Edison’s Phonograph and Its Impact on Music

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s Music Outlet, takes a brief look how the phonograph revolutionized how we listen to music

On February 19, 1878, a patent was issued for an invention that would revolutionize the way people would communicate for centuries to come. The invention, of course, was Thomas Edison’s phonograph.

Though the concept was not new (sketches of early devices had been found), Edison’s phonograph became the first to be put into practice. A groundbreaking machine, the device allowed someone to both record their voice and play it back. This idea would become the basis for all physical recordings through the 21^st century.

Edison’s first phonograph used an embossed diaphragm that made indentations on a piece of wax paper attached to a rapidly moving metal cylinder from the vibrations of a person speaking. He would later start recording to tin foil instead of the paper. A second diaphragm and needle unit on the machine was used to play the recording back.

Edison’s famous first recorded words? The nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

At the time, Edison knew this would be big, having brainstormed several ways this technology could be used by the public. In an article in the North American Review dated June 1878 (quoted in an article by the Library of Congress) he mentions such possibilities at dictation, audio books, music recordings, toys, answering machines and preservation of languages and sounds, among other ideas. Edison wasn’t far off, as many of these ideas came to fruition, especially recording music.

Obviously there were changes made over the years to improve the quality and availability of recordings, namely the switch to wax and the invention of discs to replace cylinders (which ultimately led to records and turntables). But the stage had been set, as listening and creating music would be changed forever. 

Phonographs brought music out of the concert hall and into the home, no personal musical ability required. It ushered in, as Smithsonian Magazine introduces it, “the beginnings of ‘on demand’ listening.” Someone could listen to a particular artist whenever they wanted, as many times as they wanted.

Because of this, listening also became less of a group activity and more of a personal journey. Defined genres started becoming a thing around this time as well, as phonographs were advertised as letting people each have their “own kind” of music. Listening to music has only gotten more and more personal as the years have progressed. While it has been argued recently that defined genres have been falling out of favor with the advent of streaming services, it has become even more common to see people with their headphones on immersed in the music on their digital device, enjoying music in an individualistic way.

Music itself changed as well. To comply with the limited amount of space on a cylinder, songs became shorter, usually two-three minutes. According to the same Smithsonian article, artists started writing for recording, giving examples of Igor Stravinsky’s “Serenade in A” and country and blues artists “chopp[ing] their tunes to perhaps one verse and two choruses.” While modern pop songs might be slightly longer (and, you know, full-length albums are a thing), the standard length of a song remains between three and five minutes to this day.

Over the last two centuries, the way we come to know music and listen to it has evolved. That is in no small part thanks to the phonograph player. The device let professional music come into the home and let people discover their individual tastes as independent listeners for the first time. Songwriting changed as well, developing the shorter song culture that is still standard form today. Even as technology continues to change the way we listen, the phonograph’s legacy remains an invaluable part of music’s history.

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Whatever form of technology you use to listen to physical music, Vinyl Bay 777 has you covered. As one of Long Island’s largest independent record shops, we have thousands of titles to choose from in a variety of genres. Browse our wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs, memorabilia and more in store at our Plainview location or online at vinylbay777.com. With more titles being added to our selection all the time, you never know what you might find at Vinyl Bay 777.

Seven Weird Places Artists Have Recorded Music

On Tuesday, NME reported that a London location of fried chicken chain Nando’s built a recording studio in their restaurant. The studio features “pioneering” recording equipment and an in-house engineer to help aspiring artists create the perfect sound. According to the story, the studio is an extension of chain’s “Nando’s Music Exchange” program.

Inspired by this unique recording experience, Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, has collected a list of other odd places artists can and have recorded music. From coffins and bank vaults to bodegas, electronics stores and record shops, here are seven of the most unique recording spots in the world.

1.       Apple Store: While a handful of Apple store locations have programs where you can learn how to edit photos and audio, it is less common for an artist to record an entire album there. But that is what Brooklyn rapper Prince Harvey did. Upon losing his friend’s apartment and all of his equipment, he decided to set up shop in one of Apple’s NYC stores and complete his debut album.

2.       Record Shop: At most record shops, one can only purchase albums and possibly see an in-store performance. But Nashville’s Third Man Records goes a step further. The shop owned by former White Stripes frontman Jack White gives you the opportunity to record and press it on vinyl, all in one place. There are two options for recording there:  an old-style record booth where you can record on the fly and a “live venue with direct-to-acetate recording capabilities.”

3.       Bodega: In 2015, soda brand Sprite decided to advertise their product and support hip-hop music at the same time with a bodega-style pop-up shop in New York on the Bowery. Besides selling Sprite and Sprite-themed products, the shop also had a stage and recording facility, and held events throughout that summer. Artists that recorded there included Vince Staples and Wale.

4.       Coffin: Sometimes you have to do something drastic to get the sound you want. Such was the case when metal band Sunn O))) were recording the song “Bathory Erzebet” for their album ‘Black One.’ The story goes that when it was time for guest vocalist Malefic of Xasthur to perform his vocals, the band handed him a microphone and made the extremely claustrophobic artist record from inside a coffin.

5.       Bank Vault: Many artists create music in their own home studios. However, not many people have a home with a bank vault in it. Aphex Twin allegedly bought an abandoned bank in the mid-1990s and kept his music equipment set up in its vault.

6.       Science Lab: A lot of artists nowadays like to “go back to basics” when they record. But none have done this quite like They Might Be Giants. In 1996 during the recording of their sixth album ‘Factory Showroom,’ the duo decided to record the track “I Can Hear You” in the most analog way possible: using Thomas Edison’s 1890 wax cylinder recorder. The recording was done at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey in front of a small audience, where, according to a press release, they were “singing and playing acoustic instruments as loud as we could into a pair of enormous metal cones…which fed the sound into a hundred year old non-electrical recording device…The wax cylinder recorder carves a groove into a rotating tube of softened wax with a needle that is vibrating from the sound pressure collected at the small end of the cone.”

7.       Dungeon: Again, a castle doesn’t necessarily sound like that crazy a place for a band to record music. But Black Sabbath isn’t just any band. When they decided to record their album ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ at the Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire, they decided to do all their rehearsing in its dungeon. The band’s members claimed to have seen apparitions down there, which inspired some of the albums darker songs, such as the title track.

Artists have recorded music in a lot of strange places. Retail spaces, science labs and coffins don’t seem like locations you would ever think to combine with the recording process. Nando’s restaurant recording studio seems just as outlandish. But who knows, maybe the next breakout star will record a monstrously popular album there while enjoying a chicken sandwich.

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Find music from these creative artists and more at Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s favorite new independent record shop. We have thousands of titles to choose from in a wide variety of genres. Browse our selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs and memorabilia in store at our Plainview location or online at vinylbay777.com. With more titles being added to our selection all the time, you never know what you might find at Vinyl Bay 777.