In early 1940, Alan Blumlein and his team at the EMI Central Research Labs began work on the technology behind the Capacitance Altimeter. This device works by measuring the differences in charge between a low lying aircraft and the charge at earth’s surface, therefore enabling aircraft and other vehicles to fly at night and in… Read more »
In 1924 The Gramophone Company was commissioned by the royal household on behalf of Princess Marie Louise to make a bespoke set of six miniature records and a miniature gramophone for Queen Mary’s Doll’s House. The Doll House was to be filled with an extensive collection of fully functioning miniature pieces carefully selected to showcase the… Read more »
A huge congratulations to all of this year’s Grammy winners! Did you know that the Grammy Award was originally called a Gramophone Award. It is given by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognise significant achievements in the music industry. The man responsible for inventing the gramophone and flat disc was Emile… Read more »
We have been overwhelmed by all of the incredible stories and images sent in via our ‘Memories of EMI Campaign.’ We are now looking for your stories and memories of EMI, the Company, the music, the factories, the artists as well as the studios. We are hoping to capture your memories on film to share and keep for… Read more »
In December 1900 William Barry Owen (co-founder of the British Gramophone Company) gained the rights to sell and manufacture the newly developed Lambert Typewriter. The name of the company was then changed to “The Gramophone and Typewriter Ltd.” The Lambert Typewriter was initially taken on as insurance against the possible failure of the Gramophone as… Read more »
Alan Blumlein was a senior sound engineer at EMI’s Central Research Laboratories (CRL) on the Hayes factory site. He joined the company when Columbia and The Gramophone Company merged in 1931. Over his lifetime he was a prolific inventor, developing huge technological advances within the sound engineering field. After a night at the cinema with… Read more »
When Captain Robert Falcon Scott embarked upon the Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica and the south Pole in 1910 The Gramophone Company (the original name for EMI) lent the expedition two HMV gramophones and several hundred 78 rpm shellac discs, specifically chosen to boost the team’s morale, many of which are referred to in diaries… Read more »
This silver spade was used to cut the first sod on the site of the Gramophone and Typewriter Company building site. World famous Gramophone company tenor Edward Lloyd was given the honour of breaking the first sod at the Blyth Road site February 9th, 1907. This spade is currently preserved at the EMI Archive Trust. David Hughes,… Read more »
The EMI Archive Trust honors the enormous sacrifices made by those in times of war. Please support The Royal British Legion’s work through the Poppy Appeal.
The EMI Group Archive Trust was delighted to welcome Age UK to the EMI Archive Trust exhibition in The Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes. Many of the Age UK visitors used to work on the EMI site in the factories and the offices. We sat down to talk about some of their memories of the… Read more »