Comic Genesis Forums

This newest strip underlines how catastrophic it was for Fen to lose a whole song. And why he was so loath to admit it.
And if I understand it right, the fairies have to make a fae rath.

The JAM wrote:Perhaps then, the Rac Conans need to a technological step back and use something similar to a phonograph, i.e., a purely mechanical way of recording sound. I don't think it should be that difficult to use lux to make a tiny needle etch a microscopic groove on a cylinder or disk of...say........

Drat, they don't have vinyl and metal would make the process too expensive. Ceramic doesn't seem to be malleable enough....maybe glass?

Uh, Jam?

You're thinking a little too high-tech here.

Edison's first "sound machine" used tin foil wrapped around a cylinder. Later versions used tin wrapped around a wax-coated cylinder, and eventually, just a plain wax cylinder.

A bit of Lux to "harden" and toughen the wax after the recording is made, and there you go.

You've missed one minor point....
As stated it takes a living mind to hear the music, and that they'd been trying for generations to record the music inside the Rath, using methods both magical and mechanical, to no avail.

The JAM wrote:[...unWARP!!!]
If the method used to record the sales pitch (unless Merchant Max used a lux-powered voice engine) is basically a "digital" method.....(though I'm still wondering how the sound wass generated if there was no speaker: another magnet-based device)....

Oh, that's easy. If you looked closely, the motion lines indicated that Wildcard was vibrating; just like a strong radio station can be heard from anything metallic in the area (including fillings), Wildcard's "sales pitch" consisted of a lux-recorded Merchant Max voice coming out of the vibrating blade.

[

Heavens save us from people who don't study their history. The first records, dear J.A.M., were wax-coated cylinders with a long shelf life. (One of the copies of Edison's "Mary Had A Little Lamb" test speech is still around.) These later developed into the much longer wax disks, many of which survive.

Keep in mind, however, that the Rac Cona Daimh may well follow a different branch of the technology tree. Consider: Thomas Alva Edison was already looking for a way to record sound when he developed the phonograph (literally, "sound write") from the telegraphy recorder known as the "phonautograph" ("sound self write"). Without telegraphy and the focus on sound transmission, it's unlikely the Rac Conans will ever develop sound recording to any great extent.

(Besides, the bards would shut it down in a heartbeat as threatening to take away jobs. Think about it: Would you rather negotiate with a flesh-and-blood musician who can get sick, get upset, or lose his voice? Or would you rather use a nifty, dependable phonograph when you want music?)

No, the Rac Cona Daimh are likely to restrict the vibrating diaphragm to one of its other uses; a toy woodcutter that moves when you speak.

Yours truly,

The historical,

Wanderer

[...unWARP!!!]

Good evening.


Yes, the wax cylinder, I knew I was leaving something out. Sorry.



Now then, if the Rac Cona have tried for a while and have NOT been able to invent recorded radio broadcast, what line of technology ARE they using? If they're not using anything involving electromagnetism, then no wonder they can't permanently capture an electromagnetic signal.


¡Zacatepóngolas!

Until next time, remember:

I

AM

THE

J.A.M. (a.k.a. Numbuh i: "Just because I'm imaginary doesn't mean I don't exist")

Good evening.

[WARP!!!]

Wanderwolf wrote:Without telegraphy and the focus on sound transmission, it's unlikely the Rac Conans will ever develop sound recording to any great extent.

(Besides, the bards would shut it down in a heartbeat as threatening to take away jobs.

I don't think so... The Rac Conan culture seems to be very libertarian. Based on the strips, I don't see anything like the restrictive guild system, and I have the strong impression that the govenment has no power to shut down someone peddling something like Edison cylinders. If some private group (like "the bards") tried to do so, it would be as an outlaw act.

Someone would have to be doing something obviously dangerous (like that Dr. Mengle type character... Rosad something?) in order to get restricted.

um, why all this fuss over someone elses work? plus there are some songs that should be lost....permanantely.

MikeVanPelt wrote:

Wanderwolf wrote:Without telegraphy and the focus on sound transmission, it's unlikely the Rac Conans will ever develop sound recording to any great extent.

(Besides, the bards would shut it down in a heartbeat as threatening to take away jobs.

I don't think so... The Rac Conan culture seems to be very libertarian. Based on the strips, I don't see anything like the restrictive guild system, and I have the strong impression that the govenment has no power to shut down someone peddling something like Edison cylinders. If some private group (like "the bards") tried to do so, it would be as an outlaw act.

Someone would have to be doing something obviously dangerous (like that Dr. Mengle type character... Rosad something?) in order to get restricted.

Like peddling Pak'ma'ra dinner music?

Squeaky Bunny wrote:Like peddling Pak'ma'ra dinner music?

Ah, Squeaky... you babylon so much.

Squeaky Bunny wrote:

MikeVanPelt wrote: Someone would have to be doing something obviously dangerous (like that Dr. Mengle type character... Rosad something?) in order to get restricted.

Like peddling Pak'ma'ra dinner music?

Actually, Pak'ma'ra music is glorious stuff. No matter that a Pak'ma'ra on a good day looks (and smells) like Cthulhu's little brother.

Maybe that's what Fen heard...

MikeVanPelt wrote:

Squeaky Bunny wrote:

MikeVanPelt wrote: Someone would have to be doing something obviously dangerous (like that Dr. Mengle type character... Rosad something?) in order to get restricted.

Like peddling Pak'ma'ra dinner music?

Actually, Pak'ma'ra music is glorious stuff. No matter that a Pak'ma'ra on a good day looks (and smells) like Cthulhu's little brother.

Maybe that's what Fen heard...

All I can say is: Carrion dear boy, carrion.

shyal_malkes wrote:as for Fen's song problem, I can't remember how many songs I've forgotten (imagine that). and it hurts, here I have a job that pays enough and [expenses] that don't take enough so I could actually buy some music and I can't remember the name of the songs! it's irritating and frustrating. there better be a collection of [CDs] in heaven or there's some people gonna be ticked.

Pick up Joel Whitburn's "Pop Annual", 1955-1999; lists every Top 100 song, peak position, artist, writer, label, length, and time on chart/top 40/10/peak.

I've been putting the ones I recognize into a spreadsheet; one of my goals for retirement if I make it there and my hearing/vision hold up is to rip all of my CDs and LPs to MP3s, dump them on whatever equivalent of the Ipod is around then, and create playlists so I can play them back in chronological order. I've got about 3300 songs listed already...

Ron