 78 rpm speed vinyls?

answers: text: higher-quality audio playback
question: What is a benefit of newer releases of 78 rpm speed vinyls?

answers: text: Bell Records
question: Who released 7" microgrooved records in the 1950s?

answers: text: wider range of audio
question: What benefits to vinyl have been found in the 1950s?

answers: text: Ewing Dunbar Nunn
question: Who founded Audiophile Records?

context: In 1968, Reprise planned to release a series of 78 rpm singles from their artists on their label at the time, called the Reprise Speed Series. Only one disc actually saw release, Randy Newman's I Think It's Going to Rain Today, a track from his self-titled debut album (with The Beehive State on the flipside). Reprise did not proceed further with the series due to a lack of sales for the single, and a lack of general interest in the concept. Guitarist & vocalist Leon Redbone released a promotional 78 rpm record in 1978 featuring two songs (Alabama Jubilee and Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone) from his Champagne Charlie album. In 1980 Stiff Records in the United Kingdom issued a 78 by Joe "King" Carrasco containing the songs Buena (Spanish for "good," with the alternate spelling "Bueno" on the label) and Tuff Enuff. Underground comic cartoonist and 78 rpm record collector Robert Crumb released three discs with his Cheap Suit Serenaders in the 1980s.
qas: answers: text: 1968
question: In what year did Reprise plan to release a series of 78 rpm singles?

answers: text: Think It's Going to Rain Today
question: Which disc did Reprise release in 78 rpm format?

answers: text: Alabama Jubilee and Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
question: What two songs were featured on the 1978 release by Leon Redbone in 78 rpm format?

answers: text: Stiff Records
question: What record company released recordings of 'Buena' and 'Tuff Enuff' in 1980?

answers: text: lack of sales for the single, and a lack of general interest
question: Why did Reprise only release one 78 rpm vinyl?

context: In the 1990s Rhino Records issued a series of boxed sets of 78 rpm reissues of early rock and roll hits, intended for owners of vintage jukeboxes. This was a disaster because Rhino did not warn customers that their records were made of vinyl, and that the vintage 78 RPM juke boxes were designed with heavy tone arms and steel needles to play the hard shellac records of their time. This failure to warn customers gave the Rhino 78 records a bad reputation,[citation needed] as they were destroyed by old juke boxes and old record players but played very well on newer 78-capable turntables with modern lightweight tone arms and jewel needles.
qas: answers: text: 1990s
question: When was the release by Rhino Records of 78 rpm for jukebox owners?

answers: text: they were destroyed
question: What was the result of the use of this release of 78 rpm vinyl when used in vintage jukeboxes?

answers: text: lightweight tone arms and jewel needles
question: What was needed to successfully play the newer released 79 rpm vinyl?

answers: text: owners of vintage jukeboxes
question: For whom was the 1990 release of 78 rpm intended?

answers: text: bad reputation
question: How did the 1990 release of 78 rpm effect Rhino Records?

context: In 1931, RCA Victor launched the first commercially available vinyl long-playing record, marketed as program-transcription discs. These revolutionary discs were designed for playback at 33 1⁄3 rpm and pressed on a 30 cm diameter flexible plastic disc, with a duration of about ten minutes playing time per side. RCA Victor's early introduction of a long-play disc was a commercial failure for several reasons including the lack of affordable, reliable consumer playback equipment and consumer wariness during the Great Depression. Because of financial hardships that plagued the recording industry during that period (and RCA's own parched revenues), Victor's long-playing records were discontinued by early 1933.
qas: answers: text: ten minutes playing time per side
question: What was the playing time of program-transcription discs?

answers: text: commercial failure
question: How successful was RCA Victor's program-transcription discs?

answers: text: 1931
question: When did RCA Victor release long play discs?

answers: text: RCA Victor
question: Who released the first commercial long play discs?

answers: text: early 1933
question: By when were long play records discontinued?

context: Vinyl's lower surface noise level than shellac was not forgotten, nor was its durability. In the late 1930s, radio commercials and pre-recorded radio programs being sent to disc jockeys started being stamped in vinyl, so they would not break in the mail. In the mid-1940s, special DJ copies of records started being made of vinyl also, for the same reason. These were all 78 rpm. During and after World War II, when shellac supplies were extremely limited, some 78 rpm records were pressed in vinyl instead of shellac, particularly the six-minute 12-inch (30 cm) 78 rpm records produced by V-Disc for distribution to United States troops in World War II. In the 1940s, radio transcriptions, which were usually on 16-inch records, but sometimes 12-inch, were always made of vinyl, but cut at 33 1⁄3 rpm. Shorter transcriptions were often cut at 78 rpm.
qas: answers: text: lower surface noise
question: What was a benefit of using vinyl over shellac?

answers: text: vinyl
question: By the mid 1940s what was the primary material records were made of?

answers: text: World War II
question: What was a factor in shellac availability?

answers: text: vinyl
question: Which material was more durable,  shellac or vinyl?

answers: text: vinyl
question: What material were most mailed records made of?

context: Beginning in 1939, Dr. Peter Goldmark and his staff at Columbia Records and at CBS Laboratories undertook efforts to address problems of recording and playing back narrow grooves and developing an inexpensive, reliable consumer playback system. It took about eight years of study, except when it was suspended because of World War II. Finally, the 12-inch (30 cm) Long Play (LP) 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove record album was introduced by the Columbia Record Company at a New York press conference on June 18, 1948.
qas: answers: text: World War II
question: What caused a delay in the production of high quality records?

answers: text: Columbia Record Company
question: Who released the 12 inch LP?

answers: text: June 18, 1948
question: On what date was the 12 inch LP released?

answers: text: New York
question: In what city was the 12 in LP released?

answers: text: about eight years
question: How long did it take Columbia to produce a consumer friendly long play record?

context: Unwilling to accept and license Columbia's system, in February 1949 RCA Victor, in cooperation of its parent, the Radio Corporation of America, released the first 45 rpm single, 7 inches in diameter with a large center hole. The 45 rpm player included a changing mechanism that allowed multiple disks to be stacked, much as a conventional changer handled 78s. The short playing time of a single 45 rpm side meant that long works, such as symphonies, had to be released on multiple 45s instead of a single LP, but RCA claimed that the new high-speed changer rendered side breaks so brief as to be inaudible or inconsequential. Early 45 rpm records were made from either vinyl or polystyrene. They had a playing time of eight minutes.
qas: answers: text: The 45 rpm player
question: What did RCA release to complete against Columbia's LP?

answers: text: vinyl or polystyrene
question: What materials were 45 rpm records made of?

answers: text: eight minutes
question: What was the play time of a 45 rpm

answers: text: 7 inches
question: What was the size of a RCA Victor 45 rpm?

context: One early attempt at lengthening the playing time should be mentioned. At least one manufacturer in the early 1920s, World Records, produced records that played at a constant linear velocity, controlled by Noel Pemberton Billing's patented add-on governor device. As these were played from the outside to the inside, the rotational speed of the records increased as reproduction progressed. This action is similar (although in reverse) to that on the modern compact disc and the CLV version of its predecessor, the Philips Laser Disc.
qas: answers: text: World Records
question: Who had made an attempt in the 1920s to release a long play time recording?

answers: text: Noel Pemberton Billing's patented add-on governor device
question: What caused the constant linear velocity?

answers: text: played from the outside to the inside
question: What was a unique feature of World Records records?

answers: text: Philips Laser Disc
question: What currently utilized item was World Records CLV similar to?

context: In 1925, 78.26 rpm was chosen as the standard because of the introduction of the electrically powered synchronous turntable motor. This motor ran at 3600 rpm, such that a 46:1 gear ratio would produce 78.26 rpm. In parts of the world that used 50 Hz current, the standard was 77.92 rpm (3,000 rpm with a 77:2 ratio), which was also the speed at which a strobe disc with 77 lines would "stand still" in 50 Hz light (92 lines for 60 Hz). After World War II these records were retroactively known as 78s, to distinguish them from other newer disc record formats. Earlier they were just called records, or when there was a need to distinguish them from cylinders, disc records.
qas: answers: text: 46:1
question: What gear ration creates 78.26 rpm?

answers: text: 1925
question: In what year was 78.26 rpm chosen as standard?

answers: text: 3600 rpm
question: How many rpm did the electrically powered synchronous turanable motor run at?

answers: text: to distinguish them from other newer disc record formats
question: Why are these records known as '78s'?

