May 30, 2014
A recording
made by Thomas Edison in 1877 has long been thought to be the first
artificially recorded sound. It turns out the first
recordings were made in 1860 by Frenchman, Edouard-Leon Scott de
Martinville, using a Phonautograph. The recording medium was
merely paper covered in soot, so the sound literally emerges from
smoke. As a result of advances in audio technology,
these phonautograph recordings can now be heard again using lasers
which do not damage or degrade these precious
artifacts.
This Deedlecast
is a remastered and remixed ("refixed") version of the classic
Deedlecast, "Phonautograph," which aired on June 20, 2008.
"Phonautograph" starts with the very first sound ever
recorded using the phonautograph (albeit altered quite a bit by dj
magic). There are some other similarly altered
phonautographic bits and pieces sprinkled throughout the
show.
Learn more about the phonautograph.