The first known recorder was invented by =C9douard-L=E9on Scott de
Martinville, a Parisian typesetter and tinkerer. In 1860, the year he
demonstrated it, he called it the phonautograph and recorded =93Au Clair =
de la Lune=94.
Seriously, as I pointed out in my last book, Wild Soundscapes, there
is a profound lack of appropriate and descriptive words in the audio
lexicon in pretty much all Western languages. And this is a discussion
that, if anything, illuminates the extent of the problem. For
instance, in Spanish, the word for a phonograph record is "grabaci=F3n
de fon=F3grafo." Grabaci=F3n comes literally from the word to engrave
(para grabar). So it still has etymological roots in the technologies
first implemented by de Martinville and Edison over a century ago.
Nevermind the digital era.
Bernie
On Mar 28, 2009, at 1:42 AM, picnet2 wrote:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph
>
> "The term phonograph ("sound writer") is derived from the Greek
> words φωνή (meaning "sound" or "voice" and
> transliterated as phon=E9) and γραφή (meaning =
> "writing" and transliterated as graph=E9). Similar related terms
> gramophone and graphophone have similar root meanings. The coinage,
> particularly the use of the -graph root, may have been influenced by
> the then-existing words phonographic and phonography, which referred
> to a system of phonetic shorthand; in 1852 The New York Times
> carried an advertisement for "Professor Webster's phonographic
> class", and in 1859 the New York State Teachers' Association tabled
> a motion to "employ a phonographic recorder" to record its meetings."
>
> I prefer the term "Voicenboxen" which if I recall correctly may of
> been from one of the old Laurel and Hardy classics, - they could of
> been referring to the radio also...
>
> I wonder what the term would be for a Field Recorder? :)
>
> Kind Regards,
> -Mike.
>
> --- In Bernie Krause <>
> wrote:
> >
> > A geograph was a map, before "maps", that is. (Hence, geography)
> > A sonograph is a graphic display of sound. (Here, the language is
> > precise)
> > Graphs, from whatever source, primarily expressed a visual context.
> >
> > I never understood the combination prefix/suffix of phono + graph
> > since, as Murray
> > Schafer once wrote, "Je n'ai jamais vu un son." ("I have never
> seen a
> > sound.")
> > So the unlikely expression, "phonography," is even more obscure and
> > contradictory.
> >
> > Bernie
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mar 27, 2009, at 4:25 PM, escalation746 wrote:
> >
> > > Lou Judson wrote:
> > >
> > > > Curiosity about "Phonography" as a term.
> > >
> > > I think it's an odd term myself. I always think of "phonograph"
> > > which makes me think it's something related to either
> turntablism or
> > > musique concrete!
> > >
> > > -- robin
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Wild Sanctuary
> > POB 536
> > Glen Ellen, CA 95442
> > 707-996-6677
> > http://www.wildsanctuary.com
> >
> > Google Earth zooms: http://earth.wildsanctuary.com
> > SKYPE: biophony
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
Wild Sanctuary
POB 536
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
707-996-6677
http://www.wildsanctuary.com
Google Earth zooms: http://earth.wildsanctuary.com
SKYPE: biophony
|