Mementos of Early Photographic Sound Recording

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
Doc Type: Journal Article
Content Type: Original Research
Abbreviated Title: J SMPTE
Volume: 91, No. 3, pp. 237–244
Abstract: The author discusses early contributions to the art of recording sound by photographic methods made by several Bell-related organizations, using mementos of these contributions as examples. Photographic plates with spiral soundtracks (1884-1885) from the Volta Laboratory of Alexander Graham Bell and his associates are examined. Copies of both variable-density and variable-area examples are shown. Later work done at Western Electric and Bell Laboratories at the advent of talking pictures is discussed, with film clip samples salvaged from early experiments (1923 and 1929) with the light valve system developed by E. C. Wente for providing sound on film. Concurrent developments in associated fields are also described.
Publication Date: 1982-03-01
DOI: 10.5594/J01297
ISSN: Print: 0036-1682
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/J01297
Author(s): F. K. Harvey
Copyright: © 1982 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

Rulings of the U. S. Supreme Court in Recent Patent Cases of the American Tri-Ergon Corporation [Active]
The Principles of the Light Valve [Active]
1. Newville Leslie J. , “Development of the Phonograph at Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory,” U.S. National Museum Bulletin 218 , Paper 5, pp. 70 – 79 , U.S. Government Printing Office , 1959 . EXTERNAL
10. Wente E. C. , U.S. Patent 1638555, “Translating Device,” 1923 . EXTERNAL
11. Sponable E. I. , “Historical Development of Sound Films,” Part 2, J. SMPTE , 48 : 298 , April 1947 . EXTERNAL
12. MacKenzie Donald , “Sound Recording with the Light Valve,” Trans. SMPTE 35 : 730 – 747 , 1928 . EXTERNAL
13. Wente E. C. , U.S. Patent 1656255, “Talking Motion Picture Production,” 1924 . EXTERNAL
14. Wente E. C. , U.S. Patent 1722347, “Acoustic Apparatus,” 1926 . EXTERNAL
15. Wente E. C. , U.S. Patent 1707545, “Acoustic Device,” 1926 . EXTERNAL
16. Ives H. E. Horton J. W. Parker R. D. Clark A. B. : “The Transmission of Pictures over Telephone Circuits,” Bell Syst. Tech. J. , 4 ; 187 , April 1925 . EXTERNAL
17. SecRef.11, Part 3, pp. 407 – 413 , May 1947 . EXTERNAL
19. Sec Ref. 11, Part 3, p. 414 , May 1947 . EXTERNAL
2. Bruce Robert V. , Bell-Alexander Graham Bell and the Conquest of Solitude , Little, Brown and Company , Boston , 1973 , pp. 335 – 341 . EXTERNAL
3. Bell C. A. Tainter S. , U.S. Patent 341214, “Recording and Reproducing Speech and Other Sounds,” 1886 . EXTERNAL
4. Bell A. G. , U.S. Patent 235199, “Apparatus for Signalling and Communicating, Called Photophone,” 1880 . EXTERNAL
5. Kellogg E. W. , “History of Sound Motion Pictures,” Part I, SMPTE J. , 64 : 175 , June 1955 . EXTERNAL
6. Bell A. G. Bell C. A. Tainter S. , U.S. Patent 341213, “Transmitting and Recording Sounds by Radiant Energy,” 1886 . EXTERNAL
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9. Fagen M. D. Editor, “A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System, The Early Years (1875–1925),” Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. , ( Murray Hill, New Jersey ), 1975 , pp. 42 – 58 . EXTERNAL

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F. K. Harvey; Mementos of Early Photographic Sound Recording, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 91, Issue: 3, March 1982); SMPTE, 1982. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J01297

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F. K. Harvey; Mementos of Early Photographic Sound Recording, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 91, Issue: 3, March 1982); SMPTE, 1982. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J01297

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F. K. Harvey; Mementos of Early Photographic Sound Recording, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 91, Issue: 3, March 1982); SMPTE, 1982. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J01297

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<span class="citation">F. K. Harvey; <cite>Mementos of Early Photographic Sound Recording</cite>, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 91, Issue: 3, March 1982); SMPTE, 1982. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/J01297" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/J01297</a></span>

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F. K. Harvey; Mementos of Early Photographic Sound Recording, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 91, Issue: 3, March 1982); SMPTE, 1982
doi: 10.5594/J01297
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/J01297

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F. K. Harvey; <cite id="bib-10-5594-j01297">Mementos of Early Photographic Sound Recording</cite>, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 91, Issue: 3, March 1982); SMPTE, 1982
<span class="doi">10.5594/J01297</span>
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