It would seem that it’s Mostly Music week here at Collectors’ Quest, so who am I to break that crackly, 33 RPM stride? Fitting, since there has been a surprising cluster of turntable-related issues that have absorbed me lately. From converting rare 45s to mp3s for a friend, to the odd discovery of unique and bizarre recordings, to that burning desire to cut my very own collectible 45 despite the fact that music is not one of my stronger talents. I mean, the two songs that I recorded were complete genius, but I think I petered out around there.
It wasn’t too long ago that I was digging through a sack of mistreated albums and found a rusty old Voice-O-Graph record at the bottom. My entire purpose for hunting down forgotten vinyl is to capture sounds that have been lost to time, and the Voice-O-Graph fits that description perfectly.
The Voice-O-Graph was a machine contained in a booth, made by the Mutoscope Corporation circa the late 1950s and 1960s. While they were mostly known for their bawdy flip-book movie machines, the Voice-O-Graph machine ventures into audible territory. The machine would allow you to record your own unique 45 (or 78) RPM record, reflecting whatever sounds you chose to make in the booth. Audio cassettes wouldn’t really become popular until the late 1970s, so in an era where recording equipment was not as readily available as it is today, these were surely thrilling machines. The idea recording oneself for perpetuity and aural immortality is one that appeals to us all. Of course, these records could only be etched once, so the sounds stored on them were completely unique and existed solely on that singular recording. And this is where I become fascinated at the prospect of hours of lost sounds that still have the potential to be rediscovered.
The Voice-O-Graph that I discovered is fairly rusted and useless, and I’m not even positive that it has anything coherent recorded on it, but it’s led to a hunt for more. For all of their obscurity and beauty, they don’t auction for very much money, and interest in them seems sparse at best. Of course, this means that there’s more for me. I’d venture that the same people interested in the Voice-O-Graph would be the same people who like collecting family photos from families that are very much not their own. There’s a touch of voyeurism, a touch of amateur sociology, but mostly, it’s about finding appreciation for small segments of captured life that might have gone otherwise lost and unappreciated.
The Voice-O-Graph records came with mailing envelopes, should you want to send an audio message to some distant location. These have long since been replaced by booths that burn CDs on demand, and after that, the increasing accessibility of home recording and eMailing yourself around like some common harlot. The old records remain, though, mostly anonymous voices waiting to be heard again.
The romance of etching your own record is not lost, though. A Japanese company called Gakken produced a technological model kit that will allow you create your own ‘records’ of sorts – mostly for scientifically demonstrative purposes, but that ‘potential immortality’ thing also comes into play. The assembly is fairly simple with the aid of the instructions included (in English, with some releases), and once assembled, the Emile Berliner Turntable allows you to speak or sing loudly into a styrofoam cone, which in turn vibrates a sewing needle in contact with a smooth, flat disc. The disc in question can be anything with a smooth, impressionable surface, but old CDs come with high recommendations. The days of getting endless AOL signup CDs in the mail was a golden era for the Gakken Turntable indeed. Since AOL has stopped destroying the universe with these discs, I usually pull my supply from ultra-cheap CDRs or nonfunctioning audiobook sets. Once recorded, you can only play back the recording on another Gakken Turntable kit and not a regular turntable, but the process retains the same technology and theory.
While I never tweaked mine enough to get anything more than a tinny, whispery sound out of it, other tinkerers have been more successful than I. Because of this, mine is fairly dusty and forgotten, but it made the fundamental (and surprisingly simple) forces behind what makes records work a bit clearer. I suggest getting one from Very Cool Things since they have the best price, but be prepared to tinker to get a good sound out of it.
Of course, you can also live in the twenty-first century like a regular person and just hook a mic up to your Powerbook… but seriously, what’s so great about this modern age? Feel free to comment down below.
November 29th, 2006 at 3:57 PM
Collin -
I found a 1947 Voice-o-Graph that I need to get to play/convert to digital format. Can I just put this thing on my turntable and play it, or would the stylus damage/destroy it? What speed should I play it at? Thanks – SW
November 29th, 2006 at 6:38 PM
Hello! While it’s not reccomended to play 78s with a regular turntable / needle (even if they DO have a 78 speed, the 78 needle is slightly different in shape), I successfully play my 78s, including the Voice-O-Graphs, on my Numark PT-01 turntable, making sure that I have a few spare needles lying around. Given the impressible nature of the voice-o-graph, I’d suggest playing it only once or twice and convert it to digital to preserve it
I actually have a little art project going with these converted Voice-O-Graphs. Could I possibly ask to hear the digital file once you’ve converted it? I’ll happily send you the three mp3s that I have in trade!
November 29th, 2006 at 6:40 PM
PS – From that I understand, the voice-o-graphs have been made in both 78 and 45 speeds. Given that yours is a 1947 model, I’d assume it was at 78 speed! If you do not have a 78 speed on your turntable, we can make arrangements wherein I’d convert it for you and happily return it, along with a CD of the file.
Just an offer!
December 11th, 2006 at 1:13 AM
I have 2 yellow “Voice-O-Graph” records? I’m looking to convert them to a digital format and cd’s. Can you help me. On the record it shows “Recording made for 45 or 78″ but i don’t whick speed it was recorded on.
