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suspended the microphones in fixed positions just above camera range, and sometimes they were hidden behind objects in the scene. The recording machines were usually located in a separate building to completely isolate them from sound stage floor vibrations and other undesirable influences. The audio signal was sent from an on-stage monitoring and control booth to the recording room over a heavy shielded cable. Synchronization was maintained by driving all the cameras and recorders with synchronous electric motors powered from a common source. When music and sound effects were being recorded to accompany existing film footage, the film was projected so that the conductor could synchronize the music with the visual cues and it was the projector, rather than a camera, that was electrically interlocked with the recording machine.
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material rotating on a turntable. The wax was much too soft to be played in the usual way, but a specially supported and guided pickup could be used to play it back immediately in order to detect any sound problems that might have gone unnoticed during the filming. If problems were found, the scene could then be re-shot while everything was still in place, minimizing additional expense. Even the lightest playback caused some damage to the wax master, so it was customary to employ two recorders and simultaneously record two waxes, one to play and the other to be sent for processing if that "take" of the scene was approved. At the processing plant, the surface of the wax was rendered electrically conductive and electroplated to produce a metal mold or "stamper" with a ridge instead of a groove, and this was used to
568:. If a record were improperly cued up, it would start out of sync with the picture and the projectionist would have to try to manually acquire sync. If the wrong record had been cued up there was no realistic option but to pause the show for a few minutes while swapping in the correct disc, resetting everything and starting that reel again. If the film print became damaged and was not precisely repaired, the relationship between the record and the print would be thrown off, also causing a loss of sync. Vitaphone projectors had special levers and linkages to advance and retard sync, but only within certain limits. Scrupulous care and attention were demanded from the projectionist. In the absence of
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side, after which it was meant to be discarded and replaced. Unlike ordinary records, Vitaphone discs were recorded inside out, so that the groove started near the synchronization arrow scribed in the blank area around the label and proceeded outward. During playback, the needle would therefore be fresh where the groove's undulations were most closely packed and needed the most accurate tracing, and suffering from wear only as the much more widely spaced and easily traced undulations toward the edge of the disc were encountered.
580:-triggered playback phonographs. Multiple source discs would be carefully cued up, then parts of each in turn were dubbed to a new master disc. The cutting of the new wax master could not be paused, so each playback turntable had to be started at just the right moment and each signal switched to the recorder at just the right moment. The system worked, but imprecisely enough that the reel of film often required some adjustment, by adding or removing one or more
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produced. As a result, the quality of
Vitaphone sound in the theater came as a revelation to the audience at its public debut in 1926. It easily and dramatically surpassed anything previously achieved. It even surpassed the sound quality of Western Electric's own sound-on-film system, developed concurrently with the sound-on-disc system but still in the laboratory at that time, because at first the discs yielded better fidelity than an optical sound track.
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for musical shorts and a synchronized musical accompaniment for otherwise silent films (the only applications originally planned), it was a clumsy way to make a feature-length film with "live" sound. By the middle of 1931, Warner Bros.-First
National had thrown in the towel and was recording and editing optical sound on film, like all the other studios, and only then dubbing the completed soundtrack to discs for use with the Vitaphone projection system.
536:'s sound-on-disc films, which were being shown twenty years earlier, were successfully synchronized by the use of electrically interlinked multi-pole synchronous motors, and a pneumatic amplification system more than sufficed to fill Gaumont's 3,400-seat flagship theater in Paris with the recorded sound. That sound, however, had to be recorded by the same insensitive non-electronic method introduced by
525:. This allowed the sound to be played to a large audience at a comfortable volume. Vitaphone was far from the first sound film system to use this technology, but it had amplifiers and loudspeakers, developed by Western Electric, which were state-of-the-art. Their performance was greatly superior to anything else of the kind then available, including the equipment used by De Forest to present his own
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system. Exhibitors with limited incomes opted for
Vitaphone, particularly in smaller towns. The Vitaphone brand name became synonymous with talking pictures in general; as early as 1928, theater organists, thrown out of work when their bosses discontinued silent pictures, placed situation-wanted ads in trade papers with the melancholy phrase "Reason for leaving due to Vitaphone."
