The Ear Phonautograph

Crazy story. For a long time, people like da Vinci, Keppler and others tried to figure out a way to capture sound - something which had been ephemeral for millennia. Problem was, they spent a long time looking at this the wrong way and trying to model recording ideas on the basis on sound *transmission*, that is, via the horn, from the violin, the mouth etc. The 'penny dropped' when finally someone thought about this in terms of *reception*, then everything changed quickly. (For a wonderful exploration of this and other histories about sound, see Jonathan Sterne's book, 'The Audible Past').

In any case, the ear did it. And the first recorders were these cyborg-like devices which actually used the human ear (from cadavers, I assume) attached to needle and horn contraptions to do primitive recordings. Called the Ear Phonoautograph it looked like this:

Bell, Blake and Edison had been messing about with these things in the 1870s, but after a few years, some sanity prevailed, and the US phonograph (with wax cylinder) then the UK phonograph (with record turntable) were developed a few years later. Of course the rest is history, and 'Thomas A. Edison Incorporated' massified the phonograph/record combination across the US, with corporate spin promoting authenticity and fidelity as the essential values for consumers. Edison’s 1916 premier of the phonograph ‘performing’ a duet with a live singer to a 2,500-strong audience in Carnegie Hall prompted the New York Tribune to gush,

Mme. Rappold stepped forward, and leaning one arm affectionately on the phonograph began to sing an air from “Tosca”. The phonograph also began to sing . . at the top of its mechanical lungs, with exactly the same accent and intonation, even stopping to take a breath in unison with the prima donna. Occasionally the singer would stop and the phonograph carried on in the air alone. When the mechanical voice ended Mme. Rappold sang. The fascination for the audience lay in guessing whether Mme. Rappold or the phonograph was at work, or whether they were singing together.

For over a decade, similar events were staged across the USA, apparently convincing millions of people that it was actually impossible to distinguish the singer’s living voice from its re-creation in the instrument.

Anyway, back to the Ear Phonoautograph story - while it seemed that this abberation only occured for a few short years prior to the phonograph, on 27 march The New York Times did its own gushing in “Researchers Play Tune Recorded Before Edison". Scientists at the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory in the US converted a recording (a 'phonautogram') of a woman singing the folk song Au Clair de la Lune, well before Edison’s supposedly first-ever recording of the spoken Mary Had a Little Lamb. The much older work was made on another one of these damn cyborg things - two decades before, but in France. The ear boggles . . .

Finally, on the BCC's Radio 4 service, news reader Charlotte Green just couldn't take this kafuffle in the US about the old recording from France too seriously:

For much more detail about this and related sound recording matters, see this great blog piece over at musikwissenbloggenschaft.blogspot.com

Upcoming research events in 2008

I'm looking forward to an interesting calendar this year, with a number of events that should provide terrific opportunities to present and engage with colleagues from around the world, in disciplines as diverse as law, cultural theory, education, creativity, sound engineering and music-making of all kinds. I aim to keep a live blog going here throughout, and will paste texts, links & media but  for now, here's some information about the various events. I hope to see some of you there!

• Research-based Learning and Public Scholarship seminar. 9–12.30, 23 May, Brisbane, hosted by the Griffith Institute for Higher Education at the Eco Centre at Griffith University Nathan campus.

Research-based learning (RBL) has been shown to engage students and motivate staff as it brings together the key strands of learning, teaching and research. This workshop will discuss techniques for linking teaching and research and the connection between RBL and public scholarship in addressing research problems in community settings. I'll be presenting on a panel of academic staff to share experiences and strategies for engaging in RBL and public scholarship at Griffith. For more information, see www.griffith.edu.au/gihe/

• Building an Australasian Commons conference. 9-5, 24 June, Creative Industries Precinct, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane. 
  

A showcase of what is going on in Australia and where to from here. With key note addresses form music industry, educators and professional musicians, the event will also feature workshops and panels about case studies, jurisdiction reports and new models for artistic practice. I'll be working on a panel with CCi's Phil Graham, Julian Knowles and others from industry. For more information, see creativecommons.org.au/australasiancommon

• Creating Value: Between Commerce and Commons. International conference of the ARC Centre for Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation. 25 - 27 June, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.
  

This conference showcases research projects, and features papers from academic, business, creative or public policy specialists on many aspects of value-creation in the context of creative industries and innovation. Keynote speakers will include Henry Jenkins (MIT), Mark Deuze (Indiana, US) and Norman Jackson (Surrey SCEPTrE). I'll be presenting a paper in the Law stream on the lock down of IP in sound recordings within a university teaching and research context, called 'who's doing the stealing?'. I'll also be presenting and participating in two panels, one on 'Creative Capital and Workforce Futures', the other on 'Legal Issues for Social Networks and Creating Public Value'. For more information, see www.cci.edu.au/events/creating-value-between-commerce-and-commons

• The World Conference of the International Society of Music Education (ISME 2008). 20-25 July, Bologna Italy.
  

A swag of us from the Queensland Conservatorium will be heading off to Italy to present research papers on music-making and education, but also to network and catch-up with with other musicians form around the world, including the UK, the USA, Finland, Sweden and of course Italy. I'm presenting a paper I wrote with Matt Hitchock about 'the hidden curriculum' of social networking which is working so well for us in music tech at the Con. I'll also be working on a panel with colleages Göran Folkestad (Malmö Academy of Music) and Miika Salavuo (Sibelius Academy) & Don Lebler (Griffith Popular Music) called 'Music Education 2.0', and sharing much of what we have learned about creativity, music and the web 2 environment. For more information, see www.isme.org/2008

• The 4th International Art of Record Production Conference. 14-16 November 2008, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
  

The conference will be hosted by Prof William Moylan (author of 'Understanding and Crafting the Mix: The Art of Recording') at the University of Massachusetts Lowell's music department and in its state-of-the-art music technology facilities. The four streams of papers and panels are on The Studio As Musical Instrument, Recording Practice And Performance, Production And The Listener and The Empowered Artist (this last topic, where I'll be presenting a paper about technology). The keynote speaker will be music industry legend, Phil Ramone, & UMass Lowell’s exceptional recording studios, control rooms and critical listening room will also be featured in an on-going “Unraveling the Mix” mixing / production session where an active multitrack mix (stereo or surround) sits in the control room for evaluation, hosted by the mix engineer. Advanced recording and processing strategies are discussed and demonstrated in isolation and in the context of the mix on a API Vision console capable of simultaneous surround and two channel mixing. For more information, see www.artofrecordproduction.com/content/view/75/109/

And finally in December, we look forward to hosting the Apple University Consortium CreateWorld 2008 again at Griffith's South Bank campus. Featuring presentations and works from digital artists from all over Australia and the US. More information and web site and this comes to hand.