December 11th, 2006 at 10:55 AM
One easy way to tell which speed it was recorded on is to play it at both speeds! If one sounds like a chipmunk or a troll, it’s probably the other speed. In my experience, most of these are 78s, though, especially the earlier you go.
I plan on writing something up here about converting vinyl to digital, but I can tell you briefly that I use a Mac Mini, an iMic, and Audio Hijack. I then edit the files in Quicktime Pro (to remove extra time at the beginning and the end of the recording). I’m sure I could try to reduce the hisses and pops with another audio program, which I’ll probably do at a later date.
If you’re looking to convert these, I can make you the same offer as the poster above & convert them for you, and then send them back with a CD of the recordings. Drop me a line at collin [at] all nerd review [dot] com.
August 31st, 2007 at 10:42 AM
Hi Collin. I did a search on the web for info on Voice-O-Graph records and came up with your page. I found a couple of these discs at a car boot sale recently and have played them. One is a 78 rpm disc with agreen label (as in the pic on your page) and is from an English couple on holiday in New York, the disc is directed to their daughter in London. The other one is in an envelope and is by the daughter to her mum and dad, recorded in the Empire State Building. Presumably she went to New York a few years later. This one is a plain white plastic disc that plays at 45rpm. I like these because even though they don’t say a great deal they tell a story.
Someone else has posted a similar disc on the 365 Days blog site:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/02/when_robots_hav.html
October 15th, 2007 at 4:02 PM
Hi, I have about 5 of these made by me when I was between 5 and 10 years old.
the machines were at the Santa Cruz CA Boardwalk arcade till the mid 60s.
You can play them with any normal turntable and stylus. A non-microgroove 78 stylus will play with less noise theoretically. All mine were 78 but I guess some theroretically were at 45 RPM. It will be obvious uppon playback if it is at the right speed or not.
I went on the internet search today because of an episode of “Cold Case” that aired last night with a record recording booth as part of the plot. What they showed was nothing like the machiines in your link, which are more like the ones I remember from my childhood.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:06 PM
Ahoy, Steve! I’ve actually done a few more articles on the Voice-O-Graph here on CQ after this one with all of that info, as the collection developed. It would be worth it to invest in preserving these things – once they’re gone in that format, they’re gone forever, and we’re hitting a point in time when the material degrades very easily.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:31 PM
I’m currently looking for some Voice-O-Graph records for an audio project I would like to do in the near future. If anyone has any that they are willing to contribute, please drop me a line at pollick529(at)yahoo(dot)ca or gamefan50(at)hotmail(dot)com.
Please replace “at” and “dot” with their respective symbols. Thanks and I highly appreciate your support!
June 12th, 2008 at 4:56 AM
My roommate just bought four 45’s at the thrift store. They look like vinyl on front and metal on back. The labels read
Recorded by Warner Automatic Voice Studio
To:____________
From:___________
J. J. Warner Co.
San Francisco
This is a link to the only information I can find. http://78rpmrecord.com/flexo.htm
If interested in purchasing or questions please email me.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:05 PM
i have a voice-o-graph that belonged to my father. som of the vinyl has come off showing the metal underneath. can it be repaired? and if so where can i send it. if not is there something that i can do so stop any more damage or the vinyl from coming off.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:48 PM
Unfortunately, one the vinyl comes off from the metal, the sound is lost and it can’t be repaired. The only way that I know of to preserve something like this is to make a digital recording of it (if it’ll play anymore with the missing chunks). They weren’t really designed to have an eternal life, unfortunately.
July 10th, 2008 at 4:01 PM
I have a voice o graph from 1946 made in Atlantic City to a 12 yr. old girl for her birthday. The women’s voice on the recording is singing. “Let It Snow”. You can hear it fairly well, considering the age. The other side is inaudible. I would like to sell it. Any takers?
June 6th, 2009 at 10:28 AM
I just came across a 1942 recording my father made to my mother before they were married. He was aboard the USS Whitney at the time and 20 years old, she was 18. When we tried to play it on our record player it was so scratchy we could hardly hear anything…just a few short sentences. How do we ‘clean it’ so it plays without all the scratches? Any suggestions?
July 15th, 2009 at 8:55 PM
how much ?is a voice-o-graph worth.
July 16th, 2009 at 3:16 PM
There’s no quick answer to how much a voice-o-graph is worth. Mostly, they have high sentimental value to the families concerned. These are now in a huge variety of conditions – some were embossed in flaky metal, others on a flaky layer of plastic, others in solid plastic.
The real answer? However much someone is willing to pay for it. I used to get most of mine for $8-ish or less.
July 28th, 2009 at 9:45 AM
I am a teacher and is currently building historical trunks to use in my classroom to teach history. I am looking for a voice o graph to add to my technology trunk. This would be a great piece to use to get students inquiring what it is and was used for. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated. I am willing to buy at a reasonable price or any donations would be greatly appreciated. I am also looking for letters, diaries and journals from the 1880-present to use as well. Contact me at msymcheck@earthlink.net
November 4th, 2009 at 8:05 AM
I live in Argentina.I have an album by the Warner.can you give me more details?
You can see in http://www.radiosantiguas.4t.com/Cosasraras.htm
Carlos