The evolution of music technology

Timeline The evolution of music technology1859Frenchman douard-Lon Scott de Martinville invents the first device capable of recording sound. Know as a phonautograph, the machine captures sound by tracing the vibrations of a bristle onto a sheet of soot-covered paper. These recordings, called phonautograms, were never intended to be played back Martinvilles purpose in making the device was to simply see what sound waves looked like.

February 19, 1878The patent for Thomas Edisons novel phonograph is issued. A product of his previous work with the telegraph and the telephone, the phonograph is the originator of all sound recordings. The phonograph consisted of a hand crank-powered metal cylinder wrapped in tin foil upon which either a recording or reproducer stylus, or needle, would record or playback a recording.

Edison recited Mary Had a Little Lamb as the very first sound recording.Phonograph cont.Although bulky and expensive, Edisons goal of having "a phonograph in every American Home would be met with jubilant reply as the very first home audio movement sweep through the nation.

Phonograph Cont.In addition to sound recording and playing, Edison also had these purposes in mind for the phonograph:Phonographic books, which will speak to blind people without effort on their part. The "Family Record"--a registry of sayings, reminiscences, etc., by members of a family in their own voices, and of the last words of dying persons. Educational purposes; such as preserving the explanations made by a teacher, so that the pupil can refer to them at any moment, and spelling or other lessons placed upon the phonograph for convenience in committing to memory.

May 4, 1886Alexander Graham Bell and his apprentice, Charles Sumner Tainter, are awarded a patent for the graphophone. A modified version of Edisons phonograph, the device uses a wax disc and a floating stylus to record sound, thus producing a product of both better quality and durability.

Graphophone Cont.Before making their enhancements, Bell and Tainter sought working with Edison to improve the phonograph. Edison refused, and Bell and Tainter were forced to work in secret. In order to protect the rights to their modifications, they packed all [of] their work on the graphophone into a tin box, dated and sealed the box, and placed it in a vault in the Smithsonian Institution.

November 8, 1887Emile Berliner is granted a patent for the gramophone. Surpassing both the phonograph and the graphophone in size convenience and sound quality, the gramophone is the first instrument to use flat discs, known as records, as its only medium. The records, originally made from glass, were the first recordings capable of being mass produced. Later formed from zinc and ultimately plastic, the records were made by the hundreds from pressing molds.

November 23, 1889The Nickel-in-the-Slot machine, otherwise known as the jukebox, debuts in the Palais Royale Saloon located in San Francisco, California. The jukebox consisted of an Edison Class M Electric Phonograph that had been fitted into an oak cabinet. A coin mechanism, previously patented by Louis Glass and William S. Arnold, served as the machines operating system.

Jukebox Cont.One could listen to their choice of music through individual stethoscope-like tubes connected to the phonograph. The device was extremely popular, earning over $1,000 in its first six months of operation.

May 22, 1900Edwin Scott Votey is awarded the patent for the pianola, a piano attachment capable of playing the instrument automatically.Using perforated paper rolls and foot-powered pedals to play the piano, the device was the first instrumental machine to be mass produced.

1901The 78 debuts. The record, named for its 78 rotations per minute (or rpm), has a diameter of 10 inches and remains highly popular until 1974. Although they continue to exert a 78 rpm, records become available in 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 21-inch formats by 1910.

1906The Victor Talking Machine Company introduces its line of compact cabinet phonographs known as victrolas. Consisting of a turntable with an amplification horn, the victrolas volume was easily adjusted with the opening and closing of the wood cabinets doors. The victrola was specifically designed to fit within the home, and quickly became the best-selling record player of its time.

1920s DecadeCommercial radios start to be mass produced by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).First popularized by the broadcasting of presidential elections, commercial radios air live, in-studio music performances until the development of more advanced radio technology.The need for broadcasting improvement leads to the rapid refinement of radio transmissions, causing record sales to fall.

1928The RCA buys the Victor Talking Machine Company and forms RCA Victor. Looking to revolutionize the radio industry, radio production houses begin producing transcription discs meant to play pre-recorded music over the air. Vitrolac discs, vinyl records made out of a sturdy plastic resin, with an rpm of 33 1/3 are created as a result of this movement.

