The First Recording Ever Made

The phonautograph invented by Edouard-Léon Scott de Martinville

Have you ever heard the first recording ever made? Today you can. It was French inventor Edouard-Léon Scott de Martinville who created a machine called the phonautograph, which made it possible to capture sound waves. 

The phonautograph transcribed sound rather than recording it. A hog’s bristle was used to inscribe a sound’s waveform on lamp-blackened glass and later on paper. The sound waves were focused using a barrel like the one shown on the picture above. 

The first recording of sound which was actually directly playable was done on Thomas Edison’s phonograph, the predecessor of the gramophone, the device we have been listening music on until the late 1980’s

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Sync/Lost

The history of modern electronic music can be explored with Sync/Lost, an interactive multi-user installation, created by 3Bits, a creative studio from Brazil. Up to three users can interact with the installation simultaneously. 

The installation uses Wii-motes and wireless headphones or speakers. Users can browse and listen to the different genres and see the connections between them. On the right of the screen we find more information about the selected tracks.

Via Richard van Tol

Traveling Sound Museum: listen to the past

Have you ever wondered what the world sounded like a thousand years ago? The Traveling Sound Museum gives you the unique chance to listen to the ancient soundscape of the world. The sonic history of our planet, captured in sound jars.

The Traveling Sound Museum is a great looking piece, influenced by the 19th century American salesman. But it also aims at raising questions about museums, collections, and institutional truth and honesty. What moment in history would you want to hear?