Introduction
The history of sound recording and systems that were involved in this process is rather interesting, as it is hard to imagine that the first attempt to record a sound was simple and genius simultaneously. The history itself is closely linked with the development of technologies and formats of sound recording, hence, this paper aims to review the key stages of sound recording technology, as well as sound recording equipment and formats.
The Dawn of Sound Recording
Let alone barrel organs, the principle of which was invented in the IX century, the first attempts of acoustic sound recording were taken in 1857 by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville who invented the phonautograph. This looked like a socket-pire with a membrane, and a pen attached to the membrane. The membrane vibrated, shaken by the sound, and the pen registered this vibration on the paper roll. The key disadvantage of this method is that the sound could not be played back immediately. However, when phonautograph records were photo engraved on metal plates, the attempt to playback the sound was successful. (Fowler, 1967)
The idea of phonautograph was used by Thomas Edison for his phonograph. However, instead of paper or photo-plate, he used more impressionable materials like tin, wax, or lead, and a stylus instead of a pen to make the groove. The playback was performed by tracing the stylus along the groove. Hence, the vibration was made by the varying depth of the groove, while the system of levers made the sound membrane vibrate and make the sound. However, the barrels could not be copied easily, and this was the key difficulty associated with storing the recorded information. The principle of impressionable material recording was used for gramophone and vinyl disks that became a whole epoch in sound recording, and even the early tape records were of lesser quality in comparison with properly recorded vinyl sound. (Borwick, 1996)
Electric Sound
This technology is close to leaving a groove on a plate or a barrel, however, the groove was replaced by a magnetic signal which was left on a sensitive material. First, this principle was used by Valdemar Poulsen who used it in his telegraphone. The magnetic sensitive material is used as a medium, and sound is recorded by a magnetic head. When the sound needs to be played back, the tape is let through the magnetic sensitive head, which interprets the magnetic signal into the electric one. The first mediums that were used are the wires which were able to preserve the magnetic signal for a long time. (Blanning, 2008)
The next step of electric sound evolution is the invention of tape recording. The older generation remembers tape reels with ¼ recording tape which was widely used either for music playback or educational aims. The tapes were first invented by the engineers of AEG, and the key principle of sound quality improvement was the biasing of the signal within the inaudible sound band ranging from 50 to 150 kHz. This technology was used for a long time and endured numerous improvements. The key and the most important improvement was the invention of multichannel recording when a tape was divided into several lines, and each line included a separate signal. Multitrack audio recording started its history in 1943 when 2 channel tapes and recorders appeared. The professional recording systems could record up to 24 channels, however, the audiophiles adored quadraphonic records.
Audiocassettes were the next evolutionary step of audio format, though, the principle stayed the same. This helped to decrease the weight of a sound recording, however, the actual quality of the sound was sometimes lower in comparison with audiotapes. (Koetsier, 2001)
Digital Recording
The first steps of audio recording with digital sound were realized by using the well-known audiocassette. The form-factor of the cassette was changed for the specialized players which were able to play back the digital sound. It was not widely used by consumers, as it was too expensive, though, radio stations and studios preferred them for a comparatively higher quality of sound. The magnetic head read the digital signal, and then the processing block created the analogous signal needed for the loudspeakers. This principle of digital audio recording was used for creating the PC formats. The binary signal which is the basis of digital recording became the following step of sound recording, storage, and playback, while the evolution baton was picked up by media carriers and algorithms of digital signal processing. Hence, various lossy and lossless formats appeared, and the data carriers develop independently on the sound recording evolution.
Conclusion
Sound recording and playback have reached the essential evolutionary heights, while the first attempts will stay only in the memories of historians and as the museum expositions. Sound recording evolution ranges from the most ancient sound barrels used for church organs, and to the latest digital recording and digital signal processing algorithms. Though, every epoch is featured with unique and interesting media that was used for recording and playback.
Reference List
Blanning, T. (2008). Facing the Music; throughout History, Musicians and Composers Have Battled Rampant Piracy Unscrupulous Publishers and Dubious Employment Practices. The Problems of Today’s Recording Industry Pale in Comparison, Writes Time Blanning. New Statesman, 137, 40.
Borwick, J. (Ed.). (1996). Sound Recording Practice (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fowler, Charles B. (1967) The Museum of Music: A History of Mechanical Instruments, Music Educators Journal. The National Association for Music Education 54 (2): 45–49
Koetsier, Teun (2001). “On the prehistory of programmable machines: musical automata, looms, calculators”, Mechanism and Machine theory 36, pp. 590–591.