An Essay: A Brief History of Audio Recording

Aidan Singletary

English Language Arts

30 October 2023

A Brief History of Audio Recording

Recorded sound is so accessible and prevalent in our world today that it is very difficult to imagine a time before it existed. Beginning with the invention of the first recording device, the door to a new world of technology and human experience was opened. Recording technology advanced rapidly as we deepened our understanding of the acoustic realm. Now, audio recording is used in every facet of life as it improves and advances the human experience.

In 1854, Edouard-Léon Scott de Martinville invented his Phonautograph. This machine was the first dedicated to recording sound in a manner that would allow it to be visually analyzed. An acoustic trumpet collected the sound from the air and directed it to a membrane affixed to the end. Attached to the membrane was a stylis of boar’s bristle. The stylis lightly brushed a thin stratum of lampblack which was turned on a small hand-cranked barrel. The membrane vibrated the stylis and etched the recording of sound into the lampblack. Scott created this machine in order to study sound visually. He never intended his recording to be played back, nor did he imagine that would be possible.

In the late 1800s, there were many people who imagined the ability to record and playback sound but the first to produce a machine capable of this feat was Thomas Edison. In the mid to late 1800s, Thomas Edison was heavily involved in the advent of early telephone technology. In 1877, in the midst of his soaring fame and stature as an inventor, Thomas Edison patented the Phonograph. This machine was the first of its kind, capable of recording and, soon after, replaying sound. It was very similar in construction to the Phonautograph, having a hand-cranked barrel, diaphragm, and needle. Where the similarities ended, however, was in the recording medium. Instead of lampblack, Edison used first tinfoil, and subsequently wax to house the recording of sound impressed by the needle. This allowed another needle to be placed in the groove after recording, and when the barrel was turned, to produce sound in the transverse of how it was recorded. Vibrations were sent up the needle, to the diaphragm, and out the acoustic trumpet. This was the first of many Phonograph machines Thomas Edison produced, patented, and sold. Soon after its invention, the Phonograph was given a flat-disk design and became even more popular. These discs were called “records” and are still used as a recording medium today. The Phonograph soon became a household device and many thousands of wax cylinder records were sold. Thousands of record-producing companies started and were referred to as “labels” referencing the unique label on the face of each record.

Until 1925, most recording labels recorded sound physically using the same method as the Phonograph and Phonautograph. However, with the burgeoning advancement of electrical audio, the record-recording industry was ripe for advancement. Sensitive microphones created for the radio industry were added to the recording of records in the 1920s, and by 1925 the majority of record labels switched to this recording method which produced a higher quality sound. Soon after, most phonographs (record players) switched to an electrical amplification method for playback. These loudspeakers were put in the place of acoustic trumpets and other acoustic amplification methods. Although both acoustic methods were still used for some time, most companies switched to electrical methods by the 1930s. Almost all modern sound industries use this electrical amplification both in the recording process and in playback.

Phonograph records were expensive to produce, as is a Phonograph itself. In the constant search for cheaper and more convenient means to record sound, a German engineer, Fritz Pleumer, invented magnetic tape. Originally invented in 1928 and used by Germany in World War II to record radio broadcasts, it wasn’t until after the war that the invention gained traction in the rest of the world. Pleumer’s method used electrical audio signals which he converted to magnetic energy and stored on magnetic tape. The magnetic tape could then be used to playback the sound recorded. This advancement permitted much longer recordings than had previously been possible. Before the 1950s, most phonograph records were limited to five or six minutes of audio; magnetic audio storage allowed for as much time as one could acquire in length of tape. Magnetic tape mostly replaced records by the 1980s, and many forms were invented including 8-tracks, Fidelipac, Cassette, and many more. Today, while magnetic tapes have largely disappeared from public use, they are still used in large data storage centers.

In our modern world, all recording is electronic and our sound is stored as code on the hard drives of computers. The leap from using electricity to enhance or carry sound to using it to store and reproduce sound was first approached by Max Matthews, an American Electrical Engineer, in 1957. He produced the first computer-generated music. Since then, computer power has advanced unimaginably and allowed us to perfect audio storage and creation through it. Every sound that comes from a machine has been stored as ones and zeros in the heart of a computer’s internal memory.

Over the last 129 years, recording technology has taken a steep upward climb in advancement. Our understanding of this previously invisible realm has grown in this same manner. Since Scott de Martinville’s invention of the Phonautograph initially opened the door to understanding, and Edison’s invention made this newly open door accessible to the masses, thousands of little advances and inventions were combined to create the phonograph most are familiar with today. Then, with the invention of magnetic tape, the quantity and quality of sound recording increased dramatically. Now, with the advent of electronic recording, combined with electronic storage, our capabilities in sound recording are exponentially increasing with each passing day.

Works Cited

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DeHart, Rob. “Beverley Gooch and the Evolution of Magnetic Tape.” Tennessee State Museum. 30 Mar. 2021. Wed. 6 Sep. 2023.

First Sounds. First Sounds. 2023. Wed. 6 Sep. 2023.

Fumo, Dante. “How does magnetic tape work? | The Basics.” Reverb. 31 Mar. 2018. Wed. 6 Sep. 2023.

Juried, Chris. “Fritz Pfleumer.” History of Recording. Wed. 6 Sep. 2023.

Orr, Scott. “The History of Record Labels.” Other Record Labels, 3 May. 2022.

The Origins of Sound Recording. National Park Service. 29 Mar. 2023. Wed. 6 Sep. 2023.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_recording