History Of Recorded Sound Part 1: The Phonautograph and Phonograph

If you follow our YouTube channel, then you are aware we are working on a new series where every week we will discuss a small section of the history of music and audio recording. I decided that once a week I will make a written version of the YouTube video so that the people who don't watch the channel, can still get the information. However, the written version will have a bit more information in it as it doesn't require as much work to produce and I'm more comfortable making written content than a video.

THE BEGINNING: 

The history of audio recording is divided into eras; the first of which is called The Analogue Era (AE for short). The AE focuses on the time from 1854 to about 1930.

Now when most people think of the beginning of audio recording, they are more than likely under the assumption that Thomas Edison was the first person to figure out and produce a way to record sound, but this is not true. The first person to actually find a way to record sound was a Frenchman named Edouard Leon Scott De Martinville. He created a machine called the Phonautograph. The Phonautograph was originally to be used as a way to visually study the effects of sound and how different environmental factors affected sound production. Scott got the idea to make the Phonautograph when he was helping a regular client of his book store make extra copies of a medical presentation that talked about how the ear perceived sound. Scott was also fascinated by the idea of an automatic stenographer; he wanted to make a way for businessmen and the courts to record conversations that was more convenient than by hand. 

Edouard Leon Scott De Martinville

As previously mentioned the Phonautograph was meant as a way to visually study sound, so the design was not made to produce playable recordings and also did not have a built in way to play them back. For over 150 years it was thought that we would never hear the first recordings of man's own voice however, an organization called First Sounds decided to try and trace back the history of recording so that they could find out who really discovered audio recording and see what the oldest playable recording was. 

THE PHONAUTOGRAPH

The Phonautograph

The Phonautograph was originally built to run along a flat surface with a piece of blackened paper on it and then a stylus would etch the waveform of the sound onto the paper. Scott later revised the design to the one pictured above; still using the blackened paper and stylus, the design now rotated along an axis instead of along a flat plane. The oldest known recording of man's own voice is Scott singing Au Claire De La Lune.

Scott singing Au Claire De La Lune

The recording of Scott singing was recorded in 1857 and was made playable by First Sounds in 2008.

Now Edison was the first person to figure out how to record sound, and play it back! He created a device called the Phonograph in 1877, 20 years after Scott completed his Phonautograph. But Edison claimed to not even know who Scott was and claimed that he came up with the theory of audio recording all on his own. 

The Phonograph

The Phonograph worked by rotating a tin or wax cylinder while a stylus etched the waveforms picked up by the horn into the cylinder. You could then store and playback the cylinders at a later time. This was the beginning of the music industry.

The cylinders used on the Phonograph

That's it for this chapter of our adventure through the history of audio recording; if you found this educational or enjoyable check out our Patreon page and donate if you can. Also, check out our YouTube channel for more great content! A special thank you to First Sounds for supplying the audio recording of Scott.