Sound recording and reproduction

Au clair de la lune

Earliest recognizable recording of human voice, from 9 April 1860^[1]

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Au clair de la lune

The recording slowed down to match what is now believed to be the correct speed; the result reveals a man's voice, presumably Scott's.^[2]

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Sound recording and reproduction is the storage of sound and playing it back so that a person can hear the same sound more than once. It is a process wherein sound waves are captured by a machine. The machine converts the waves into electrical signals or digital data, that are then stored on recording media (such as gramophone records, cassette tapes, compact discs or computer hard drives). The sound can then be played back by reversing the process.

Most recordings are of music, people speaking or singing, and sound effects. They are usually used for entertainment (fun), or for scientific and historical reasons.

Sound is recorded onto a medium by different methods. The ways that recordings are made have changed a lot since sound was first recorded.

1. ↑ "FirstSounds.ORG".
2. ↑ http://www.firstsounds.org/sounds/1860-Scott-Au-Clair-de-la-Lune-05-09.ogg^{[permanent dead link]}