context: The older 78 format continued to be mass-produced alongside the newer formats using new materials until about 1960 in the U.S., and in a few countries, such as India (where some Beatles recordings were issued on 78), into the 1960s. For example, Columbia Records' last reissue of Frank Sinatra songs on 78 rpm records was an album called Young at Heart, issued November 1, 1954. As late as the 1970s, some children's records were released at the 78 rpm speed. In the United Kingdom, the 78 rpm single lasted longer than in the United States and the 45 rpm took longer to become popular. The 78 rpm was overtaken in popularity by the 45 rpm in the late 1950s, as teenagers became increasingly affluent.
qas: answers: text: 1950s
question: When did the 45 rpm gain popularity over the 78 rpm

answers: text: teenagers
question: With which crowd did the 45 rpm gain popularity?

answers: text: about 1960
question: At which time were the 79 rpm no longer mass produced?

answers: text: November 1, 1954.
question: On which date did Columbia release it's last 78?

answers: text: United Kingdom
question: What was the last country to phase out the 78 rpm?

context: Some of Elvis Presley's early singles on Sun Records might have sold more copies on 78 than on 45. This is because the majority of those sales in 1954–55 were to the "hillbilly" market in the South and Southwestern United States, where replacing the family 78 rpm player with a new 45 rpm player was a luxury few could afford at the time. By the end of 1957, RCA Victor announced that 78s accounted for less than 10% of Presley's singles sales, essentially announcing the death throes of the 78 rpm format. The last Presley single released on 78 in the United States was RCA Victor 20-7410, I Got Stung/One Night (1958), while the last 78 in the UK was RCA 1194, A Mess Of Blues/Girl Of My Best Friend (1960).
qas: answers: text: less than 10%
question: What percentage of Elvis Presley's single sales were of 78s?

answers: text: A Mess Of Blues/Girl Of My Best Friend
question: What was the last 78 released in the UK by RCA?

answers: text: 45 rpm player was a luxury few could afford at the time
question: Why did Elvis sales of 78s perform so well in the Southern States?

answers: text: Sun Records
question: On which label did Elvis release his early singles?

answers: text: I Got Stung/One Night
question: What was the last Elvis Presley single released on 78?

context: After World War II, two new competing formats came onto the market and gradually replaced the standard "78": the 33 1⁄3 rpm (often just referred to as the 33 rpm), and the 45 rpm (see above). The 33 1⁄3 rpm LP (for "long-play") format was developed by Columbia Records and marketed in June 1948. RCA Victor developed the 45 rpm format and marketed it in March 1949, each pursuing their own r&d in secret. Both types of new disc used narrower grooves, intended to be played with smaller stylus—typically 0.001 inches (25 µm) wide, compared to 0.003 inches (76 µm) for a 78—so the new records were sometimes called Microgroove. In the mid-1950s all record companies agreed to a common recording standard called RIAA equalization. Prior to the establishment of the standard each company used its own preferred standard, requiring discriminating listeners to use pre-amplifiers with multiple selectable equalization curves.
qas: answers: text: 33 1⁄3 rpm (often just referred to as the 33 rpm), and the 45 rpm
question: What two formats replaced the 78?

answers: text: Columbia Records
question: Who developed the 33 1/3 rpm LP?

answers: text: June 1948
question: When did the 33 1/3 rpm hit the market?

answers: text: March 1949
question: When did RCA release their 45 rpm format?

answers: text: mid-1950s
question: When were RIAA standards established?

context: Some recordings, such as books for the blind, were pressed at 16 2⁄3 rpm. Prestige Records released jazz records in this format in the late 1950s; for example, two of their Miles Davis albums were paired together in this format. Peter Goldmark, the man who developed the 33 1⁄3 rpm record, developed the Highway Hi-Fi 16 2⁄3 rpm record to be played in Chrysler automobiles, but poor performance of the system and weak implementation by Chrysler and Columbia led to the demise of the 16 2⁄3 rpm records. Subsequently, the 16 2⁄3 rpm speed was used for narrated publications for the blind and visually impaired, and were never widely commercially available, although it was common to see new turntable models with a 16 rpm speed setting produced as late as the 1970s.
qas: answers: text: narrated publications
question: What was 16 2/3 rpm speed used for?

answers: text: Peter Goldmark
question: Who developed the 33 1/3 rpm speed record?

answers: text: Highway Hi-Fi 16 2⁄3 rpm record
question: What record format was created for use in Chrysler automobiles?

answers: text: poor performance
question: Why did Chrysler discontinue use of the Hifi 16 2/3 rpm record?

answers: text: 1970s
question: To the end of which era could you find 16 rpm setting on record players?

context: The commercial rivalry between RCA Victor and Columbia Records led to RCA Victor's introduction of what it had intended to be a competing vinyl format, the 7-inch (175 mm) 45 rpm disc. For a two-year period from 1948 to 1950, record companies and consumers faced uncertainty over which of these formats would ultimately prevail in what was known as the "War of the Speeds". (See also format war.) In 1949 Capitol and Decca adopted the new LP format and RCA gave in and issued its first LP in January 1950. The 45 rpm size was gaining in popularity, too, and Columbia issued its first 45s in February 1951. By 1954, 200 million 45s had been sold.
qas: answers: text: RCA
question: Which company lost the "War of the Speeds"?

answers: text: 45 rpm
question: What speed ultimantly ended up winning the war of the speeds?

answers: text: 1948 to 1950
question: Over which years did the "War of the Speeds" last? 

answers: text: 200 million
question: By 1945 what was the total sale of 45s?

answers: text: RCA Victor and Columbia Records
question: Which two companies were involved in the "War of the Speeds"?

context: Eventually the 12-inch (300 mm) 33 1⁄3 rpm LP prevailed as the predominant format for musical albums, and 10-inch LPs were no longer issued. The last Columbia Records reissue of any Frank Sinatra songs on a 10-inch LP record was an album called Hall of Fame, CL 2600, issued on October 26, 1956, containing six songs, one each by Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Johnnie Ray, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, and Frankie Laine. The 10-inch LP however had a longer life in the United Kingdom, where important early British rock and roll albums such as Lonnie Donegan's Lonnie Donegan Showcase and Billy Fury's The Sound of Fury were released in that form. The 7-inch (175 mm) 45 rpm disc or "single" established a significant niche for shorter duration discs, typically containing one item on each side. The 45 rpm discs typically emulated the playing time of the former 78 rpm discs, while the 12-inch LP discs eventually provided up to one half-hour of recorded material per side.
qas: answers: text: 10-inch
question: What format of LPs was discontinued?

answers: text: The last Columbia Records reissue of any Frank Sinatra songs on a 10-inch LP
question: What was the significance of October 26th, 1956?

answers: text: United Kingdom
question: In which country did the 10 in LP exist the longest?

answers: text: 12-inch LP
question: Which format offered up to 1/2 an hour of recordings per side?

answers: text: 12-inch LP
question: Did the 45 rpm or 12 inch disc offer longer playing time?

context: The 45 rpm discs also came in a variety known as extended play (EP), which achieved up to 10–15 minutes play at the expense of attenuating (and possibly compressing) the sound to reduce the width required by the groove. EP discs were cheaper to produce, and were used in cases where unit sales were likely to be more limited or to reissue LP albums on the smaller format for those people who had only 45 rpm players. LP albums could be purchased 1 EP at a time, with four items per EP, or in a boxed set with 3 EPs or 12 items. The large center hole on 45s allows for easier handling by jukebox mechanisms. EPs were generally discontinued by the late 1950s in the U.S. as three- and four-speed record players replaced the individual 45 players. One indication of the decline of the 45 rpm EP is that the last Columbia Records reissue of Frank Sinatra songs on 45 rpm EP records, called Frank Sinatra (Columbia B-2641) was issued on December 7, 1959. The EP lasted considerably longer in Europe, and was a popular format during the 1960s for recordings by artists such as Serge Gainsbourg and the Beatles.
qas: answers: text: extended play
question: What do the initials EP stand for?

answers: text: The large center hole
question: Why were 45s more popular with jukeboxes?

answers: text: EPs
question: What format was phased out by the end of the 1950s?

answers: text: EP discs were cheaper
question: What was a benefit of EPs over LPs?

context: From the mid-1950s through the 1960s, in the U.S. the common home record player or "stereo" (after the introduction of stereo recording) would typically have had these features: a three- or four-speed player (78, 45, 33 1⁄3, and sometimes 16 2⁄3 rpm); with changer, a tall spindle that would hold several records and automatically drop a new record on top of the previous one when it had finished playing, a combination cartridge with both 78 and microgroove styli and a way to flip between the two; and some kind of adapter for playing the 45s with their larger center hole. The adapter could be a small solid circle that fit onto the bottom of the spindle (meaning only one 45 could be played at a time) or a larger adaptor that fit over the entire spindle, permitting a stack of 45s to be played.
qas: answers: text: 78, 45, 33 1⁄3
question: What three speeds were sound on most home stereos in the mid 1950's?

answers: text: larger center hole.
question: What feature of 45s required an adapter in most home stereos?

