[The following note describes a series of notebooks and has no document records attached to it. For that reason, a "no Documents found" message will appear if the "List Documents" button at the bottom of the note is used. To see the records in the notebooks described here, use the "Which Series Notes?" button to enter the Series Notes or use the "Next Text" button to move to the first item in the series.]

These thirteen notebooks were used by E. Rowland Dawson, Clarence B. Hayes, William A. Hayes, Absalom M. Kennedy, Frank H. Losey, Walter H. Miller, George J. Werner, and others during the period 1915-1924 for notes on experimental recordings. The selected books primarily cover the period May 1915-August 1917, but there are also some entries from 1918-1921. Many of the experiments involve the use of various types of recorders and horns—as well as variations in the positions of horns, recording machines, instruments, and voices—in order to determine the optimum volume and quality of sound. Several books include maps and drawings to indicate the positions, as well as extensive information on the various horns used in the experiments. Some of the recording work was done at the Columbia Street Studio, where cylinders were dubbed or transferred from disc records and experimental work was carried out for long-playing and slow-speed recordings. Many of the Columbia Street recordings were intended for background music and sound effects for motion pictures. Some of the experimental work on cylinder-to-disc dubbings included attempts to re-record selections by artists that were no longer under contract with Edison. Considerable experimental work was also done on acoustical recording, with instruments in various positions and distances and with the use of long acoustical recording horns.

The eight notebooks containing substantial Edison comments or references to his work have been selected.