The Edison phonograph – sound recording with no wires, no batteries

Here’s an Edison phonograph recording, freshly made at the London Dorkbot Christmas party, December 2009.

Dorkbot is a meeting for ‘people doing strange things with electricity’ so the phonograph is an odd guest as it records and playback sounds using no electricity at all. As you can see when I lift the lid (see video), this machine is entirely mechanical.  You turn up a handle to wind up a spring. This unfurls over several minutes, supplying the Edison with energy. Sound recordings are made using nothing more than a heavy stylus and a horn.

To make this recording, I fitted an Edison record head (which cuts a groove in the cylinder). Assorted volunteers took turns to shout, sing or beat box (!) into the horn of the phonograph so their voices could be immortalised in wax. After dusting away the swarf with a camel hair brush, I replaced the play head and rested its stylus in the groove. Then we listened intently for sounds…

Although it’s very brittle, the cylinder survived the journey from Limehouse to Brighton. Here, you can see me playing it again, back in my office. The cylinder has been played three times before this session -- its sound quality will deteriorate with repeat playing, as the groove gets rubbed away by the playback stylus. On playback, the sound is loud enough to fill a small room.

Thanks to Colin Uttley for the camerawork.

Voices on the Dorkbot Edison recording

You can hear (in order of appearance):

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Beat boxing (Dan Stowell)

Jabberwocky

We Wish you a Merry Christmas

Sign-off and date (Sarah Angliss)

…do let me know if you can fill in any of the blanks.

8 January 2010

Posted in Sounds | Talks

Tags: Edison, history of recorded sound, London Dorkbot, phonograph, phonograph recording, recording sound, wax cylinder