Leon Scott's COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY 1853 - 1860

These are generally considered the first sounds ever recorded (on a lamp-blackened sheet of paper stuck to a spinning cylinder, the sound waves etched by a stylus), and sometimes I wonder if they were really worth playing back. In the early '00s, when the discovery of an ancient recording of a ghostly voice singing "Au Clair de la Lune" was storming the media, I honestly thought it was a hoax. Reminded me of the time someone claimed to have found a recording of Chopin playing the Minute Waltz back in 1840 or something, only to find it was an April Fool's joke. The claimed technology was the same, strangely enough, etchings on dirty paper that in fact WEREN'T designed to be played back at all. A curious guy just wanted to see if sound waves might make an actual, visual pattern, and they did. Experiment done. There was a huge hubbub around this discovery, press conferences, public presentations, a specialized website (and I think it's still there, looking about as up-to-date as the Heaven's Gate cult site from the '90s) - but there was no followup on this miracle of early technology, because in spite of all the "THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING" hype, that's all there was - squeals, burbles, fuzzy might-be-voices, and one rather grisly voice haltingly singing a phrase or two from an old French folk tune. Interesting that someone had SOME idea of how sound waves might look when traced on paper, but that's all. 

PLEASE NOTE. This might be badly written, because I am badly sitting up and fog-brained from having COVID. Yes. I have it, as does my entire family now, and it is without a doubt the sickest I have ever been. I have to go lie down now. 

ADDENDA! Out of curiosity, I looked up the First Sounds website, and yes - nothing, but NOTHING has changed about it, including the P. T. Barnum hype! This is on the introductory page. Seems they were out to save humanity with this stuff.

First Sounds strives to make humanity's earliest sound recordings available to all people for all time.

First Sounds seeks out the world's oldest sound recordings—wherever they are.
We rewrote history in 2008 when we discovered and resurrected humanity’s first recordings of its own voice, created in 1860 in Paris by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. Since then, we have identified and played back even older recordings. First Sounds remains the authority on Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville and his recordings.

First Sounds is dedicated to audio preservation.
We have digitally preserved every airborne sound recording known to exist from before 1861, plus many recordings made thereafter.

First Sounds pioneered the playback of the oldest sound recordings in 2007 and has been in the forefront ever since.
Sound recordings made before the invention of the phonograph were not intended to be played back. Extracting their sounds remains our specialty.

First Sounds is collaborative.
David Giovannoni, Patrick Feaster, Meagan Hennessey, and Richard Martin founded First Sounds in 2007 to facilitate, coordinate, and promote the efforts of individuals who share their passions and of organizations that share their goals. First Sounds is unincorporated; we neither solicit nor accept financial donations.

First Sounds offers free and universal access to its work.
We believe humanity's earliest sound recordings are the patrimony of all mankind. We present them here under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) license which conveys certain privileges and responsibilities. We encourage everyone everywhere to study and enjoy them.

Email us at info@firstsounds.org.