The North American Phonograph Company was founded July 14, 1888, and owned the patents of Thomas Alva Edison, and The Volta
Laboratories American Graphophone Company. It was the first distributor of the wax cylinder Phonograph, and Phonograph-Graphophone.
Shawn Borri Revived Edison Records, AKA The North American Phonograph Company in 1997. We record on cylinder records, and
make blanks. We are looking to sell livemaster recordings, If you are interested in recording by the round, let us know.
We do not record off of tape, you must record in front of the horn.
This is an example of the blank cylinders we make, they are made in heated molds,
of an aluminum stearate soap formula, known by collectors as "brown wax" . Unlike the commercial process, of the 1890's we
use a longer, quality process of pre heated molds, and slow cooling in still air, a premium blank of American know how! Original
commercial blanks were force cooled with wet towels, and the outer tube forced off. The compound, molding, shaping, and shaving
all done in our facility, nothing is outsourced or made by others! Come and Visit us if you are in the neighborhood.
2020 marks 20 years of re-opening The North American Phonograph Company and making new brown wax cylinder records, and blanks.
The total output of new cylinders since 2000 is over a ton of new brown wax.
We do sell our wax compound by the pound. It is $55.00 per pound plus shipping. It will be annealed and filtered ready to
make blanks (cylinders or discs). The batch will come with an ideal molding temperature, and mold pre heat, which should
be followed, we will also include a 100 gram bag of stearic acid, in case you remelt the wax, you can add some to freshen
the batch up to replace stearic loss due to vaporization. It is normal for the wax to become darker, every time it is reheated.
The North American Phonograph Company In Chicago recording Rob Scallon for his famous Youtube
videos. This is the first time that a live metal band performs in front of an acoustical, original, Edison master studio
recorder, it has 1.5 million views!
We also supplied the phonograph, blanks and recording expertise to Bolden!
Wax cylinder
recording session at Bix Beiderbecke's
Childhood Home in the Quad Cities. Andy Schumm And His Dixie Flat Landers. Recording blanks and machine by The
North American Phonograph Company. This session used an an Edison recording head circa 1898.
The Photos Below are of Pablo Helguera-Archive Dead Languages Conservatory.
Shawn Borri produced the cylinder records for this project. The project started in 2004-ongoing, and comprises
of over 400 recordings. North American Phonograph Company still uses the Edison Cylinder Record for ethnography and
Ethnomusicology. The recordings are located in such museums as The Nelson-Atkins Museum of art, the Museum of Modern Art,
and The Guggenheim in New York. Shawn Borri has manufactured over 13,000 wax cylinders since 2000.
We are the acoustical recorders who recorded Thomas Negovan's 10" EP "By Popular Demand" a 45rpm record of 8 original
songs, recorded entirely on our wax cylinders, and an 1890's Edison Automatic recorder. It is also the first and only recording
of its kind!
Mickey
Hart and Shawn Borri at Vernon Downs Raceway in New York with recording phonograph, and blanks. Micky Hart is the purcussionist
for the Grateful Dead, and sound enthusiast, and author of Song Catchers, published by National Geographic. Hart said of the
work of Shawn Borri "My book come to life!"
