big ethno news

[merchimerch]

This is a huge deal for ethnomusicologists - Standford researchers have confirmed that Thomas Edison didn't make the first sound recording - it was made by a French typesetter Eduard Scott. It was made on paper, and was probably Scott's daughter. To be fair, the recording was made to be a visual, not sound recording, so I'm not sure how exactly this fits into our historiography/teleology.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8739021?source=most_viewed

Comments

[mehitabelmmoss.livejournal.com]

I used to teach about Invention: Alex Bell wasn't the first to send sound through wires either - just 1st to the patent office by machination. The Wrights slowed American airplane development by patenting everything in sight and then suing like crazy so European inventors bypassed us quickly. We caught up late in WWI after the patents were 'taken' by the US Gov't as an emergency step.

Myths and stories of invention are filled with such stories. I wasn't surprised about this.

[trooper6.livejournal.com]

Hey, we Musicologists care about this news, too.

:)

NPR played it...

[thesaruswrex.livejournal.com]

Laser ran over the media about 10,000 times to scan it in. Converted the scan into sound waves. Sounds terrible, but 150 years old, isn't going to be DVD quality, that is for sure.

[bellebonnesage.livejournal.com]

The difference between this and Edison's recording is that Edison was specifically interested in developing technology for the playback of sound.

(I grew up in West Orange, NJ, home of the Edison labs, which are now a museum. School trips ensured that I know a LOT about Thomas Edison!)

[sps.livejournal.com]

So ... Scott's interest was actually in inventing the spectogram, but he didn't quite get there?