romikgosai/squad_modified_2 huggingface dataset:
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.

Q1: What was the primary use of a phonographic disc record?
A1: music reproduction
Q2: Which year did vinyl records leave the main steam media market?
A2: 1991
Q3: From the 1990s to 2010s who was the primary consumer of vinyl records?
A3: disc jockeys (DJ)s
Q4: Approximately how many phonograph records were sold in 2014?
A4: 9.2 million
Q5: What is the niche market of phonograph record fans known as?
A5: audiophiles
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.

Q1: What was the original intent of the phonautograph?
A1: visual analysis
Q2: In what years where phonautograms converted to audible sound?
A2: 2000s
Q3: What year were the earliest known recordings of sound?
A3: 1857
Q4: By whom was the phonautograms patented?
A4: Léon Scott
Q5: In what year was phonautograms patented?
A5: 1857
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.

Q1: In what year did Thomas Edison invent the phonograph?
A1: 1877
Q2: How did the phonograph differ from the phonautograph?
A2: capable of both recording and reproducing sound
Q3: What was unique about Einsteins invention?
A3: reproducing sound
Q4: At what era was the recorded sound market introduced?
A4: 1880s
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.

Q1: What is the name of lateral cut disc records?
A1: gramophone
Q2: What was an issue found with Berliner's records initially?
A2: poor sound quality
Q3: Where were lateral cut disc records developed?
A3: United States
Q4: What is 'Victor Talking Machine now known as?
A4: RCA Victor
Q5: Where is the museum dedicated to Berliner located?
A5: Montreal
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).

Q1: What was the name of the discs Edison introduced in 1909?
A1: Blue Amberol cylinders
Q2: What year did the patent for lateral cut discs expire?
A2: 1919
Q3: What format dominated the market in the late 1980s?
A3: digital compact disc
Q4: What disc format was the least fragile prior to 1919?
A4: Amberol cylinder
Q5: What was the playing surface of the blue amerbol cylinder discs made of?
A5: celluloid
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.

Q1: What were two drawback of early recordings?
A1: Sensitivity and frequency range were poor
Q2: How would one make to early recordings?
A2: face in the recording horn
Q3: What types of violins worked best with early recordings?
A3: Stroh violins
Q4: What instruments did not record well?
A4: Lower-pitched orchestral instruments
Q5: How was the frequency response in early recordings?
A5: very irregular
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]

Q1: What tool was used to improve sound quality in early recordings for special effects?
A1: moveable platform
Q2: Where were loud instruments best placed for good sound quality?
A2: farthest away from the collecting horn
Q3: How far away has a trumpeter been known to stand?
A3: fifteen feet
Q4: Were drums heard on early jazz recordings?
A4: drums could be effectively used
Q5: What was the item called that recorded the sounds?
A5: collecting horn
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.

Q1: What was an early took used to amplify sounds?
A1: vacuum tubes
Q2: What company was vital in progression of quality sound recordings?
A2: Western Electric
Q3: How early were electrically recorded discs made available for purchase?
A3: 1925
Q4: What was new about the way Western Electrics method of capturing sound?
A4: microphone
Q5: How could the sounds produced by Western Electric be described?
A5: fuller, clearer and more natural
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.

Q1: What was a drawback of early home recording systems?
A1: high cost
Q2: What was the initial cost range of early recording devices?
A2: US$95 to US$300
Q3: What year  was the  Victor Orthophonic Victrola released?
A3: 1925
Q4: What was the typical weekly pay of a worker in 1925?
A4: $20
Q5: What options were available that effected the cost of the Victor Orthophonic Victorla?
A5: cabinetry
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.

Q1: What materials were discs made of in 1889-1894?
A1: hard rubber
Q2: What was the standard material for discs around 1895?
A2: a shellac-based compound
Q3: What company was known for laminate construction of discs?
A3: Columbia Records
Q4: What material give the vinyl records their known black color?
A4: carbon
Q5: What material is used in order to release the vinyl records from their molds?
A5: lubricant
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.

Q1: What was a major downfall of the success of Durium records?
A1: Great Depression
Q2: What year were Durium records no longer released in the US?
A2: 1932
Q3: What are most 78 rpm records made of?
A3: shellac compounds
Q4: What was a common problem found in early flexible records?
A4: surface noise
Q5: What was the thin translucent plastic most successfully used to make discs called?
A5: Durium
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.

Q1: What material was used by RCA Victor for special purpose records?
A1: vinyl-based Victrolac compound
Q2: What was Metrolite and Sav-o-flex materials primarily used for?
A2: children's records
Q3: What year was the Victrolac compound released?
A3: 1931
Q4: What were advantages of vinyl in the 1930's?
A4: light weight, relative unbreakability and low surface noise
Q5: What was a downfall of ordinary 78 rpm vinyls in household house?
A5: higher cost
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.

Q1: What was the most popular sized disc by 1910?
A1: 10-inch
Q2: How long could a recording be on a 10 inch disc in the 1903?
A2: four to five minutes of music per side
Q3: How small were the earliest discs released?
A3: 12.5 cm
Q4: What was one requirement issue with discs popular in Britain?
A4: modification of the equipment
Q5: Which disc could hold about three minutes of recording on either side?
A5: 10-inch
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.

Q1: What factors would effect playing time of a phonograph?
A1: turntable speed and the groove spacing
Q2: What was the playing time common in the early 20th century?
A2: two minutes
Q3: How many recordings did Kind Oliver's Creole Jazz band require?
A3: 13
Q4: What was the normal size disc for popular music?
A4: 10-inch
Q5: What was the recording time available on a 12 inch disc?
A5: three and a half minutes
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.

Q1: On which label did Frank Sinatra release his recording of Soliloquy?
A1: Columbia's Masterwork label
Q2: What was a typical recording time of a song in 1948?
A2: about 3:30
Q3: What was a way musicians got sounds such short recording times?
A3: release a set of records
Q4: How many sides of a disc commonly held a recording?
A4: two sides
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).

Q1: What was unique about Odeon's 1909 release of the Nutcracker Suite?
A1: 4 double-sided discs in a specially designed package
Q2: What was one of the first releases with a photo on the cover?
A2: The Mikado (Gilbert & Sullivan)
Q3: When were albums said to be pioneered?
A3: 1909
Q4: What was one of the very first albums released?
A4: Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky
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.

Q1: When could record album covers first be found?
A1: 1910
Q2: What were early record album covers made of?
A2: empty sleeves with a paperboard or leather cover
Q3: What sizes were record album covers available in?
A3: 10-inch and 12-inch sizes
Q4: How were record album covers intended to be stored?
A4: upright
Q5: What was the purpose of record album covers?
A5: protecting them