The German-born American inventor Emile Berliner had improved upon Thomas
Edison's early phonograph design. With Berliner's introduction of the
gramophone, or flat-disk phonograph, the mechanical device began to develop as
an artistic medium for musical recordings. Soon replacing sheet music as the
main form of music distribution, sound recordings had a great impact on the
orchestration of jazz and its transition from regional to national music.
Despite the limited acoustic capabilities of the early recording period,
phonograph records captured the tonal variations and improvisations of jazz
that sheet music missed. By the 1910s, jazz musicians from New York to Chicago
were learning from each other at a distance. While slowing the hand-cranked
phonograph below normal speed, instrumentalists learned to mimic and improvise
upon the distinctive styles of noted jazzmen. In turn, jazz musicians made
adjustments to their musical arrangements to compensate for technological
weaknesses in the recording process. In recordings before 1926, for example,
jazz bands often used the banjo and the tuba to replace the more difficult to
record guitar and string bass. Additionally, the size and speed of the 78 rpm
single set a three minute standard for popular jazz recordings.
Edison's early phonograph design. With Berliner's introduction of the
gramophone, or flat-disk phonograph, the mechanical device began to develop as
an artistic medium for musical recordings. Soon replacing sheet music as the
main form of music distribution, sound recordings had a great impact on the
orchestration of jazz and its transition from regional to national music.
Despite the limited acoustic capabilities of the early recording period,
phonograph records captured the tonal variations and improvisations of jazz
that sheet music missed. By the 1910s, jazz musicians from New York to Chicago
were learning from each other at a distance. While slowing the hand-cranked
phonograph below normal speed, instrumentalists learned to mimic and improvise
upon the distinctive styles of noted jazzmen. In turn, jazz musicians made
adjustments to their musical arrangements to compensate for technological
weaknesses in the recording process. In recordings before 1926, for example,
jazz bands often used the banjo and the tuba to replace the more difficult to
record guitar and string bass. Additionally, the size and speed of the 78 rpm
single set a three minute standard for popular jazz recordings.