Cargo Records

Au Clair de la Lune

Dust-to-Digital proudly inaugurates its vinyl imprint Parlortone with the earliest intelligible recording of the human voice: an historic 20-second version of Au Clair de la Lune made in 1860, 17 years before Edison invented the phonograph.

This one-sided 45rpm record comes complete with an etched back, a descriptive essay and a reproduction of Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville’s original Au Clair phonautogram…the three-panel sleeve folds out to 21 inches long with complete reproduction of the Au Clair phonautogram. Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville was born in France in 1817. As a printer by trade, he was able to read accounts of the latest scientific discoveries and became an inventor. On March 25, 1857, he received French patent #17,897/31,470 for the phonautograph.

This device made a visual image of sound waves on a cylinder, but did not play or reproduce any sounds. Scott used a horn to collect sound, a diaphragm at the end of the horn that vibrated from the sound, a stiff brush bristle attached to the diaphragm, and a rotating cylinder covered with lampblack or blackened paper that recorded the wavy lines from the vibrating diaphragm and bristle.

From NY Times story published March 27, 2008 By JODY ROSEN “For more than a century, since he captured the spoken words “Mary had a little lamb” on a sheet of tinfoil, Thomas Edison has been considered the father of recorded sound. But researchers say they have unearthed a recording of the human voice, made by a little-known Frenchman, that predates Edison’s invention of the phonograph by nearly two decades.” From Slate story published December 22, 2008 By JODY ROSEN “…the ultimate analog record, brought to life with a dash of digital fairy dust.” “…the ultimate analog record” …made two decades before Edison patented the phonograph in 1878.

…sound waves made on a sheet of paper blackened by the smoke of an oil lamp. …the earliest known recording of sound…

Au Clair de la Lune from Dust-to-Digital on Vimeo.