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510:, then cue up the corresponding soundtrack disc on the turntable, being careful to place the phonograph needle at a point indicated by an arrow scribed on the record's surface. When the projector was started, it rotated the linked turntable and (in theory) automatically kept the record "in sync" (correctly synchronized) with the projected image.
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Warner Bros. stopped making live-action short subjects in 1956, and The
Vitaphone Corporation was officially dissolved at the end of 1959. Warner then used the brand names for various purposes, to keep them active legally. In the 1950s, the Warner Bros. record label boasted "Vitaphonic" high-fidelity
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compound rendered lightly abrasive by its major constituent, finely pulverized rock. Such records were played with a very inexpensive, imprecisely mass-produced steel needle with a point that quickly wore to fit the contour of the groove, but then went on to wear out in the course of playing one disc
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Despite the fact that Warner Bros. still used
Vitaphone as a brand name, the soundtrack-disc era was largely over by 1931. Many theater owners, who had invested heavily in Vitaphone equipment only a short time before, were financially unable or unwilling to replace their sound-on-disc-only equipment.
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at imperfectly matched edit points, to conform it to the disc of edited sound. This discouraged frequent changes of scene in the film and the lively pace that they created. Editing sound on disc was a nightmare for the editor, and it was increasingly obvious to everyone that while the system sufficed
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Initially, Vitaphone discs had a recording on one side only, each reel of film having its own disc. As the sound-on-disc method was slowly relegated to second-class status, cost-cutting changes were instituted, first by making use of both sides of each disc for non-consecutive reels of film, then by
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In 1991, The
Vitaphone Project was started by a group of five vintage record collectors and movie enthusiasts. Since the soundtrack discs and film prints of Vitaphone productions often became separated, The Vitaphone Project searches for original 16-inch soundtrack discs and mute film elements that
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being a monster hit. It was in theater owners' best interest to compete as soon as possible. Second, a much more practical reason was the cost. Converting a silent-only theater to sound was much quicker and cheaper with the
Vitaphone sound-on-disc system than it was with the Movietone sound-on-film
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Distribution β Vitaphone records had to be distributed along with film prints, and shipping the records required a whole infrastructure apart from the already-existing film distribution system. The records would start to suffer from audible wear after an estimated 20 playings (a check box system on
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in 1877, or alternatively by a very crude microphone-based variant which had logistical advantages but did not offer improved fidelity. The resulting sound, however greatly amplified it might be, was tinny and unclear and speech was difficult to understand. The footsteps and other incidental sounds
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From the perspective of the cast and crew on the sound stage, there was little difference between filming with
Vitaphone and a sound-on-film system. In the early years of sound, the noisy cameras and their operators were enclosed in soundproofed booths with small windows made of thick glass. Cables
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At first, the production of
Vitaphone shorts and the recording of orchestral scores were strictly a New York phenomenon, taking advantage of the bountiful supply of stage and concert hall talent there, but the Warners soon migrated some of this activity to their more spacious facilities on the West
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at its establishment in 2004, an honor given to "products and innovations that have had an enduring impact on the development of audio technology." The award notes that
Vitaphone, though short-lived, helped in popularizing theater sound and was critical in stimulating the development of the modern
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After the improvement of the competing sound-on-film systems, Vitaphone's disadvantages led to its retirement early in the sound era. Warner Bros. and First National stopped recording directly to disc and switched to RCA Photophone sound-on-film recording. Warner Bros. had to publicly concede that
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during the first half of the 1920s. Western Electric's engineers had developed a highly sensitive full-frequency-range condenser microphone, capable of capturing a whisper from several feet away, along with the electronic and mechanical equipment necessary to adequately record the audio signal it
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Because of the universal desirability of an immediate playback capability, even studios using sound-on-film systems employed a wax disc "playback machine" in tandem with their film recorders, as it was impossible to play an optical recording until it had made the round trip to the film processing
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Except for the unusual disc size and speed, the physical record-making process was the same one employed by contemporary record companies to make smaller discs for home use. The recording lathe cut an audio-signal-modulated spiral groove into the polished surface of a thick round slab of wax-like
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Although Warners' sound feature films were made in Hollywood, most of the short subjects were made in New York, and Vitaphone shorts became a fixture in movie-theater programs through 1940. Many major names in show business filmed their acts for posterity, and many stars of the future made their
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sound-on-film system in New York City on April 15, 1923, but due to the relatively poor sound quality of Phonofilm and the impressive state-of-the-art sound heard in Western Electric's private demonstrations, the Warner Brothers decided to go forward with the industrial giant and the more
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Their continuing need for discs compelled most Hollywood studios to prepare sets of soundtrack discs for their new films, made by dubbing from the optical soundtracks, and supply them as required. This practice continued, although on an ever-dwindling scale, through 1937.
