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Media Arts
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"Au Claire De La Lune" is the first song that is recorded
An unknown vocalist sings "Au Claire De La Lune" to inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville (Or maybe it was Scott himself), who made the first known and oldest surviving recording of a human voice, making history and starting a new era. He created the phonautograph, which was a barrel-shaped, hand-cranked device used to transcribe sound in wave lines on soot-blackened paper. -
Invention of the Phonograph by Thomas Edison
Then comes the Invention of the Phonograph by Thomas Edison. Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory made several improvements during the 1880s and introduced the Graphophone. It included a wax-coated cardboard cylinders and a cutting stylus that moved from side to side in a zigzag groove around the record. It was able to play sound, which was revolutionary at the time. -
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The Acoustic Era
The earliest practical recording technologies were entirely mechanical devices. These recorders usually used a large conical horn to collect and focus the physical air pressure of the sound waves produced by the human voice or musical instruments. In the early days, recording devices still used horns instead of microphones. -
Emile Berliner initiates transition from phonograph cylinders to flat discs
Emile Berliner initiates transition from phonograph cylinders to flat discs with a spiral groove running from the periphery to near the centre, coining the term "gramophone" for disc record players. Later improvements through the years included modifications to the turntable and its drive system, the stylus, and the sound and equalization systems. -
Commercial radio
Radio waves were first identified and studied by German physicist Heinrich Hertz in 1886. The first practical radio transmitters and recievers were developed around 1895-1896 by Italian Guglielmo Marconi, and radio became commonplace around 1900. This would become a competitor with the gramophone. -
The improved radio technology of the 1920s
The 1920s brought improved radio technology. Radio sales increased, bringing many phonograph dealers into troubling times, though they were able to keep afloat through to the end of the decade. -
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The Electrical Era
The "Second Wave" of sound recordingThe 'second wave' of sound recording history was ushered in by the introduction of Western Electric's integrated system of electrical microphones, electronic signal amplifiers and electromechanical recorders, which was adopted by major US record labels in 1925. Sound recording now became a hybrid process. -
Record sales of the 30s
Record sales picked up in the late 30s and 40s, with greater improvements and more money to be spent. By this time, home phonographs had become much more common. -
The boom in record sales after WW2
After the Second World War, industry standards changed from 78s to vinyl, long-playing records, which could contain an entire symphony, and 45s which usually contained one hit song. -
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The Magnetic Era
The third wave of development in audio recording began in 1945 when the allied nations gained access to a new German invention: magnetic tape recording. The technology was invented in the 1930s but remained restricted to Germany (where it was widely used in broadcasting) until the end of World War II. Allied observers first became aware of the new technology when they noticed that the audio quality of obviously pre-recorded programs was practically indistinguishable from live broadcasts. -
Cheaper and more portable
Cheaper portable record players and record changers which played stacks of records in wooden console cabinets were popular. Rock music played on 45s became the soundtrack of the 1960s as people began to purchase the same songs that were played on the radio for free. Some record players were even tried in cars, but were replaced quickly by 8-track and cassette tapes. -
Invention of the Cassette Tape
The Cassette Tape was first created by the Philips company in 1962 in Belgium. Philips released the invention to Europe at the Berlin Radio Show on August 30, 1963. It was released in the USA in November of the next year. -
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The Digital Era
The fourth and current phase, the digital era, has seen the most rapid, dramatic and far-reaching series of changes in the history of audio recording. In a period of fewer than 20 years, all previous recording technologies were rapidly replaced by digital sound encoding, and the Japanese electronics corporation Sony in the 1970s was instrumental with the first consumer (well-heeled) PCM encoder PCM-1 Audio Unit, introduced in 1977 -
The Compact Disc
The compact disc is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was made. It was then released in October 1982 and branded as Digital Audio Compact Disc. -
SoundJam and the beginning of music streaming platforms
SoundJam was an MP3 player for the MAC OS. It was originally released in July of 1999. It was one of the earliest ways to stream music, although you needed access to the MP3 file in order to stream, it would be at the beginning of something completely new. -
The release of Itunes
Apple released version 1.0 of the application "iTunes" on January 9, 2001. Macintosh users immediately began poking through iTunes's resource fork, where they discovered multiple strings/other resources that indicated that iTunes was a re-engineered Sound Jam MP. Casady & Greene ceased distribution of SoundJam MP on June 1, 2001 at the request of the developers. -
The launching of Spotify
Spotify is the largest music streaming platform in the world, with over 365 million active users. -
Listening to media
Listening to music is now easier than ever. With ever advancing technology, we are able to stream, create and share unlimited amounts of media. Technology continues to make listening to media easier for everyone.