How Has Sound Recording Changed Since It's Beginning?

    We can't live without music. Music is a form of art for some. For others, music is a way to express how they are feeling without having to say anything. The music industry has grown and advanced way beyond belief. Music, itself, has been around for centuries. Sound recording, however, has only been around for about 200 years. 

Music is how we express ourselves without having to
actually say anything.

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Sound recording is how we are able to listen to songs over and over again. Sound recording is how we can hear songs on the radio without the artist being in the studio. Sound recording is how we listen to music today. Without sounds recording, we would not be as advanced in the music industry as we are currently. It all started with a funnel and a hog's hair bristle.

Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville is credited with conducting the first
experiment involving sound recording.

From: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia
/commons/3/33/Edouard-L%C3%A9on_Scott_de_Martinville.jpg

     Sound recording started in the 1800's, specifically the 1850's. A man named Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville was expriementing with sounds recording. He used a hog's hair bristle and a funnel to produce a sound recording, but he could not figure out how to replay the sounds back. De Martinville's attempts were technically the first sound recordings even though he could not play them back again. 

The graphophone was an improvement
from the phonograph. 

From: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons
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    In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. A phonograph was a machine that used metal cylinders, tin foil, and needles to play back recordings of his own voice. Edison intended to use the phonograph as a sort of "telephone repeater". Two men by the names of Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter improved the phonograph's idea by using wax cylinders instead of metal cylinders and calling their machine the graphophone. These two machines were the first sound recording machines that actually played back recordings. 

The gramophone was a huge improvement from
the graphophone and the phonograph. 

From: https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/155/358123519_dd59ce3740_b.jpg

     In 1887, a man named Emile Berliner invented flat disks (records) and a machine called a gramophone that played the disks. The flat disks were made of zinc and coated with beeswax. Berliner also developed a technique that allowed him to mass produce the records he invented. The records Berliner used could be easily duplicated from a master copy compared to the cylinders Edison, Bell, and Tainter used that required separate recordings for each cylinder. 

Victrolas were popular around 1910 and
used as elaborate furniture pieces.

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     Time goes on phonographs and gramophones go out of style to be replaced by Victrolas. Victrolas were early record players that have to be primed with a crank handle. In 1925, electric record players replaced Victrolas because of the popularity of electricity in the home. Record and phonograph sales were declining a few years later because of radio and the Great Depression. 

    

Cassettes and portable cassette players were
huge players in the sound recording industry.

From: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Tdkc60cassette.jpg

   In the 1940's, audiotapes were invented. These magnetic sound recording devices allowed the mixing of instrumentals or vocals from one location to another. By the mid-1960's, cassettes and portable cassette players had been developed. Portable cassette players allowed audiences to take their favorite music anywhere. In 1931, Alan Blumlein invented the stereo. The stereo allowed two separate tracks of sound to be recorded. 

Cds have become obsolete thanks to websites such
as Spotify and iTunes. 

From: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
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     In the 1970's the biggest recording advancement was created when Thomas Stockham made the first digital audio recordings. In 1983, compact discs (CDs) were created. CDs used digital audio and recordings to sell music. The switch from analog recording to digital recording was one of the most important advancements in sound recording history. It was this switch from analog to digital that we move on to the digital age that we are currently familiar with.

Napster was popular for their free file-sharing service
before they were shut down.  

From: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/
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     After the creation of digital audio recordings, the MP3 file format was created in 1993. The MP3 file format allowed digital recordings to be condensed into smaller files. File-sharing became a big thing when Napster created a free file-sharing service. A trial through the U.S. Supreme Court  declared that free file-sharing was illegal. Napster was forced to reinvented themselves as a legal service provider. 

Services such as iTunes have allowed users to
buy and download music right to their personal devices.

From: https://upload.wikimedia.org/
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     Digitally downloading music was the next big thing. It was made possible in 2003 by iTunes. iTunes is still a prominent way to buy music, but many people are now streaming music through their phones and tablet devices. This is made possible through websites and apps such as Spotify, Rhapsody, Google Play Music, Amazon Prime, and Pandora. Some of these services, like Amazon Prime, require payment in order to receive their music services. Others like Spotify and Pandora allow users to stream music for free, but with limitations. Digitally downloading music has become the popular way to get music. As technology advances, the sound recording industry will advance as well.

     All-in-all, the sound recording industry has grown and advanced tremendously since the creation of the phonograph in the 1800's. We have gone from single cylinder recordings to streaming music from our iPhones. The scary thing is that our technology will only become more advanced. What will the next big thing in sound recording be? Only time will tell.