Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville

[Mechelle De Craene]

"At first listen, the grainy high-pitched warble doesn't sound like much, but scientists say the French recording from 1860 is the oldest known recorded human voice. The 10-second clip of a woman singing "Au Clair de la Lune," taken from a so-called phonautogram, was recently discovered by audio historian David Giovannoni. The recording predates Thomas Edison's "Mary had a little lamb" - previously credited as the oldest recorded voice - by 17 years. The tune was captured using a phonautograph, a device created by Parisian inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville that created visual recordings of sound waves. Using a needle that moved in response to sound, the phonautograph etched sound waves into paper coated with soot from an oil lamp." Read on and Listen here



...
Image Reference: http://pics.computerbase.de/lexikon/115976/180px-Edouard-Léon_Scott_de_Martinville