Interview with Art Shifrin, February 8, 1999

Interview Summary

Art Shifrin introduces the interviewer to a collection of early recording machines and technology. He talks about German contributions to the development of magnetic tape recording technology. Shifrin talks about the development of commercial recording technology that was associated with radio show broadcasts in the 1940s. He talks about the evolutionary stages of audio recording technology, including multi-track recording. He also discusses audio recording in conjunction with film recording. Shifrin talks about technical challenges of sound recordings and the technological developments designed to meet those challenges. Shifrin talks about the various types of audio recording technology in the context of machines in the museum incorporating that technology. He talks about the transition from film recording to videotape recording for recording images with sound. Shifrin talks about his recollections of musician and sound engineer Raymond Scott. Shifrin talks about the phonautogram, the earliest form of sound recording in 1859 which involved an oscillographic recording on paper. He explains that this process merely recorded sound graphically, and did not include a means of playing back the recording. He talks about later sound recording technologies developed by Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. Shifrin talks about his development of a new player for antique cylindrical records, and his research into kinetophone records. He talks about his discovery of rare blue celluloid cylindrical records in a Swedish archive which led to a research breakthrough on sync-sound films. Shifrin talks about the parallel developments of audio and video recording as well as multi-track recording.

Interview Keyword

Scott, Raymond, 1908-1994 Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931. Bell, Alexander Graham, 1847-1922. RCA Corporation Ampex Corporation

Interview LC Subject

Sound recording industry Sound recording industry--History Sound recordings Music History of science and technology Sound--Recording and reproducing Sound--Recording and reproducing--History Record labels

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.