I am just completing part of my submission for Module 4, and I have done some work on English country dance 78rpm recordings. As an aside, I presented a conference paper on this subject at the Steeping Conference held at Cecil Sharp House on the weekend of 16 and 17 November 2019.

Here are some did you knows:

The first 78rpms of English country dances were recorded in the USA in 1915 and 16 and issued on Victor and Columbia records. At the first session supervised by Elizabeth Burchenal and using Cecil Sharp’s arrangements, the dance Goddesses was recorded at 124 beats per minute (62 bars). Interesting, Cecil Sharp suggested that there was no historical authority for speed, but recommend that 112 beats per minute would be adequate.

The tune Speed the Plough that is played widely by folk musicians was recorded by the Folk Dance Band on 16 July 1928. The Morris Motors Band recording that is usually cited as the source recording by Rod Straddling and others was recorded on 20 December 1937.

The recording of Circassian Circle in 1947 by The Square Dance Band was the first to have a change of tune!

If you want to listen to some of these 78s, the easiest way is to buy a copy of Listen to the Band, published by the English Folk Dance and Song Society and complied by Mike Wilson-Jones. Not all the tunes are suitable for dancing, as some are really fast, like Christchurch Bells that comes in at 136 beats per minute. In preparation for my presentation, I worked out my walking speed. 98 steps per minute.

Lastly, 78rpm records generally came in 260mm or 300mm diameter and a playback on each side was 03:30 or 04:30 minutes.  You could get 22 tracks on a CD. 22 tracks would mean 11 records and that would weigh 2.6kg, compared to 0.083Kg for a CD. What progress!