607:, introduced in 1928, eventually predominated. Although the fidelity of optical sound never quite caught up with ongoing improvements in disc recording technology, for practical purposes the early quality advantage of discs had been overcome within a few years.
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reducing the discs to 14 or 12 inches (36 or 30 cm) in diameter. The use of RCA Victor's new "Vitrolac", a lightweight, flexible and less abrasive vinyl-based compound, made it possible to downsize the discs while actually improving their sound quality.
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Editing β A phonograph record cannot be physically edited, and this significantly limited the creative potential of Vitaphone films. Warner Bros. went to great expense to develop a highly complex phonograph-based dubbing system, using synchronous motors and
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scene are a far better depiction of a major foul-up in sound-on-film projection than of a sound-on-disc glitch, but the following comical mismatches are a fair depiction of the sort of memorable problem that could disrupt a Vitaphone presentation on a bad
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361:, which had been retrofitted with a symphonic musical score and sound effects. There was no spoken dialog. The feature was preceded by a program of short subjects with live-recorded sound, nearly all featuring classical instrumentalists and
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As of December 2016, The Vitaphone Project had located about 6,500 soundtrack discs in private collections and helped preserve 125 films, 12 of which were feature-length films. They have also raised $ 400,000 in donations, with
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facility for working out practical sound-film production techniques and filming musical shorts. The previously nameless Western Electric sound-on-disc system was named Vitaphone, deriving from the Warner-owned Vitagraph name.
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Vitaphone had made its reputation largely for its short subjects, so the Warner live-action shorts and animated cartoons were copyrighted by The Vitaphone Corporation until 1959 and marketed under the Vitaphone brand name.
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premiered at the Warner Theater in New York City, broke box-office records, established Warner Bros. as a major player in Hollywood, and is traditionally credited with single-handedly launching the talkie revolution.
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that audiences instinctively expected to hear were missing. It did not sound "natural". The Vitaphone system derived from extensive work on electronically recording and reproducing sound that had been carried out at
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as a good practical compromise of disc size and speed. The slow speed permitted the 11-minute playing time needed to match the maximum running time of a then-standard 1000 foot (300 meter) reel of film projected at
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the label was used to keep count) and were then supposed to be replaced with a fresh set. Damage and breakage were inherent dangers, so a spare set of discs was usually kept on hand, further adding to the costs.
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western features. These were so very cheap that Warner Bros. elected not to put its own name on them, or even the First National name. They were released under the Vitagraph name, which Warner still owned.
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sound-on-film and sound-on-disc versions. Thus, instead of making a grudging admission that its technology had become obsolete, Warner Bros. purported to be doing the entire movie industry a favor.
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Fidelity β Contrary to conventional wisdom, neither Vitaphone's ability to fill a theater with an adequate volume of sound nor its success in maintaining synchronization was unprecedented.
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294:(a speed first used for this system) and typically 16 inches (41 cm) in diameter, are played on a turntable physically coupled to the projector motor while the film is projected. Its
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was able to draw huge sums of money at the box office, but was not able to recoup the expenses Warner Bros. put into the film's production. After its financial failure, Paramount head
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In 1924β1925, when Western Electric established the format of the system which would eventually be named Vitaphone, they settled on a 16-inch (41 cm) diameter disc rotating at
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and the occasional malfunction that can befall any complicated machine, the Vitaphone system worked as intended, but when a problem did occur it could be an embarrassing disaster.
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go with surviving soundtrack discs. The Vitaphone Project borrows or purchases soundtrack discs from private collectors and often works with the restoration labs at the
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A Vitaphone projection system was demonstrated in 1926. Engineer E. B. Craft holds a soundtrack disc. The turntable, on a massive tripod base, is at lower center.
