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Leon Scott’s Phonoautograph.
This device used a horn to direct sound toward a flexible diaphragm placed at the small end. Attached to the diaphragm was a stylus and lever assembly that allowed the point to scratch out a line on a rotating cylinder beneath it. -
Bell's Phonautograph
Alexander Graham Bell experimented with a Phonautograph in 1874, shortly before Edison’s invention. -
Edison's Phonograph
The phonograph was developed as a result of Thomas Edison's work on two other inventions, the telegraph and the telephone. -
Graphophone
Essentially an improved phonograph, the new recorder stimulated Edison to return to his invention, and the result in 1886 was the improved phonograph. -
Emile Berliner's Gramophone
Using a flat disk record instead of a cylinder, was available in Europe in 1889, and was introduced in the US in 1894 after the inventor’s move to Philadelphia. -
An Early Poulsen Telegraphone
Magnetic recording, which is today used for video and audio tape, was first introduced around 1899-1900 by the Danish inventor Valdemar Poulsen. -
“Transcription” recorder (courtesy Lib. of Congress)
In this type of recorder, electrical signals are delivered to the electromagnetic cutting head, which is carried in a lathe-like mechanism -
Edison electromagnetic record cutter (courtesy Edison National Historic Site)
Western Electric’s recorder used electronic amplifiers to drive anelectromagnetic cutting head -
AEG Magnetophon
This AEG magnetophon was one of several versions of the technology developed in Germany between the early 1930s and 1945. -
Recording engineer uses an Ampex tape recorder
A famous demonstration given in 1948 or 1949 by Jack Mullin featured the new Ampex tape recorder. -
RCA stereo tape cartridge
The first stereo recordings available to the public were in the form of reel-to-reel tape. -
The Rise of the 8-track
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The small, two-reel cartridge system
Introduced by Phillips in Europe and Norelco in the U.S. -
CD Player was introduced
