1

The History of the Independent Record Labels
1890

2

Recording and sound reproduction techniques have evolved along multiple tracks. Here are a few grooves to be pressed into our sound memory.

3

The Berliner gramophone
19 July 1890
Germany

Credits:
Phonothèque québécoise collection

4

In 1887 in Europe, Emile Berliner patented a gramophone that used his process, by means of which cylinders were replaced by records. In 1899, he established himself in Montreal in order to escape competition from Edison; Edison (cylinders), Columbia (cylinders and records) and Berliner (records) competed for the North American market.

5

Sound recording device before the advent of electrical recordings
1900
United States

6

Recording studio before the electric age
1914
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Credits:
Archives nationales du Québec collection

7

Acoustic recording was the first widespread procedure developed for keeping sound in memory, thanks to a large bell that captured the waves analogically and then cut them in grooves.

The arrival of electrical recording in 1924 improved the frequency spectrum and recording quality.

8

Sophisticated design characterizes this Victrola, used for listening to the records of the day.
1928
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

9

Record sleeve from 'La diva et le vinyle' by Martin Tétreault and Robert M. Lepage.
1997
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

10

Reconstructed nickelodeon, ancestor of the Juke-Box
1930
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

11

Fairs, arcades and public places often featured coin-operated "Nickel-in-the-Slot" phonographs. In French, these devices were called "bastringues," a word that also refers to a dance (as in a song by La Bolduc) or to a ballroom. Here we see a reconstruction of this ancestor to the Juke-Box.

12

The Starr Gennett label
1930
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

13

Records have not always rotated at the same speed. Many record enthusiasts are familiar with 33 1/3 and 45 rpm records, while the older generation listened to 78s and even 16 rpms (a format that allowed longer play than the 78, but did not last long on the market).

14

Technician at work in M. Pound's studio
1938
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Credits:
Archives nationales du Québec collection