danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

American sound historians have figured out a way to play phonautograms, the bizarre invention of Édouard-Léon Scott which converted sound into markings on a paper roll.  Scott apparently never intended the phonautograms to be played back; rather, he thought a visual depiction of sound was impressive in and of itself.

The New York Times today features an article about the work of the researchers, and even includes an mp3 of what now must be considered the oldest functional sound recording, a phonautogram of “Au Clair de la lune” recorded in April 1860.  Don’t get too excited, though: it sounds real bad.

Filed under: Current Events, Technology on March 27th, 2008