397:'s refusal to move forward with using sound in future Warner films, agreed to accept Zukor's offer, but the deal died after Paramount lost money in the wake of
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in New York City and acquired by Warner Bros. in April 1925. Warner Bros. introduced Vitaphone on August 5, 1926, with the premiere of their silent feature
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Vitaphone was the market leader in the early days of talking pictures, for two key reasons. First, the new novelty was very popular with the public, with
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and the only actual "talkie" was the short film that opened the program: four minutes of introductory remarks by motion picture industry spokesman
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to create new 35mm preservation prints that combine the original picture and sound elements. The Vitaphone Project also often partners with the
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Fidelity versus Sound-on-Film β The fidelity of sound-on-film processes was improved considerably after the early work by Lee De Forest on his
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system and the only one that was widely used and commercially successful. The soundtrack is not printed on the film, but issued separately on
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system, introduced in 1927. The De Forest and Case-Fox systems used variable-density soundtracks, but the variable-area soundtrack used by
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308:(1927), used the Vitaphone system. The name "Vitaphone" derived from the Latin and Greek words, respectively, for "living" and "sound".
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There were exceptions to the 16-inch (41 cm) standard size of 1920s Vitaphone discs. In the case of very short films, such as
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with the attached turntables. When each projector was threaded, the projectionist would align a start mark on the film with the
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343:, which Western Electric engineer E.C. Wente had created in 1916 and greatly improved in 1922. De Forest debuted his own
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401:'s death. Harry eventually agreed to accept Sam's demands. Sam then pushed ahead with a new Vitaphone feature starring
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Synchronization β Vitaphone was vulnerable to severe synchronization problems, famously spoofed in MGM's 1952 musical
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Vitaphone was being retired, but put a positive spin on it by announcing that Warner films would now be available in
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a deal as an executive producer for Paramount if he brought Vitaphone with him. Sam, not wanting to take any more of
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450:(1927) featured the Henry Halstead Orchestra and a cast of hundreds of costumed dancers in a Carnival atmosphere.
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inches (19 cm), was pressed on a 12-or-10-inch (30 or 25 cm) disc when the smaller size sufficed.
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Warner Bros. was careful to preserve the Vitaphone and Vitagraph brand names, just as it had preserved the
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is given credit for starring in the first Vitaphone short subject filmed in Hollywood instead of New York.
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screen debuts for Vitaphone. Performers in early Vitaphone shorts filmed at the Flatbush studios include
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system. The projectors operated just as motorized silent projectors did, but at a fixed speed of 24
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1455:"Shaw & Lee 1928 Vitaphone Short Chosen for 2016 National Film Registry by Library of Congress"
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Though operating on principles so different as to make it unrecognizable to a Vitaphone engineer,
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The "Vitaphone" trademark was later associated with cartoons and other short subjects that have
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is a sound-on-disc system, the first to gain wide adoption since the abandonment of Vitaphone.
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was developing both sound-on-film and sound-on-disc systems, aided by the purchase of
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The Vitaphone Project has been able to help restore films featuring stars such as
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Amplification β The Vitaphone system used electronic amplification based on
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Examination of early sound musicals, with extensive coverage of Vitaphone.
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These innovations notwithstanding, the Vitaphone process lost the early
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The Vitaphone process made several improvements over previous systems:
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Gitt, Robert; Belton, John (1993). "Bringing Vitaphone Back to Life".
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969:. Funding raised by The Vitaphone Project was used to restore 1928's
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and some of the earliest musical shorts, the recording, still cut at
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The Speed of Sound: Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution, 1926-1930
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1353:. Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, April 1932
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Warner-Sperling, Cass; Millner, Cork; and Warner, Jack (1999).
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hard shellac discs from molten "biscuits" of the raw material.
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Blog describing the history of the Vitaphone Process in detail
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The Talkies: American Cinema's Transition to Sound, 1926β1931
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Vitagraph had ceased operations in 1925. In 1932, producer
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The initial garbling of image and sound simulated in the
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Vitaphone Films: A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts
1357:(4):452β460 (accessed at archive.org on August 5, 2011)
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Grayson, Eric. "Grayson on Film: Sounds and Silences",
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from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone is the last major analog
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and working outward from a minimum diameter of about
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Vitaphone was among the first 25 inductees into the
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of the same period (beginning with that same year's
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351:The business was established at Western Electric's
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58:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
991:brand name for its second-echelon feature films.
