Pathé was the first company to make master recordings in a different
medium than the final commercial product. In the Pathé recording
studios, masters were cut on rapidly spinning wax cylinders that
measured about 13 inches long and 4 ½ inches in diameter.
Beginning in 1913, special "Paradis" cylinders about 8 inches in
diameter and 8 ½ inches long were used. The large, fast-spinning
cylinders allowed for a greater level of audio fidelity. The various
types of commercial Pathé cylinders and discs were then dubbed (or
"pantographed") from these masters. This dubbing process enabled copies
of the same master recording to be made available on multiple formats.
The process sometimes resulted in uneven results on the final commercial
record, causing a pronounced rumble or other audio artifacts. (This
rumble was generally undetectable on acoustic wind-up phonographs of the
period, but are noticeable on electric and more modern equipment.)
The vertically-cut Pathé discs normally required a special Pathé
phonograph equipped with a sapphire ball stylus. The advantage of the
sapphire ball stylus was its permanence. There was no need to change a
needle after every record side. The
Pathé record cover proudly proclaims, "No needles to change".
Pathé record sleeve detail
Pathé cylinder phonograph (1898)
French phonograph catalog "Compagnie Général"
Since most records and phonographs used a
different playback method, various attachments were marketed that
allowed one to equip a Pathé phonograph to play standard, laterally-cut
records. Attachments were also sold to equip a standard phonograph to
play Pathé records.
In 1920 Pathé introduced a line of "needle-cut" records, at first only
for the USA market. The needle-cut records were laterally-cut discs
designed to be compatible with standard phonographs, and they were
labelled
Pathé Actuelle.
In the following year, these "needle-cut" records were introduced in
the United Kingdom and within a few more years they were selling more
than the vertical Pathés, even on the continent. Attempts to market the
Pathé vertical-cut discs abroad were abandoned in 1925, though they
continued to sell in France until 1932.
There is a promotional recording with great snippets of music released by
Pathé, circa 1917, on YouTube (
link below) which declares, "With care, I will live to speak to your grandchildren when they are as old as you are."
In mid-1922 Pathé introduced a lower priced label called
Perfect.
This label became one of the most popular and successful "dime store"
labels of the 1920s, and survived beyond the end of the US Pathé label
(discontinued in 1930) right up to 1938.
In January 1927, Pathé began recording using the new electronic
microphone technology, as opposed to the strictly acoustical-mechanical method of recording they used until then.
Pathé record sleeve details
A subsidiary of the Pathé Records conglomerate was Pathé Records China (Chinese: 百代唱片; pinyin: Bǎidài Chàngpiān; Cantonese Yale: Baakdoih Cheungpín). It was the first major record company in Shanghai, China and later Hong Kong.
A recording from the movie, Children of Trouble Times (1935) 中华人民共和国国歌的原始版本，取自电影《风云儿女》(1935), featured March of the Volunteers, now the national anthem of the People's Republic of China, released by the Shanghai branch of Pathé in 1935 (link below). In it, they sing of building the Great Wall.
In December 1928, the French and British Pathé phonograph assets were sold to the British
Columbia Graphophone Company. In July 1929, the assets of the American Pathé record company were merged into the newly formed
American Record Corporation. The Pathé and Pathé-Marconi labels and catallogue still survive, first as imprints of
EMI and now currently EMI's successor
Parlophone Records. The film division of
Pathé Frères still survives in France.
In 1929, after Charles Pathé sold out his interest in the businesses he retired to
Monaco where he died in 1957.
Charles Pathé
photographer unknown
Emile Pathé
Circa 1919
photographer unknown
phonography articles/mentions
