How Not to Make a Phonautographe 

This Video was prepared for the "Doing Experimental Media Archaeology" conference in September 2022.
The phonautographe was invented in 1857 by Eduard Leon Scott de Martinville. It was the first device to record speech and song as an image of rge sound traced in smoked paper. It was the precursor of the Edison tin foil and then wax cylinder phonographs.
This mostly wood version is at least 3 times larger than the original, which may be the cause of much of my difficulties. The wood horn is lined with plaster. But most everything else including the drum, the fixed nut and the drive screw are made of wood, this could be a 16th Century version of a nineteenth century device!
Some credits and links:
- The music on this video for the stylus movement test and the first smoked paper test is from the Grateful Dead, "Anthem of the Sun" LP.
- For more info about Etienne Jules Marey:
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