Mixed Media

Why Sound Matters to Oral History

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Abstract

In 1877 Thomas Edison recited "Mary Had A Little Lamb," and his voice was recorded onto a thin sheet of tinfoil wrapped around a spinning cylinder. What made his nursery rhyme special was not that it was recorded, but that for the first time in history, sound could be replayed. Recording had been possible as early as 1857, 20 years before Edison's "hill-n-dale" contraption, but none of the inventions could play back what they captured.

How to Cite:

Terry, K., (2009) “Why Sound Matters to Oral History”, MAC Newsletter 36(4), 23-25.