Saturday, March 29, 2008
Early 1860 recording found
Before Edison invented sound recording in 1877 a French typesetter recorded his daughter singing in 1860. It is a good example of the difference in marketing and inventing. It is also of interest that a museum had the recording in its archives. The recording was done on a carbon covered piece of paper. A paper record not unlike modern photocopies. 'Magical' song from 1860 knocks Edison off the chart
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2 comments:
Modern society continues to love to rewrite history. What is the point of recording sounds if you can not play them back? For that case, I could use my hand to "record" squiggles of the sound I hear. That would qualify sheet music for a sound recording.
It would be like writing a wonderful novel in your own language that no one else could read.
Edison still rules. In invention and practical application!
Actually they did play back the recordings. It just took a while to recreate the standard. Early records were usually glass, but based on the article the principle sounded the same. Computer programming for years was also recorded on paper in the form of punch cards. I think inventing and marketing are two different things. American Idol is a good example of how there are many talented singers who have been unable to be discovered by the recording industry. The Wright Brothers first flight would not have been remembered if they did not go on to repeat it and market it. There was an airplane inventor in East Texas who supposedly beat the Wright Brothers. He attempted to transport his plane to the St. Louis World's Fair, but heavy winds in Texarkana lifted the plane off the rail car and destroyed it. Was the first airplane flight in East Texas? Because the flight was not repeated at the World’s fair, no. I wonder what ever happened to the replica that was built. It was supposedly on display in Pittsburg Texas during the 1986 Texas Sesquicentennial.
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