Month: August 2017

When Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, little did he realise it was the beginning of a worldwide industry. Edison recorded the words ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ into a metal trumpet (forefather of the microphone), which scratched a sound track on a revolving cylinder. The first recordings were cylinders, so each song had to be individually recorded. To make a copy, the singer repeated the song on a new cylinder. Artists recorded many cylinders of each song. There was a consolation – they were paid a royalty for each copy. Australian singer Peter Dawson made a tidy sum this way. Continue reading “Recording history in Australia – Part 1” →