answers: text: changer
question: What feature was found on more home stereos that allowed continuous play between records?

answers: text: 16 2⁄3 rpm
question: What format was less common but could sometimes be found on home stereos?

context: RCA 45s were also adapted to the smaller spindle of an LP player with a plastic snap-in insert known as a "spider". These inserts, commissioned by RCA president David Sarnoff and invented by Thomas Hutchison, were prevalent starting in the 1960s, selling in the tens of millions per year during the 45 rpm heyday. In countries outside the U.S., 45s often had the smaller album-sized holes, e.g., Australia and New Zealand, or as in the United Kingdom, especially before the 1970s, the disc had a small hole within a circular central section held only by three or four lands so that it could be easily punched out if desired (typically for use in jukeboxes).
qas: answers: text: for use in jukeboxes
question: Wy did records outside of the US often have small holes with the ability to punch out the center?

answers: text: spider
question: What were the plastic inserts which would adapt 45s to the smaller spindle of an LP player called?

answers: text: spider
question: What invention did Thomas Hutchinson introduce?

answers: text: RCA president David Sarnoff
question: Whom were the adaptable inserts for 45s to LPs commissioned by?

answers: text: tens of millions per year
question: How many spiders were sold in the 45 rpm heydays?

context: The term "high fidelity" was coined in the 1920s by some manufacturers of radio receivers and phonographs to differentiate their better-sounding products claimed as providing "perfect" sound reproduction. The term began to be used by some audio engineers and consumers through the 1930s and 1940s. After 1949 a variety of improvements in recording and playback technologies, especially stereo recordings, which became widely available in 1958, gave a boost to the "hi-fi" classification of products, leading to sales of individual components for the home such as amplifiers, loudspeakers, phonographs, and tape players. High Fidelity and Audio were two magazines that hi-fi consumers and engineers could read for reviews of playback equipment and recordings.
qas: answers: text: high fidelity
question: What term was coined to differentiate better sounding products in the 1920s?

answers: text: High Fidelity and Audio
question: What magazines provided reviews for audio equipment?

answers: text: variety of improvements in recording and playback technologies
question: What happened in 1958 that changed the home music scene?

answers: text: 1930s and 1940s
question: During what years did the term HiFi take off with engineers?

answers: text: high fidelity
question: What term would be used when one said they produced perfect sound reproduction?

context: Stereophonic sound recording, which attempts to provide a more natural listening experience by reproducing the spatial locations of sound sources in the horizontal plane, was the natural extension to monophonic recording, and attracted various alternative engineering attempts. The ultimately dominant "45/45" stereophonic record system was invented by Alan Blumlein of EMI in 1931 and patented the same year. EMI cut the first stereo test discs using the system in 1933 (see Bell Labs Stereo Experiments of 1933) although the system was not exploited commercially until much later.
qas: answers: text: stereophonic record system
question: What did Alan Blumlein event?

answers: text: 1933
question: When did EMI create the first stereo discs?

answers: text: more natural listening experience
question: What was the benefit of 45/45 stereo sound?

answers: text: 1931
question: What year was stereo sound patented? 

answers: text: was not exploited commercially until much later.
question: How was the commercial success of stereo sound in the 1930s?

context: The development of quadraphonic records was announced in 1971. These recorded four separate sound signals. This was achieved on the two stereo channels by electronic matrixing, where the additional channels were combined into the main signal. When the records were played, phase-detection circuits in the amplifiers were able to decode the signals into four separate channels. There were two main systems of matrixed quadraphonic records produced, confusingly named SQ (by CBS) and QS (by Sansui). They proved commercially unsuccessful, but were an important precursor to later surround-sound systems, as seen in SACD and home cinema today.
qas: answers: text: recorded four separate sound signals.
question: What did quadraphonic recording feature?

answers: text: development of quadraphonic records
question: What was the newest break through in home sound systems in 1971?

answers: text: commercially unsuccessful
question: How would the commercial success of quadraphonic records be defined?

answers: text: later surround-sound systems
question: What did developments in quadraphonic recordings inspire?

context: A different format, CD-4 (not to be confused with compact disc), by RCA, encoded the front-rear difference information on an ultrasonic carrier, which required a special wideband cartridge to capture it on carefully calibrated pickup arm/turntable combinations. CD-4 was even less successful than the two matrixed formats. (A further problem was that no cutting heads were available that could handle the HF information. That was remedied by cutting at half the speed. Later, the special half-speed cutting heads and equalization techniques were employed to get a wider frequency response in stereo with reduced distortion and greater headroom.)
qas: answers: text: no cutting heads were available that could handle the HF information
question: What was a major issue with CD-4 technology?

answers: text: even less successful than the two matrixed formats
question: How widespread was the success of CD-4 format? 

answers: text: CD-4
question: What format was less successful than quadraphonic?

answers: text: reduced distortion and greater headroom
question: What were potential benefits of the CD-4 format?

answers: text: RCA
question: Who created the CD-4 format?

context: Under the direction of recording engineer C. Robert Fine, Mercury Records initiated a minimalist single microphone monaural recording technique in 1951. The first record, a Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance of Pictures at an Exhibition, conducted by Rafael Kubelik, was described as "being in the living presence of the orchestra" by The New York Times music critic. The series of records was then named Mercury Living Presence. In 1955, Mercury began three-channel stereo recordings, still based on the principle of the single microphone. The center (single) microphone was of paramount importance, with the two side mics adding depth and space. Record masters were cut directly from a three-track to two-track mixdown console, with all editing of the master tapes done on the original three-tracks. In 1961, Mercury enhanced this technique with three-microphone stereo recordings using 35 mm magnetic film instead of half-inch tape for recording. The greater thickness and width of 35 mm magnetic film prevented tape layer print-through and pre-echo and gained extended frequency range and transient response. The Mercury Living Presence recordings were remastered to CD in the 1990s by the original producer, Wilma Cozart Fine, using the same method of 3-to-2 mix directly to the master recorder.
qas: answers: text: Mercury Records
question: For which company did C. Robert Fine work for?

answers: text: prevented tape layer print-through and pre-echo and gained extended frequency range and transient response
question: What benefits were found in using the 35mm magnetic film?

answers: text: Mercury
question: Who developed the 3-to-2 mix to create lifelike recordings?

answers: text: The center
question: Which microphone hold the most importance in 3 microphone recording?

answers: text: 1955
question: In which year did Mercury begin 3 channel stereo recording?

context: Through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, various methods to improve the dynamic range of mass-produced records involved highly advanced disc cutting equipment. These techniques, marketed, to name two, as the CBS DisComputer and Teldec Direct Metal Mastering, were used to reduce inner-groove distortion. RCA Victor introduced another system to reduce dynamic range and achieve a groove with less surface noise under the commercial name of Dynagroove. Two main elements were combined: another disk material with less surface noise in the groove and dynamic compression for masking background noise. Sometimes this was called "diaphragming" the source material and not favoured by some music lovers for its unnatural side effects. Both elements were reflected in the brandname of Dynagroove, described elsewhere in more detail. It also used the earlier advanced method of forward-looking control on groove spacing with respect to volume of sound and position on the disk. Lower recorded volume used closer spacing; higher recorded volume used wider spacing, especially with lower frequencies. Also, the higher track density at lower volumes enabled disk recordings to end farther away from the disk center than usual, helping to reduce endtrack distortion even further.
qas: answers: text: CBS DisComputer and Teldec Direct Metal Mastering
question: What technique were used to reduce inner-groove distortion?

answers: text: RCA Victor
question: Who developed the Dynagroove format?

answers: text: unnatural side effects
question: Why did some music lovers frown upon diaphragming? 

answers: text: Lower recorded volume
question: What did closer groove spacing result in?

answers: text: wider spacing
question: What would be found with higher recorded volumes?

context: Also in the late 1970s, "direct-to-disc" records were produced, aimed at an audiophile niche market. These completely bypassed the use of magnetic tape in favor of a "purist" transcription directly to the master lacquer disc. Also during this period, half-speed mastered and "original master" records were released, using expensive state-of-the-art technology. A further late 1970s development was the Disco Eye-Cued system used mainly on Motown 12-inch singles released between 1978 and 1980. The introduction, drum-breaks, or choruses of a track were indicated by widely separated grooves, giving a visual cue to DJs mixing the records. The appearance of these records is similar to an LP, but they only contain one track each side.
qas: answers: text: visual cue to DJs mixing the records
question: How did Disco Eye-Cued system benefit DJs?

answers: text: only contain one track each side
question: How did Disco Eye-Cued sysems differ from LPs?

answers: text: late 1970s
question: When was the Disco Eye-Cued System developed?

answers: text: a "purist" transcription
question: What were direct to disc recordings expected to product?

answers: text: late 1970s
question: When were 'half speed' and 'digitally remastered' recordings being released?

