How Thomas A. Edison shaped today's singing ideal: Tracking his ambiguous concept of tremolo by analysing archival documents and sound recordings

Abstract

We linked an analysis of vocal vibratos in early recordings with Edison's dismissive attitude towards singers' tremolos in the same recordings. We conclude that there are at least two different factors contributing to Edison's concept of tremolo, which include a) technical limitations and artefacts related to the recording process, and b) aesthetic judgements based on his taste for a good singing voice, but which are not necessarily related to the vibrato as such. In some cases, his comments on the tremolo even contradict the vibratos found in the recordings. Yet, Edison's concept of tremolo was as ambiguous as it was influential, for it was the tremolo on which Edison frequently based his decision to employ singers for commercial recordings. Since many of today's vocal artists still view early recordings as the gold standard of interpretation, we should consider the possibility that early recordings are by no means a representative sample of the artists of that time, but rather a selection due to the constraints of the technology at that time.

The Influence Machine: A Commentary on Hähnel and Martensen (2019)

“…Much like the example with the violin, treatises before the age of recording had preferred a steady tone (see the discussion of Sieber on p. 29). Hähnel and Martensen (2019) argue that Edison's perception of the nonmusical artefacts produced by the recording of vocal vibrato drove him to encourage its minimal use. Interestingly, this is the same reason for encouraging more vibrato in the violin; while "artefacts" are minimized by the vibrato in violin, they are highlighted by vibrato in the voice.…”