The first device for recording and reproducing sound, invented by Edison

The first device for recording and reproducing sound, which was called a phonograph, made such an overwhelming impression on contemporaries that, because of the influx of people wishing to see this miracle of technology, Menlo-Poark, where his author lived, had to start up additional trains. Newspapers all over the world have written about the ascent of humanity to a new stage of progress, allowing to translate the sounds of language into flesh and blood. The name of this inventor is Thomas Alva Edison.

The Birth of a Genius Idea

After many years, satiated with glory and acquired a fabulous state, a brilliant American wrote that of all his projects, which over the years of life accumulated several dozen, the invention of a phonograph is the most beloved and significant. Giving numerous interviews and answering the question about what was the impetus for the birth of a brilliant idea, Edison jokingly replied: "Easy needle prick in the finger."

According to him, one day, while working on improving the telephone set, he mechanically began to hum one popular melody. His hand was near the membrane to which the needle was soldered. The membrane, having reacted to the sound of the voice, made a series of oscillations. Together with her came the movement and the needle, painfully pricked a finger.

As in the time of the great Newton, the apple that fell on him suggested the idea of universal gravitation, just as the needle that stuck into the finger prompted Edison the principle of mechanical recording of sound. The idea was simple: if a surface could fix a trace from an oscillating needle, and then again draw along it with the same needle connected to the membrane, then certainly there should be a sound.

The Singing Membrane

To realize his idea, Edison used a cylindrical roller, wrapping it with a soft tin foil. Then, having installed a membrane with a needle near it, he began to rotate it, continuing to hum the same song he loved. It was a popular hit in those years about the girl Mary and her lamb.

The needle began to obediently squeeze out the grooves in the pliable tin surface, and when it was finished, he returned it to the beginning and, rotating the roller, he heard the sound of his own voice. Everyone who was present was stunned. The soulless thing spoke in a human voice. Nothing like this before history did not know. On this day, July 18, 1877, the first phonograph was born.

Sensation that has flown all over America

However, his official birthday is considered August 12 of the same year, when the invention was first introduced to the general public. American newspapers wrote about the reaction, which caused the attendees this unprecedented miracle. According to their testimony, many spectators experienced a real mystical fear of the talking machine.

Sensational news instantly flew around the country and caused incredible excitement. To the inventor's house began such a mass pilgrimage that the railway did not cope with the increased number of passengers, and the administration was forced to introduce additional trains. This interest from the public was caused by this first device for recording and reproducing sound.

European skeptics

It is interesting to note that if in America the invention was accepted with general enthusiasm, then in a more conservative Europe there were many skeptics who tried to explain the unprecedented effect by an elementary swindle and falsification.

For example, when the phonograph was demonstrated at the Paris Academy the following year, one of its esteemed members - Academician Jean-Boulogne - openly stated that there was an obvious scam and the voice belongs not to the machine, but to the ventriloquist situated nearby. He even threatened to sue Edison, mocking the venerable public. Incidentally, such accusations were made in the pages of Russian newspapers of that time.

The beginning of the era of music records

Possessing a wide range of creative ideas, Edison saw in his invention not only a means of recording voice, but also music. Despite the fact that by modern standards the sound quality of his equipment was extremely low, nevertheless she found a hot reception with music lovers. Only with its help it was possible to record and save for posterity the performances of many famous virtuosos.

It is known, for example, the following: the outstanding Russian musician Anton Rubinstein very much regretted that the devices for recording and reproducing sound did not appear several years earlier. This could give an opportunity to inform the future generations of the unsurpassed game of Franz Liszt and show them what heights the performance art can achieve.

The combination of talent inventor and organizer

Many books have been written about Edison. This industrious and energetic nugget, not having received sufficient education, filled the lack of knowledge with a constant reading of a wide variety of literature. It is characteristic that he was not limited only to technical publications. The circle of his interests covered the work of many classics of world literature. This helped to expand my own horizons and rise to a higher level in understanding all the processes of the world around us.

Unlike many single inventors, Edison gathered around him a whole team of like-minded people - people obsessed with the thirst for technical creativity. And if the first device for sound recording and reproduction appeared as a result of his own idea, further improvements and refinement of the design became the fruit of their joint work. As can be seen from this, Edison combined the outstanding abilities not only of the inventor, but also of the organizer.

The device that entered the world history

Less than a century and a half has passed since the day when the car first spoke in a human voice, but during this period the equipment for recording and reproducing sound went a long way. The principle of this process has changed several times. The mechanical recording was replaced by a magnetic recording, and it, in turn, was replaced by a digital one. But nevertheless, the first device for recording and reproducing sound that has revealed to people unprecedented technical capabilities until then will forever enter the history of world civilization.