Gilmore's 22nd Regiment March (piccolo) / Frank Goede (1889)
In the second half of the 19th century, after the American Civil War, wind bands played a major role in promoting national prestige and providing entertainment for citizens. Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (1829–1892) was known as the "father of American wind bands" during this period. Gilmore conducted the 22nd Regiment of the New York National Guard, an exclusive military band that performed at celebrations, parades, and world's fairs. The 22nd Regiment Band he conducted was one of the most famous citizen military bands in the United States at the time, and their signature march was "The 22nd Regiment March."
This march, with its clear theme, powerful beat, fanfare-like introduction and repeated structure, was regarded as the model for the so-called "American march." Gilmore achieved success in this field earlier than Sousa, and had a great influence on later wind band culture.
The stage for Wangeman and Goede's recording experiments
In 1889, A. Theo. E. Wangemann, an engineer for Thomas Edison, was responsible for expanding Thomas Edison's cylindrical phonograph (phonograph) to Europe. At Edison's command, Wangemann took recording equipment with him and demonstrated and recorded the phonograph in Berlin, London, Paris and other parts of Europe. The purpose was to demonstrate the phonograph's capabilities to royalty, aristocrats and cultural figures and to build a sales network in Europe.
With the recording technology of the time, an instrument with a loud volume and clear high range was required to accurately record the sound on the wax cylinder. Low-pitched instruments and string instruments tend to have muffled sounds and could not be clearly recorded on the wax cylinder. That's why the piccolo, which has an even higher range than the flute, was chosen. With its small body and sharp sound, the piccolo was ideal for clearly recording the vibrations of the recording needle on the wax.
The person who played this role in Berlin was a piccolo player named Frank Goede. Although there is no detailed biography of him, his name is recorded in the recording notes along with several pieces. As a player with high volume and technique, he was one of the few musicians who cooperated with Wangemann's recording experiments.
The significance of the May 24th recording and its aftermath
On May 24, 1889, in a makeshift recording room set up in a hotel room in Berlin, Goede performed "The 22nd Regiment March" on piccolo solo. Originally, a march would be performed by a large brass band, but one player played the melody on the piccolo. The recording time is thought to have been about one to two minutes.
This recording was repeated many times to test the sensitivity of the recording needle, the material of the wax cylinder, temperature conditions, the effect of background noise, etc. Wangemann's notes state that "Goede's piccolo sounded as if it penetrated the walls of the small room, and the needle engraved the sound groove without missing a single note." This was a great success as a demonstration of Edison's technical capabilities to European royalty and aristocracy.
Some of the recorded cylinders were sent to the Edison Laboratory in New York and were used as technology showcases in the U.S. Unfortunately, not all of the cylinders from that time remain, and most of Goede's recordings have been lost, but thanks to projects such as the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive, some similar recordings from the same period can still be heard today.
Confusion and cultural significance of the marches of the same name
There are several different versions of the title "The 22nd Regiment March," as many composers used it in the 19th century to describe marches honoring their own regiments. However, this recording from 1889 is almost certainly a Patrick Gilmore march. Wangemann deliberately chose Gilmore's march as a symbol of American culture and used it for his recording demos in Europe.
The name of the unknown piccolo player Frank Goedet rarely appears in popular music history, but his performance is an important step in the history of modern recording. The few minutes of high notes recorded on the wax cylinder symbolize the evolution of recording technology from "ephemeral magic" to "recording media."
