Lawrence Berkeley Lab scientists Extract 123 Year Old Audio Recording

Technicians at National Berkeley Laboratory have recovered what can be one of the oldest recordings during the life time of Thomas Alva Edison himself. The recording is believed to be 123 year old and the curators of Thomas Edison National Historical Park were unable to play it using conventional means because it is bent from its earlier cylindrical shape.

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The 123 year old cylinder phonograph record. The audio in it was extracted by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory scientists using 3D optical scanning technology (Image credit: National Park Service).

To extract that recording, Carl Haber, senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley laboratory and Earl Cornell, Computer Systems Engineer, collaborated with Library of Congress. The team has utilized a three dimensional optical scanning technology developed during 2007-09 to create a digital model of surface of that record. The help of modern image analysis methods was taken to hear the audio recording stored in the record, which was later saved in a WAV format.  With the current process in hands, the scientists were able to recover all of the recording barring the first syllable. In the original audio, a woman can be noticed singing a verse of the nursery rhyme "Twinkle Twinkle little star".

The artifact or the talking doll was made by Edison, the inventor of Phonograph. This talking doll, which dates back to the fall or winter of 1888, was attempted by Edison for marketing his product. The record is which is significantly bent out of its round shape is made of solid tin. The product during those days was quoted to be perfect and if any work was left, it was of bulk manufacturing. The recording was made using a crude technique in which two women were talking to small speaking machines (probably a mic) which was turned continuously by skilled workman.

The talking doll is significant because, it is one of the oldest surviving pieces of audio clip. It tells us about the techniques employed more than a century back for recording music.

The following are the specifications of talking doll provided that it is not misshaped:

Estimated original outer diameter: ~60.4 mm

Estimated original inner diameter: ~53.7 mm

Width: ~ 11.4 mm

Thickness: ~ 3.4 mm

Groove threads per inch: 50

Groove type: Vertical cut, nearly uniform groove width.

Recording/playback speed: Unknown

Hear the recording: 



Source: Home – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory