God Save The King!

The MP3 above was produced on the 27th August 2016 from the aluminium EKCO disc entitled "King George Sixth" dated 12th May 1938. This disc is an original recording of a "live" radio broadcast made by King George VI to the Empire following his coronation earlier that day. With "The King's Speech" and "Ding! Dong! This is London!" this completes a trilogy concerning George VIs accession. Just over half his 8 minute speech was captured. As in "The King's Speech" about 30s lost as my grandfather swopped the sides of the disc.

The coronation introduced a number of firsts, both in protocol and in media coverage. The procession was the world's first outside event to be broadcast live by television. The coronation service in Westminster Abbey was the first to be broadcast live by radio. It was also the first to be filmed and shown later in cinema newsreels. Regarding protocol it was the first coronation to reflect the 1931 Statute of Westminster and the equality of law of the Dominions. This meant the King swore an oath to uphold Protestantism in the UK only.

It was also the first coronation to be attended by an already crowned Queen. This was Queen Mary the widow of George V. She did not relinquish her crown to the new Queen Elizabeth. Instead Elizabeth received a new crown, set with the Koh-I-Noor diamond taken from Mary's crown. During WW2 George VI would later add to the jewel's legend by hiding it at the bottom of a lake 20 miles from Windsor castle.

In other ways the coronation was similar to those for George V and Edward VII. BBC coverage focussed on the pageantry, inspiring patriotic feelings of pride, awe and adoration. So perhaps it was left to a young French magazine journalist to introduce the most significant first.

Henri Cartier-Bresson had become inspired by surrealism and adept at street photography. His aim was to reveal meaning in the reflexive acts of strangers. As the cavalcade came past he chose to point his camera away and take photographs of the public instead.

So rather than ordered and ornamental his pictures are organic and chaotic. There is humour as people flout social convention in need to pay homage. Old ladies are hoisted onto the shoulders of servicemen while others sit on the street munching their lunch. By comparison the Royal assembly gaze serenely, Gods from on top of Olympus.

Bresson is now recognised as the father of photo-journalism. Spontaneous photographs of ordinary strangers give visceral insight into world affairs. A naked girl runs screaming from a napalm attack. A drowned boy lies face down on a beach. A sailor kisses a nurse amongst a jubilant crowd. Emotionally exploitative? Courageously revealing? There is no denying their influence on public opinion.

Later Bresson would help establish a photo agency with the goal of providing photographs "in the service of humanity". Of course they would also serve the sales of magazines like LIFE and TIME. But perhaps his pictures remain the sincerest echo of that coronation, pulling aside the country's mask to reveal faces that would see hardship and loss in the years ahead.

Greenbank Records, Plymouth, England

The King's Speech

The MP3 above was produced on the 3rd July 2016 from the aluminium EKCO disc entitled "King on Xmas 1937" dated 25th December 1937 (see photo). This disc is a remarkable original recording of King George VIs first christmas radio broadcast to the Empire. There was no christmas broadcast the following year so this was his last christmas message before Britain declared war on Germany in 1939. It was also one of the final records my grandfather F.O.Brown made due to the wartime need for aluminium in aircraft.

Sandringham, Norfolk

As the King spoke at 3pm from Sandringham in Norfolk his words were broadcast live by radio and almost instantly recorded by my grandfather onto the metal disc using his garden antenna, hand-built radiogram and EKCO "radiocorder" (see link below) at his home in Greenbank in Edinburgh

Greenbank, Edinburgh (the first modern houses designed for domestic electrical supplies, appliances and light)

He also recorded the preceding BBC announcement transmitted from Broadcasting House, London featuring the three afternoon chimes of Big Ben and an orchestral rendition of the national anthem. No other recording of that BBC announcement may exist. No other original recording of the speech may exist. No one alive today heard it until July 2016.

Broadcasting House, London (opened 1932)

The disc is 78rpm allowing a few minutes of play each side. About 30s of the message was lost while my grandfather switched the sides. The final 30s was also lost as the second side ran out. Those missing parts can be heard on the British Sound Library website below (after about 30s and again after about 3mins 40s). The first missing 30s cover a reference to his father King George V and the final 30s cover the King's general wishes of wellbeing.

The British Sound Library recording is from a record produced by His Master's Voice. This was one of many 78rpm shellac records pressed from an original metal "master", itself taken from an original wax "mother" unlikely to still exist. The shellac record is less noisy but it misses the BBC broadcast announcement. My grandfather's EKCO disc is quite different. It is noisier but its modulations represent a direct imprint of King George VIs voice in a way that no pressed record can emulate.

His Master's Voice "78" (sold to the public with profits given to charity)

The MP3 recording has not been edited other than to "join" the two sides of the disc. It is noisy and has an honest unpolished power. It is striking in its gravitas and solemnity. The anthem is slow and melancholic. The King's intake of breath and his verbal struggle feels a heavy burden. His allusions to "emnity", "duty" and "fear" are foreboding.

Fittingly the MP3 production was also a struggle. During trials the tone arm skated continually and the record would not play for more than a few seconds. Skating is caused by frictional force pulling the arm inwards. My first approach was to try to reduce it by lowering the tracking force (weight) then compensate for the residual with anti-skating bias. But in the absence of weight the sound was poor and the stylus tended to jump. Furthermore the skating would just re-occur after about 30s.

The diagram below attempts to describe the physics. The equations seem easier than the words. In summary the skating "force" on the tone arm varies as it swings inward during play. This is partly because the friction reduces as the velocity of the needle in the groove reduces. But the situation is more complicated since the direction of the force acting on the arm changes as it moves. The net effect is a variable skating "force"  which cannot be corrected using a fixed anti-skating bias. In short, if it is corrected somewhere on the record then it will just re-occur elsewhere.

Trials involving dynamic adjustment of the anti-skating bias seemed to allow extended play. It therefore seemed possible that a numerical model might allow adjustments to be optimised to avoid skating while allowing greater tracking force and improved sound. Thankfully while considering that prospect I chanced upon a can of WD40 in the kitchen. The sight broke any willpower I had not to meddle with the 80 year old metal surface. I grabbed the can, sprayed it liberally over the disc, wiped off the excess fluid with a soft cloth, put the disc back on the platter, popped the stylus on and waited. The rest turned out be history. WD40 may well be one of most commonly known fix-its. But its use in lubricating King George VI's voice seems so novel it is unlikely even his speech therapist would have thought of it.

Greenbank Records, Plymouth, England

WD40 ... admittedly an American invention