A Working Pallophotophone - 1922 audio recording method

History in Audio Recording: The only working pallophone in the world(2010), plays back the earliest radio station recordings ever made. It used light bouncing off a tiny mirror to expose a strip of film. A photoelectric cell is used to read the recordings. The film recorded waveforms of sound as tiny black stripes. Demonstration on kodak acetate film. Invented by Charles Hoxie, this lead to the RCA Photophone motion picture system. The machine was built by Russ DeMuth of the GE Global Research Center in 2009-2010. Research and presentation by Chris Hunter of the Schenectady Museum. WGY was recorded in 1922, hear the NBC chimes which started at WGY Radio Station. WGY reached an audience as far away as South Africa and was the voice of General Electric. The pallophotophone preceded magnetic recording. A strip of audio was used along side film to do sound with film. By 1927 the "Jazz Singer" came out which was the first sound film in the entertainment industry.

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  Science & Technology

[William French]

CORRECTION - There have always been sound films. The Jazz Singer happened to be the first blockbuster sound film. Mainstream sound films started exhibition a few years before JS. And in 1894 Edison did a sound film with a violin that still survives and can probably be found on YouTube.

[EdisonTechCenter]

Thanks for the correction, it must be a common misconception that Jazz Singer was first in the technology just because it was the first widely available to the public.

[William Mills]

@akmkjcf yes I agree can't even believe it even my senior teachers also hide about this killer music composer software from me. Listen to this I know people like LMFAO producer are using this software I can see why! Im making killer beats in minutes on this thing. you can get it here > bit.ly/Ly4Cne?=fjnomc

[CassetteMaster]

This is simply fascinating. I love the early methods and formats of sound recording, especially magnetic recording.

[Karlfalcon]

I believe I may have owned a similar machine at one point, actually. It was a Signal Corps unit that took 16mm film reels and ran them past a bulb and photoreceptor. Unfortunately I never got it running, and it was lost in a flood two years ago.

[Tim Romano]

With regards to TheMaxx111's comment about the film base. If this is an original print and is not nitrate, it will be diacetate. This was the first safety film (1922-1957). It would have been prohibited from use in any other instance short of a fire proof booth and fire proof playback equipment if the film was nitrate based.

[nik282000]

I made a pallophotophone recorder and player using stuff around the house last week, I didn't know it's real name until this video. Cool old technology.

[td1238]

It would be nice if someone would straighten the bent reel, and also correct the poor speed regulation. Sounds like something is slipping and/or an improper motor set-up is being used.

[Allan Bani]

In 1923 a danish movie called "Den Talende Film" (which means "The Talking Movie") had premier, and that movie should be the first feature with sound.

[TheMaxx111]

It can't be that old if it is acitate and not nitro celluloce.

[Zefren Anderson]

other wise if your using photoresistor for playback tighting the scanning depth to only one pixel wide ratios of light and dark might also tighten the sound lol

[Zefren Anderson]

Hmmm, what might result in better playback is to program the scanner to trace the outline of each track, The playback to a record cutting lathe required a photo resitor to translate the light bias as a electrical signal, but the recording directly from the photo mic to flim negates the use of photo resistors which im guessing is what they used before thay settled for the comercail release.