Our Videos

FIRST SOUNDS: Humanity's First Recordings of Its Own Voice

Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville was the first person to preserve his voice and send it into the future. David Giovannoni recounts how First Sounds discovered and recovered Scott's recordings 150 years later.

LET THERE BE SOUND: Rediscovering the Wonder of Sound Recording

First Sounds burst upon the scene in 2008 with its discovery and recovery of a sound recording made in 1860—17 years before the invention of the phonograph. This four-part video captures our premiere of this and other early accomplishments at the Association for Recorded Sound Collections conference at Stanford University. First, David Giovannoni evokes the awe inspired by the phonograph in 1877. Then Patrick Feaster puts listeners in an 1877 state of mind with his pre-history of talking machines. René Rondeau recreates a phonograph lecture and concert from 1878. And David Giovannoni brings the experience full-circle by resurrecting an audio recording made decades before any other previously available.

Thanks to Leah Biel for her live-action tape of the presentations.

Learn More about the Phonautograms Discovered by First Sounds

Gearwire caught up with David Giovannoni between sessions at the 127th Audio Engineering Society convention in New York.