jan 1, 1857 - Phonautograph

Description:

Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville
The Phonautograph was invented by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville. It was the first time that audio was recorded even though it was only for visual purposes. It was inspired by a book that Edouard read about the anatomy of the human ear, both in the way it worked and the design. He constructed a cone shaped canal to conduct his voice down towards a needle that vibrated and scratched onto a flexible material that varied with his different models of the device. In 1877, Charles Cros realized that he could convert the recording from the phonautograph into sound by photoengraving the scratches onto a metal surface to create a playable groove. The Phonautograph was then used to reverse the process and create a hearable sound.

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