I could not stop watching this. It just ended. Whoa. As a sorta soundman, this is deep passion that just sucked me right in. And I do not regret it. The first sound recording of the air moving, i.e. live, microphonic, of an unknown cornetist blowin for the phonautogram in 1857 (1857!) which was followed three years later by the human voice via a young lady singing Eu Claire de la Lune in 1860.
I was smitten.
You might, I did a little at first, think
FIRST SOUNDS: Humanity’s First Recordings of Its Own Voice
Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville was the first person to record his voice and send it into the future. David Giovannoni recounts how First Sounds discovered and played back these recordings 150 years later.
The vid covers the timeline of their quest to bring to life the unplayable recordings that were made in the decade before Thomas Edison did his thing.
These gentlemen had to hear these sounds. And they not only succeeded, they made history in making history sing.
I warn you, though … it is compelling and it is 55 minutes. At least it was compelling to me!
Peace