In 1857, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville invented a device called the phonautograph. The phonautograph recorded sounds visually, but could not play those recorded sounds back. Today, scientists in Berkeley, California have figured out how to play back Scott's phonautograms.
Here's a link to the story, as well as a ten-second clip of the French folk song 'Au Clair de la Lune,' recorded on April 9, 1860. The sound clip brings a whole new meaning to "scratchy record," but there's definitely a singer singing a song in there.
Scott had hoped that some day in the future, his phonautograms could be deciphered. 150 years later, his hope has come true.
2 comments:
de Martinville was so lo fi. Before it was even in. That dude was keepin' it real, my friend.
The next super-indie thing will be to record your songs on a phonautograph, and then release only 50 copies of the spool of paper.
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