365:stars. The only "pop music" artist was guitarist
1619:Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story
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1023:1960) carried the legend "A Vitaphone Release".
1649:List of Early Sound Films at Silent Era website
554:with sound-on-film processes for many reasons:
1607:Okay for Sound: How the Screen Found its Voice
1480:"2016 additions to the National Film Registry"
1430:"A Resounding 25 Years of Reviving Early Film"
1314:"A Resounding 25 Years of Reviving Early Film"
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1219:Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 116.
1210:Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 114.
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1196:Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 113.
1168:Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 111.
1082:List of early sound feature films (1926β1929)
8:
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1548:The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926β1931
1011:recording. In the 1960s, the end titles of
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118:Learn how and when to remove this message
666:records, Vitaphone discs were made of a
592:system and that of his former associate
474:A Vitaphone-equipped theater had normal
376:Introduction of Vitaphone Sound Pictures
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930:University of California at Los Angeles
1609:, Duell, Sloan & Pearce, New York
478:which had been furnished with special
1428:Monaghan, Peter (December 17, 2016).
1312:Monaghan, Peter (December 17, 2016).
1002:made a very-low-budget series of six
7:
1368:"Ron Hutchinson's Vitaphone Project"
56:adding citations to reliable sources
1644:Collection of Vitaphone Soundtracks
983:Vitaphone and Vitagraph brand names
1836:American Telephone & Telegraph
14:
339:systems, and the first practical
1621:, University Press of Kentucky.
1605:Thrasher, Frederic (ed.) (1946)
1398:"The Vitaphone Project Turns 20"
1351:Victrolac Motion Picture Records
965:, the final silent film made by
335:in 1913, consequent advances in
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43:needs additional citations for
596:on what eventually became the
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1581:, Simon & Schuster, NYC.
1507:TECnology Hall of Fame, 2004
1402:Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
1185:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
726:studio in 1925 and used its
298:is 4300 Hz. Many early
1984:Motion picture film formats
1595:, McFarland & Company.
1550:, McFarland & Company.
1316:. Moving Image Archive News
1302:, December 29, 1928, p. 81.
1300:Motion Picture Herald-World
241:premiered in New York City.
201:Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
142:Warner Bros. Vitaphone logo
2007:
1546:Bradley, Edwin M. (2005),
1142:"AES Historical Committee"
1058:sound reinforcement system
632:Vitaphone soundtrack discs
529:sound-on-film exhibitions.
348:familiar disc technology.
23:Vitaphone (disambiguation)
20:
1979:Film and video technology
1522:Barrios, Richard (1995),
1434:Moving Image Archive News
1017:cartoons (beginning with
442:Coast. Dance band leader
276:. The discs, recorded at
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1560:Crafton, Donald (1997),
1566:Charles Scribner's Sons
1528:Oxford University Press
948:being a notable donor.
448:Carnival Night in Paris
1756:Design Line telephones
1372:The Vitaphone Project!
1349:Barton, F.C. (1932 ).
1053:TECnology Hall of Fame
977:National Film Registry
938:British Film Institute
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315:and do not use discs.
264:and its sister studio
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1974:Film sound production
1964:Vitaphone short films
1928:Bell System Practices
1841:AT&T Technologies
1815:Orthophonic recording
1591:Liebman, Roy (2003),
1577:Eyman, Scott (1997),
1459:The Vitaphone Project
923:The Vitaphone Project
837:The Nicholas Brothers
433:
333:Audion amplifier tube
235:
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18:Sound system for film
1612:Warner Bros.' story.
1077:List of film formats
341:condenser microphone
323:In the early 1920s,
52:improve this article
21:For other uses, see
1866:Lucent Technologies
1486:. December 14, 2016
1287:Singin' in the Rain
1122:Vitaphone Varieties
934:Library of Congress
797:Giovanni Martinelli
722:Warners bought the
565:Singin' in the Rain
313:optical soundtracks
132:
1892:Automatic Electric
1524:A Song in the Dark
728:Brooklyn, New York
662:Like ordinary pre-
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296:frequency response
274:phonograph records
243:
230:
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1951:
1950:
1933:Eastland disaster
1912:Stromberg-Carlson
1876:Northern Electric
1829:Related companies
1766:Switching systems
1378:on March 15, 2019
1266:"The Auxetophone"
1117:Vitagraph Studios
1032:Hopalong Casualty
1020:From Hare to Heir
972:The Beau Brummels
877:Nina Mae McKinney
502:and mechanically
500:frames per second
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399:Rudolph Valentino
353:Bell Laboratories
256:and nearly 1,000
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1996:
1803:Other technology
1685:Western Electric
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1505:Mix Foundation.
