Audio Recording History By Marten Kasselt and Matt Hinson

Developed the phonograph, which recorded onto tin foil and wax This was the first recording instrument that allowed for sound playback Recorded the words “Mary had a little lamb” 1877 – Thomas Edison Click this!

1888 – Emile Berliner Discovered easier method of recording onto discs, which allowed for the mass production of recordings These discs were known as “Seventy-Eights”, because they played at 78 revolutions per minute Also created the gramophone to play his discs, which became the standard in audio recording for decades

1925 – Maxfield & Harrison Developed the Orthophonic, a device to play new records recorded by microphones, a new technology Also used a loudspeaker, which allowed listeners to change the volume for the first time Had much better quality This clip from the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou” shows an early microphone Click Here!

– New Discs In 1948, CBS Records developed long playing discs that rotated at 33.3 revolutions per minute, which tripled playing time to 10 minutes The next year, RCA records produced a smaller disc that played at 45 revolutions per minute

1960’s – Magnetic Tapes Recording began on magnetic strips that were packaged into cassettes known as “8 Tracks” Soon after came smaller packaging and better quality, simply known as “cassettes” By the 1970’s these had taken over and marked the end of the vinyl records Cassette Tape 8-track

1960’s – Magnetic Tapes (Continued)

60’s & 70’s - Portability Beginning with 8 tracks and cassettes, recording really started becoming portable This was most notably in the automobile The Sony Walkman was designed in 1978 This was the precursor to recording as simple as in this clip from “Home Alone” on a Tiger Talkboy (developed in early 1990’s)

1983 – Compact Discs In 1983, the compact disc was released It used digital recording which improved quality and eliminated many recording errors Quickly replaced almost every single form of audio recording technology

1994 – Mp3 Files Around 1994, the actual mp3 audio file became the preferred way to store, transport, and play audio files By 2005, there were more than 40 million mp3 players in use, and CD sales have fallen in the last 7 out of 8 years It has become as easy to record as pressing a few buttons on a cell phone

Works Cited