#78 project

78′s were mostly made from shellac, i.e., beetle resin, and were the brittle predecessors to the LP (microgroove) era. The format is obsolete, and just picking them up can cause them to break apart in your hands. There’s no way to predict if the digital versions of these 78s will outlast the physical items, so we are preserving both to ensure the survival of these cultural materials for future generations to study and enjoy.

I'm going to be that guy. I understand the intent. I do (I think). I love nothing more that recovering the sounds of the past for the present, but I have to confess, if I could have the earlier artists recorded on digital, or tape, I would - without hesitation.

I share a fascination with older technologies, but it isn't a romance as much as a necessity. I have enormous respect for those who understand the instantaneous recording technology as it aids in the reformatting of objects committed to the medium when it was the best option.

The distinction, then, that I have to draw, is the difference between 'recovering history' and misguided nostalgia for a past that used the tools of its time. Many of my favorite recordings were committed to instantaneous disc, like those used in the 78 Project, but I have no misgivings imagining John and Alan Lomax using a digital recorder in its place if the technology were available at the time. In reality, instantaneous disc recording was (and is) clunky, fragile, and lo-fidelity.

Check out this video of Reverend John Wilkins playing and singing "I Want Jesus To Walk With Me" in Hunter's Chapel, his church in Como, Mississippi.

Richard Thompson performs "The Coo Coo Bird" for The 78 Project.

Our friends Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal recently did a session in their kitchen with the 78 Project, an awesome organization recording artists playing public domain songs on an old Presto recorder, straight to acetate discs. We're big fans of the 78 Project; it's analog principles to the fullest: one take, cut right into the vinyl.

They're throwing a benefit concert at City Winery on May 20th with limited edition acetate copies of their sessions available.