History of Phonograph Recording

Early phonograph records played at about 78 revolutions per minute (RPM).

The phonograph, the original machine for recording and reproducing sound, was developed in the 19th century by French inventor Charles Cros and the American Thomas Edison. The device represented a revolution in business, education, and the entertainment industry, as music (as well as speech) could be reproduced at the convenience of any individual.

Telegraphic Innovation

In 1877, the inventor Thomas Edison was experimenting with a machine that would record the dashes and dots of telegraph messages by inscribing them on a roll of paper. The paper could be rewound and replayed, if necessary, to repeat the message over the wires. Edison believed this same method of inscription might allow him to make a recording of the human voice.

Sound Reproduction

Atmospheric pressure waves created by vibration and movement are the source of sounds heard by the ear as voices and music. Through the work of French sound researchers Edouard Leon Scot and Charles Cros, Edison knew these waves had a varying physical shape that could be engraved on a solid body and then reproduced. For his first phonograph, he adapted the rubber telephone diaphragm, which vibrates with sound, and attached to it a small needle, which moved with the vibration.

Recording and Playback

Edison had his assistant, John Kreusi, construct a recording machine that consisted of two diaphragms with attached needles, and a metal cylinder wrapped with a thin sheet of tin foil. As the cylinder was manually turned, the operator spoke into a speaking tube, causing the recording diaphragm to vibrate, and indent a shifting vertical indentation in the rotating foil. For playback, the second diaphragm was placed against the foil and the cylinder was turned again. The inscribed lines in the foil moved the diaphragm, which then emitted the recorded sound. Edison tested the machine by uttering "Mary had a little lamb" into the speaking tube.

First Patent

The phonograph was patented in February, 1878. In 1880, Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, improved the phonograph by using a wax cylinder and a needle that permanently etched the recording into the cylinder. This "graphophone" won a patent in 1886. Edison adapted the graphophone in his own work, and founded the Edison Phonograph Company to sell the machine. In 1888, he sold the company to Jesse Lippincott, but Edison regained control in 1890 and eventually mass-produced the machines for home use.

Phonograph Discs

In 1901, the company developed a method of molding and mass producing wax recording cylinders. A flat disc, which was rotated in a horizontal position for playback, was developed by the Victor company and directly competed with Edison's cylinders. The discs were made of shellac and played at 78 revolutions per minute (RPM), as opposed to the faster speed of the cylinder, and could hold a substantially longer recording. In 1945, Columbia Records issued the first 33-1/3 RPM "long-playing" discs. Within a year RCA Victor began issuing 7-inch 45 RPMs, which could be stacked and played in succession with an automatic changer.

Decline

The compact disc, a system of optical digital recording, was introduced in 1982. By the late 1980s CDs had surpassed analog phonograph recordings as the preferred commercial music format. Phonograph recordings continued to be sold, mainly to a receptive international audience, and as the favored performance medium of hip-hop and club DJs.

References

• Library of Congress: The History of the Edison Cylinder Phonograph
• Recording History: History of Phonograph Recording
• History of the Phonograph