Music recorded in October 1891
October 1891 was a month in which the foundations of modern society expanded rapidly to education, science, urban culture, and civic activities, while natural disasters also highlighted their fragility. Leland Stanford Junior University, founded by Leland Stanford (1824–1893) and Jane Stanford (1828–1905), opened in California on October 1, 1891, marking the birth of a center for academic and technical education. On the 10th of the same month, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution held "Lifeboat Saturday," a street fundraising event in Manchester, England, visualizing a new form of charity in which urban residents supported rescue efforts. In urban leisure culture, a six-day bicycle race began on October 19, 1891, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA, marking the beginning of long-distance endurance races becoming established as "spectacles." Meanwhile, in Japan, the Nobi earthquake occurred on October 28, 1891, and Tokyo Imperial University geologist Koto Bunjiro (1856–1935) contributed to a new understanding of earthquakes through his investigation of faults, marking a time when disasters and science were advancing simultaneously.
Confirmed recordings this month: 0
Summary of information on recordings made in October 1891
Recording-related information from October 1891 includes a photographic article in that month's trade paper, The Phonogram, showing the Columbia Phonograph Company recording studio. The article shows the company recording musicians, including the United States Marine Band, onto wax cylinders in its in-house recording studio, suggesting that recording was moving from a "special experiment" to a "routine production process." (The photograph is presented in connection with Professor Bianchi (date of birth and death unknown), who was cited as the company's head of music.)
Columbia recording studio photo
The October 1891 issue of The Phonogram features a photograph purportedly taken in the "recording room" of the Columbia Phonograph Company, highlighting the United States Marine Band as Professor Bianchi's (dates of birth and death unknown) "primary recording subject." The photograph also mentions the possibility that multiple phonographs were running in parallel during recording, as well as the labor involved in mass-producing recordings (the number of copies that could be produced per day was limited), suggesting that wax cylinder production in 1891 was still done by hand, and that there was a growing demand for "quantity."
Catalogue expansion and recording activities in 1891
Research into the company's history has shown that the Columbia Phonograph Company's catalogs for 1891 were significantly larger than those of the previous year, and that recording and public relations activities were becoming more active. Specifically, the June 1891 catalog was 10 pages long, and the November 1891 catalog was 14 pages long. The book explains how the company's repertoire was expanding, centered around sources such as the United States Marine Band and John Yorke AtLee (dates of birth and death unknown).
Phonogram magazine shows the shift to "recording at the center of the business"
Based on a collection of articles published in The Phonogram, the book introduces how, as early as 1891, the Columbia Phonograph Company was heavily invested in the sale of sound recordings (music records), and claims that it was "selling the same volume as other companies sold in bulk." This is a contemporary clue that shows how the content of the recordings (wax cylinders) became a main source of revenue, rather than just the sale and rental of phonographs themselves.