context: The mid-1970s saw the introduction of dbx-encoded records, again for the audiophile niche market. These were completely incompatible with standard record playback preamplifiers, relying on the dbx compandor encoding/decoding scheme to greatly increase dynamic range (dbx encoded disks were recorded with the dynamic range compressed by a factor of two in dB: quiet sounds were meant to be played back at low gain and loud sounds were meant to be played back at high gain, via automatic gain control in the playback equipment; this reduced the effect of surface noise on quiet passages). A similar and very short-lived scheme involved using the CBS-developed "CX" noise reduction encoding/decoding scheme.
qas: answers: text: automatic gain control
question: What was required for quality playback of DBX recordings?

answers: text: mid-1970s
question: When were DBX recordings released?

answers: text: completely incompatible with
question: How compatible were DBX encoded recordings with prior technologies?

answers: text: reduced the effect of surface noise on quiet passages
question: What was the intention of DBX encoded recordings?

answers: text: "CX" noise reduction
question: What did CBS develop in order to reduce outside noise?

context: ELPJ, a Japanese-based company, sells a laser turntable that uses a laser to read vinyl discs optically, without physical contact. The laser turntable eliminates record wear and the possibility of accidental scratches, which degrade the sound, but its expense limits use primarily to digital archiving of analog records, and the laser does not play back colored vinyl or picture discs. Various other laser-based turntables were tried during the 1990s, but while a laser reads the groove very accurately, since it does not touch the record, the dust that vinyl attracts due to static electric charge is not mechanically pushed out of the groove, worsening sound quality in casual use compared to conventional stylus playback.
qas: answers: text: ELPJ
question: What company out of Japan offered laser turntables that read vinyl discs optically?

answers: text: eliminates record wear
question: What was a benedit of laser read discs?

answers: text: degrade the sound
question: What was a drawback of laser read discs?

answers: text: archiving of analog records
question: What was the primary use of laser read discs?

answers: text: dust
question: What was a major issue for laser read discs?

context: In some ways similar to the laser turntable is the IRENE scanning machine for disc records, which images with microphotography in two dimensions, invented by a team of physicists at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories. IRENE will retrieve the information from a laterally modulated monaural grooved sound source without touching the medium itself, but cannot read vertically modulated information. This excludes grooved recordings such as cylinders and some radio transcriptions that feature a hill-and-dale format of recording, and stereophonic or quadraphonic grooved recordings, which utilize a combination of the two as well as supersonic encoding for quadraphonic.
qas: answers: text: scanning machine for disc records
question: Who is Irene?

answers: text: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories
question: Where was IRENE developed?

answers: text: retrieve the information
question: What is the primary use of IRENE?

answers: text: cannot read vertically modulated information
question: Can IRENE read vertically modulated information?

answers: text: without touching the medium
question: Does IRENE require the  ability to touch the media?

context: Terms such as "long-play" (LP) and "extended-play" (EP) describe multi-track records that play much longer than the single-item-per-side records, which typically do not go much past four minutes per side. An LP can play for up to 30 minutes per side, though most played for about 22 minutes per side, bringing the total playing time of a typical LP recording to about forty-five minutes. Many pre-1952 LPs, however, played for about 15 minutes per side. The 7-inch 45 rpm format normally contains one item per side but a 7-inch EP could achieve recording times of 10 to 15 minutes at the expense of attenuating and compressing the sound to reduce the width required by the groove. EP discs were generally used to make available tracks not on singles including tracks on LPs albums in a smaller, less expensive format for those who had only 45 rpm players. The large center hole on 7-inch 45 rpm records allows for easier handling by jukebox mechanisms. The term "album", originally used to mean a "book" with liner notes, holding several 78 rpm records each in its own "page" or sleeve, no longer has any relation to the physical format: a single LP record, or nowadays more typically a compact disc.
qas: answers: text: long-play" (LP) and "extended-play" (EP
question: What terms are used for recording with more than one track?

answers: text: forty-five minutes
question: What is a typical max playing time of an LP?

answers: text: LPs
question: Which format is cheaper, LP or EP?

answers: text: 7-inch EP
question: Which format held recordings ranging from 10 to 15 minutes?

answers: text: 22 minutes
question: What was a normal play time per side for LPs?

context: In March 1949, as RCA released the 45, Columbia released several hundred 7 inch 33 1/3 rpm small spindle hole singles. This format was soon dropped as it became clear that the RCA 45 was the single of choice and the Columbia 12 inch LP would be the 'album' of choice. The first release of the 45 came in seven colors: black 47-xxxx popular series, yellow 47-xxxx juvenile series, green (teal) 48-xxxx country series, deep red 49-xxxx classical series, bright red (cerise) 50-xxxx blues/spiritual series, light blue 51-xxxx international series, dark blue 52-xxxx light classics. All colors were soon dropped in favor of black because of production problems. However, yellow and deep red were continued until about 1952. The first 45 rpm record created for sale was "PeeWee the Piccolo" RCA 47-0147 pressed in yellow translucent vinyl at the Sherman Avenue plant, Indianapolis Dec. 7, 1948, R.O. Price, plant manager.
qas: answers: text: yellow and deep red
question: Which colors of 45 were available as late as 1952 before being discontinued?

answers: text: The first 45 rpm record created for sale
question: PeeWee the Piccolo was what?

answers: text: The first 45 rpm record created for sale
question: What significance does Dec 7/ 1948 hold?

answers: text: seven colors
question: How many colors were 45s available in when first released?

answers: text: March 1949
question: When did RCA release the 45?

context: The normal commercial disc is engraved with two sound-bearing concentric spiral grooves, one on each side, running from the outside edge towards the center. The last part of the spiral meets an earlier part to form a circle. The sound is encoded by fine variations in the edges of the groove that cause a stylus (needle) placed in it to vibrate at acoustic frequencies when the disc is rotated at the correct speed. Generally, the outer and inner parts of the groove bear no intended sound (an exception is Split Enz's Mental Notes).
qas: answers: text: outside edge towards the center
question: In which direction does the groove in a normal disc run?

answers: text: by fine variations
question: How is sound encoded on a commercial disc?

answers: text: correct speed
question: Does it matter at which speed a disc is spun?

answers: text: no
question: Do all grooves bear data?

context: Towards the center, at the end of the groove, there is another wide-pitched section known as the lead-out. At the very end of this section the groove joins itself to form a complete circle, called the lock groove; when the stylus reaches this point, it circles repeatedly until lifted from the record. On some recordings (for example Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, Super Trouper by Abba and Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd), the sound continues on the lock groove, which gives a strange repeating effect. Automatic turntables rely on the position or angular velocity of the arm, as it reaches the wider spacing in the groove, to trigger a mechanism that lifts the arm off the record. Precisely because of this mechanism, most automatic turntables are incapable of playing any audio in the lock groove, since they will lift the arm before it reaches that groove.
qas: answers: text: wide-pitched section
question: What is a 'lead out'?

answers: text: lock groove
question: What is the center where the data joins to complete a circle?

answers: text: most automatic turntables are incapable
question: Do turntables play music on lock grooves?

answers: text: lift the arm
question: What do most automatic turn tables do when they meet a lock groove?

answers: text: Towards the center, at the end of the groove
question: Where do you find a lead out?

context: When auto-changing turntables were commonplace, records were typically pressed with a raised (or ridged) outer edge and a raised label area, allowing records to be stacked onto each other without the delicate grooves coming into contact, reducing the risk of damage. Auto-changers included a mechanism to support a stack of several records above the turntable itself, dropping them one at a time onto the active turntable to be played in order. Many longer sound recordings, such as complete operas, were interleaved across several 10-inch or 12-inch discs for use with auto-changing mechanisms, so that the first disk of a three-disk recording would carry sides 1 and 6 of the program, while the second disk would carry sides 2 and 5, and the third, sides 3 and 4, allowing sides 1, 2, and 3 to be played automatically; then the whole stack reversed to play sides 4, 5, and 6.
qas: answers: text: reducing the risk of damage
question: Where were records made with raised label areas?

answers: text: interleaved across several 10-inch or 12-inch discs for use with auto-changing mechanisms
question: Are longer recordings, as found in operas, made for use with auto-changing systems?

answers: text: allowing records to be stacked onto each other without the delicate grooves coming into contact
question: Do grooves on records touch when stacked?

answers: text: Auto-changers included a mechanism to support a stack
question: Do records touch when in auto changers?

