Sound Recording
We need to backtrack a bit to
understand sound recording
Leon Scott de Martinville phonautograph - 1857
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Attached a bristle to a
membrane at the end of a
cone, set the bristle to touch
a piece of smoked glass
Spoke into the cone
membrane vibrated to the
sound and the bristle etched a
wavy line onto the smoked
glass
Spring of 2009 scientists were
able to get sound from one of de
Martinville’s paper
phonautographs – a woman
singing for 10 seconds
Thomas Edison
Tinfoil phonograph – 1877
Close-up on bumps
Chichester Bell / Charles Tainter
Bell and Tainter’s phonograph – 1885
Close-up
Emile Berliner
Berliner Gramophone – 1887
Eldridge Johnson / Gramophone
“Little Nipper”
Columbia’s Eagle
Mechanical recording session
Electrical Recording
Valdemar Poulsen
Telegraphone – 1897
Close up of telegraphone
Telegraphone – 1915
Fritz Pfleumer
Magnetic tape
BASF/AEG Magnetophone – 1935
Carbon granule mic
Condenser Microphone
Ribbon mike
Electrical recording session
Cone speaker
Siemans’ dynamic speaker
Radiation speaker
Orthophonic speaker
Speaker construction
Back to tape
Reel to reel tape recorder – 1948
Cassette tape – 1963
Norelco CarryCorder – 1965
8 track tape – 1966
Sony Walkman – 1979
Digital Revolution
Close up of record grooves
CD pits