Traditional Hopi Songs - online book
Native American Songs With Sheet Music, Notation & Commentary
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THE PHONOGRAPHIC METHOD 39
It was noticeable that while a tendency to raise the pitch of the note from first to last, and through about the customary interval of
 of a.tone, could still be discerned in most of the reproductions, it was seldom a continuous sharping. In one or two of the earlier reproductions the sharping was ouly minimal, and in one or two of the later the change became a minimal flatting.The fresh battery (Battery 2) which I obtained in place of the one that now seemed exhausted I was again prevented from using during a month, and upon trial at the end of that time it gave equally unsatisfactory results with Cylinder B, the note varying audibly. Another smaller battery (Battery 3) of 75 amperes, which had also been standing idle during this time, gave better results, in that no whirring of the beats occurred with it. Two quadruple series with it gave the following figures: — |
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Here, again, in two cases the sharping from first to last is lost.
Three days thereafter I obtained a fresh battery (Battery 4) of 150 amperes and tested Cylinder B again. But on listening to its note I found that the element of noise in it had become markedly predominant over the element of tone. I concluded that I was here in contact with another of the limitations of the phonograph, that of the durability of a cylinder. The trace of the inscribing needle on the wax was evidently beginning to wear out. While in the earlier part of the inscription the tone was still strong, perhaps because that part of the cylinder had been less often examined, it rapidly weakened into almost pure noise. Conceiving that I had made all the use I could of Cylinder B, I turned my attention to the further examination of the limit of speed of revolution for the best results.
On Cylinder C I inscribed the harmonium c' at 150 revolutions. Two quadruple series gave the following figures: — |
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