Clowgon
28-03-2008, 06:37 PM
An "ethereal" 10 second clip of a woman singing a French folk song has been played for the first time in 150 years.
The recording of "Au Clair de la Lune", recorded in 1860, is thought to be the oldest known recorded human voice. A phonograph of Thomas Edison singing a children's song in 1877 was previously thought to be the oldest record. The new "phonautograph", created by etching soot-covered paper, has now been played by US scientists using a "virtual stylus" to read the lines. "When I first heard the recording as you hear it ... it was magical, so
ethereal," audio historian David Giovannoni, who found the recording, told AP.
"The fact is it's recorded in smoke. The voice is coming out from behind this screen of aural smoke."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7318180.stm
The recording of "Au Clair de la Lune", recorded in 1860, is thought to be the oldest known recorded human voice. A phonograph of Thomas Edison singing a children's song in 1877 was previously thought to be the oldest record. The new "phonautograph", created by etching soot-covered paper, has now been played by US scientists using a "virtual stylus" to read the lines. "When I first heard the recording as you hear it ... it was magical, so
ethereal," audio historian David Giovannoni, who found the recording, told AP.
"The fact is it's recorded in smoke. The voice is coming out from behind this screen of aural smoke."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7318180.stm