The first device for recording and reproducing sound, which was called a phonograph, made such a stunning impression on contemporaries that, due to the influx of people who wanted to see this miracle of technology, Menlo-Poark, where its author lived, had to put in additional trains. Newspapers all over the world wrote about the ascent of mankind to a new stage of progress, which allows translating the sounds of language into flesh and blood. The name of this inventor is Thomas Alva Edison.
The birth of a brilliant idea
Many years later, a brilliant American, saturated with fame and having gained a fabulous state, wrote that of all his projects, which over the years have accumulated several dozen, the invention of the 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: “A light prick of a needle in a finger”.
According to him, once, while working on improving the telephone, he mechanically began to hum a popular melody. At the same time, his hand was near the membrane to which the needle was soldered. The membrane, responding to the sound of the voice, made a series of vibrations. Together with her, the needle came into motion, the finger hurt.
Just as at the time of the great Newton, an apple that fell on him suggested universal gravitation, so did a needle stuck in his finger, suggested Edison the principle of mechanical sound recording. The idea was simple: if a trace from an oscillating needle can be fixed on some surface, and then again drawn along it with the same needle connected to the membrane, then sound must certainly occur.
Singing membrane
To bring his thought to life, Edison used a cylindrical roller, wrapping it with soft tin foil. Then, having installed a membrane with a needle near him, he began to rotate it, continuing to hum the very song he loved. It was a hit in those years about the girl Mary and her lamb.
The needle began to obediently squeeze the grooves in a pliable tin surface, and when he finished his journey, he returned it to the beginning and, turning the roller, he heard the sound of his own voice. All who were present at that were stunned. The soulless thing spoke in a human voice. History had never known anything like this before. On this day, July 18, 1877, the first phonograph was born.
Sensation flying all over America
However, it is considered to be his official birthday on August 12 of the same year, when the invention was first presented to the general public. American newspapers wrote about the reaction that this unprecedented miracle caused among those present. According to them, many viewers experienced a real mystical fear of the talking machine.
Sensational news instantly flew around the country and caused incredible excitement. Such a massive pilgrimage began to the inventor’s house that the railway could not cope with the increased number of passengers, and the administration was forced to introduce additional trains. Such an interest in the public aroused this first device for recording and reproducing sound.
European skeptics
It is curious to note that while in America the invention was accepted with universal enthusiasm, then in a more conservative Europe there were many skeptics who tried to explain the unprecedented effect by elementary swindle and falsification.
For example, when the phonograph was shown at the Paris Academy the following year, one of its most respected members, Academician Jean Bullot, openly stated that there was a clear scam and the voice did not belong to the machine, but to the ventriloquist nearby. He even threatened to sue Edison, mocking the venerable public. By the way, similar accusations were made on the pages of Russian newspapers of that time.
The beginning of the era of music recordings
Possessing a wide range of creative thoughts, 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 warm welcome from music lovers. Only with its help it was possible to record and save for posterity the performances of many famous virtuosos.
The following is known, for example: the outstanding Russian musician Anton Rubinstein extremely regretted that sound recording and reproducing devices had not appeared several years earlier. This could provide an opportunity to convey to future generations the unsurpassed game of Ferenc Liszt and show them what heights performing art can reach.
The combination of the talent of the inventor and organizer
A lot of books have been written about Edison. This hardworking and energetic nugget, not having received enough education, made up for the lack of knowledge by constant reading of a wide variety of literature. It is characteristic that he was not limited only to technical publications. His interests covered the work of many classics of world literature. This helped expand their horizons and rise to a higher level in understanding all the processes of the world.
Unlike many single inventors, Edison gathered around him a team of like-minded people - people obsessed with a thirst for technical creativity. And if the first device for recording and reproducing sound appeared as a result of his own idea, then further improvements and refinement of the design became the result of their joint work. As can be seen from this, Edison combined the outstanding abilities of not only the inventor, but also the organizer.
A device that has gone down in world history
Less than a century and a half has passed since the day when the machine first spoke in a human voice, but during this period the sound recording and reproduction equipment has come a long way. The principle of this process has changed several times. The mechanical record was replaced by magnetic, and it, in turn, was replaced by digital. Nevertheless, the first device for recording and reproducing sound, which opened to people unprecedented until then technical capabilities, will forever go down in the history of world civilization.