RECORDING TECHNIQUES I

LESSON 1B – LISTENING THROUGH HISTORY

1.1 – Au Clair de la Lune (1860)

Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville

Phonautogram – April 9, 1860

1.2 — Edison’s St. Louis Tinfoil Recording

Thomas Edison – June 22, 1878

Recorded during a demonstration of Edison’s phonograph in St. Louis, this surviving tinfoil recording contains speech and musical performance. It is one of the earliest playable recordings of an American voice and an extraordinary surviving example of the first years of recorded sound.

Audio and historical information courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Recording Registry.

More information:

Library of Congress — Edison’s “St. Louis tinfoil” recording (1878)

1.3 – La Media Noche

Sousa’s U.S. Marine Band – ca. 1890

Library of Congress – La Media Noche

Source: Library of Congress

1.4 – Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Fisk University Jubilee Singers — 1909

Library of Congress – Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Source: Library of Congress, National Jukebox

1.5 – Adeste Fideles

Associated Glee Clubs of America — Recorded March 31, 1925

Library of Congress – Adeste Fideles

Source: Library of Congress, National Recording Registry

1.6 — How High the Moon

Les Paul and Mary Ford – 1951

Library of Congress – How High the Moon

Source: Library of Congress, National Recording Registry

(For this recording, scroll down to 1951)

Learn more about Les Paul and the development of modern recording

LESSON 4A – Listening Example 4.1

Three Microphones, One Performance

MICROPHONE A

MICROPHONE B

MICROPHONE C

Lesson 4B – Listening Example 4.2

Hearing Polar Patterns

Cardioid

Figure-8

Omnidirectional

Lesson 4B – Listening Example 4.3

Hearing Proximity Effect