1929Although initially invented by Paul Galvin, William Powell Lear patents the first car radio. Contracted by Galvin Manufacturing, the product is later introduced as the Motorola and is one of the first commercially successful car radios.

August 26, 1930Philo Taylor Farnsworth receives the patent for the first television system. With the initiation of picture telecommunication, the eventual accessibility and popularity of music would boundlessly grow as the entertainment world became more involved in broadcasting.

1933Edwin Armstrong patents frequency-modulated, or FM, radio transmissions. Producing a higher fidelity sound with less static, FM radio allows for a more enjoyable radio experience. Although employed by the RCA, the company sees his developments as a threat to their affiliations with the AM market, and seeks to annihilate FM radio. The RCA repudiates his patents and refuses to pay him, leading to his eventual suicide in which he jumps out of a 13th story window.

1936Konrad Zuse constructs the first Z1 computer unit. Although originally developed for use as a calculator, the computer would undergo astronomical enhancements and lead to the eventual mass distribution and availability of music over streaming internet.

1964Although originally thought of my Oberlin Smith in 1878, the cassette tape finally comes into popularity. Cassettes consists of a magnetic tape wound between two small reels capable of both recording and playing back a track.

1966Lears adaptation of a device known as a 4-track player, called an 8-track, goes on sale and takes the market by storm. The portable, reasonably sized player consists of a thinner tape and [more] compact recording heads that allow for the continuous loop of tape and thus continuous playing of music.

July 1, 1979Sony introduces the Sony Walkman TPS-L2, a blue-and-silver portable cassette player with chunky buttons, headphones, and a leather case. Even more transportable than the 8-track player, the Walkman becomes a pop culture phenomenon. It was the first device to utilize individual headphones in fact, it had an additional earphone jack so that two people could listen at the same time.

August 17, 1982The first compact disc, or CD, is produced by Philips and Sony. Although originally invented by James Russell in 1965, the lightweight plastic platters did not come into popularity until their mass production in the 1980s.With 74 minutes of recording or playing capability, the CD is read and written by a laser compatible with computer files, pictures, and music.

James Russell CD Cont.The CD is the final addition to the series of disc sizes and formats used for music production.

November 26, 1996Fraunhofer-Gesellshaft, a German engineering company, obtains a US patent for the MPEG Audio Layer III, or MP3. Unlike any of its predecessors, the MP3 is the first piece of music technology to be entirely digitalized. Their audio files, compressed to small sizes with little to no loss of sound quality, are compatible with many media formats and computer technologies.

2000s DecadeIn October of 2001, Apple releases the first iPod, a device designed specifically to store and play digital music files. iPods will undergo a series of size, functionality, and storage capacity modifications within the next ten years, eventually having the capability to hold up to 40,000 songs in addition to video and picture files.

2000s Decade Cont.On April 28, 2003, Apple launches the iTunes Music Store, the first legal music download site on the web. Offering 200,000 songs at 99 each, iTunes sells one million songs in its first week of operation. By February of 2010, iTunes has sold over 10 billion songs.

Today and TomorrowCompared to the days of Edison cylinders and classic vinyl records, music technology has evolved into a ubiquitous industry of high performance devices in a myriad of formats. With the overwhelming popularity of smartphones and computers, the music industry has grown into a versatile, long-standing part of human history and modern society.

Works CitedInformationThe Way the Music Died The Phonautograph and Precursors to Edison's PhonographThe History of the Edison Cylinder PhonographPhoto- and Graphophone Emile Berliner - The History of the GramophoneThe Early Gramophone Jukebox History Player Piano History First Car Radio Inventor of the Week: Archive Press Release, 01-36 Cassette-tape | Define Cassette-tape at Dictionary.comA Brief History of The Walkman TIMEInventors of the Modern Computer History of the Compact Disk or CD The History Of The Compact DiscThe History of MP3 iPod + iTunes TimelineiPod Classic

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