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Science Scott de Martinville records sound earlier than Edison
Science Scott de Martinville records sound earlier than Edison | Scott de Martinville records sound earlier than Edison |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Tuesday, 01 April 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 2 The search for the phonautograph was begun by Patrick Feaster and David Giovannoni late in 2007. The two examples of the recording were originally given to the French patent office when Scott de Martinville applied for patents in 1857 and 1859. Around March 2008, the two men traced these two specimens to several phonautograms at the Académie des Sciences of the Institut de France. Then, Feaster, Giovannoni, and fellow audio historians, recording engineers, and other such professionals—a group called First Sounds—sought the help of scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (California). These scientists converted the blackened scratches on a sheet paper to a condition that allowed the recording to be heard. Then, Earl Cornell and Carl Haber, two scientists at Lawrence Berkeley, made high-resolution digital scans of the paper in order to preserve the sound. Images of Scott de Martinville’s work are found at: Publicity Images . The reproduction of sound from the phonautograms can be heard at: Sounds of First Sounds . The press release from First Sounds of the sound discovery is found at: First Sounds Press Release . According to the website of First Sounds, the group “is an informal collaborative of audio historians, recording engineers, sound archivists, scientists, other individuals, and organizations who aim to make mankind's earliest sound recordings available to all people for all time.” It was founded in 2007 by David Giovannoni of Derwood, Maryland; Patrick Feaster of Indiana University, Bloomington Indiana; and Richard Martin and Meagan Hennessey, owners of Archeophone Records of Champaign, Illinois.
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