context: New or "virgin" heavy/heavyweight (180–220 g) vinyl is commonly used for modern audiophile vinyl releases in all genres. Many collectors prefer to have heavyweight vinyl albums, which have been reported to have better sound than normal vinyl because of their higher tolerance against deformation caused by normal play. 180 g vinyl is more expensive to produce only because it uses more vinyl. Manufacturing processes are identical regardless of weight. In fact, pressing lightweight records requires more care. An exception is the propensity of 200 g pressings to be slightly more prone to non-fill, when the vinyl biscuit does not sufficiently fill a deep groove during pressing (percussion or vocal amplitude changes are the usual locations of these artifacts). This flaw causes a grinding or scratching sound at the non-fill point.
qas: answers: text: New or "virgin" heavy/heavyweight (180–220 g) vinyl
question: What is the most used material for modern audiophile vinyl releases?

answers: text: heavyweight vinyl
question: What is the material preference of collectors?

answers: text: Manufacturing processes are identical
question: How does the manufacturing process differ between heavyweight and normal vinyl?

answers: text: grinding or scratching sound
question: Would would a non filled area in a vinyl press cause when listening to a record?

answers: text: lightweight records requires more care
question: Which pressing of vinyl require more attention to detail, lightweight or heavyweight?

context: The "orange peel" effect on vinyl records is caused by worn molds. Rather than having the proper mirror-like finish, the surface of the record will have a texture that looks like orange peel. This introduces noise into the record, particularly in the lower frequency range. With direct metal mastering (DMM), the master disc is cut on a copper-coated disc, which can also have a minor "orange peel" effect on the disc itself. As this "orange peel" originates in the master rather than being introduced in the pressing stage, there is no ill effect as there is no physical distortion of the groove.
qas: answers: text: The "orange peel" effect
question: What is an effect of using worn molds when casting records?

answers: text: mirror-like
question: What is the expected finish of a vinyl record?

answers: text: lower frequency range
question: On what frequencies is an orange peel effect most noticeable?

answers: text: there is no ill effect
question: What is the effect on a copy if a master as an orange peel effect?

answers: text: copper
question: What material is on a direct metal mastering disc?

context: Original master discs are created by lathe-cutting: a lathe is used to cut a modulated groove into a blank record. The blank records for cutting used to be cooked up, as needed, by the cutting engineer, using what Robert K. Morrison describes as a "metallic soap," containing lead litharge, ozokerite, barium sulfate, montan wax, stearin and paraffin, among other ingredients. Cut "wax" sound discs would be placed in a vacuum chamber and gold-sputtered to make them electrically conductive for use as mandrels in an electroforming bath, where pressing stamper parts were made. Later, the French company Pyral invented a ready-made blank disc having a thin nitro-cellulose lacquer coating (approximately 7 mils thickness on both sides) that was applied to an aluminum substrate. Lacquer cuts result in an immediately playable, or processable, master record. If vinyl pressings are wanted, the still-unplayed sound disc is used as a mandrel for electroforming nickel records that are used for manufacturing pressing stampers. The electroformed nickel records are mechanically separated from their respective mandrels. This is done with relative ease because no actual "plating" of the mandrel occurs in the type of electrodeposition known as electroforming, unlike with electroplating, in which the adhesion of the new phase of metal is chemical and relatively permanent. The one-molecule-thick coating of silver (that was sprayed onto the processed lacquer sound disc in order to make its surface electrically conductive) reverse-plates onto the nickel record's face. This negative impression disc (having ridges in place of grooves) is known as a nickel master, "matrix" or "father." The "father" is then used as a mandrel to electroform a positive disc known as a "mother". Many mothers can be grown on a single "father" before ridges deteriorate beyond effective use. The "mothers" are then used as mandrels for electroforming more negative discs known as "sons". Each "mother" can be used to make many "sons" before deteriorating. The "sons" are then converted into "stampers" by center-punching a spindle hole (which was lost from the lacquer sound disc during initial electroforming of the "father"), and by custom-forming the target pressing profile. This allows them to be placed in the dies of the target (make and model) record press and, by center-roughing, to facilitate the adhesion of the label, which gets stuck onto the vinyl pressing without any glue. In this way, several million vinyl discs can be produced from a single lacquer sound disc. When only a few hundred discs are required, instead of electroforming a "son" (for each side), the "father" is removed of its silver and converted into a stamper. Production by this latter method, known as the "two-step-process" (as it does not entail creation of "sons" but does involve creation of "mothers," which are used for test playing and kept as "safeties" for electroforming future "sons") is limited to a few hundred vinyl pressings. The pressing count can increase if the stamper holds out and the quality of the vinyl is high. The "sons" made during a "three-step" electroforming make better stampers since they don't require silver removal (which reduces some high fidelity because of etching erasing part of the smallest groove modulations) and also because they have a stronger metal structure than "fathers".
qas: answers: text: "father" is removed of its silver and converted into a stamper
question: What is the two step process?

answers: text: limited to a few hundred vinyl pressings
question: What is the limitation of the two step process?

answers: text: three-step
question: Which is preferred the two step or three step process?

answers: text: sons
question: Which have stronger structures the father or son mold?

answers: text: quality of the vinyl is high
question: What can increase the output of a stamper mold?

context: Breakage was very common in the shellac era. In the 1934 John O'Hara novel, Appointment in Samarra, the protagonist "broke one of his most favorites, Whiteman's Lady of the Evening ... He wanted to cry but could not." A poignant moment in J. D. Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye occurs after the adolescent protagonist buys a record for his younger sister but drops it and "it broke into pieces ... I damn-near cried, it made me feel so terrible." A sequence where a school teacher's collection of 78 rpm jazz records is smashed by a group of rebellious students is a key moment in the film Blackboard Jungle.
qas: answers: text: Breakage was very common
question: What was a known issue of using shellac to make records?

answers: text: John O'Hara novel, Appointment in Samarra
question: In which novel does 'Whiteman's Lady of the Evening" record get broken?

answers: text: teacher's collection of 78 rpm jazz records is smashed
question: In Blackboard Jungle what record breaking mention is made?

context: Vinyl records do not break easily, but the soft material is easily scratched. Vinyl readily acquires a static charge, attracting dust that is difficult to remove completely. Dust and scratches cause audio clicks and pops. In extreme cases, they can cause the needle to skip over a series of grooves, or worse yet, cause the needle to skip backwards, creating a "locked groove" that repeats over and over. This is the origin of the phrase "like a broken record" or "like a scratched record", which is often used to describe a person or thing that continually repeats itself. Locked grooves are not uncommon and were even heard occasionally in radio broadcasts.
qas: answers: text: Dust and scratches
question: What causes clicks and pops on vinyl records?

answers: text: Dust and scratches
question: What is the cause of lock grooves on vinyl records?

answers: text: locked groove
question: Where does the saying "Like a broken record" originate?

answers: text: Vinyl records do not break easily
question: How easily do vinyl records break?

answers: text: easily scratched.
question: What is a common damage to vinyl records?

context: Vinyl records can be warped by heat, improper storage, exposure to sunlight, or manufacturing defects such as excessively tight plastic shrinkwrap on the album cover. A small degree of warp was common, and allowing for it was part of the art of turntable and tonearm design. "wow" (once-per-revolution pitch variation) could result from warp, or from a spindle hole that was not precisely centered. Standard practice for LPs was to place the LP in a paper or plastic inner cover. This, if placed within the outer cardboard cover so that the opening was entirely within the outer cover, was said to reduce ingress of dust onto the record surface. Singles, with rare exceptions, had simple paper covers with no inner cover.
qas: answers: text: heat, improper storage, exposure to sunlight, or manufacturing defects
question: What causes warping in vinyl records?

answers: text: warp, or from a spindle hole that was not precisely centered
question: What is a cause of once per revolution pitch variation?

answers: text: place the LP in a paper or plastic inner cover
question: What method was used to protect a vinyl record?

answers: text: Singles
question: What were often found with a paper outter cover and no inner cover?

answers: text: A small degree of warp was common,
question: What happens if a vinyl comes with a bit of warp?

context: A further limitation of the gramophone record is that fidelity steadily declines as playback progresses; there is more vinyl per second available for fine reproduction of high frequencies at the large-diameter beginning of the groove than exist at the smaller-diameters close to the end of the side. At the start of a groove on an LP there are 510 mm of vinyl per second traveling past the stylus while the ending of the groove gives 200–210 mm of vinyl per second — less than half the linear resolution. Distortion towards the end of the side is likely to become more apparent as record wear increases.*
qas: answers: text: Distortion towards the end of the side
question: When is distortion most common on a gramophone record?

answers: text: Distortion
question: What happens as a record wears?

answers: text: fidelity steadily declines as playback progresses
question: What is a drawback of using gramophones?

answers: text: 510 mm
question: How much vinyl can be found at the start of an LP?

answers: text: ending of the groove
question: Where can you find only 200-210mm of vinyl?

