wax cylinder represent the 'archetype' of an Edison wax cylinder and
were first made in 1888. However, the first wax cylinders are not to be
credited to Edison but are based on the development by Chichester Bell
and Charles Sumner Tainter, financed by Alexander Graham Bell. 1884 was
the fateful year where both developers came to the idea of using a wax
composition instead of the common tinfoil as introduced by Edison.
Their phonograph was called Graphophone, a simple wordplay. 1886, Bell
and Tainter were able to present a working dictation phonograph that
was recording its contents on a cardboard cylinder covered with thin
layer of wax. Like Edison, their major intention was also for the use
of taking dictation, not music. Bell and Tainter's efforts to start
cooperation with Edison were doomed from the first day when he
vigorously refused to do any business "with Alexander Graham Bell and
his pirates." After 10 years of negligence, Edison finally realized
that in case of further inactivity he was going to loose "his baby".
was his major reason for starting his own researches. In 1888, after an
assumed shift of 72 hours, Edison finished the first working prototype
of his so called "Perfect Phonograph" which - in no way accidentally -
also used a wax cylinder. Unlike the cylinders by Bell and Tainter,
Edison's cylinders consisted completely of wax and were quite thicker.
This ingenious design allowed shaving off a thin layer and reusing the
wax cylinder for multiple times. Because of mutual patent claims
between Bell and Edison, it mostly remained as a cold economic war,
which was mainly carried out by competitive phonographs and records.
Edison's format finally achieved broadly acceptance of the vast
majority and the Graphophones, then also using Edison format cylinders,
gained an important percentage in home and parlor entertainment.
predominant amount of the commercial recordings made up the mid-1890's
was recorded directly, i.e. the customer normally received an original
recording. During the early years, technicians already searched for
practical ways of duplication to gain profits as performers were paid
for each session - regardless of the amount of recordings they made. A
hugely organized industry of a cost-intensive collecting society did
not exist yet. The first duplicates were made by connecting a playing
phonograph with a recording one by the use of a rubber tube. The result
was anything but satisfying; however still good enough to be sold.
more practical solution was found in pantographic duplication machines,
which recorded a blank more directly from the original cylinder. This
method improved the sound quality significantly. With some further
adjustment it was now even possible have some little amplification, of
course, only done mechanically. Using a pantograph, about 100 copies of
merchantable quality could be made from a single master cylinder. The
invention of electric sound amplifiers was still decades away.
Brown wax cylinder made by the
Columbia Phonograph Company, 1899
wax cylinders were commercially discontinued by Edison in 1902 with the
introduction of the new Gold Moulded Record (also just called Moulded
Record or later Standard Record). The last commercially recorded brown
wax cylinders were likely made in Europe by small labels until about
1906. An exact dating of such cylinders is therefore only possible with
the availability of discographies or other references. Furthermore it
is known that some companies sold their pantographic duplicates as
originals too, a true misleading advertising. Columbia was one of the
fewer companies that also sold brown wax cylinders made by the moulding
process (1902-1904), but soon they changed to a harder black wax
Edison Studio Pantograph, ca. 1899 Here shown for testing purposes
only with a 1907 gold moulded cylinder
that is transferred to a new blank brown wax cylinder.
Listen here to an example in stereo, left channel copy, right channel original:
1898, Columbia introduced a new luxury format of cylinders with a
diameter of 5". These so called Grand Graphophone cylinders required a
compatible phonograph with a larger mandrel and did only provide the
same playing time of 2-3 minutes - just like a standard cylinder,
related to the recording speed. Because of the higher surface speed,
the volume and clarity was improved and Edison stepped into this
business just one year later with his identical Concert cylinders.
However, this format could not achieve a wide customer acceptance as
the price was over twice as much as regular cylinder record did cost
plus a quite cumbersome handling. With the introduction of the Gold
Moulded cylinders in 1902, the separate production of these oversized
cylinders was discontinued. Also other brands such as Lambert, Pathé
(France) and Edison-Bell (England) made concert cylinders for a few
years but were also quite unsuccessful. In 1909 owners of concert
phonographs could still order current titles, which were then custom
made by the old pantographic process, of course, without any quality
"Graphaphone" instead of
This typo remained undiscovered for several
years on Columbia's cylinder boxes.
Playing and handling
wax cylinders are extremely sensitive and fragile. Because of the
direct recording manufacture, the wax is softer than those of the later
black wax cylinders. With the use of any old acoustic phonograph, these
cylinders should be played more than necessary as they tend to wear
relatively fast and the noise/signal ratio will change for the worse.
Therefore, the recording will become quieter with every (acoustic)
playback. Many of these early cylinders were already recorded at low
volume and will play accordingly. Digitization with the help of
low-weight modern pickup systems can be very helpful in this case.
any acoustic playback of wax cylinders at a temperature exceeding 25°C
(77 °F) should be absolutely avoided as wear may increase significantly.
playback with an Edison phonograph must be only accomplished with a
suitable reproducer. In general, brown wax cylinders can be played with
any intact Automatic or Model B (not to be mixed up with the much later
Diamond B!) reproducer. Later reproducers as the far more common Model
C carry an unsuitable doorknob stylus and should not used with brown
wax like Model K, H and O. Be sure to always have the correct
reproducer selected as the wrong model may cause irreversible damage to
of the long time span of brown wax production, virtually any playback
speed can be found which usually varies between 90 and 185 rpm. In most
cases, the desired speed will be found between 120-160 rpm. Although
several standard speeds existed (120, 125, 140, 144 and 160 rpm), it is
not uncommon to find any other possible speed. For a proper speed
adjustment, a good hearing and tonal comparison will be necessary. This
may easily result in odd speeds such as 136 rpm.
destruction by mold is a well-known problem than can affect all kinds
of wax cylinders. Mold growth is often caused by humid conditions like
microscopic amounts of cached water inside a cylinder box, caused by
ordinary "basement/barn/attic climate". The destructive effect is then
done by the fungus, which eats the wax, usually starting at the surface
where groove was cut. The remains can be easily called a microscopic
lunar landscape. During playback one can hear a distinctive, scratchy
and hissing noise. Normally the mold is already dead and cannot be
reactivated. However, spores tend to be always in the air and
therefore, a cylinder should be given enough ventilation during
storage. This can be easily accomplished by not closing the box with a
lid. Just leave it loose on the top. Alternatively, a tight-closed
closed can be used together with a small package of silica gel to avoid
growing humidity. Mold affection can be easily determined by visual
inspection. Usually, it appears as white or light-brown spots of
various sizes. Heavy mold affection can also include the full surface
of a wax cylinder. Cylinder storage at normal living room climate is
generally not a problem. For very special cylinder records, acid-free
archival storage boxes are available. Bear in mind that these archival
boxes are under no circumstances appropriate for transportation or any
kind of shipping.
Rapid temperature changes must be avoided at
any case; otherwise it may cause hairline cracks and an economically
total loss of a record. Never touch the groove surface of any wax
cylinders as even invisible fingerprints can react with the wax
composition over months and will cause disturbing spots (not to be
mixed up with mold). These spots cannot be removed.