Grandfather Of Recording

Y2K ISSUE

	ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL: GRANDFATHER OF MODERN RECORDING
	BY ROBERT DENNIS

Thomas Edison is generally thought of as the "Father" of recording, because of his invention of the phonograph. But the phonograph has only a small impact on today's recording compared to the telephone. In March of 1876 Bell transmitted the voice over wires with the statement of, "Mr. Watson! Come here! I want you!" But to us in the recording field he did more than that: He transmitted sound over wires. This event is much more significant to modern recording than the transmission of sound vibrations to a cylinder with a recording horn (as accomplished by Edison).

But Bell did much more. Through his efforts to market his invention, Bell caused a research laboratory (Bell Telephone Laboratories) to become established. This laboratory team has come up with almost every significant development in sound recording (and electronics in general) used today. This is why I call Mr. Bell the "Grandfather" of modern recording and this is why I have named my new online advanced recording magazine by the name of Alexander.

Without thinking a lot about it, every audio manufacturer and every recording engineer acknowledges Bell's contributions to recording. It was Bell Labs that came up with the unit that is used to measure and compare sound recording levels, the decibel. The "bel" in "decibel" is a shortening of the name of this famous inventor. Every manufactor uses the decibel (or "dB") in the design and specification of performance; every recording engineer uses controls and meters calibrated in decibels.

LINKS TO WEB POSTINGS OF SIGNIFICANT BELL DEVELOPMENTS USED IN MODERN RECORDING

http://www.att.com/technology/history/chronolog/1876telephone.html On March 10, 1876, the telephone was born.

http://www.att.com/technology/history/chronolog/24hifi.html In 1924, Bell researchers devised the first electrical recording and reproducing system. The recording industry started releasing music recordings that used this technology in 1925.

http://www.att.com/technology/history/chronolog/26talkie.html In 1926 talkie films began to be released using a Bell development using turntables synchronized with film projectors. By the early 1930s talkies used another Bell development of sound-on-film.

http://www.att.com/technology/history/chronolog/27neg.html In 1927, a Bell engineer designs "negative feedback" for amplifiers, improving their sound quality by 1000%. Virtually EVERY amplifier used today, incorporates this technology in its operation.

http://www.att.com/technology/history/chronolog/33record.html 1931 through 1933 a Bell engineer improves the quality of the phonograph record and experiments with two-channel recording, leading to the first U.S. single-groove stereo recording system in 1940.

http://www.att.com/technology/history/chronolog/39comp.html In 1939 a Bell engineer builds the world's first electrical digital computer.

http://www.att.com/technology/history/chronolog/47transistor.html in 1947 two Bell researchers invent THE development in electronics, The Transistor. The inventors receive a Nobel Prize for their effort.

http://www.att.com/technology/history/chronolog/48error.html In 1948, a Bell engineer develops Error-detecting coding for digital transmission (and "Error Correction") making things like digital recording practical.

http://www.att.com/technology/history/chronolog/69internet.html Today's Internet started with the UNIX operating system, developed at BEll Labs in 1969.

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