The first known recording of a human voice, from April 9th, 1860. (Phonautograph Etching)

[deadmanswife2]

like google these days . Some people always got suspicious if you stored their information

[deadmanswife2]

could we talk about george eastman

the inventor put the 2 together that's the cellphone really picture and sound

every hollywood movie ever made

developed and stored right in rochester new york @ george eastman house

lot of his buddy eddison stuff is with it including the only photographs of those 2 men ever taken together

they didn't like being photographed in public .

haha people might get suspicious they were trying to record their image.

native american culture sure did not like

[CosmicCaprice]

maybe this was the soundtrack for the first scary movie too.

[gmosphere]

still sounds better than kesha

[33VaInf]

0:50-0:59 very creeeeeepy

[JimStudios]

I think this needs digitally remastering XD

[transavie]

His invention, however primitive did record the voice. That it took an additional 150 years to achieve playback is of no consequence. Without men like him, we would not have the basic research, the shoulders of giants, upon whom other men create our technologies and sciences. Vive Msr. Martinville!

[MrMiniszter]

Sounds like background noise from a scene of Paranormal Activity or something

[Teivanslv]

Can you imagine that this brang us till this computer im writing in

My galaxy mini

My tv

to everything that people till 1860 could live without, and what we can't live without now

[Dantesierra]

What's the name of the song?? ...wait ! They do tell you

[shariotoflove]

im going to keep the lights on tonight....

[diegolacua]

IDOSER!!!

[EmmetEarwax]

Zero fidelity -but what can you expect of a recording machine for which playback technology didn't exist -or would exist for well over 100 years ?

[misanthropicagenda1]

omg

seriously nothings changed type the rita into youtube search

that guy in 2011 still sounds like the 1st minute of this clip

[Discoboy504]

yikes, yes creepy and so fascinating at the same time. I'm glad people saved stuff like this. I wonder if there is more like this that nobody knows about out there.

[paulmrussell12]

That was French, you can't classify that as "sound" or as "voice", its just "French" pffft

[SnypeOFFICIAL]

still better than justin beiber

[whole27]

what the hell, u know what....when u look at really old pictures...everyone looks so creepy! They look creepy, they walk creepy, and now we hear that they even sound creepy! And after realizing all this, its hard to imagine they even had color in those days...all this creepy-ness fits into a black and white world

[SuperClintEastwood]

@whole27 look at some victorian era post mortem photos with dead children. Those are creepy as shit.

[SlinkierFugur]

JESUS CHRIST! I'M GONNA HAVE NIGHTMARES TONIGHT!

[Kamilprezes1]

Sounds better than Rebecca Black.

[LikaLaruku]

These are as awesomely eerie as Number Stations.

[buzzbaybear]

This is the voice of Léon Scott Martinville, inventor of this recording process on carbonized paper. It is played back faster than it was recorded. It was retrieved by laser technology in 2008. It is a facinating peice of history but it does not diminish the work of Edison. This method of recording could produce nothing more than a curiosity. What Edison accomplished was far greater than a mere machine, but that of the phenomenally successful recording industry and the pop music culture.

[randomdude581]

This is why youtube is so amazing. We can listen to a sound from over 150 years ago.

[borgduck]

Bloody static!

[RockinFifiLaFume]

Le CREEPY!

[JosephBr0seph]

Sounds like an Xbox 360 mic.

[Louiseybaby]

Oh i wondered why there was two versions one is just a slowed version :)

[Nedyah74]

that is so freaking creepy

[jbjindra]

Could this be any creepier? This is great though.

[JohnLennonsSexSlave]

You can hear the beat of that song in the recording if you listen carefully.

[robbo4life]

what the heck was the 1st bit

[tauheke]

Loved to have heard and seen footage of all those famous people e.g. Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Paganini Capt. Cook the list goes on...

[ToneSpectra]

@tauheke It may interest you to know that (though based on a different principle) a device for recording piano music was built in the 1700's by Johann Hohlfeld, whereby a roll of paper was marked by a crayon as keys were pressed by the player. If perfected, it could've been used to record improvisations by Mozart, CPE Bach, Beethoven... but there was little interest in the device because (like the phonautograph) there was no way to play the music back. (He also invented a rotary bowed keyboard!)

[altoids79762]

@tauheke well you dont think about it now but in 100 years there ganna be saying the same things about the videos we post on the internet

[Rep0007]

It's cool that this guy's voice is immortalized, the inventor and also the first human voice ever recorded. He's the very first recording artist! He sang the first folk song ever recorded.

[MsHoly777]

WHY would anyone want too record sound and not play it back? That's not practical. It's STUPID!!! Thomas Edison still was NOT the FIRST to record sound. He probably stole this technique from Mr. Martinville. nanny nanny boobie.....just playing........but give Mr. Martinville his props yo. BIG UP Mr. Martinville!!! and Thanks man.......you're gravy.........lol

[ToneSpectra]

@MsHoly777 The idea of recording sound was part of a wider effort to study natural phenomena through measurement. At that time, there was no concept of playing sound back, so it probably never occurred to anyone that such a thing was even possible. Hope that helps.

[robbo4life]

@MsHoly777 it was to show sound waves etched on lamp blackened paper

[neongala1]

crazy awesome!