I came across a weird looking "album" last summer at a garage sale and wondered if anyone had any ideas what it is. It is a 12" black album yet is made of metal with 1 hole in the center and three others surrounding it. It looks to me like it may have been used for pressing albums or maybe just music cut directly to the disc. It has a few hand written notes and the markings "Shaw-NP" written in wax marker or something. I was able to play it on my 33 turntable with the power off so I could spin the platter by hand with the receiver powered up. It's a live recording of some kind. I also found a copy of a Nelson Riddle 78 sized LP in red vinyl. I believe Nelson Riddle played with a female singer by the last name Shaw which may explain the name Shaw scribbled on the metal lp.
Any ideas what I have? Is it worth anything? I'll try to post a picture if I can figure out how to post one. Thanks in advance. Gino

Sounds like an acetate from a recording studio. This was the way the first recording was preserved.

The "Shaw" disc is a transcription. It could be from an amateur (yes, you could buy record "recorders" and discs well into the 1960's!). Mostly, though, they're radio station transcriptions (ads, themes, etc.). My father, who was a broadcast engineer many years ago, has quite a few of these: 10", 12" and even 16".

The platters themselves were often plastic (shellac?) coated aluminum. EDIT: Acetate!!! yeah, acetate! That's the stuff!

Cannot offer any insight at all into the red vinyl 78, except to say that pop 78 singles were made well into the 1950's (at the same time as 45's).

Thanks for the information.

I came across a weird looking "album" last summer at a garage sale and wondered if anyone had any ideas what it is... It's a live recording of some kind...

What kind of music is it - instrumental, vocals, etc.?

The metal disc is definitely a transcription disk. The 16" were used to transcribe Armed Forces radio broadcasts back in WWII. I knew a film/video enthusiast who had a lot of wire recorders and other "dead" media formats in his collection, and he had a 16" transcription machine with a few blank discs, and a stack of radio broadcasts.

IIRC, transcription discs usually were played at 16-2/3 rpm, as well.

It's definitely 12" lp sized and it has live jazz with vocals on it. It has a sticker on one side with handwritten notes also. Since I had to spin it by hand on the turntable to get close to 78 speed, it didn't sound as good as it could have. I'll have to give it another spin and see if I can make out any familiar lyrics and report back. Thanks again, Gino

The transcriptions could be 16, 33, or 78 (maybe even 45), at the whim of the recorder.