In the beginning of recording, among the first things to be recorded regularly were orchestras. Recording so many different instruments was perfected and improved upon by the beginning of the 20th century, but combining a performer and an orchestra still proved difficult. It was because of this fact that recordings of performers and orchestras were generally uncommon in the 1890s. They were done, but weren’t ideal considering all of the issues the process inherently carried at the time. With this in mind, recordings with piano accompaniment were most common. Obviously with recordings being made so fast and in such quantities, regular accompanists were needed. This is where Edward Issler and Frank P. Banta come in. Banta was not originally a very significant recorder for the phonograph, but soon his life would force major changes in the recording world.
Prior to 1897, recordings had to be made “by the round” as they called it. This meant that in order to make the demand for each piece, the performer had to play the song many times over and over. This is also why pianists were most often used. When recording so many rounds, it was just easier to have a single accompanist than several that would often need adjustments. The “round” era was a very tiring time for recording folks, and it’s because of this that many long-time recorders left the business when things changed.
Banta was perfect for the round. When he started making records in 1892, he had just turned 22, and according to some accounts, was a really entertaining and witty person to be around. He also became an accompanist sort of by accident. He was working regularly onstage with banjoist Vess Ossman and singer Dan W. Quinn, both of whom decided to try to record for the new medium that year, only to be surprised by how well they did with it. When they did, both of them brought in their accompanist, Banta. It took him a while to get used to it, but once he did, everyone noticed how talented he was at playing for the phonograph. While there were many accompanists who played piano in the brown wax era (1889-1903) Banta was arguably one of the few who did the most.
He unexpectedly influenced what was recorded toward the end of his life. While ragtime had been a popular type of music on recordings since its beginning, one could argue that Banta brought even more obscure ragtime to recording. It also could be said that “The Laughing Song” was intended as a syncopated number (as he is credited as the arranger on the sheet music), and that was published in 1894. Without him, pieces by Will Marion Cook may not have been recorded.
As the technology improved, this allowed for better quality recordings of orchestras and bands. There were many efforts to make records featuring popular singers and orchestras done in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Two of these experiments happened in the same year. In July 1900, Victor did a session featuring Arthur Collins and the Metropolitan Orchestra (led by Banta). They recorded seven titles. These records are incredibly rare today, with only a few hundred made of each. I have had the privilege of hearing one, but it was quite distorted. In fact, most of these that survive sound similar, the reason for this was the nature of the recordings themselves. Because the orchestra was so intricate and loud on the master, combined with the singing, these records wore out more quickly than those with a singer and piano.
They were successful enough to spark a “knock-off” if you will, done by Zon-O-Phone. Around the same time in 1900, Victor Herbert’s band (actually Hager’s) recorded four titles with singer Bert Morphy. What makes the Zon-O-Phones more interesting however is that they were recreations of performances Hager was actually doing at the time with Morphy. Hager’s band was performing with Morphy in the Bronx that summer. These records, like the Victors, have the same problem with distortion, as they were similarly recorded. The Zon-O-Phones have a distinct disadvantage, that being that Bert Morphy was known for being loud, therefore stressing the grooves further.
It is difficult to know which set of recordings came first, but considering the evidence to support it, the Hager ones probably came first, and because he and Banta were friends, Banta decided to follow the concept at Victor. In the same year Columbia also recorded a few titles with Morphy and Gilmore’s band as well, which likely had some sort of Hager intervention.
While these records were generally successful, they did not sell, as buyers learned they wore out quicker than others. This is why it took a few more years before orchestra accompaniment took over. What also really instituted this change was Banta’s death. Throughout 1903, there had still been a dominance of piano accompaniment on records, but by the end of that year it had changed. While it isn’t necessarily right to put the blame on a single accompanist for this shift, Banta’s absence did make an impact, like, for example, the Metropolitan Orchestra disappeared.
By the beginning of 1903 Fred Hylands left Columbia, and that made Columbia shift to more orchestra accompaniment. At the end of 1903, Fred Hager left Columbia as well, leaving the band and orchestra to Charles Prince, who certainly wanted to include his band more often. In 1904, orchestras and bands were more commonly the accompaniment for singers. Piano accompaniment remained essential for many classical and operatic recordings after this, as the intent of those recordings was of course to display the ability of the featured performers.
While all of this is good, as the rest of the decade came the overall quality of some recordings did not actually improve. In the brown wax era there was a lot of experimentation, but what did work, worked really well. Take for example Berliner and Zon-O-Phone’s recording method, tubes. Rather than the regular horns to be expected from early acoustic recording, these companies used long rubber tubes with small bells attached to the ends. This was a bit more impractical, but it made the quality and depth of the sound much better. It’s almost like using a microphone, as you can adjust it more freely than a horn. Oftentimes the tubes would be more adjusted than the orchestra itself.
By 1903, much of this prime quality being put out by Victor, Zon-O-Phone, and Columbia had dropped off. Some collectors note that Victor recordings of the middle 1900s and 1910s often sound distant and impersonal, and they do because of the new more efficient ways of recording.