context: Tonearm skating forces and other perturbations are also picked up by the stylus. This is a form of frequency multiplexing as the control signal (restoring force) used to keep the stylus in the groove is carried by the same mechanism as the sound itself. Subsonic frequencies below about 20 Hz in the audio signal are dominated by tracking effects, which is one form of unwanted rumble ("tracking noise") and merges with audible frequencies in the deep bass range up to about 100 Hz. High fidelity sound equipment can reproduce tracking noise and rumble. During a quiet passage, woofer speaker cones can sometimes be seen to vibrate with the subsonic tracking of the stylus, at frequencies as low as just above 0.5 Hz (the frequency at which a 33 1⁄3 rpm record turns on the turntable; 5⁄9 Hz exactly on an ideal turntable). Another reason for very low frequency material can be a warped disk: its undulations produce frequencies of only a few hertz and present day amplifiers have large power bandwidths. For this reason, many stereo receivers contained a switchable subsonic filter. Some subsonic content is directly out of phase in each channel. If played back on a mono subwoofer system, the noise will cancel, significantly reducing the amount of rumble that is reproduced.
qas: answers: text: warped disk
question: What would be a cause of low frequency sounds when listening?

answers: text: subsonic filter
question: What is a feature many stereos contain to fight back against unwanted noises?

answers: text: Tonearm skating
question: What is a sounds commonly heard when listening to a vinyl that is unintentional.

answers: text: frequencies below about 20 Hz
question: Which frequencies are you most likely to hear tonearm skating?

answers: text: cones can sometimes be seen to vibrate with the subsonic tracking
question: Are there any visual signs of tracking when listening to a record?

context: Due to recording mastering and manufacturing limitations, both high and low frequencies were removed from the first recorded signals by various formulae. With low frequencies, the stylus must swing a long way from side to side, requiring the groove to be wide, taking up more space and limiting the playing time of the record. At high frequencies, hiss, pops, and ticks are significant. These problems can be reduced by using equalization to an agreed standard. During recording the amplitude of low frequencies is reduced, thus reducing the groove width required, and the amplitude at high frequencies is increased. The playback equipment boosts bass and cuts treble so as to restore the tonal balance in the original signal; this also reduces the high frequency noise. Thus more music will fit on the record, and noise is reduced.
qas: answers: text: limiting the playing time
question: What is a limitation of low frequency recordings?

answers: text: hiss, pops, and ticks
question: What kinds of unwanted sounds are often heard at high frequencies?

answers: text: amplitude of low frequencies is reduced
question: What is done during recordings to help reduce unwanted sounds?

answers: text: problems can be reduced
question: What is a benefit of using equalization devices?

answers: text: amplitude at high frequencies is increased
question: What is done to high frequency  sounds to lessen sound issues?

context: In 1926 Joseph P. Maxwell and Henry C. Harrison from Bell Telephone Laboratories disclosed that the recording pattern of the Western Electric "rubber line" magnetic disc cutter had a constant velocity characteristic. This meant that as frequency increased in the treble, recording amplitude decreased. Conversely, in the bass as frequency decreased, recording amplitude increased. Therefore, it was necessary to attenuate the bass frequencies below about 250 Hz, the bass turnover point, in the amplified microphone signal fed to the recording head. Otherwise, bass modulation became excessive and overcutting took place into the next record groove. When played back electrically with a magnetic pickup having a smooth response in the bass region, a complementary boost in amplitude at the bass turnover point was necessary. G. H. Miller in 1934 reported that when complementary boost at the turnover point was used in radio broadcasts of records, the reproduction was more realistic and many of the musical instruments stood out in their true form.
qas: answers: text: G. H. Miller
question: Whom found that they can make musical instruments sound more natural with an amplifier boost at the turnover point?

answers: text: reproduction was more realistic
question: What is found when a complementary boost is used at the bass turnover point?

answers: text: recording amplitude decreased
question: When frequency in the treble increases what happens to the recording amplitude?

answers: text: recording amplitude increased
question: What happens when frequency decreases in the bass?

context: West in 1930 and later P. G. A. H. Voigt (1940) showed that the early Wente-style condenser microphones contributed to a 4 to 6 dB midrange brilliance or pre-emphasis in the recording chain. This meant that the electrical recording characteristics of Western Electric licensees such as Columbia Records and Victor Talking Machine Company in the 1925 era had a higher amplitude in the midrange region. Brilliance such as this compensated for dullness in many early magnetic pickups having drooping midrange and treble response. As a result, this practice was the empirical beginning of using pre-emphasis above 1,000 Hz in 78 rpm and 33 1⁄3 rpm records.
qas: answers: text: P. G. A. H. Voigt
question: Whom found Wente-style condenser microphones helpful?

answers: text: pre-emphasis in the recording
question: How were Wente-Style condenser microphones helpful?

answers: text: above 1,000 Hz
question: When was a pre-emphasis most useful?

answers: text: 78 rpm and 33 1⁄3 rpm
question: On which recording types were pre-emphasis used most in the 1920s?

answers: text: 1925 era
question: In which Era was this finding most significant?

context: Over the years a variety of record equalization practices emerged and there was no industry standard. For example, in Europe recordings for years required playback with a bass turnover setting of 250–300 Hz and a treble roll-off at 10,000 Hz ranging from 0 to −5 dB or more. In the US there were more varied practices and a tendency to use higher bass turnover frequencies such as 500 Hz as well as a greater treble rolloff like −8.5 dB and even more to record generally higher modulation levels on the record.
qas: answers: text: there was no industry standard
question: What was the industry standard in Europe for record equalization?

answers: text: US
question: In which country was the treble roll off greater?

answers: text: Europe
question: Which country prefers a bass turnover setting of 250-300 Hz?

answers: text: there was no industry standard
question: What was the industry standard on equalization practices?

answers: text: US
question: Which country used the most varied equalization practices?

context: Evidence from the early technical literature concerning electrical recording suggests that it wasn't until the 1942–1949 period that there were serious efforts to standardize recording characteristics within an industry. Heretofore, electrical recording technology from company to company was considered a proprietary art all the way back to the 1925 Western Electric licensed method used by Columbia and Victor. For example, what Brunswick-Balke-Collender (Brunswick Corporation) did was different from the practices of Victor.
qas: answers: text: 1925
question: How far back did records show the art of sound recordings?

answers: text: considered a proprietary art
question: How was standardization prior to 1942?

answers: text: 1942–1949
question: Around what time period was there an attempt made to standardize recordings?

context: Broadcasters were faced with having to adapt daily to the varied recording characteristics of many sources: various makers of "home recordings" readily available to the public, European recordings, lateral-cut transcriptions, and vertical-cut transcriptions. Efforts were started in 1942 to standardize within the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), later known as the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (NARTB). The NAB, among other items, issued recording standards in 1949 for laterally and vertically cut records, principally transcriptions. A number of 78 rpm record producers as well as early LP makers also cut their records to the NAB/NARTB lateral standard.
qas: answers: text: National Association of Broadcasters
question: Who made the move to standardize recordings?

answers: text: 1949
question: When were recording standards officially released?

answers: text: laterally and vertically cut records, principally transcriptions.
question:  Which recording types were effected by the imposed industry standards?

answers: text: Broadcasters were faced with having to adapt daily to the varied recording
question: What was one issue of a lack of industry standards?

answers: text: National Association of Broadcasters
question: What is the NAB?

context: The lateral cut NAB curve was remarkably similar to the NBC Orthacoustic curve that evolved from practices within the National Broadcasting Company since the mid-1930s. Empirically, and not by any formula, it was learned that the bass end of the audio spectrum below 100 Hz could be boosted somewhat to override system hum and turntable rumble noises. Likewise at the treble end beginning at 1,000 Hz, if audio frequencies were boosted by 16 dB at 10,000 Hz the delicate sibilant sounds of speech and high overtones of musical instruments could survive the noise level of cellulose acetate, lacquer/aluminum, and vinyl disc media. When the record was played back using a complementary inverse curve, signal-to-noise ratio was improved and the programming sounded more lifelike.
qas: answers: text: below 100 Hz
question: What bass settings were needed to eliminate hum?

answers: text: using a complementary inverse curve
question: What helped cause the most life like sound?

answers: text: remarkably similar
question: How did the NBC Othacoustic curve relate to the NAB curve?

answers: text: programming sounded more lifelike.
question: What was a benefit to broadcasters of recording standards?

context: Ultimately, the New Orthophonic curve was disclosed in a publication by R.C. Moyer of RCA Victor in 1953. He traced RCA Victor characteristics back to the Western Electric "rubber line" recorder in 1925 up to the early 1950s laying claim to long-held recording practices and reasons for major changes in the intervening years. The RCA Victor New Orthophonic curve was within the tolerances for the NAB/NARTB, Columbia LP, and AES curves. It eventually became the technical predecessor to the RIAA curve.
qas: answers: text: 1925
question: How far back could these recording practices be traced?

