More than 100 years of technology history stand between the first gramophone and its modern-day equivalent, the MP3 player. To mark the 125th anniversary of the invention of the gramophone, DW looks back at the evolution of sound recording.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
Emil Berliner
Today, the fact that music can be recorded and replayed time and time again is part of everyday life. But 125 years ago, it was a sensation. Emil Berliner, who emigrated to America as a young man, registered his invention under the name "Gramophone" at the patent office in 1887. His disc-based system was an improvement over Thomas Edison's wax cylinder phonograph of 1877.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
The gramophone
The device worked with a record disc, which was originally made from zinc. To play the recording on the disc, a thick steel needle was run along the record grooves. The volume was amplified through a large metal horn. The gramophone was initially powered by turning a crank handle, then later using by a spring mechanism powerful enough to last the duration of the record.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
The shellac disc
The mass production of record discs began just a few years after the patenting of the gramophone. For decades the thick, black shellac discs were the standard storage medium for music recordings.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
The record player
In the late 1940s, records became thinner and began to be produced from vinyl. The gramophone morphed into the record player and box speakers replaced the old, iconic gramophone horns.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
Crackling and jumping
The new long-playing vinyl records were not as fragile as the old shellac disks, but they were also sensitive to dirt and easily damaged. Dust particles created the typical rustling and crackling noises associated with old records. Scratches in the disk surface also produced disruptive sounds or caused the needle to jump with every turn of the record.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
The cassette
In 1963, electronics giant Philips brought the "Compact Cassette" onto the market. Above all, young people took advantage of the cheap opportunity to record audio material and play it back. The magnetic tape would easily get jammed in the rotating coils of the cassette recording, causing plenty of frustration when trying to feed the tape back into the cassette.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
The ghetto blaster
Cassette recorders were popular until the end of the 20th century. In the 1980s, young members of the hip-hop scene would carry around their "ghetto blasters" or "boom boxes" with them in public.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
The Walkman
Introduced in 1979, Sony's Walkman was the first successful personal music player. Originally used to play cassettes, but later adapted to work with CDs, the small device made it possible to listen to music while on the move, but also discreetly with compact headphones.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
From analog to digital
A real milestone in the history of recording devices was reached in 1981 with the development of the Compact Disc. It was the first consumer digital storage medium for music. Audio data was encoded as a series of indentations or "pits" on the CD and then read using lasers.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
The end of vinyl
In August 1982, Swedish pop group ABBA's album "The Visitors" was the first recording to be made available commercially on compact disc. By the end of the decade, the glittering discs had permanently replaced the old vinyl records.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
The MP3 player
By the end of the 1990s, a new variant of mobile audio storage appeared on the market: the MP3 player. Large amounts of audio data can be stored on the small devices. Like the Walkman, MP3 players can also be used with headphones.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
The iPod
The most popular MP3 player is the now iconic iPod, launched by Apple in 2001. Since then, numerous developments and variantions on the original model have been brought to market. The latest iPods have color display screens and can also play video content.
From the gramophone to the smartphone
Smartphones
Many people no longer use special devices to play music - they simply use their smartphones.
