Anyone there? Smithsonian identifies Alexander Graham Bell's voice
This undated handout photo provided by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History shows a detail view of a phonorecord by Alexander Graham Bell.
Published Thursday, April 25, 2013 10:41AM EDT
Did Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, speak with a Scottish burr? Or did the famous Scotsman have a low-or high-pitched voice?
Although Bell, who is credited with heralding in the modern age of rapid long-distance communication more than 130 years ago, is recognized worldwide, his own voice has remained a mystery – until now.
The Smithsonian Institution announced Wednesday they have identified a wax disc recording of Bells voice from 1885 in his Volta laboratory in Washington, DC.
On it, the celebrated inventor can be heard saying: "Hear my voice, Alexander Graham Bell."
"Identifying the voice of Alexander Graham Bell, the man who brought us everyone else’s voice, is a major moment in the study of history," John Gray, the director of the museum, said in a statement. "Not only will this discovery allow us to further identify recordings in our collection, it enriches what we know about the late 1800s -- who spoke, what they said, how they said it -- and this formative period for experimentation in sound."
In a video posted on the Smithsonian website, museum officials credit the discovery to the development of a new play-back system that uses light and a 3D camera, allowing researchers to listen to discs that were previously thought to be too delicate to play.
"I think it’s really important that we now have a process, a new invention in the service of invention to get sound off of these virtually unplayable recordings," museum curator Carlene Stephens said.
The Smithsonian is home to a variety of experimental sound recordings from Bell's Volta laboratory.
Researchers at the museum -- working with technicians from the Library of Congress and the California-based Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory -- were also able to use the recordings to identify the voice of Alexander Melville Bell, the inventor's father.
You can listen to a sound clip of Alexander Graham Bell’s voice here: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/audio/204505151.html