Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Oldest recorded voices sing again

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.
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In fact, the ability to record a voice has been around for thousands of years. Vinyl records made recorded sounds by a stylus etching grooves on the surface, and another stylus reading the grooves.

The grooves were made by spinning the record at an even speed.

In much the same way, pottery can do the same. Scientists, working with the oldest pottery in the world, have had some success in bringing back to life Ancient Greek, Chinese and Babylonian artists. The oldest recording known is of an Aboriginal in Australia. On the pottery, which is thousands of years old, someone is heard to wonder when daylight savings would end.

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