What media played at 16 2/3 speed?

[rasputin1963]

I remember how phonographs-- up until about 1975 or so--- used to offer four phonograph speeds: 16 2/3, 33 1/3, 45 and 78.

 

I know the usages of the last three.... I had many LP's and 45's back in the day.... my grandparents had some 78's..... but I don't recall any media issued on vinyl disc to be played at the rate of 16 2/3.

 

Do you? Were they stereophonic? Wouldn't the sound quality have been fairly abysmal?

[franknputer]

Speech recording. 16 RPM let you get more time out of a vinyl LP.

[the stranger]

Cool.

[Anderton]

and if you played back 33-1/3 recordings, they came out sounding r e a l l y s t r a n g e but with 78s, they sounded

e v e n s t r a n g e r

[jive4005]

Ha... Definitely NOT stereophonic.

 

Stay in tune,

Slick

[MikeRivers]

 

I had many LP's and 45's back in the day.... my grandparents had some 78's..... but I don't recall any media issued on vinyl disc to be played at the rate of 16 2/3.

That speed was mostly used for talking books. It was completely replaced by the compact cassette. A lot of musicians go to like it, though, because they could slow down their records to half speed and learn the licks. Of course now we have computers and "trainers" to do that.

 

Another 16-2/3 RPM application was for a record player that Chrysler offered in their cars, I believe, in the late 1950s. How did that work? you ask. Not very well, and not for very long, but their heart was in the right place. With an extra long playing disk, the driver wouldn't have to be distracted to turn over the record as often.

 

By the way, at the time, car radios still used tubes, but for a few years they used tubes that worked with 12V on the plate rather than requiring a vibrator power supply. My 1957 Ford had one of those radios. It worked just fine. Never had a record player in the car though, at least not playing records.

[TimOBrien]

If my old brain is still working, I seem to remember that those slow records were a really big part of the reading libraries for the BLIND....

[blue2blue]

The Shakespeare recordings my Brit Lit teacher used to play were 16-2/3 RPM. All the poets-reading-their-poetry records they used to play us were, as well.

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

Here a photo of an early 13th century ? to 1? RPM renaissance worm disk drive, playing a Leonardo Fibonacci prototype Chianti Cork Oak tree candle light wood record, with a Pasta Cinque P renaissance six-step Tarantella with the title "il Sommo Poeta" on it from the Florentine garage band Dante Alighieri:

 

 

 

Maybe Alfonso, our permanent correspondend in ROMA ANTIQUA, can explain what the PASTA CINQUE P recipe is.

 

.

[John Sayers]

They were also cut onto 16" discs called Transcription discs. These would have a full length radio show, like The Goon Show and radio stations had 16" turntables to play them.

[alfonso]

 

recipe is. .

 

 

It's something that I've never seen here, I made a small research and I understand why....it's a quite rough and way to mix stuff...anyway it should be a pasta with dairy cream (Panna), tomato (Pomodoro), Parmigiano cheese, parsley (Prezzemolo) and pepper (Pepe).

It might depend on the hand if it's something good or awful, but I wouldn't make it. The first reason is that I find mixing dairy cream and tomato a way to kill both, but this is just my taste, you'll find it often in northern Italy, but I just don't agree with it...it's not bad, but a waste of possibilities.

Then you have parsley and parmigiano. Now, the thing is not easy to explain, but you have 2 taste "poles", the cream and parmigiano one, very smooth and quite good to serve with some "winter" foods, like porcini mushrooms and a pasta made with flour and eggs, while the other "pole" is the very fresh mix of tomato and parsley, perfect to be added to "summer" foods like sweet (peperoni) or hot peppers, olives and also seafood. Pepper can be added on each one of these 2 poles, although it might conflict with some other elements quoted above.

Now, the so called "Pasta 5 P" is basically the mix of 2 bases that kills the potential of each one, it's not bad really but it can't be too good.

 

I'd suggest here a nicer way to make a pasta with tomato and a dairy product that will keep a "summer" freshness but with a rounder taste:

 

Rigatoni con la ricotta (my way).

 

Slow fry a very thin cut onion with some olive oil until it gets soft, is good to have a very low fire and a covered large pan. Then you add tomato, some peeled tomatoes is the best choice, if they are fresh and not canned, just manually peeled, better. You keep it going slow.

You boil some rigatoni pasta as usual and take them out a little before they are ready, this way you can put them in the pan and let them go on the fire for a little more...they are going to absorb a lot of taste this way.

You turn the fire off and add some hand roughly minced basil.

 

The dishes will be prepared with this pasta and then a very fresh piece of ricotta cheese will be put on top, some black pepper and a nice basil leaf to decorate it. The ricotta cheese must not be mixed, but just while eating the pasta the fork will join the different elements.

 

That's it. For the sake of taste, no parmigiano here and no parsley, and don't mix everything or you'll make a mess.

 

And just to be on topic, together with a nice delicate red wine, a brunette with flaming black eyes, find some 78rpm of Caruso singing "O Sole Mio" and don't play it at 16 2/3 unless the chick is a very "gothic" kind of girl.

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

 

...find some 78rpm of Caruso singing "O Sole Mio"...

 

 

That one is worn out.

 

Will a shellac with "Funicul

[alfonso]

 

Will a shellac with "Funicul