answers: text: long-held recording practices
question: What were the recording standards based off from?

answers: text: New Orthophonic curve
question: What became the predecessor to the RIAA curve?

answers: text: RCA Victor
question: Who developed the New Orthophonic curve?

answers: text: R.C. Moyer
question: Whom wrote the publication outlining the New Orthophonic curve?

context: Delicate sounds and fine overtones were mostly lost, because it took a lot of sound energy to vibrate the recording horn diaphragm and cutting mechanism. There were acoustic limitations due to mechanical resonances in both the recording and playback system. Some pictures of acoustic recording sessions show horns wrapped with tape to help mute these resonances. Even an acoustic recording played back electrically on modern equipment sounds like it was recorded through a horn, notwithstanding a reduction in distortion because of the modern playback. Toward the end of the acoustic era, there were many fine examples of recordings made with horns.
qas: answers: text: many fine examples
question: What was the quality of sound recordings made with horns at the end of the acoustic era?

answers: text: acoustic limitations
question: What were issues facing play back and recording mechanics?

answers: text: help mute these resonances
question: Why do photos show take on horns?

answers: text: took a lot of sound energy
question: What was the cause of delicate and fine sound loss?

answers: text: like it was recorded through a horn
question: How would a record recorded with a horn sound played through modern equipment?

context: Electric recording which developed during the time that early radio was becoming popular (1925) benefited from the microphones and amplifiers used in radio studios. The early electric recordings were reminiscent tonally of acoustic recordings, except there was more recorded bass and treble as well as delicate sounds and overtones cut on the records. This was in spite of some carbon microphones used, which had resonances that colored the recorded tone. The double button carbon microphone with stretched diaphragm was a marked improvement. Alternatively, the Wente style condenser microphone used with the Western Electric licensed recording method had a brilliant midrange and was prone to overloading from sibilants in speech, but generally it gave more accurate reproduction than carbon microphones.
qas: answers: text: Western Electric licensed recording method
question: What technique offered realistic sounds during playback?

answers: text: 1925
question: At at time was radio gaining popularity?

answers: text: carbon microphones used,
question: What type of microphones were losing popularity in the 1920s?

answers: text: brilliant midrange
question: What benefit did the use of the Wente style condenser microphone offer?

answers: text: microphones and amplifiers
question: What was a benefit of early radio recordings?

context: It was not unusual for electric recordings to be played back on acoustic phonographs. The Victor Orthophonic phonograph was a prime example where such playback was expected. In the Orthophonic, which benefited from telephone research, the mechanical pickup head was redesigned with lower resonance than the traditional mica type. Also, a folded horn with an exponential taper was constructed inside the cabinet to provide better impedance matching to the air. As a result, playback of an Orthophonic record sounded like it was coming from a radio.
qas: answers: text: Victor Orthophonic phonograph
question: What is one example of an acoustic phonograph on which one would listen to electric recordings?

answers: text: folded horn with an exponential taper
question: What allowed better sounds inside the cabinet of the orthoponic phonograph?

answers: text: mechanical pickup head was redesigned with lower resonance than the traditional mica type
question: What adjustments were made to the orthophonic  to accommodate electric recordings?

answers: text: not unusual
question: Was it common to hear electric recordings on phonographs?

answers: text: sounded like
question: How similar was the sound of a orthodontic  record to a radio?

context: Eventually, when it was more common for electric recordings to be played back electrically in the 1930s and 1940s, the overall tone was much like listening to a radio of the era. Magnetic pickups became more common and were better designed as time went on, making it possible to improve the damping of spurious resonances. Crystal pickups were also introduced as lower cost alternatives. The dynamic or moving coil microphone was introduced around 1930 and the velocity or ribbon microphone in 1932. Both of these high quality microphones became widespread in motion picture, radio, recording, and public address applications.
qas: answers: text: moving coil microphone was introduced around 1930 and the velocity or ribbon microphone
question: What are two examples of high quality microphones?

answers: text: Magnetic pickups
question: What was used to dampen resonances in recordings?

answers: text: around 1930
question: When would you have first found the moving coil microphone?

answers: text: Crystal pickups
question: What was a more economical option to magnetic pickups?

answers: text: 1930s and 1940s
question: In what years would you find electronic recordings played electronically?

context: Over time, fidelity, dynamic and noise levels improved to the point that it was harder to tell the difference between a live performance in the studio and the recorded version. This was especially true after the invention of the variable reluctance magnetic pickup cartridge by General Electric in the 1940s when high quality cuts were played on well-designed audio systems. The Capehart radio/phonographs of the era with large diameter electrodynamic loudspeakers, though not ideal, demonstrated this quite well with "home recordings" readily available in the music stores for the public to buy.
qas: answers: text: high quality cuts
question: What was a benefit of the use of magnetic pickup cartridge?

answers: text: 1940s
question: In what era could you find good quality recordings and playbacks at home?

answers: text: large diameter electrodynamic loudspeakers
question: What was a unique feature of the Capeart radio phonographs?

answers: text: harder to tell the difference
question: How similar were live and recorded versions?

context: There were important quality advances in recordings specifically made for radio broadcast. In the early 1930s Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric announced the total reinvention of disc recording: the Western Electric Wide Range System, "The New Voice of Action". The intent of the new Western Electric system was to improve the overall quality of disc recording and playback. The recording speed was 33 1⁄3 rpm, originally used in the Western Electric/ERPI movie audio disc system implemented in the early Warner Brothers' Vitaphone "talkies" of 1927.
qas: answers: text: early 1930s
question: When was the Western Electric System introduced?

answers: text: Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric
question: What two companies worked together to develop the Western Electric System?

answers: text: Western Electric system
question: What system was used by Warner Brothers?

answers: text: 33 1⁄3 rpm
question: What speed was used in the Western Electric System?

answers: text: improve the overall quality
question: What was the Western Electric System believed to do?

context: The newly invented Western Electric moving coil or dynamic microphone was part of the Wide Range System. It had a flatter audio response than the old style Wente condenser type and didn't require electronics installed in the microphone housing. Signals fed to the cutting head were pre-emphasized in the treble region to help override noise in playback. Groove cuts in the vertical plane were employed rather than the usual lateral cuts. The chief advantage claimed was more grooves per inch that could be crowded together, resulting in longer playback time. Additionally, the problem of inner groove distortion, which plagued lateral cuts, could be avoided with the vertical cut system. Wax masters were made by flowing heated wax over a hot metal disc thus avoiding the microscopic irregularities of cast blocks of wax and the necessity of planing and polishing.
qas: answers: text: longer playback time
question: What was a benefit of vertical groove cuts?

answers: text: inner groove distortion
question: What could be avoided by using vertical groove cuts?

answers: text: didn't require electronics installed in the microphone housing
question: How was the moving coil microphone unique to the Wente type?

answers: text: override noise in playback
question: How was sound improved using the moving coil microphone?

answers: text: avoiding the microscopic irregularities
question: How was wax used to improve recordings?

context: Vinyl pressings were made with stampers from master cuts that were electroplated in vacuo by means of gold sputtering. Audio response was claimed out to 8,000 Hz, later 13,000 Hz, using light weight pickups employing jeweled styli. Amplifiers and cutters both using negative feedback were employed thereby improving the range of frequencies cut and lowering distortion levels. Radio transcription producers such as World Broadcasting System and Associated Music Publishers (AMP) were the dominant licensees of the Western Electric wide range system and towards the end of the 1930s were responsible for two-thirds of the total radio transcription business. These recordings use a bass turnover of 300 Hz and a 10,000 Hz rolloff of −8.5 dB.
qas: answers: text: master cuts
question: What were used to make vinyl pressings?

answers: text: World Broadcasting System and Associated Music Publishers
question: What were the top licensees of the Western Electric system in the 1930s?

answers: text: World Broadcasting System and Associated Music Publishers
question: Who was responsible for 2/3 of all recordings in the 1930s?

answers: text: cuts that were electroplated in vacuo by means of gold sputtering
question: How was gold spluttering used in vinyl creation?

context: The complete technical disclosure of the Columbia LP by Peter C. Goldmark, Rene' Snepvangers and William S. Bachman in 1949 made it possible for a great variety of record companies to get into the business of making long playing records. The business grew quickly and interest spread in high fidelity sound and the do-it-yourself market for pickups, turntables, amplifier kits, loudspeaker enclosure plans, and AM/FM radio tuners. The LP record for longer works, 45 rpm for pop music, and FM radio became high fidelity program sources in demand. Radio listeners heard recordings broadcast and this in turn generated more record sales. The industry flourished.
qas: answers: text: 1949
question: When was the business booming for do it yourself sound fanatics?

answers: text: 45 rpm
question: What kind of recordings worked best for pop music?

answers: text: LP record
question: What was used for longer recordings?