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1404:. August 2, 2011
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1000:Leon Schlesinger
869:Roger Wolfe Kahn
785:Frances Langford
718:Vitaphone shorts
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543:Western Electric
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325:Western Electric
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252:system used for
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60:
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28:
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1871:Nippon Electric
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1517:Further reading
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1073:
1049:
1043:series titles.
1041:Merrie Melodies
1014:Merrie Melodies
985:
925:
817:Judith Anderson
793:Burns and Allen
765:Sammy Davis Jr.
741:Humphrey Bogart
720:
710:
706:
703:
701:
692:
688:
685:
683:
646:
642:
639:
637:
634:
613:The Jazz Singer
578:Strowger switch
482:turntables and
456:
435:The Jazz Singer
421:
414:The Jazz Singer
321:
305:The Jazz Singer
286:
282:
279:
277:
228:Don Juan (1926)
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189:Motion pictures
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1242:(3): 262β274.
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1102:RCA Photophone
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989:First National
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909:Lionel Stander
849:Harriet Nelson
829:Eleanor Powell
719:
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633:
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605:RCA Photophone
586:
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444:Henry Halstead
337:public address
320:
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266:First National
258:short subjects
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1112:Sound-on-film
1110:
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1015:
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974:
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968:
967:Colleen Moore
964:
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949:
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931:
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920:
918:
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898:
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881:Marjorie Main
878:
874:
870:
866:
862:
858:
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853:Brian Donlevy
850:
846:
842:
838:
834:
830:
826:
822:
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813:Joan Blondell
810:
806:
805:Bill Robinson
802:
798:
794:
790:
786:
782:
778:
774:
770:
769:Sylvia Sidney
766:
762:
758:
757:Spencer Tracy
754:
753:Adelaide Hall
750:
746:
745:Jimmy Stewart
742:
738:
732:
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717:
715:
699:
681:
676:
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669:
665:
660:
658:
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631:
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623:
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614:
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599:
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594:Theodore Case
591:
587:
583:
579:
574:
571:
567:
566:
561:
557:
556:
555:
553:
544:
539:
538:Thomas Edison
535:
531:
528:
524:
520:
519:Lee De Forest
516:
515:
514:
511:
509:
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493:
489:
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481:
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468:
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372:
368:
364:
360:
359:
354:
349:
346:
342:
338:
334:
330:
329:Lee De Forest
326:
319:Early history
318:
316:
314:
309:
307:
306:
301:
297:
293:
275:
271:
270:sound-on-disc
267:
263:
259:
255:
254:feature films
251:
247:
240:
239:
234:
210:
202:
199:
197:
193:
190:
187:
183:
179:United States
177:
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146:
139:
134:
122:
119:
111:
100:
97:
93:
90:
86:
83:
79:
76:
72:
69: β
68:
64:
63:Find sources:
57:
53:
47:
46:
41:This article
39:
35:
30:
29:
24:
16:
1989:Warner Bros.
1809:
1774:Panel switch
1618:
1606:
1592:
1578:
1561:
1547:
1523:
1506:
1500:
1490:December 11,
1488:. Retrieved
1483:
1474:
1464:December 11,
1462:. Retrieved
1458:
1449:
1439:December 11,
1437:. Retrieved
1433:
1408:February 10,
1406:. Retrieved
1401:
1392:
1380:. Retrieved
1376:the original
1371:
1362:
1354:
1350:
1345:
1335:
1330:
1318:. Retrieved
1307:
1299:
1295:
1286:
1281:
1269:. Retrieved
1262:Douglas Self
1256:
1239:
1236:Film History
1235:
1215:
1192:
1178:
1173:
1149:. Retrieved
1145:
1136:
1062:
1050:
1040:
1037:Looney Tunes
1036:
1030:
1026:Looney Tunes
1024:
1018:
1012:
1009:
997:
993:
986:
970:
962:Why Be Good?
