The unveiling recently of a cache of a dozen restored wax cylinders containing the only known recordings of 19th-century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's voice, poses a stark reminder that awe-inspiring technological change isn't limited to the 21st century.

The recordings were released Jan. 20 at the West Orange, NJ, site of Thomas Edison's home and laboratory. Historians knew about the Bismarck recording, but had thought that it had been lost forever. In fact, the cylinder with the great chancellor's voice beseeching his son to live a moral life, as well as other recorded songs sung by 19th-century European artists, had been languishing in a box at the Edison locale for more than 50 years. Beginning last year, officials at what's now known as the Thomas Edison National Historical Site, began converting the ancient wax instruments to WAV files. Now able to detect voices, sound researchers were startled to hear Bismarck beseeching his son to live a moral life.

The recordings' release proved to be a strong reminder of the nature of technological change-continual evolution, with each successive generation insisting that its innovations are the most astounding.

"Change has been happening for a long time," says Patrick Feaster, a lecturer at Indian University and sound media historian, who was part of the team that identified the voices on the recordings. "We take it for granted, but people back then were just as startled" by the innovations they were witnessing as are today's digitally attuned consumers.

It may be especially tough for 21st-century tech-possessed kids to imagine a time when hearing someone's recorded voice was not only a novelty but an awe-inspiring technical feat. But that was the case 120-plus years ago when wax cylinders, early precursors of the vinyl record, and yes, of today's digital music downloads and apps, were the latest sensation.

"It's very easy for us to take for granted the possibility of recording and reproducing sound and that we can listen to major politicians and celebrities," at will, says Feaster. "What would it be like to not know what Obama sounds like?" Feaster asked. "How would our sense of history be?"

In at least one elementary school, kids are indeed enthralled by old recording devices and records, says Peter Shambarger, the school librarian at Glendale Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, MD, and the executive director of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. His K-5 students are "pretty open" to these early sound imprints. They find it "fascinating when I play recordings" from the late 1900s, he says.

The earliest cylinders used tinfoil as the medium to project the human voice. By the late 1880s, Edison had brought on board engineer Theo Wangemann, regarded as the first professional sound recording engineer, to improve the quality of his recordings. Today, the sound quality of the wax cylinders found at Edison's home is faint and scratchy. But when they were first created, the public was awestruck, Feaster explains.

The recordings that were played at the Edison site were made in 1889 and 1890, when Edison sent Wangemann to Europe to supervise the use of the Edison Phonograph Works machines on display at the Paris World's Fair. Wangemann then traveled to his native Germany, where he recorded Bismarck and other notables of the day.

Click here to listen to the recording that was unveiled.

E-Mail This Link

Enter recipient's e-mail:

Close

Email

Print |

Reprint/License |

Subscription |

RSS |

Share