answers: text: The complete technical disclosure of the Columbia LP by Peter C. Goldmark, Rene' Snepvangers and William S. Bachman
question: What opened doors for long recordings?

answers: text: Radio listeners heard recordings broadcast
question: What aided in records sales in the 1950s?

context: There is a theory that vinyl records can audibly represent higher frequencies than compact discs. According to Red Book specifications, the compact disc has a frequency response of 20 Hz up to 22,050 Hz, and most CD players measure flat within a fraction of a decibel from at least 20 Hz to 20 kHz at full output. Turntable rumble obscures the low-end limit of vinyl but the upper end can be, with some cartridges, reasonably flat within a few decibels to 30 kHz, with gentle roll-off. Carrier signals of Quad LPs popular in the 1970s were at 30 kHz to be out of the range of human hearing. The average human auditory system is sensitive to frequencies from 20 Hz to a maximum of around 20,000 Hz. The upper and lower frequency limits of human hearing vary per person.
qas: answers: text: 20 Hz
question: What is generally the lowest sound a human can hear?

answers: text: vinyl records
question: What is believed to better offer sounds of higher frequencies, compact discs or records?

answers: text: 20,000 Hz
question: What is the higher end of typical human hearing?

answers: text: The upper and lower frequency limits of human hearing vary per person
question: Does the hearing range of the human vary?

context: For the first several decades of disc record manufacturing, sound was recorded directly on to the "master disc" at the recording studio. From about 1950 on (earlier for some large record companies, later for some small ones) it became usual to have the performance first recorded on audio tape, which could then be processed and/or edited, and then dubbed on to the master disc. A record cutter would engrave the grooves into the master disc. Early versions of these master discs were soft wax, and later a harder lacquer was used. The mastering process was originally something of an art as the operator had to manually allow for the changes in sound which affected how wide the space for the groove needed to be on each rotation.
qas: answers: text: record cutter
question: Who would engrave the master disc of a vinyl record?

answers: text: soft wax
question: What was used in first recordings of vinyl records?

answers: text: harder lacquer
question: What was used in final recordings of vinyl records?

answers: text: first recorded on audio tape, which could then be processed and/or edited, and then dubbed on to the master disc
question: After the 1950s  what was a typical recording process?

answers: text: master disc
question: Where were sound recordings originally made to?

context: As the playing of gramophone records causes gradual degradation of the recording, they are best preserved by transferring them onto other media and playing the records as rarely as possible. They need to be stored on edge, and do best under environmental conditions that most humans would find comfortable. The medium needs to be kept clean, but alcohol should only be used on PVC or optical media, not on 78s.[citation needed] The equipment for playback of certain formats (e.g., 16 and 78 rpm) is manufactured only in small quantities, leading to increased difficulty in finding equipment to play the recordings.
qas: answers: text: alcohol should only be used on PVC or optical media
question: Should alcohol be used to clean gramophone recordings?

answers: text: manufactured only in small quantities
question: Is gramophone equipment readily available?

answers: text: transferring them onto other media
question: What is the recommendation of gramophone recordings to preserve integrity?

answers: text: gradual degradation
question: What is a drawback of gramophone use?

answers: text: on edge
question: How are gramophones best stored?

context: Where old disc recordings are considered to be of artistic or historic interest, from before the era of tape or where no tape master exists, archivists play back the disc on suitable equipment and record the result, typically onto a digital format, which can be copied and manipulated to remove analog flaws without any further damage to the source recording. For example, Nimbus Records uses a specially built horn record player to transfer 78s. Anyone can do this using a standard record player with a suitable pickup, a phono-preamp (pre-amplifier) and a typical personal computer. However, for accurate transfer, professional archivists carefully choose the correct stylus shape and diameter, tracking weight, equalisation curve and other playback parameters and use high-quality analogue-to-digital converters.
qas: answers: text: Anyone can do this
question: Is it difficult to transfer recording from historic interest to newer technologies?

answers: text: professional archivists
question: What would offer the highest quality transfers of historic interest?

answers: text: standard record player with a suitable pickup, a phono-preamp (pre-amplifier) and a typical personal computer
question: What would a hobbiest need to transfer historic recordings to digital formats?

answers: text: without any further damage to the source recording
question: Is an original destroyed when transferred to digital format?

answers: text: manipulated to remove analog flaws
question: What is one benefit of transferring an older format to a newer format?

context: Groove recordings, first designed in the final quarter of the 19th century, held a predominant position for nearly a century—withstanding competition from reel-to-reel tape, the 8-track cartridge, and the compact cassette. In 1988, the compact disc surpassed the gramophone record in unit sales. Vinyl records experienced a sudden decline in popularity between 1988 and 1991, when the major label distributors restricted their return policies, which retailers had been relying on to maintain and swap out stocks of relatively unpopular titles. First the distributors began charging retailers more for new product if they returned unsold vinyl, and then they stopped providing any credit at all for returns. Retailers, fearing they would be stuck with anything they ordered, only ordered proven, popular titles that they knew would sell, and devoted more shelf space to CDs and cassettes. Record companies also deleted many vinyl titles from production and distribution, further undermining the availability of the format and leading to the closure of pressing plants. This rapid decline in the availability of records accelerated the format's decline in popularity, and is seen by some as a deliberate ploy to make consumers switch to CDs, which were more profitable for the record companies.
qas: answers: text: major label distributors restricted their return policies
question: What was a major cause of declined vinyl sales?

answers: text: CDs, which were more profitable for the record companies
question: Which allows for more profits, vinyl or compact discs?

answers: text: between 1988 and 1991
question: When did vinyl record sales decline?

answers: text: 1988
question: When did compact disc popularity take hold?

answers: text: final quarter of the 19th century,
question: When were groove recordings developed?

context: In spite of their flaws, such as the lack of portability, records still have enthusiastic supporters. Vinyl records continue to be manufactured and sold today, especially by independent rock bands and labels, although record sales are considered to be a niche market composed of audiophiles, collectors, and DJs. Old records and out-of-print recordings in particular are in much demand by collectors the world over. (See Record collecting.) Many popular new albums are given releases on vinyl records and older albums are also given reissues, sometimes on audiophile-grade vinyl.
qas: answers: text: Vinyl records continue to be manufactured and sold today
question: Are records generally out of print as of date?

answers: text: Many popular new albums are given releases
question: Are albums ever reproduced?

answers: text: Old records and out-of-print recordings
question: What types of vinyl hold the most popularity?

answers: text: records still have enthusiastic supporters
question: Does vinyl record maintain any popularity?

context: Many electronic dance music and hip hop releases today are still preferred on vinyl; however, digital copies are still widely available. This is because for disc jockeys ("DJs"), vinyl has an advantage over the CD: direct manipulation of the medium. DJ techniques such as slip-cueing, beatmatching, and scratching originated on turntables. With CDs or compact audio cassettes one normally has only indirect manipulation options, e.g., the play, stop, and pause buttons. With a record one can place the stylus a few grooves farther in or out, accelerate or decelerate the turntable, or even reverse its direction, provided the stylus, record player, and record itself are built to withstand it. However, many CDJ and DJ advances, such as DJ software and time-encoded vinyl, now have these capabilities and more.
qas: answers: text: direct manipulation
question: What is a reason a DJ would prefer vinyl to CD?

answers: text: slip-cueing, beatmatching, and scratching
question: In what techniques would a DJ require a vinyl record?

answers: text: provided the stylus, record player, and record itself are built to withstand it
question: Are all turn tables capable of DJ manipulation of vinyl records?

answers: text: any electronic dance music and hip hop releases today are still preferred on vinyl
question: What is commonly preferred by DJs vinyl or CD?

answers: text: However, many CDJ and DJ advances, such as DJ software and time-encoded vinyl, now have these capabilities and more.
question: Had vinyl technology ceased expanding?

context: In 2014 artist Jack White sold 40,000 copies of his second solo release, Lazaretto, on vinyl. The sales of the record beat the largest sales in one week on vinyl since 1991. The sales record was previously held by Pearl Jam's, Vitalogy, which sold 34,000 copies in one week in 1994. In 2014, the sale of vinyl records was the only physical music medium with increasing sales with relation to the previous year. Sales of other mediums including individual digital tracks, digital albums and compact discs have fallen, the latter having the greatest drop-in-sales rate.
qas: answers: text: Jack White
question: Whom set the most recent sales record of vinyl records since 1991?

answers: text: compact discs
question: What medium has seen the biggest fall in sales as of late?

answers: text: was the only physical music medium with increasing sales with relation to the previous year
question: What was unique to vinyl sales in 2014?

answers: text: Pearl Jam
question: Who sold 34,000 vinyl records in 1994?

answers: text: 1991
question: Prior to 2014 when was the most recent large sale of vinyl records?