960:
950:
942:
926:
917:Cyd Charisse
913:Edgar Bergen
901:Shemp Howard
897:June Allyson
893:Ethel Waters
865:Phil Silvers
845:Leo Carrillo
841:Milton Berle
833:Helen Morgan
821:Ethel Merman
809:Lillian Roth
801:Xavier Cugat
789:Betty Hutton
781:Mischa Elman
733:
721:
677:
673:
661:
635:
626:
621:
618:
612:
610:
563:
549:
534:LΓ©on Gaumont
512:
473:
471:laboratory.
469:
461:
457:
447:
440:
434:
412:
406:
395:Harry Warner
387:Adolph Zukor
382:
381:
374:
356:
350:
322:
310:
303:
262:Warner Bros.
245:
244:
236:
175:Headquarters
153:Warner Bros.
148:Company type
114:
105:
95:
88:
81:
74:
62:
50:Please help
45:verification
42:
15:
1885:Competitors
1851:Bell System
1701:Candlestick
1146:www.aes.org
1097:Photokinema
946:Hugh Hefner
873:Judy Canova
857:Jane Froman
777:Ruth Etting
773:Pat O'Brien
582:film frames
570:human error
523:Audion tube
504:interlocked
496:loudspeaker
67:"Vitaphone"
1958:Categories
1820:Touch-Tone
1693:Telephones
1128:References
1107:Sound film
1004:John Wayne
953:Rose Marie
905:Lanny Ross
889:Joe Penner
885:Rose Marie
861:Jack Haley
761:Jack Benny
552:format war
480:phonograph
476:projectors
391:Sam Warner
302:, such as
250:sound film
78:newspapers
1846:Bell Labs
1810:Vitaphone
1320:April 22,
1271:March 31,
1179:Vitaphone
1151:March 31,
1092:Phonofilm
1087:Movietone
979:in 2016.
957:Al Jolson
825:Abbe Lane
737:Al Jolson
724:Vitagraph
601:Movietone
590:Phonofilm
527:Phonofilm
508:film gate
492:amplifier
403:Al Jolson
371:Will Hays
367:Roy Smeck
345:Phonofilm
246:Vitaphone
131:Vitaphone
1921:See also
1751:Trimline
1746:Princess
1484:CBS News
1382:July 11,
1071:See also
936:and the
749:Bob Hope
680:trailers
655:24
494:; and a
389:offered
383:Don Juan
358:Don Juan
260:made by
238:Don Juan
185:Products
108:May 2011
1907:Kellogg
1856:Graybar
1248:3815141
1182:at the
709:⁄
691:⁄
668:shellac
645:⁄
484:pickups
454:Process
300:talkies
285:⁄
167:Defunct
159:Founded
92:scholar
1625:
1599:
1585:
1571:
1554:
1534:
1246:
1047:Legacy
915:, and
696:
650:
437:(1927)
290:
248:was a
196:Parent
94:
87:
80:
73:
65:
1244:JSTOR
664:vinyl
490:; an
488:fader
465:press
363:opera
99:JSTOR
85:books
1861:IBTC
1794:5ESS
1789:1ESS
1736:5302
1623:ISBN
1597:ISBN
1583:ISBN
1569:ISBN
1552:ISBN
1532:ISBN
1492:2017
1466:2017
1441:2017
1410:2021
1384:2023
1322:2021
1290:day.
1273:2018
1153:2018
1039:and
955:and
622:both
486:; a
170:1959
162:1925
71:news
1902:ITT
1897:GTE
1784:5XB
1779:1XB
1731:302
1726:202
1721:102
1065:DTS
698:rpm
657:fps
652:rpm
598:Fox
521:'s
379:).
373:, (
331:'s
292:rpm
54:by
1960::
1716:D1
1711:B1
1706:A1
1564:,
1538:.
1530:,
1526:,
1482:.
1457:.
1432:.
1418:^
1400:.
1370:.
1355:18
1264:.
1238:.
1224:^
1201:^
1161:^
1144:.
1060:.
940:.
919:.
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899:,
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1494:.
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283:1
280:+
121:)
115:(
110:)
106:(
96:Β·
89:Β·
82:Β·
75:Β·
48:.
25:.
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