08/06/2026
On May 20th, the PastForward Ensemble has taken part in what probably is the first ever recording of a period-instrument orchestra using historical recording techniques, thanks to the research of Duncan Miller from Vulcan Records and Dr. Inja Stanovic.
The experiment allowed the reconstruction of a historical recording using the methods first invented by Thomas Alva Edison in the 1870s: a large funnel/horn engraving vibrations on a wax disc which can later be used as a mold for a hard vinyl. The purpose was to explore how music and its environment have changed with the invention of sound recording, and what the reconstruction of historical recordings can teach us about historically informed performance.
What are we actually hearing on these old recordings? Are they really representative of tempi, vibrato, portamento, phrasing and balance from 1900s’ practice?
Limited recording duration, problems with balance and difficult frequencies lead the musicians to re-interpret the music in order to accommodate the apparatus built by Miller. Some expression techniques such as vibrato and dynamics were partially lost when playing the wax disc back. All in all, such recordings from the 1920s are in fact performances that are already shaped by recording conditions.
On the photos you can see our ensemble during the capture of Debussy’s "Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un Faune", imitating the old photographs of recordings from 100 years ago: packed in a very small room, very close to the funnel to maximise the amount of sound captured; and—quite a new experience for the two horn players, Federico Cuevas and Nicolas Roudier—the horns are playing backwards, bell to the recorder, with a mirror to watch the conductor, a technique also documented in photographs like the one attached.
A poetic detail: playing the wax master disc destroys it—which makes the music ephemeral and spontaneous again, until you copy the record on a hard, repeatedly readable support. Which means that we actually sacrificed one of our takes during the presentation.
Recording in these conditions changes everything from the perspective of musicians as well: everything is in one take, we had to play in a very different manner than for a performance, and no one really knows what is on the disc in the end.
A very fun, unique, enlightening experience.
